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10 years out of Amway and I realise it is a cult
I’ve been watching a lot of cult documentaries and can’t believe how Amway is exactly the same with the tactics they use to rope people in. I am really ashamed that when I was 17, I was roped into Amway. I am autistic and struggled to make friends so when someone at work showed interest in me, I was so excited. It turned into showing the products (without mentioning what they were) and then dropping hints about her side business. I was proud of her for owning a business at such a young age and wanted to support her, so I asked more about it. There were so many buzzwords, and she spoke so much without saying anything at all. She told me to come to a seminar to learn more about her products and their benefits. I thought it would be an actual medical professional or some kind of allied health presentation but it was Amway supplements. At this point I’d never heard of Amway, never heard of MLMs, and the brand name was barely thrown around. I remember being so bored and thinking “wtf is this”. But she was so encouraging and happy that I came, and after we got to hang out.
These people preyed on my insecurities and knew I would jump at the chance of making friends. I did. I went to this “information night” not aware I was being sold something, so my guard was down, and I bought it. I signed up, and treated every “meeting” like a hangout. I was underage so I had to sign up using my mum’s name, who tried to reason with me but saw how happy I was to have friends and permitted it. I even travelled interstate for a “conference”. The tactics they taught were very similar to cults, where you need to think and speak a certain way, and YOU have absolute control over everything that happens, so any failure is YOUR fault, and poor people are losers. We had to idolise the platinum member that brought us all together because he was like Jesus. We were all his minions and he was a celebrity (a 30yo loser who had absolutely no friends except his MLM downlines). He bragged about his international trips that Amway afforded him, and told us all how poor people suck and university is a waste of time. The whole vibe was “always grinding” and other lame motivational quotes for people that have no talent but want to make bank.
After a while they realised I was not dedicated. Truthfully, I never gave a crap about the business no matter how hard I tried. I just wanted friends, and they exploited that. It was painful to get out of my contract and I was literally SHUNNED by the community when I left. I could not believe how iced out I was. It feels almost like religious trauma, because of how horrible I felt about myself during and after. Being autistic I am used to not fitting the mould society creates for us, but the cult-like structure of Amway amplified that by the thousands and I felt ashamed that I could not conform to their idea of success. I couldn’t alienate my friends or family like they demanded. I have enough trouble with social cues and knowing when people are being friendly, so I’m embarrassed I misconstrued that initial “friendship”.
Also, big red flags they are recruiting underage people. Most of my cohort were school kids! Same age as me or younger. It’s horrifying.
I recommend readingthis page that draws comparisons of cultism to Amway.
https://redd.it/1b1ldfy
@antimlms
aggressive monat girl
https://redd.it/1b1hg96
@antimlms
Colorstreet hun math
https://redd.it/1b1dfr8
@antimlms
Wife is in it
I'm not sure if this is the right place but here goes.
My wife has been getting into some stuff in the last 5 months and I didn't know how bad it was till tonight. The following is sort of a rant but I'm looking for advice.
Business:
She wants to be an entrepreneur so she has paid a guy to tell her about business and the secrets therein. This guy has his minions and she sits on calls with hundreds of people while this guy or his minions answer questions about all these entrepreneurs businesses. She's been led to believe that you have to spend/invest money to make money, you gotta act like the CEO of a $2M company and the revenue will come later. If your friends/family question thr spend then they aren't forward thinkers.
How can she be so blind? If you had the secrets to being a gazillionaire, why would you give them away? Unless getting suckers to pay for the secret is how you become a gazillionare. Also, that's not how the economy works. Statistically, not everyone that can afford this class can become a millionaire. And if you don't reach your goals, I bet it's not the programs fault, I bet she didn't do the program right, and I bet there's a follow up program to purchase that will help.
Business Again:
I think the first business thing springboard her into this one. She has paid for another class to teach her about the subconscious mind. She intends to use this knowledge in her entrepreneurship to, I guess, hypnotize people in some way. Or perhaps use hypnotic language to try and close clients? I dunno, it's confusing. But she's been doing these classes and told me that she has trained her subconscious mind to not want a beer at the end of the day and if there are any habits that I want to be rid of, to tell her and she can make them disappear.
Human Design:
Tonight we got into a fight because she wants to alternate sleeping in the guest room. I think this will severely diminish intimacy considering that she is proposing to sleep in separate beds for the rest of our lives. Eventually she tells me that she is a insert human design category and I am a insert human design category and that sleeping in thr same bed sucks her of energy. This is when I realized it isn't just something she is into but it is affecting our marriage.
