Life After MLM

*This episode discusses topics that may be triggering to some including, purity culture, sex and sexuality. Please use descretion when listening.* Sam reached out to me to add another level of understanding to the complicated topic of Purity Culture and how those teachings in our childhood affect us and our choices as adults. Our conversation leads us down a path filled with soapboxes, empowerment...

Steve joined Amway over 20 years ago, as a young naive man, looking for a steady income. Back then he was focus on building his products business, eventually making it to Emerald, but not seeing the same profits from others around him who had more of a "Tools" focus. It wasn't until Steve started asking questions nobody wanted to answer that he started taking a closer look at where the money was c...

Growing up in the Grand Rapids Michigan area, Amway is a part of every day normal life. Even if you're not a fan, it's almost literally impossible not to support the company in some way. From the medical research facilities, to the concert halls and arenas, the Devos/Van Andel family have made their mark on West Michigan in more ways than one. Emma shares some of her experiences growing up surroun...

*This episode includes conversations about Purity Culture, sex and the AIDS crisis and is considered 18+ in content. Please use discretion when listening.* I never thought in a million years that I would be making an episode on Life After MLM about sex, but when Pastor Rob reached out to me to agree with my takes on the dangers of Purity Culture and how he can use the bible to prove it, I jumped a...

If you know your LuLaHistory you know Courtney Harwood, the first "mentor" to leave featured in both LuLaRich and the Vice Documentary. A sit down with Courtney is probably one of my most requested interviews and it wasn't until recently that we could really find the time to make that happen. It's been almost 2 years since LuLaRich dropped and I wanted to catch up, put some rumors to rest, get the...

As a self proclaimed "MLM Addict in Recovery", Cindy Adams has jumped through a lot of hoops in the name of Boss Babery. From attending to many in-home parties to count, to traveling internationally across the country, she's made a lot of Hunbot level choices. So when she reached out with a story about almost getting roped into Amway as a teen, (and that's just the beginning!) I knew we had to cha...

*Content Warning : This episode talks about The No Name Fellowship and discusses the death of a child, among other cult abuses. Please use discretion when listening.* Shortly after Stacey's episode came out I got an email from another survivor of the "No Name Fellowship" who had even more to add to the story. With very little information about this group out there, any additional pieces to the puz...

Have you ever heard a Hun proclaim they owned their own business, with silently screaming inside that joining an MLM isn't the same thing as being a business owner? Have you ever been curious about some of the less obvious things a real small business owner would be concerned about that might never cross the mind of someone in an MLM? Well you're in luck! Olivia is an internal auditor by trade, wh...

A couple months ago, Russ came to me with an idea I fully supported; attending a motivational coaching seminar with a starry-eyed friend to keep him safe from being scammed. Spending a good chunk of change on the largest VIP ticket, he agreed to keep his eyes peeled, take notes and report back, but Russ's expectation verses his reality were two entirely different things. Show Notes Aspire Tour - h...

*Content Warning: This episode deals with Medical Child Abuse, including examples and descriptions of actual abuse in MbP cases. Please use caution when listening.*  In continuing our education into the exploitation of children, I invited my friend Andrea Dunlop on the show to open up the conversation about Medical Child Abuse. Andrea is the host of the podcast Nobody Should Believe Me which deal...

*Content Warning : This episode deals with heavy topics such as religious trauma, mentions of child abuse, trafficking and SA allegations, and domestic violence. Please use caution when listening.* Nikieta and Asha were both members of ICOC, or The International Churches of Christ - a dangerous religious cult with ties to child abuse and running a religious pyramid scheme. Both were young women en...

Sarah joined Scentsy because she wanted a family vacation, and somehow found herself in the owner's direct downline, without much help or guidance. As Sarah climbed the ranks to SuperStar Consultant she started to noticed something fishy, consultants breaking the rules, out spending each other on stock, buying ranks, and literally faking it until they make it. When she experiences some huge life c...

