melindasgravesite

[melindasgravesite]

This is the type of things consultants tell themselves, each other, and anyone who will listen about the MLM business model. Here’s what they don’t tell you:

That 5 figure/month income? It’s not going to happen, unless you got in at the start of the company. The market is now so over-saturated, and the pyramid nature of the MLM model makes it almost impossible to climb ranks enough to start making a liveable income. 

If you do climb rank, you have to keep re-earning it every month through sales and/or commission from your downline. Imagine a job where you received a promotion, but started back at the bottom at the beginning of every month. Consultants will tout this as “motivation” to keep pushing sales and encouraging their downline. 

Car bonuses are only given to a minority of successfully ranking consultants. The “bonus” is only given out monthly, and is the equivalent of one car payment. This means if you don’t make rank the next month, and can’t make the car payment on your own, your pink Cadillac is being repossessed. 

Having your choice of sick days and hours may technically be true, as it is for any real small business... but this “job” doesn’t give you any paid sick time or even health benefits. Former MLM consultants (successful and otherwise) have admitted that they had to spend 80-100 hours a week on their business in order to make sales and keep their downlines active. 

The 5 figure income/month promise isn’t just misleading, it’s predatory. FTC’s research into the matter concluded that 99% of MLM distributors make less than $13 a week. A similar study found that 96% of Arbonne consultants don’t make any profit at all. 

These losses of the majority are transferred to less than 1% of the successful consultants and CEOs, thanks to the pyramid nature of the MLM model. These people’s incomes come directly from the loss and debt of others. 

These are the plain facts and statistics. Those who claim you can make five figures per month (and those who claim they make that much) are preying on you in an attempt to climb rank and make money from your inevitable losses. 

Sources and more info:

The Pink Truth, a blog exposing the realities of Mary Kay. http://www.pinktruth.com/mary-kay-facts/myth-of-mlm-income-opportunity-99-lose-money-in-mlm/

A Case (for and) Against Multi-Level Marketing, by Jon Taylor of the Consumer Awareness Institute. https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_comments/trade-regulation-rule-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-ftc.r511993-00008%C2%A0/00008-57281.pdf

[melindasgravesite]

Cook yourself alive, now two for the price of one!

A few things to address here. First of all, healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. To lose 17 lbs in 19 days would need to involve starving yourself and shitting your brains out, simultaneously. Which probably wouldn’t be hard with these pills - most It Works weight loss pills are known to cause fiery diarrhea (explained by the consultants as “your body detoxing”).

Secondly, raising your core body temperature is extremely dangerous and deadly. There was once a weight loss pill in circulation that actually did this, known as DNP, that caused many deaths. This is because your body’s core temperature is a very delicate balance, and raising it even a little bit causes the bonds between proteins, DNA, and other molecules to break apart. People literally cooked themselves alive. If this pill actually does this, it is cause for extreme alarm.

Finally, those foot tattoos. Need I say more?

Sources and more info:

DNP: the return of a deadly weight loss drug. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2014/feb/06/dnp-deadly-weight-loss-drug-science-history

CDC weight loss recommendations. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html

[melindasgravesite]

This is what happens when an MLM goes under. They leave their consultants and customers in the dust with no regard to ethics, morals, or even legality. They are often non-sustainable business models by nature (with obvious exceptions, like Mary Kay), and they don’t care. Even higher-up consultants can be hung to dry in cases like this, suddenly without income and nothing to show for their years of work for these companies.

[melindasgravesite]

LulaRoe is going under, but many consultants are still somehow drinking the flavouraid.

LulaRoe’s founders, Mark and Deanne Stindham, have been accused of not paying suppliers and creating shell companies to hide assets. His ex-designer, Patrick Winget, has stated in court that Mark has told him he plans to leave in his jet to an unknown location to avoid debts. He has recently bought multiple cars worth millions of dollars despite owing their suppliers $49 million, as well as multiple millions owed to consultants as a result of Mark’s 100% refund clause. Mark retracted this clause in late 2017 after a mass exodus of LuLaRoe consultants due to an over-saturated market, reduced clothing quality, and the inability to choose their patterns resulting in too much immovable stock.

Retracting the policy left thousands of consultants with mass amounts of unsellable retail, as they were encouraged in the beginning to buy multiple sizes of every pattern and style. They were told there was no risk to doing this, due to the 100% refund policy. Some consultants now have up to $40,000 in retail sitting in their homes, a terrible consequence of bad financial advice and naïveté.

The court has recently ordered the Stindhams assets be seized as he is considered a flight risk. It is upsetting to see some consultants still standing by him and his scam company, when he wouldn’t bat an eye about leaving them thousands in debt while he flies out of the continent on his private jet.

Sources and more info:

https://www.businessinsider.com/lularoe-lawsuit-supplier-demands-assets-after-ceos-alleged-threats-2018-12

https://www.inquisitr.com/5195440/lularoe-is-under-fire/

Patrick Winget’s statement can be found here: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/22663998/Emma_Heinichen_et_al_v_LuLaRoe,_LLC_et_al

[melindasgravesite]

Young living is selling essential oil ingestibles for pets now. As if these people feeding EOs to their children unmonitored wasn’t bad enough.

Essential oils should never be ingested without the recommendation, direction, and regular supervision of a trained aromatherapist or trained doctor or nurse (NOT the MLM distributors who may masquerade themselves under names like “certified health consultants”). EOs need to be ingested with a digestible transport, that allows it to get into the bloodstream. Even then, there are many contraindications, including (but not limited to): metabolism rate, allergies, medications, and many chronic diseases.

Many of the Young Living and DoTerra consultants will insist you can put these in your water and directly into your cooking. This only serves to burn your throat and make your body sensitized to the chemical components of the oils. Yes, there are chemical components to any essential oils, even those who claim to be “pure” and “certified pure therapeutic grade”, (a claim from DoTerra which, by the way, means nothing). Then, when you come in contact with other foods that contain those same components, it can cause an allergic reaction, migraine, or worse.

If you’re really interested in what essential oils can do for your well being, it’s best to consult a certified aromatherapist. Otherwise, you risk unwanted interactions and possible health consequences. And know that MLM essential oils are no different from any other kind you can buy in the store. None are regulated by the FDA, so again, best to contact an aromatherapist.

Sources and more information:

Essential Oil Safety: A Guide For Healthcare Professionals by Tisserand and Young.

Are Essential Oils Safe? By the University of Manitoba. https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/aromatherapy/are-essential-oils-safe