*free review copy*
Title: Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing
Author: Emily Lynn Paulson
Publisher: Row House
Release Date: 5.31.23
Publisher’s Summary
She signed up for the sisterhood, free cars, and the promise of a successful business of her own. Instead, she ended up with an addiction, broken friendships, and the rubble of a toppled pyramid . . . scheme.Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing is the eye-opening, funny, and dangerous personal story of author Emily Lynn Paulson rising to the top of the pyramid in the multilevel marketing (MLM) world only to realize that its culture and business practices went beyond a trendy marketing scheme and into the heart of white supremacy in America. A significant polemic on how MLMs operate, Hey, Hunexpertly lays out their role in the cultural epidemic of isolation and the cult-like ideologies that course through their trainings, marketing, and one-on-one interactions. Equally entertaining and smart, Paulson’s first-person accounts, acerbic wit, and biting commentary will leave you with a new perspective on those “Hey Hun” messages flooding your inbox.
My Review
"MLMs are everywhere, so they can't be that bad, right?"
Are you (like me) obsessed with cults? Did you devour the LuLaRich documentary? Have random girls from your high school reached out to you with a pitch for "a great opportunity"? In "Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing" author Emily Lynn Paulson details every aspect of being chewed up and spit out by an MLM machine and she doesn't hold back.
It is important to note the difference between multilevel marketing companies (MLMs) and personal businesses. In MLMs, sales reps don't make their money directly from the products they sell, they make money by recruiting new distributors. In order to move up in the company you must continue to add to your "downline." Paulson tells of less than ethical practices that have taken place to add to downlines or to convince a new distributor to join a team, including reps enrolling their children and her own story of capitalizing on her cancer. This jaw-dropping book lays bare every aspect of MLMs, including their initial appeal, target demographic, and structural similarity to cults.
💄THE APPEAL💄
Selling "leggings and makeup and cookware in their spare time, with the hope of building more income and more friendships" draws many women, especially stay-at-home moms (SAHMs) into MLMs. Many SAHMs are isolated and the prospect of a "mom's night out" or shopping in someone else's home (with wine!) sounds like a fun escape from their daily routine.
💄TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC💄
The target demographic is young, white, and middle-class SAHMs because they already have the financial structure to support their choice to join. Sold as a "side hustle" they believe they can do this in their "spare time" (what mother actually has this?) and they don't need protections like unemployment, insurance, FMLA, etc. Through MLM teams they receive the attention, freedom, control, and community they generally lack and crave in their everyday lives. Paulson admits that she had "never been in the position before of having women hang on my every word, love bomb me on social media, and consistently tell me how amazing I am." For many women, once they get a taste of this sisterhood they'll do anything to keep it.
💄CULTISH SIMILARITIES💄
Many MLMs are specifically tied to religion (Thirty-One Gifts, Young Living) or have religious undertones, and Paulson tells some totally cringe-worthy stories of fellow reps pushing their religion on others within her non-religiously affiliated MLM. However, there are several aspects within the MLM structure that push the experiences into the realm of "cult." For instance, the "ritualistic public confession of sins" packaged as a bonding experience and the false sense of ascension and empowerment through classes/retreats/conventions/conferences (eerily similar to the protocols of Scientology.) Reps are pushed to constantly attend retreats/conventions/conferences, spending their own money on attendance tickets, airfare, hotel, meals, and product purchases. This outward flow of money is often seen by reps as an investment in their business (and themselves!) rather than an imposed cycle of personal profits being pushed away from the rep in order to keep them locked in. Add in some splashy gifts from your upline and "it's enough to keep you from doing a profit and loss statement and realizing that you're losing money." When Paulson actually does do a P&L (shared in full detail) she is shocked, but it is easy to see why someone could believe that they are more successful than they are if they are only looking at the money flowing in, while ignoring the constant drain of endless expenses. Between 73%-99.9% of MLM members will lose money, with an industry-wide average of 92.3% and the number of reps making over $30K (before taxes/expenses) is a whopping 0.5%. "So how do these MLMs avoid regulation? Let's just say when I hit page 204 I was practically salivating with her full breakdown of how they skirt the law.
This is a total 5-star book!
I will be recommending it widely, especially to all those "Hey, Hun" DMers.
No comments
Post a Comment