Today we’d like to introduce you to Janna Setterholm
Hi Janna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a Minnesota native but my journey to Aromatherapy began in Washington State where I studied Massage Therapy followed by a degree in Enology Viticulture and Fermentation Science in Walla Walla, WA. I continued working simultaneously in the wine industry while practicing Massage Therapy for many years in Washington along with one vintage in Marlborough New Zealand, working as a laboratory technician. Perhaps oddly enough, it was the wine industry that called me back to my home state of Minnesota when I was hired as the General Manager of a winery in southern Minnesota. I moved from southern Minnesota to Detroit Lakes in 2013. My original degree in Massage Therapy was over a decade prior to this, but I felt the pull to return to the therapeutic and healing modality, however, my prior education just wasn’t enough for me, a pattern that has repeated its self throughout my life. As a life long student, I pursued a certification in Graston Technique massage to further my career as a Medical Massage Therapist. I also received my Diploma in Aromatherapy as a Master Aromatherapist with Honors in 2019 from the American College of Healthcare Science in Portland, OR. From Massage Therapist turned Winemaker, turned Aromatherapist – how do these degrees all connect for me? Science, Chemistry, and Tradition.
As a Winemaker turned Aromatherapist my passion has always focused on aromatics. I am a huge chemistry nerd, encourage and teach only safe, ethical sourcing and use of essential oils. In fact, I started an essential oil company called Koru Essential Oils in 2018. I began importing oils from all over the world, blending, bottling, and selling these powerfully healing oils, but something (again) was missing. It was in the moment where I created a proprietary blend called Minnesota Ice for my massage patients that helped with pain and inflammation, and it worked. But why? I didn’t want to just simply be someone with a Massage degree and Winemaking degree making and selling Essential Oil, I felt the need to be qualified to do so. I wanted to know the deep chemistry of why it worked? With an already deep understanding of the human body through my 22 years as a Medical Massage Therapist I had a great basis but craved more understanding and education, which my Diploma in Aromatherapy has provided. Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation circulating regarding essential oils and Aromatherapy and one of my missions as a Registered Aromatherapist is to deliver safe and accurate information. In November of 2024 I rebranded and expanded my business from Koru Essential Oils to my current company, Northstar Aromatics. I felt this was important to rebrand and honor my beautiful Northstar state of Minnesota, the state that I love and am proud to call my forever home. This has been a particularly positive impactful move for me. Northstar Aromatics bear logo can be easily recognized as local, authentic, and trustworthy.
All of Northstar Aromatics essential oils are Organic or Wildcrafted and all of my products are Ethically Sourced. I am the owner, Alchemist, and Registered Aromatherapist for Northstar Aromatics. I run my Aromatherapy business with small town Minnesota values and with honest high quality ingredients. I am an authentic human sharing what I know and love about the therapeutic and spiritual benefits that Aromatherapy offers, when done with integrity and care. Since receiving my degree as a Registered Aromatherapist, I have completed certification courses in Canine Aromatherapy as well as AromaPsychology – 2 understudied aspects of Aromatherapy that can be incredibly valuable when approached with safety and intention in mind and are very near and dear to my heart and my personal journey that has led me to where I am today with Northstar Aromatics.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road! There are a lot of competing Aromatherapy businesses out there, however, often with a lot of misinformation attached to them. What makes Northstar Aromatics different is my dedication to providing safe authentic products as well as the support and education to back them up. Rebranding to Northstar Aromatics has been a huge undertaking but it has allowed me to create a self guiding website. Aromatherapy and essential oils can be really overwhelming. This does not have to be true when you work with a qualified Aromatherapist like me. I am an expert in my field. I retired from my full time Massage Therapy career in February of 2024 to commit my time and energy on the rebrand and expansion of Northstar Aromatics, this leap of faith has been scary, stressful, exhausting…and beyond rewarding.
At Northstar Aromatics, my customers are not an order number. My treatment of each person that chooses Northstar Aromatics reflects this. I personally source every ingredient that goes into crafting each product for Northstar Aromatics. Nothing is premade or pre-poured. I don’t simply fill orders – I hand pour every bottle to order- assuring not only the freshest aromatic experience you’ll ever have, but delivering intentional handcrafted products poured specifically for you. I believe this handcrafted touch has become lost in the “business” of aromatherapy and practice of Alchemy. This approach and care that I take with the oils can be challenging and overwhelming some days, but the quality and efficacy of the oils speak for themselves when I see the difference it makes for my customers. My customers feel and see the difference between Northstar Aromatics and other companies they’ve purchased from in the past. This is why I do what I do.
