Let’s discuss an MLM, specifically, BeachBody because I had an interaction with one of the “coaches” yesterday. If you are a BeachBody Coach, do not take offense over what I say because this is just my opinion and my experience with pyramid schemes.
The conversation went like this:
Coach: I have been following you for a while now, and I think you would make a great coach.
Me: You obviously have not followed me well enough because if you did, you would know I am in recovery from anorexia. I am all about HAES (Health at Every Size), and I do not do pyramid schemes.
Coach: It’s not a pyramid scheme. You can make great money, help people, and take care of your health. What’s more important to you, money or health?
The Truth
Here’s the deal, if you are going to ask someone, “What’s more important, money or health?” You just lost them.
I should have ended the conversation there, but I wanted to see how far she would push the subject, so I asked her what her education was in, and she said you do not need any education to be a coach, WRONG!
She also said the program can help people in recovery from eating disorders because the superfoods will help one gain or lose weight while also changing their relationship with food, WRONG! Any program that has one obsessing about exercise, calories, portion control, meal replacements with so-called Superfoods, and weighing daily, is not healthy for anyone, let alone someone recovering from an eating disorder. The truth is, the program is not sustainable because people cannot afford to buy the products monthly.
She also claimed that Superfoods cured her Lupus, so it can certainly cure me of my autoimmune disease and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, WRONG! I believe in science and my amazing treatment team, and without them, I would not be alive today.
The mom crack (GOGO Juice) will give me energy. Kathy (not her name), if you truly followed my account, you would know that I had a heart attack, and your mom crack could kill me.
What does BeachBody Mean
What BeachBody Coaching means is that you must get as many suckers to join your team so that you can make money, however, unless you are at the top, it is estimated that only 1% of coaches make large amounts of money because all the work these coaches do is paying the highest leader to sit around laughing at them for making them wealthy.
To end this, I want to share what I learned when I watched a BeachBody Team Call that should have never been posted to YouTube.
On this team call: Head Coach and three of the coaches that are under her.
- Find vulnerable people
- Make them feel guilty by asking them would you rather live and spend the money, or die an early death?
- Tell them if they stopped drinking coffee and planned a budget, they can afford to make their health a priority.
- Keep checking on them and pretend to be caring about their situation.
- If they have disordered eating, tell them you were trained in helping people overcome their food issues, (they are not and do not have a degree in anything). *Disclaimer*Some coaches are nurses, and deceiving people goes against everything we learned as a nurse. However, I never had a BeachBody Coach who is a nurse contact me, so I cannot assume they follow the same practice as other coaches. Regardless, it is still a Fad Diet that can lead to disordered eating and over-exercising.
- Tell them that superfoods will heal them. Make up an illness you had.
- Even if you hate the shakes as I do, pretend you love them.
- Make sure you post workouts even if you do not do them. (Get dressed in workout clothes, cover yourself in water (sweat), and do a few minutes of the routine to post in your stories.
- Filter the shit out of your transformation Tuesday pictures (push your stomach out in one and hold suck it in “baby’ in the second)
- Tell them you have a great meal plan for them to follow that will give them optimal results (not allowed to do). I work with adolescents who have eating disorders, and I do not advise on food because it goes against my scope of practice. That is why they have an eating disorder dietitian.
- Lie about how much money you make (the head coach actually makes less than 500 a month, tells people 5000.00).
- Buy followers to show you have a great community. If you look at any BeachBody account, you will see that most have 10,000 plus followers but look at their post because you will see they only have 25 or fewer likes and no comments.
Yes, I am anti-MLM, and more people need to learn that unless you have connections and a huge following (real followers), you will end up losing more money than you could ever make.
I was once a sucker and joined an MLM, LipSense under one of the top leaders. She offered no support, I ordered and sold $2500.00 in products my first month, and what did I get you might ask, a $5.00 credit towards my next month’s purchase which was mandatory. I quit that day and come to find out the top leader is making 600,000 a year off of all her fans under her. She built a 1-million-dollar home, so that says a lot about how she gets paid to stay at home and do no work. Why would she when she has about 4000 people who work their butts off to make her wealthy while they get credit for products.
What is the Goal of MLM?
The goal of any MLM is to get your people any way that you can, and then push (coach) them to get people (Family and Friends) under them because without recruiting people the top coaches do not make any money. MLM’s push you to harass family and friends to join you, and the money that does not come from the products you are supposed to sell will and has destroyed marriages, family, and friend relationships. Is it worth it?
What are your thoughts on MLM’s? Comment below
Embracing 📈 