I'm just here to write a post and tell some stories!
I was wholly unprepared to "run my own business." I had no start-up income (your consultant buys those samples to give out for free), I knew basically no one, I had no vehicle (I did have my boyfriend drive me in to a single meeting...that was the night I broke up with him), and a full schedule.
This was a time when Facebook was in its infancy. MySpace was the ruler and Twitter hadn't even been created yet! My "upline" gave me a folder full of CDs to use for training. I was flying blind and started out $99 in the hole. (The cost of a start up kit)
Needless to say, it was a painful learning experience. I walked away several hundred dollars poorer. My upline was hard to get in touch with and my "team upline" (or whatever it's called) wasn't personable and seemed irritated to be dealing with a kid.
It made me wary of trying an MLM again.
It wasn't until my second son was born (so, around 2011) I discovered Team Beachbody.
Now, at the time it was still a newish company. P90X wasn't quite a household name yet, but it was getting there. They had 2 flavors of Shakeology and neither were vegan. (And the greenberry was pretty gross)
But I was doing well losing weight and inspiring others on my own. A (now) friend approached me and told me I was "acting like a coach" and should be getting paid for it.
So I signed up.
Overall, it was a good experience. I walked away with LOTS of new friends and a lot of neat memories.
But I also came away bitter.