I get why so many moms sign up to be consultants, advisors, and coaches for MLM (multi-level marketing) companies. I am one of them.
After an almost decade-long run of working in the entertainment industry, I left the working world and became a stay at home mom. Six months into my new gig, the fruits of my labors were going in the right direction: I had a healthy and happy baby. However, I started to lose a sense of myself.
It didn’t help that I was also having issues with family members who were treating me like I didn’t exist and would occasionally make condescending remarks about my decision to stay at home. My husband was also in the process of purchasing a business, and while it was exciting for me to see him succeed, I desperately wanted something for myself. Maybe it was the “only child” in me.
What was keeping me hanging on was this small online fitness accountability group I was a part of. Every day I would “check in” with a sweaty selfie and receive support and encouragement from women located all over the country. Our group was run by a consultant who encouraged us to subscribe to a streaming fitness video service and drink a meal replacement shake. She would occasionally reach out to me and inquire if I wanted to start earning a commission from my love of fitness. I was already sharing my journey on social media, why not get paid for it? At the end of a long and stressful month, I bit the bullet and signed up.
I felt a rush of excitement each day as I awaited the arrival of my business starter kit. I daydreamed about the vacations I would get to take my family on and the extra income that would supplement the down payment for our first home. Once my friends and followers found out about my new endeavor, they for sure would want to join me.
In order for you to profit from an MLM you need to actually sell. Thanks to the tech-focused world we live in, you don’t need to sell face to face. I would occasionally message people, mostly real life friends, and invite them to join me. I would follow new people on Instagram and engage with them. Trying to build my “tribe”. The higher-ups on my totem pole would encourage us to tactfully persist if the answer was “no”, but I couldn’t do it. The answer was always no.
After a month or two trying, the thrill faded away. Fortunately, the company I signed up with never required me to purchase inventory and I end up saving money in the long run because I get all my products discounted as a consultant. I never lost a dime.
I continue to use the products. I occasionally post about it on social media and hope for the day one person will be curious, but if that day never comes, I’ll be ok. While I love fitness, I found another passion that I was able to create a business around and profit from, no recruiting required. I still have my community of ladies who I check in with each day after I work out and they inspire me personally and professionally. The new people I started following and engaging with on Instagram became my friends and I keep in touch with almost all of them. I’m even in talks to meet up with a few next year to run a half marathon.
While I didn’t turn into the type of #mompreneur I set out to be, I feel like I’m still coming out ahead. I admire any woman who can build and run a business – whether she’s the founder of a startup or selling leggings from the trunk of her car.
