I'm going to preface this post by saying these experiences are mine. If you're part of a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) organization and happy with your choice? You do you. I was fairly happy for a couple of years and then I figured out it just wasn't for me.
I'm just here to write a post and tell some stories!
I'm just here to write a post and tell some stories!
My first foray into the MLM world was in 2005. At the young age of 18 I became a Mary Kay consultant... and promptly left for college.
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.
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.
I found myself surrounded (online mostly) by people who considered fitness to be a passion.
Let's be straight: Fitness and I used to be friends...now we're barely on a first name basis.
There is no love there.
But I tried. I threw myself into the health and fitness world. It, honestly, screwed with me mentally (and I can blog about that if you're interested)
I remember passing on a "build your business" Facebook group because it ran during November and I was planning to pause my "business" to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I caught flak for not being invested enough and not "treating it like a business."
That should have been one of the final straws, but it wasn't.
No, that came when I had a house full of people for Christmas as well as sick children. I was in danger of losing my "active" status because my point had dropped (don't ask, just go with it) and when I cited being busy I was basically told "Some of us have found a way to make our business a priority."
That was my lightbulb moment.
It wasn't my priority. And if that's the way I was supposed to view it, I wasn't going to do it anymore.
I was done pretending.
I quit. I wish I could say I didn't look back but that would be a lie. These businesses know what they're doing when it comes to drawing people in. I've gone back and forth over several MLM businesses over the last several years but each time I remember that's not me.
Let's be straight: Fitness and I used to be friends...now we're barely on a first name basis.
There is no love there.
But I tried. I threw myself into the health and fitness world. It, honestly, screwed with me mentally (and I can blog about that if you're interested)
I remember passing on a "build your business" Facebook group because it ran during November and I was planning to pause my "business" to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I caught flak for not being invested enough and not "treating it like a business."
That should have been one of the final straws, but it wasn't.
No, that came when I had a house full of people for Christmas as well as sick children. I was in danger of losing my "active" status because my point had dropped (don't ask, just go with it) and when I cited being busy I was basically told "Some of us have found a way to make our business a priority."
That was my lightbulb moment.
It wasn't my priority. And if that's the way I was supposed to view it, I wasn't going to do it anymore.
I was done pretending.
I quit. I wish I could say I didn't look back but that would be a lie. These businesses know what they're doing when it comes to drawing people in. I've gone back and forth over several MLM businesses over the last several years but each time I remember that's not me.
This has gotten a lot more wordy than I anticipated so I'm going to end it here. If you'd like to see more on this topic be sure and tell me in the comments below!
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