In the Amazon Prime Video DocuSeries Shiny Happy People we meet Tara and Floyd Oathout, two former homeschoolers whose love story started in the electronics section at Walmart. I was instantly charmed by their sarcastic wit and loving banter and knew they had a much bigger story than the show had room for. Through amazing adversity, and over coming some of the darkest times at true rock bottom, th...

*This episode contains topics that may be triggering to some, including religious trauma, purity culture, infertility and sex education. Please use discretion when listening.* Growing up as the only daughter in a deeply religious Baptist home was an interesting experience for Kendyl. Her father was strict and adhered to the principles of Christian "Purity Culture", a fact made evident to her by al...

Before Kristin Hoffman made her name as "Baker Bettie", she was fresh out of culinary school and looking for her dream job. One day she happened upon a Craigslist Ad that seemed too good to be true (as they often are) and took a chance on a family needing a private chef for a child with a special needs diet. But what Kristin signed up for and what Kristin actually got, were two very different scen...

*Content Warning - This episode contains stories about extreme physical child abuse and neglect, including death. Please use caution when listening.* Stacey was just a small child when her family joined a non denominational Christian church without an official name. As time went on, the group got more extreme, prepping for "The End Times" and engaging in publiFc spankings. It wasn't until a young...

Samantha was a casino cocktail waitress, working the graveyard shift when she decided to change her direction in life and go into real estate. After getting her license and becoming a realtor she was introduced to eXp Realty and joined a local broker. Samantha and I go down the rabbit hole of MLM Real Estate - yes, there truly is an MLM for EVERYTHING! - answer some questions as to how Real Estate...

Shannon McLay is the host of Martinis and Your Money and the Founder and CEO of The Financial Gym, a personal financial services company. So many people leaving MLM feel lost and confused about how to fix the mess that was made and aren't sure where to look, or how to start. It's a scary and taboo subject and Shannon wants to take the shame and emotions out of it so we can better understand how ou...

*This episode deals with fatphobia, disordered eating, abuse, white supremacy and sex work. Please use discretion when listening.* From an early age, Leilah already knew she was different and didn't fit into societies mold of what a "good girl" should be. Even growing up in a more liberal household, she still experienced white supremacy and purity culture from the stance of "what not to be". Throu...

Paging the FTC. What happens when you're so high up in an organization that you experience the the quiet parts out loud? You know the ones, stacking, poaching, scheming and alleged tax fraud - the 4 horsemen of the MLM apocalypse. What happens when you hold more cards than the MLM wants you to have? What happens when you're a big enough load bearing brick that without you, the pyramid has to break...

Amanda was a new wife just trying to help pay down their bills when Pampered Chef enticed her with an opportunity and the kitchen of her dreams. The harder she tried to make it work while always struggling to survive, the more obvious the transactional relationship became, until Amanda had enough. She ditched her MLM, faced some harsh truths and made a plan that helped her and her husband tackle o...

Part Two! It wasn't until Andrew and Will watched the 2021 convention turn deadly that they finally had enough and decided to speak out. But speaking their truth was just the beginning of their nightmares. They quickly became the targets of horrific fair gaming from the very same people they once used to call friends, even tracing the cyberstalking to the original source, and the most disgusting s...

When Andrew Thompson first joined Paparazzi Accessories it wasn't out of spite or vengeance. He and his former partner climbed the multiple ranks effortlessly and were treated like MLM royalty until everything came crashing down, leaving him in the dust. Despite Andrew moving on and rebuilding his PapaKingdom, he had a target on his back he couldn't shake. It wasn't until he watched the 2021 conve...

*This episode mentions abusive relationships, thoughts of suicide and health claims. Please use discretion when listening.* When you're already experiencing red flags, it's easy to miss the others as they fill up your space and for Kristin it was one thing after the other. From an abusive relationship, into an abusive MLM, a lot of warning signs were excused until the weight of it all was just too...

*Content Warning* This episode deals with the human trafficking industry, please use discretion when listening. Amanda was just a teenager when she left home to join a "Mag Crew", traveling across the country selling magazines door to door. Maybe you've encountered a Mag Crew at your own doorstep, peddling overpriced magazine subscriptions with sketchy looking "official" documents, claiming to be...