Family:
I brought this up to her family and they didn't realize it was such a problem. In doing so, i found out her father is paying thousands a month for these courses because she knew I wouldn't let it hit the family budget. Her family was fixing to stage some sort of intervention but instead sent her sister up from AZ to talk with her.
Based on their discussion it seems that there is no problem, that this is who she is now. Later she told me how angry she was that they would send a liason to discuss their concerns for her.
Comclusion:
It seems she is more interested in growing her business, burning sage, reading tarot cards, hiding crustals around the house, and learning about the subconscious mind than she is about spending time with her husband and 2 small children. She wants to have riches that are generated from her automated, class-based business, so she can quit her day job. I can't go to the gym or do anything because she is incapable of watching our kids by herself because they suck the energy put of her.
I dont known if there is fixing it but advice would be greatly appreciated. Is this marriage salvageable?
https://redd.it/1b14yu5
@antimlms
Whelp I tried
Friend's wife posted how she was proud to announce she's now a brand ambassador for Melaleuca and to reach out to her so she can tell you more about how great the products are.
She's not a health freak but in her defense mentions from time to time how most off the shelf laundry detergents and cleaning products irritate her eyes, skins, respiratory system. Her life situation has all the trappings of a perfect MLM target. Husband became a born-again Christian a few years ago. He's very invested in going to church and whatnot. 2 little kids go to elementary school at the church. Their combined income has prohibited them from moving out of his parent's house despite them being in their 30s & 40s. His parents are also extremely toxic individuals. So she is always looking at any way to get their family into a better living situation which I think anyone can respect. But here we are where she's hocking Melaleuca. So I left the below comment on her FB post. I think it was well worded and compassionate. She blocked me without saying anything. O well.
​
>It's great that you have found a product that works. And I fully understand your desire to find any way to bring in income for you and your family. But I am telling you from the bottom of my heart, this isn't the way. Run, don't walk, from this.
>
>If by Melaleuca, you are referring to Melaleuca Wellness Company, is a unequivocally a Multi-level marketing scheme aka pyramid scheme. While you might not have to carry inventory like a typical MLM, you are incentivized to get people to become members themselves and use your referral link in order to do so. Then every time they make a purchase, you receive a commission. And this trickles down to whoever they might sign up and trickles up to whoever signed you up gets a commission on everything you buy. Factor in minimum orders amounts per month to maintain membership and other tiers to receive various commissions, they are forcing you into a perpetual spending cycle just like all MLMs do, As much as this company claims they are not an MLM, it's only to deceive people who have been burned by other MLMs to sign up for this one.
>
>While, I'm not sure exactly what products of theirs you are using, the ones that have been rated by EWG are all god awful and bad for health.
>
>https://www.ewg.org/guides/brand/2749-Melaleuca/
>
>I understand how hard it is to find products that don't cause irritation and discomfort. But I promise you that if arm yourself with the right knowledge, you can certainly find other products out there that don't carry predatory sales tactics
>
>You're a strong person and you should be offended by whoever referred you. That person is not your friend. MLMs prey on people they think have financial issues or perceive as easily manipulated. MLMs are typically most popular in church groups military spousal groups where they try and give off this sense of shared community and "you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours."
>
>Video:
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcBWEt7KjJ4
>
>Tons of reddit posts in an Anti-MLM group:
>
>https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/search/?q=Melaleuca...
>
>I hope you truly take the time to read/watch all this. I didn't write this for my health or because I'm bored. MLMs are the scourge of society and I will always try and educate friends on this before it's too late. Knowledge is power.
​
​
https://redd.it/1b0w4bm
@antimlms
Preparing for an arbonne proposal
A bunch of moms in my friend circle are getting into arbonne. None of them have proposed it to me so far, but I’ve just received a message from a person I used to be super close with. She sent me a really nice message, and it was good to hear from her but i will bet money on her following it up with trying to get me into her arbonne scheme.
How should I respond?
https://redd.it/1b0tk2b
@antimlms
Immigrant Day and Primerica
https://redd.it/1b0lxzj
@antimlms
The Venn Diagram of MLM Huns, conspiracy seekers, god botherers/cultists, the desperately undereducated, those without a trace of critical thought, is a single, sold circle.
https://redd.it/1b0jum7
@antimlms
Modere Hun in My Newsfeed
https://redd.it/1b0j3hx
@antimlms
License plate frames, now.
https://redd.it/1b0hck9
@antimlms
Made a silly TikTok video wondering where Monat girls. I summoned them and I’ve been called poor, tagged on videos, blocked by many and harassed in the last 24 hours 🤣🤣
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPR3pmo1M/
https://redd.it/1b08k3r
@antimlms
A friend has fallen for it, I tried but I don't know how to break it to her
https://redd.it/1b074ih
@antimlms
forgot to post an update on the sacrificial Mardi Gras LLR leggings
https://redd.it/1b04vmy
@antimlms
Follow up to my post from yesterday. The company is Xcelerate.
