Earthley is looking for a full-time Director of Operations to run day-to-day operations at our manufacturing facility.  But before we ask if that’s you…we want to tell you a little bit about us!

History of the Company

Of course, the whole thing really started many years prior, when their oldest child had some health challenges.  Kate started researching and talking to different doctors (who had no real solutions) and eventually healed her daughter herself.  This started her journey to holistic health.

Kate started her blog, Modern Alternative Mama, in the fall of 2009, shortly after the birth of her second child.  She was eager to share all that she was learning about natural health!  The blog became a place where hundreds of thousands of people read about real food, herbal remedies, natural pregnancy, vaccine research, and more.  (Ben and Kate don’t vaccinate their children and believe firmly in medical freedom and informed consent.)

Eventually, followers of the MAM blog began to ask if they could buy products instead of DIY.  That’s how Earthley was born!

Earthley started as an online co-op/deal site in the fall of 2015, where we predominantly re-sold other natural brands, like Redmond Trading, Mountain Rose Herbs, Dropi, and many others. While there was some moderate success under this model (reaching around 100k in sales in 2016) it wasn’t until we launched our first branded products in the fall of 2016 that things started to really take off.  We launched our Elderberry Syrup kits Good Night Lotion, and Teeth Tamer, all of which remain top sellers to this day.

Earthley has grown at a pace of 80 – 100% per year, every year.  It started in Ben and Kate’s garage (240 sqft), and it grew quickly until they moved to their first office, just 1600 sqft, in April of 2017. Despite having just a few part-time team members, they served over 6,500 unique families that year.  Earthley hired their first full-time team member in February 2018.

By April 2019, the company moved again to a 6500 sqft facility and had around 8 full-time team members.  They added an additional suite next door in May 2020, giving them 13,000 sqft and about 15 team members, serving nearly 35,000 unique customers that year.

In September 2022, Earthley moved again (though definitely not for the last time 🙂 ) into their current facility, which is 60,000 sqft.  They have over 100 team members, about 25 of whom work remotely.  The company structure has grown and changed with the growth of the company.

In 2023, we expect to produce more than 4 MILLION individual products (all in our Columbus, Ohio facility), and serve more than 250,000 unique families! As impressive and humbling as this incredible growth is, the vast majority of the United States still doesn’t use natural products as their primary health modality. We expect to be able to grow 50-100% per year, for another 5-10 years; our work is really just getting started.

Earthley is completely self-funded and debt-free!  They have never taken any outside financing and are beholden to no one.  Not only has Earthley been consistently one of the fastest growing private companies in America (for 7 years in a row) which is a great accomplishment in and of itself, but what’s incredibly rare (almost unheard of) is that we’re doing this fully independently, which ensures that the mission ALWAYS comes first!

About Us (Owners)

Earthley is solely-owned by  Ben and Kate Tietje.  They are parents to 6 kids, ranging from 5 to 15 years old.  They live on a small homestead outside of Columbus, where they unschool.

Ben is passionate about business, space, and history.  He also plays the electric guitar.  He enjoys board games (euro games, not boring old Parker Brothers or Milton Bradley ones 🙂 ) and reading.

Kate loves to read, garden, paint, write, and pretty much anything else that’s creative.  She enjoys cooking – when it’s time to create new recipes.  She is also a musician, and plays violin, viola, and clarinet (and dabbles with several others).  

Earthley’s Values

Earthley’s values are incredibly important.  They guide everything that we do.  Our new DoO will have to uphold and live out these values everyday.

#1: We Believe in Medical Freedom

I believe in medical freedom – the right of all humans to make their own decisions about the care of their own bodies.  This includes accepting or rejecting any procedure, medication, modality, or test for themselves, and equal access to all health modalities (allopathic, naturopathic, herbal, chiropractic, and whatever else someone may benefit from or desire to use).

#2: We Only Succeed as a Team

I believe that every member of the company is important, and that we are all on the same team.  No one’s job is more or less important than anyone else’s, and we will all succeed if we work together cooperatively across all teams and departments.

