A Tribute to Marge Clark of Nature's Gift
My mentor... my friend... and AromaWeb's longest running advertiser (20 years!)
In Business Since: 1995
On AromaWeb, I strive to be brand neutral in all of the content that I write so that AromaWeb remains objective and remains a welcome resource for everyone, regardless of the brand(s) of essential oils that you choose to use. I do this also out of respect and gratitude for each and every one of my valued advertisers who so wonderfully support my efforts on AromaWeb to share objective information.
I'd like to make a special exception to my policy, and I hope that everyone will understand and share in my joy at writing this tribute and expression of gratitude to Marge Clark of Nature's Gift. She has been such an inspiration to me for what must be approaching 25 years now. Advertising on AromaWeb since the very first day in 1998 that I accepted banner advertising, this year marks the 20th anniversary that Marge has continuously advertised on AromaWeb.
Marge and I first "met" online back in the 1990s when I was an aromatherapy newbie on the IDMA aromatherapy mailing list. In addition to her professionalism and ethics as the owner and founder of Nature's Gift in 1995 and meticulously sourcing some of the finest essential oils that the world has to offer, Marge was an incredibly supportive and helpful voice to so many participants on the list. She became a trusted mentor to me in my beginnings, helping to guide me towards safe and proper essential oil usage.
Fast forwarding in time a bit, Marge was incredibly supportive when I told her of my vision to create a site that would ultimately become AromaWeb. In AromaWeb's beginnings, Marge even generously offered to allow me to publish essential oil profile descriptions that she had written. Each description consisted of a generously long paragraph... invaluable in information that showcased Marge's knowledge and charming writing style. I gratefully included these on AromaWeb until I concluded my studies with the American College of Healthcare Sciences (known as the Australasian College of Herbal Studies at the time) and developed the necessary foundation to begin researching and preparing the full page profiles that you see now on AromaWeb.
In AromaWeb's beginnings before I accepted advertising, I reviewed essential oil retailers, and Nature's Gift was one of the companies that I scheduled to review. My first order with Marge consisted of a bottle of Pink Grapefruit and a bottle of Rosewood essential oil. Both were aromatically spectacular. After using about half of the oil in each bottle, I felt compelled to save both bottles and not finish up the oil in both bottles (something I would not normally recommend doing), eventually displaying them in my office alongside the bottles of the first three oils I ever purchased, serving as a visual reminder of my aromatic beginnings and as a memento of Marge's encouragement before and after AromaWeb was conceived.
Marge and I still reminisce and chuckle about that old review I published on AromaWeb and my critique of her labels from that period (but they DID stay on the bottles better than many of the labels from other vendors of that era). If you haven't already read it, please check out Marge's adorable 2008 blog post Ancient History (or...We've Come a Long Way, Baby!)
While at the 2018 NAHA Conference, I surprised Marge by giving her back the 20 year old bottle of Rosewood Essential Oil from my original Nature's Gift order, and I continue to keep the old bottle of Pink Grapefruit on display in my office.
Marge did a fun Facebook Live video at the conference, and I was so tickled that she invited me to join her. You can hear her talk about the Rosewood Essential Oil and the original AromaWeb review:
Outstanding Contributor Award Given by the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy at the 2018 Beyond Aromatics III Conference
Sending my heartfelt congratulations to Marge who was a recipient of the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy Outstanding Contributor Award during the NAHA 2018 Beyond Aromatics Conference.
There is no way that my words can fully articulate what Marge means to so many of us. Marge is so generous with her time, her knowledge and her encouragement. She has played such an important role in the aromatic lives and wellness of so many individuals over the course of her lengthy aromatic career.
(Heartfelt congratulations also to Sylla Shepherd-Hanger of the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy and United Aromatherapy Effort who was also a recipient of this very special award, but was sadly unable to accept the award in person.)
Thank you so much to Rose Chard, Owner of Your Body Needs for taking the beautiful photographs of Marge accepting her award.
If anyone has video footage of Marge accepting her award at the NAHA Gala on October 27, 2018, please share it with her (or I'll be happy to make sure she gets it if you send it along to me). She very much would love to have a copy.
Web Site: https://www.naturesgift.com/
Contact Page: https://www.naturesgift.com/customer-service/contact-us/
Blog: https://naturesgiftaromatherapy.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NaturesGift
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaturesGift/
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