https://redd.it/1b01mm8
@antimlms
With Thrive, you can maintain and brag about your oddly specific weight of 207lbs every day.
https://redd.it/1azw3l0
@antimlms
How much does one need?
https://redd.it/1b1j2g7
@antimlms
should i be ashamed that i wear these regularly?
https://redd.it/1b1hori
@antimlms
the latest Finmore/TranzactCard compensation plan: totally not a pyramid scheme #antimlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL9nWS_esfk
https://redd.it/1b0z63a
@antimlms
My city is infested with these.
https://redd.it/1b0vxqg
@antimlms
MLM baiting?
My wife and I both live in Utah, and we both have been approached multiple times while shopping at various places individually.
We were joking about what we'd do or say the next time we were approached. Then it popped into my head. I think it's be funny to go to target/Walmart with the intention of being targeted by mlmers. We could record it (Utah is a one party consent state).
So my question for you guys: if we did that, what would you say or do if you successfully ran into an MLMer?
https://redd.it/1b0o5ju
@antimlms
I’ve just found out that my new job is for an MLM - I feel conflicted - should I quit?
Sorry for the long post TL;DR: After a long job search I have finally gotten a digital marketing job only to realise the weekend after accepting that the company is an MLM.
I’ve been trying to get an entry level marketing job since the New Year after completing a marketing course. With the state of the economy and job market atm it’s been really hard. Allot of the entry level jobs and even internships are looking for prior experience or a degree in a related field (which I don’t have).
All that is to say when I finally got an interview and then a job offer I was over the moon. After nearly 2 months of sending out close to 10 job applications a day 5 days a week on top of working full time in hospitality it had finally paid off.
The Job: Digital Marketing Assistant at Tropic Skincare.
Admittedly I probably should have done more due diligence but given how many jobs I was applying to I didn’t really have the time to do a deep dive into every single company that I was applying to. I did check out the listing and about us page on the website and neither of them gave an indication that it was an MLM. I feel so stupid because I’ve been investors on the anti-MLM community since University - I even did a whole presentation on the cult like aspects of MLMs. I also feel lied to because the language used made it seem like a small up and coming brand and the founder and CEO is an ex Apprentice contestant and getting and investment from Lord Sugar gave me a false sense of security I guess.
But then this weekend I was doing food sampling at work and was taking some of our plant based options around the Vegan Market and noticed that one of the vendors was selling Tropic Skincare. That’s struck me as weird and in conflict with what I thought that I knew about the company. Knowing what I know about MLMs that immediately sent the alarm bells ringing and when I got home I immediately came to the is it an MLM master post and lo and behold it’s an MLM.
I still have to work out my notice period so my start date isn’t until 11/03. I feel really conflicted because on the one hand I’m not feeding directly into the exploitation because I’m not directly recruiting people. But on the other hand I’m still profiting from the exploitation of people who are being recruited and promoting the brand to people. No matter which angle you look at it I feel sick to my stomach either at the prospect of having to try and find another job/having to stay in my shitty dead end hospitality job. Or the prospect of working for and promoting an MLM.
https://redd.it/1b0l45w
@antimlms
I thought she was asking me out 😭
https://redd.it/1b0lo84
@antimlms
This is my local Herbalife scam
https://redd.it/1b0huzz
@antimlms
Just want to thank everyone here
My just turned 18 son is finishing his senior year in high school and working part time at a grocery store.
Last week a customer attempted to recruit him to Primerica. Last night he told me that going on Reddit and seeing all the "Run" conversations convinced him it was a terrible idea.
https://redd.it/1b0gkr2
@antimlms
Ew its infiltrated my apartment complex
https://redd.it/1b07pso
@antimlms
They never spell check
https://redd.it/1b069xl
@antimlms
Is doterra just a MLM or a pyramid scheme?
I’ve seen people saying it’s NOT a scheme but my mom is working for them and she barely gets paid and she spends around 600$ a month on it. She’s like a walking ad towards everyone in the family. She wears merch and is her whole lifestyle. She’s been working there for a year and only makes around 50-60$ per month from them sometimes.
https://redd.it/1b01nld
@antimlms
Hun, it’s the “magic juice.”
https://redd.it/1azxe8v
@antimlms
The “side biz” that many Huns are apparently flocking to. It’s paidperletter.com & localcitybusiness.com, that are hiding under the umbrella name of “Send it.” Anyone who joins this obvious pyramid scheme is asking to be scammed, IMO.
https://redd.it/1azs0z4
@antimlms