#3: We Approach Situations Proactively

I believe in being proactive. It is my responsibility to take action when I see potential problems or needs, by raising attention to the situation and working with others to solve it.  I will lead by example, and help create solutions that work towards the long-term good of the company, the team, and our customers.

#4: We Value Innovation and Creativity

I believe it’s exciting to be part of a company that is growing rapidly and constantly innovating. I will never be satisfied with “because that’s how it’s done,” and will approach each new challenge with a positive attitude and enthusiasm. I will not be afraid to suggest or try new and interesting ideas, because ‘failure’ only happens when I don’t try at all.

#5: We Believe “Perfection” is Not Achievable 

I believe that perfection is not an achievable standard.  I will give grace to others when they make mistakes, and I will expect grace when I make them, too.  I will treat others the way I want to be treated.  I will also treat others the way they would like to be treated.

Who We’re Looking For

Now that you know a little about us…here’s what we’re looking for.  Is this you?

The right person:

• Believes strongly in medical freedom
• Supports Earthley’s mission to change the way the world sees health care
• Believes in focusing on encouragement and not complaining
• Believes that perfection is not an achievable standard, gives grace to others, and constantly strives to learn from mistakes and teach others
• Believes in innovation and creativity and isn’t afraid to try something new
• Believes every team member is equally important, just in different roles
• Loves to seek out and solve problems
• Has experience in problem solving at a high level
• Familiarity with Microsoft Teams, Excel, Word, and other organizational software
• Has leadership experience and is good at working with different types of people
• Has solid communication skills 
• Is organized 
• Has a strong work ethic
• Enjoys a fast-paced environment
• Is ambitious 
• Is excited about a rapidly-growing company and enjoys the challenge of a constantly changing environment
• Has a 10+ years of experience managing large and complex teams (100+), and ideally extensive time in a manufacturing business
• Prior and proven experience at rapidly growing and scaling teams and processes

The Job:

The Director of Operations is one of the highest roles in the company.  It will be this person’s job to work across every department, assessing and understanding their needs and helping to build systems, implement processes, and solve problems so that we can work efficiently and effectively everyday.

This job will require you to live in or near Columbus, Ohio, where our main headquarters are; it is a full-time in-person role. We are offering a relocation bonus for anyone that lives more than 100 miles from the facility.

Responsibilities:

• Support leadership team in implementing, updating, and accountability to metrics across departments
• Work with leaders to solve problems in their departments, especially to increase efficiency
• Walk the floor to discover problems and slow-downs in their work processes
• Help to discover or create unique solutions to problems 
• Communicate clearly to all team members important information, especially about changes
• Build out systems to create efficiency across departments
• Create and implement processes for communication, discovery, and solutions

It’s incredibly important to us to find the right person.  Someone who has the right passion, the right skills, someone we enjoy working with and who will fit well into Earthley’s leadership team.  We’re looking for someone who wants to be with us for the long haul, who wants to help us grow and achieve great things. 

As the company grows to 200, 500, or hopefully 1,000 or more team members in the future, we want this person to be ready and willing to grow with the company and continue to function well in ever increasing levels of responsibility. 

Next Steps

Are you excited about Earthley and think you’re the right fit for this role?

First, apply on Indeed HERE.  

Next, our HR department will do a phone screen with you to learn more about you and if you’ll be a good fit for the role.  If so, you will come in to do an in-person interview with our leadership team.  (If you are not in Ohio, we can do the initial interview via Zoom.)

If we are a good fit together, we’ll bring you in for a more extensive interview with multiple team members.  This interview will last several hours and will include a thorough tour, meeting every member of the current leadership team, and lunch with Ben and Kate.  This will be a chance for you to see how Earthley functions on a real day-to-day level, and ask any questions you may have.  It will be a chance for us to see how you interact with our team and how you’ll fit in.

After this, there will be some follow up discussions and negotiations before we select the final candidate who will join our team!

It’s important to us that the person who takes this role really, really wants it.  We are a company of real people, who have our strengths and challenges like any other.  We want to be sure we have the person who understands us and our needs and who is excited to be a part of something great.

Are you ready?  Send in your resume and cover letter today!