The truth is, there are many moments and sometimes days and weeks where I wonder if I can make Northstar Aromatics a success. I remember an old quote from Pablo Picco that says, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – This helps me reframe things and get out of my head on days when there is doubt and reminds me that authenticity, connection, and love is my gift and I get to share my work and passion for Aromatherapy and healing every day in my Laboratory and with each bottle of hand poured essential oil. I hope to continue to expand my business, connect, and support other like minded authentic people through my healing gift of Alchemy with Northstar Aromatics.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
One of the founding principles when creating Northstar Aromatics, was to increase awareness of the current degrees of misuse and improper use of oils and to offer a place where proper education and safety come first. One of my visions here at Northstar Aromatics, with this key principal in mind, is to offer expanded and safe information to those currently using oils and to provide confidence along with safe tools for those new to essential oils and the science of aromatherapy as a whole.
This information will be offered, at no charge to those who have purchased from Northstar Aromatics. After all, we are educating you on Northstar Aromatics specifically and we can not authenticate nor attest to the purity or safe application of any other company. Northstar Aromatics holds the integrity of not only our products, but our intentions as individuals to a different standard and vibrational sense of purpose and we feel that this information is intended for those that carry this same frequency of kindness and love! Please use Northstar Aromatics with only the purest of intention and with respect.
One of the most innovative and propriety creations I have developed at Northstar Aromatics are my Laundry Oils and Hand Crafted wool laundry balls. In developing these products, I wanted to find something that could be used with natural wool dryer balls to both fragrance laundry and speed up drying time. The conundrum with using essential oils in the laundry line of products is that the majority of essential oils have a very low flash point, and therefore are not generally recommended for use in combination with heat from dryers, for safety reasons. Therefore, what I discovered were perfume and fragrance combinations that are free of parabens, animal testing, and are non GMO that stay within the standards, ethics, and mission of Northstar Aromatics while achieving the desired safety. I have developed 5 different Laundry Oils and they have fun Minnesota themed names such as Buffalo Plaid, Up North, Staycation, Cotton Candy Snowday, and Boundary Waters.
I also offer Hand Made New Zealand Wool dryer balls that can be used fragrance free or add 2-3 drops of one of Northstar Aromatics Laundry Oils to each ball and place in dryer with wet laundry. Your purchase empowers Nepalese women and pays them a living wage.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Being an entrepreneur in any business is risk taking. When things are going well, you get the credit and when things are not quite on track, you get all the bad press! Yay? That being said, I think the term “risk-taking” can often be synonymous with the end result leading to “victory” or “rejection” – and when you frame it this way, risk-taking can certainly lead many, including myself at times, to having feelings of paralyzed will or simply waiting for the anticipated “rejection” to come. I had a great mentor, and friend, who once told me, “expectation is premeditated resentment.” This has been a reality check of a reminder when I get into the “why hasn’t something happened the way I expected it to?”
I do think risk taking does involve setting goals and benchmarks and the willingness to be vulnerable and work hard, but I think having core values such as authenticity, integrity, honesty, and ethics within these moments are what helps me stay humble in the “victory” and centered in the “rejection” – because the truth is, when you are living your authentic life, there is no rejection, simply lessons and opportunities for growth in perhaps another direction that perhaps has yet to be explored by you.
There have been times where I’ve put myself out there to a potential customer and simply no follow through is made on their end. This is not only a financially hit for me and my business, but as a naturally empathetic human that cares deeply for others, it can be emotionally painful to see them not follow though with a potentially life improving course of action through evidence based Aromatherapy practices. Even more so, If I’m not careful to reframe it for my self, moments like this can feel like a personal rejection. Not everyone will be “your people” and quite frankly, I’m only one person running a hand poured Aromatherapy business in small town Minnesota – I can’t have everyone be my people!
Seemingly often by coincidence, although I know it is not so simply put, when there is a “no” from someone I worked to gain as a customer, another delightful soul, more authentically on a path and journey to wellness and healing appears on my Aromatherapy journey. It’s a beautiful thing to remind myself in these moments of confusion and frustration that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” This has happened for me countless times in my person growth where a mentor has supported me when I was ready for this radical acceptance of change and now. Now, as an expert in the field of Aromatherapy, I get to teach and mentor…but not everyone is ready for the growth they say they want.
This conscious approach has helped me on days where business seems stagnant, despite my efforts, as well as the “rejection” from those that simply aren’t my people, but are in reality holding space and time for those that are. Fellow entrepreneurs, stay grounded in your values and passions, and share them boldly through your business – the right people will be drawn to your authenticity.
Pricing:
- Minnesota Ice Roll-on $20
- Buffalo Plaid Laundry Oil – $20
- Headache + Tension Roll-on $20
- Organic Lavender Essential Oil $14
- Organic Peppermint Essential Oil $15
Contact Info:
- Website: https://northstararomatics.com
