Life After MLM

Nineteen years ago Marc and Claire Headley escaped Scientology, the cult they had grown up in, and started their journey to real freedom. In Part 1 of our conversation with special guest host Michelle Carpenter, Marc and Claire share about their lives climbing the bridge, their early advocacy, South Park, how Xenu gets a bad rap and a possible answer to the question that's been asked for 18 years;...

Gina Pezzullo has a unique perspective when it comes to MLMs and utilizing social media. Back when she first joined in 2001, smart phones, apps and social media didn't exist. In fact, parties were local, in home and came with forms to fill out while you shopped. One single bounced check or declined credit card could wreak havoc on the hostess's entire party. It was a stark contrast to the highly a...

While browsing the posts on Bluesky, Michelle stumbled across a post for a short film using #antimlm called The Downline. We decided to watch it on Patreon and after I decided to reach out to the filmmaker, Rachel Weatherly and ask her to come chat about her films The Downline and The Hun, her inspirations for the films, her own MLM experiences and what's next for Poppy the Megahun. Show Notes Con...

It's Valentine's Day AND Life After MLM's 3rd birthday! So to celebrate, we've got a bonus episode loaded with Romance Scam Horror Stories and Red Flag Education. Today's stories were compiled from Reddit's Scam Subthread, articles on Romance Scams, the FTC and LAMLM listener, Jolie! Have a safe Valentine's Day and don't fall for a romance scammer! Show Notes Reddit Story #1 Reddit Story #2 Georgi...

Back during the pandemic, I got hooked on a reality show called Love is Blind, I couldn't get enough. But as the seasons progressed, there was a level of concern that turned my watching into more of a fascination than fandom. So when Nick Thompson, star of Season 2, started comparing the show to a cult in the media and describing a level of control I could definitely relate to, I knew we had a lot...

One of the biggest content requests on my social media has been to collaborate with Hannah Alonzo. So I sent her a message and she was happy to oblige! If you aren't familiar with Hannah (or her cat Zeke!) get ready to fall in love with one of the most compassionate AntiMLM content creators on YouTube. In our conversation we talk about how far AntiMLM has come, Family Vloggers, what it's like to l...

Everyone loves an Amway episode, and this chat with Darren Mudd is no exception. As our deep dive into Amway in Season 4 is just getting started, we meet Darren who tells us about being an Ambot in the UK, recruiting at University, and the DTI investigation against Amway. Plus we dip our toes into the conversation about cyrpto and around scamming and scambaiting. Stay tuned at the end for a bit of...

Heather Tobin has been involved with MLM one way or another for the past 33 years. The farther Heather got away from The MLM Complex, the easier it was for her to see connections between the business model and the stress, depression, anxiety, and other issues she was facing. Now, as a mental health advocate she looks back on her time in MLM with a clearer eye and understanding of the systemic ways...

Dr. Amy Saltzman spent over 30 years with a Life Coach who kept her controlled within an intricate web of lies. Once the psychologist read the results of an incredibly thorough mental health evaluation, it was only then that Dr. Amy could see every silvery thread her spider had woven. In the years since, Amy has made it her life's work to help us "Spot a Spider" and see the red flags of undue infl...

*Content Warning : This episode talks about child abuse, disordered eating and suicide attempts in detail. Please use caution when listening to these sensitive subjects.* Kelli Copter was declared a Suppressive Person at age 6. The Church of Scientology told her parents to handle her or disconnect from her, and so the handling lasted 10 years until at 16 Kelli was kicked out of her house and the d...

Thanks Russ for the inspiration to do my first Best of 2023 clip show! This year was FILLED with some of the best and most amazing chats we've ever had on LAMLM and it was so hard to choose! Thank you to everyone who responded to my call to action and sent me in their favorite episodes, moments, and guests! I am so thankful to every single person who has ever supported the show and this is a fun w...

In the liminal space between Christmas and New Year's it's best to just have fun and keep it low stress! So.... remember my Holiday Magic record? It's time to break it out and break it down with our TRIPLE Emerald Princess of Robots, Michelle Carpenter! Plus some sneak peeks for 2024, and what we've got in store for the LAMLM Community!! Show Notes Holiday Magic Record Cover A not so Magical Holid...

