I Was a Bad MLM Hun
But it wasn’t like I was entirely to blame.
These days I’m firmly in the Anti-MLM camp, but that wasn’t always the case. I was a consultant for two different MLM companies and one that I joined twice. Multi-level Marketing companies, direct sales, network marketing, or whatever you want to call them. They’ve always been part of my life. My mother sold Tupperware for a few years in the 1970s, before I was born and early in my life. I inherited the items my grandmother purchased to support my mother’s business. I remember someone coming to the house, selling Avon products. I had this cute little teddy bear pin as a kid, and I loved it until I lost it. In college, I had friends who invited me to Mary Kay parties. I even had my own Mary Kay party in my first apartment. As a younger adult, I went to my landlord’s Pampered Chef, Party Lite, and other, now out of business, companies. It was no surprise that I eventually joined one myself.
Mary Kay
I started with Mary Kay. I was broke after my first winter on my own at my first full-time job. I had such a high heating bill that I had needed to get a second job, but it was exhausting to work seven days a week. I fell for the lie that I could set my own schedule, do part-time work, and make money. I picked Mary Kay after researching other companies. I knew I wanted something consumable so people would have to buy more of what they liked. I asked the companies questions like how they would help me make quotas. Nobody had good answers. One director simply told me, “Oh, we’ll make sure!” Mary Kay had an established reputation and, even though I signed up with someone in another state, they found someone local who would train me.
I only wanted to make less than three hundred dollars a month. I wanted to make sure my future heating bills would be covered. I wanted to make sure I could pay rent and bills without living paycheck to paycheck. I wasn’t looking to recruit or make so much that I could leave my full-time job. I didn’t know that more than 97% of consultants won’t even make $300 in a year. Mary Kay expects you to hold an inventory of make-up, so you end up paying to build that inventory without the hope of selling it.
I was lucky and didn’t lose money. My money situation got better, and I made changes to realize that I didn’t need the extra income anymore. I was able to return my inventory to make back some of what I had spent. I knew when I was done that I would never make money in an MLM. I assumed it was me. I bought into the lie that you have to work it. The reality is that the system is stacked against you. You have an overly expensive product, so your up-line can be paid. Nobody cares about market saturation, so you have growing competition. If you don’t turn into the recruiter and sell “the opportunity,” then you’ll never get anywhere close to a livable wage. It was the website The Pink Truth that helped open my eyes to the unethical behavior behind the scenes, and I refused to work for Mary Kay ever again.
Thirty-One Gifts — Part 1
I continued to support friends who sold from MLMs. I didn’t think the companies were the problem. I thought I was not motivated enough and didn’t have a larger circle of friends to make it work. I joined Thirty-One Gifts because I liked their bags and wanted the discount to buy more. I found them because I was, again, new to an area. I didn’t need the money, but the bags were nice. I have a tote bag and organization obsession. This was one company guaranteed to pull me in. Instead of hosting a party, knowing I may not have enough people interested in these items, I decided to join and use it as a way to get gifts for friends and family.
I did a handful of parties for friends who asked me to, but I always breezed over or skipped the recruiting part. I wasn’t trying to make money or grow a business. I was feeding my own needs. I reached my limit within a few years. I had purchased all the things I could ever want for myself, irritated that they kept changing patterns and items. When my friends went to other consultants to host parties, I knew I had hit the wall instead of coming to me. The market saturation in my area had started. I sold the small stock of items I didn’t want and walked away.
Thirty-One Gifts — Part 2
I did come back to Thirty-One Gifts. I knew I would because I liked the bags. I bought the kit from a friend who had started it herself and bought some items until I had everything I needed again. Even at this point, I thought I was the problem with MLMs. I thought I didn’t have a large enough circle to sell items. I had never seen any negative information about this company, so it didn’t dawn on me that the system was always stacked against someone like me. I wasn’t willing to cold call people, sell the opportunity, or constantly work my business.
The truth is that I should have seen it when my friends had multiple consultants they could have parties with. MLMs continue to be on the fringes of my life, but as I get older, my friends have learned the same lessons I have. They realize they will be in the 97% who don’t make enough to pay for their inventory, even with steep discounts for consultants. They’ve learned there’s no such thing as part-time work for full-time money. They’ve realized that bringing in other consultants hurts everyone’s chances of success.
I look around my house and see the remnants of these companies. I use Pampered Chef in my kitchen all the time. Half my tote bags, purses, and organization tools are from Thirty-One Gifts. I have planners from Tula XII, Mary Kay supplies, jewelry from Stella Dot, candle holders from Party Lite, leggings from Lula Roe, and Tupperware that’s older than me. I doubt more will come into the house. I know better now, and I hope to help others understand that as well.
