How It Began

Obligatory awkward first blog entry incoming in 3…2…1…

Hello, and welcome!

I’m Ceara (said like Kira, but don’t worry everyone gets it wrong). I’m a 35-year-old SAHM, anti-Multi-Level Marketing activist, and consumer advocate. Some of you may be familiar with my social media activism accounts where I go by the name Mombie #Anti-MLM. Nice to see you here, and thank you for your support! If you are new, well, it’s nice to meet you and I hope you stay awhile.

First blog posts are, well… awkward. Talking about oneself… equally awkward. At least it is for me. When I started Mombie, nearly four years ago, I did so anonymously and remained so for the first two years. It was comfortable. I did this for two reasons. First, the anti-MLM community was very small and the majority of activists/advocates went by pseudonyms. They did this because we were an easy target for MLM lawsuits, and just prior to me starting my Mombie accounts a few public figures had been sued for speaking out. Second, I started my page while a family member was still deep in an MLM, and I wasn’t ready for more potential family backlash. Over the years, I have become more and more public, but we have to start somewhere on our anti-MLM journey. This is mine:

We all start in ignorance. I had never even heard the term multi-level marketing before. And like most people, especially women, I had been pitched and even bought from a few MLM companies thinking I was supporting a friend’s small business. It seems innocent enough. Who doesn’t enjoy supporting friends and family in their business ventures? Some of the companies I personally purchased from were Usbourne Books and Stampin’ Up!, and I had been gifted Younique make-up (worst foundation ever, js).

So how did I find out about MLMs? It happened in early 2017. I have a bit of a reputation with friends and family for being good at deep diving subjects. I can get a little, let’s be honest, obsessive when something catches my interest. I need to know as much as possible. Knowing this, a family member, who we will call M, approached me. Another family member, who we will call S, had come to M excited about this new company and its products. S wasn’t selling for the company and claimed to have no plans to. S was simply consuming them. Something set off M’s bullshit meter, and so she asked me to look into this company for her. I happily agreed. The company’s name was Herbalife.

HOLY. SHIT. That became the rabbit hole of a lifetime. I immediately thought “pyramid scheme!” And I didn’t stop there. Not only did I learn that Herbalife was an MLM, and what MLM was, I also learned how deeply ingrained in US politics they were. I feverishly consumed any and all information I could find on the company, and by extension MLMs in general, like a wild woman. I found the documentary Betting on Zero and its accompanying website Facts About Herbalife. I ended up on the FTC website, coming across Jon M. Taylor’s report. I was horrifyingly astonished.

I learned I was prime meat. As a new SAHM, with health issues (due to a car accident, thanks for that drunk driver 🙄), on a single income living close to paycheck to paycheck, I was what MLMs wanted. That pissed me off, rightfully so.  Preying on vulnerable people for greed should piss everyone off.

After a few weeks, I brought all the info I had gathered to M. It didn’t go well. See, while I was deep-diving Herbalife and MLMs, S had signed up with Herbalife. “But, I thought she wasn’t going to sell?” I asked M in confusion. Even worse, S had somehow convinced M that Herbalife was a fantastic idea, that she was a small business owner, and she should totally buy S’s products. And so M did. M also had zero interest in anything I had to say about the company. That’s where the issues began. M was hooked, especially after seeing weight loss results from the products.

I was devastated, frustrated, and scared. I knew what MLMs were. I knew all the lawsuits against the company. I knew there had been a ton of complaints of health issues from the consumption of the products. Any time I brought it up, I was ignored and dismissed. One time when I questioned, “why would you support a scam?” I was literally yelled at because M took it as a personal attack. In her mind, she was supporting a family member’s business, and how dare I question her compassion and support. It was at this point I shut up. I realized it was a lost cause. All I wanted to do was shake them into reality.

So what is one to do when no one will listen? I headed to Facebook to look for camaraderie, for those who also saw it was a scam, to yell into the void in unison. I found a couple of pages, and then a few groups. YES! There were others out there who realized what an issue MLMs were. And as S started with her inevitable sales pitches, the group adds, page follow requests, and workout invitations, I found solace in these groups. But I was angry, and still ignorant to the true horrors of MLMs, and because of that, I was a complete dick.

As S annoyingly took every opportunity to love bomb me into a sale, I watched the plethora of disgusting and inhumane sales pitches in these Facebook groups. It wasn’t just new moms, it was every vulnerable group. The disabled, the elderly, broke college students, immigrants, minorities, those going through major life events like divorce or miscarriages. I watched as every socially, financially, or otherwise vulnerable demographic was pitched and manipulated, often accompanied by ad hominem attacks if the prospect simply said, “No.”

For a while, I remained an angry hunbot-hating asshole. I blamed the reps. How dare they prey on people like this?! That was until someone linked a blog, in a group, by an anti-MLM advocate going by the pseudonym “Elle Beau.” Elle’s blog chronicles her introduction, indoctrination, experience, and resignation from Younique. As a lifelong true crime fan, with a fascination with cults, Elle’s blog was my lightbulb moment. I poured over each entry coming to the realization that “MLMS ARE CULTS!,” followed by the guilt and shame over my angry hunbot-hating behavior. These reps… they are victims.

Elle’s blog was such a 180-degree mind fuck, that I had to reach out and thank her. I had been looking at the issues of MLMs all wrong. Yes, they are predatory and unethical pyramid schemes. And yes, those sales pitches are not ok. But MLMs are cults and reps, reps are a symptom, not the disease. My thought process and subsequent behavior were also not ok. I knew good and well that shaming cult victims is never the solution, nor is blaming them wholly for the behavior and manipulation of the cult. I sent Elle a message.

Elle and I ended up in near-daily chats for the next two months. She provided me with further insight and resources. She also suggested I start my own social media to speak out because she could tell I was passionate and had things to say. I had to warm up to the idea, but in early April 2018, I took her advice and started a Twitter account and Facebook page named Mombie. As they say, the rest is history.

So, that’s it. That’s my story, and how I got started. As for S and Herbalife, that will have to wait for another storytime. In the meantime, please have a look at the website. I have some great info already posted in the Master List and Resources sections. I’m excited to be on this new adventure, and I hope you will come along with me. Until next time…