It's our Christmas episode!!! Back in our live episode from Dallas, I mentioned The Body Shop at Home being an MLM to the shock of most of the live audience and teased that we had an episode coming up soon... Well this is that episode!!! Jules is joining us all the way from Down Under in Sydney, to talk about the MLMs that plague the Outback and what these scams look like in Australia. Show Notes...

For 10 years Brandie Hadfield found herself on the hamster wheel of her MLM, trying to make sense of it all. It wasn't until the middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic and seeing the disgusting predatory nature of MLM with her own eyes that she decided to ask more questions and look for the answers herself. In our chat we discuss the seldom recognized unfair advantages in MLM, your MLM cult identity and...

Are you enjoying Holiday Magic so far? Today we're headed to Church with The Reverend Jen and King James of the wildly popular YouTube channel Fundie Fridays! In our chat we talk about the similarities between our missions, our thoughts on the Duggars, Sister Wives, Purity Culture and all the MLM parties they've been to. Plus we chat a bit about some of the history, loopholes and economic implicat...

After 14 years in Amway, Meggan decided this year, that she needed to leave. Spending her young adult years in Amway had a profound impact on Meggan and her ability to "adult" and function in normal society outside of the cult. It wasn't until a tragic accident, and the resulting behavior of the higher ups in her LOA that Meggan found herself questioning the motivation of authority and the demand...

Have you met Ashley? She's a lot in the best way, and since we both have podcasts about cults and scams, I thought she might wanna come on and make some content together. We talk about everything under the sun, from our own f*cked up experiences to creepy holiday festivals and the cult of being a Swiftie. This episode is a little all over the place and has a bit of something for anyone that's ever...

Welcome to Day 1 of Holiday Magic! And what better person to help welcome in the month long of fun, than The Dream's Jane Marie! I know the impact that The Dream and Jane's work had on my journey out of MLM, so I can only imagine what the movement has experienced! Jane and I have a fun chat about the early days of AntiMLM, her time at This American Life, The DSA & The BIG Baddies of MLM, and w...

Sending out Cultvember in STYLE! Have you seen the two new docuseries on Twin Flames Universe? They are a must watch for anyone who is a fan of cults getting exposed. The shows follow some of the victims of TFU as they tell their stories from their time inside the community and the dangerous advice being given inside the organization. Being familiar with this sort of thing, I decided to join the F...

*Content Warning : In this episode we discuss excommunication, death and suicide. Please use discretion when listening.* Liz Gale was born a 3rd Generation Scientologist. In fact, her family was into Scientology, before it was ever called Scientology. From the moment Liz's grandmother picked up that copy of Dianetics, it set her family on a tragic trajectory until Liz herself decided to break the...

*This episode discusses many heavy topics, including child abuse; including descriptions of abuse, starvation, sexual assault and suicidal ideas and actions. PLEASE use discretion when listening.* When I first started looking into Scientology stories that needed to be told, Michelle asked me if I knew about Liz Ferris and the story of her dad Bob Ferris. You see, Scientology is really good at a co...

Our first Scientology episode of the Cultvember season! Meet Alex, who was previously the Director of Public Book Sales at the Church of Scientology London, until he was kicked out and labeled a ‘Trouble Source". Which works perfectly because I have a lot of questions and Alex is here to let us know what's up with the whole MLMy side hustle of book sales in CoS. Along the way we break down Alex's...

*Content Warning : This episode discusses topics such as death, cult indoctrination and child abuse. Please use discretion when listening.* As we move out of Evangelicalism and into Scientology, Marilyn Honig is the perfect guest to bridge the gap. Raised in trauma, Marilyn started her life as a Lost Child, falling between the cracks in the systems put in place to help her. She ended up being adop...

*Content Warning : In this episode we discuss child abuse openly, sharing our personal experiences and stories. Please use discretion when listening.* In continuing our evangelical education for Cult Month, I couldn't leave out a discussion about Bill Gothard, IBLP and the normalization of child abuse at his hands. And there was no other person who came to mind to discuss this topic besides Lindse...

We're LIVE from Dallas, Texas! Come hang out with us and meet Kathy, a woman who answered an Instagram post and ended up sitting next to me on stage, recording this podcast in front of a live audience! Talk about being put on the spot! But Kathy is an incredible sport as she tells us about growing up Baptist, joining the ICoC in grad school, and trying her hand at Beauty Counter, all before facing...