So why are millennials turning back to modern homemaking?
Women can do anything, we really can.
That is the message we have been receiving for decades, that we can do anything, be anything, work at anything and that we should want to excel at our career ahead of everything else. None of this is wrong, but the power isn’t in that we can do as much as men, succeed in careers as much as men, or be as powerful as men in this world (that last point I actually don’t believe to be true – there is still work to be done). The power is in the choice, the choice whether a career (equivalent in the success and pay as men are afforded) or staying at home is what they choose, and each are afforded the same level of respect across society as a whole.
So why are Millennials turning back to modern homemaking?
Homemaking isn’t new, but is it making a comeback? We live in such a polarised world and slowing down and simplifying seems almost like a radical idea when really it’s just a normal part of what we want to do as humans. All of our choices are valid, whether you want to stay home or whether you choose to work outside the home, all our choices are valid and important.
When I had my first child I didn’t really know how I felt about what the ‘end’ of maternity leave might look like. I worked for myself so I could essentially decide how long I wanted to take off. I was able to take the normal amount of time off and actually decided to take a bit of extended leave, at around the 15-month mark.
I didn’t really know whether or not I wanted to return to work, but I thought I might dip my toe in the water and see how I felt. Incidentally I “returned” to work (for myself, and very much on my own schedule) in March 2020, just as the rest of the world was closing down. I worked, on a part-time and ad hoc basis until the birth of my second child in May 2021.
We had always said that I would be home full time with our children and it was something that we had set up our life to accommodate from long before we had children.
When my maternity leave finished after the birth of my second child I never felt any pull to go back to work. I just carried on with life as normal.
Returning to work?
I don’t need to return to work – a very privileged statement I know – but thinking back I had had this huge mindset shift and embraced a slow, simple, and more minimalist life. It just felt normal to embrace homemaking.
I didn’t know that I wanted to be a homemaker if I am honest, and it’s not like I am designated with all the tasks around the house and my husband gets to kick back and be waited on hand and foot, in fact the opposite is true. My husband has a very active role in our entire household, sometimes more than me in fact. I would say we very much have an equal share of what takes place inside our home. There are no designated tasks, we just pick up the slack and do the tasks that need to be done. If he has a particularly hard week of work I might pick up more of the slack, and if I am having a more difficult week then he will pick up the slack.
Financially our money is obviously for our family and that was a hard adjustment for me at first and I would always refer to it as his money. It’s not an easy adjustment to make when you have always been someone who is earning.
When we made these decisions to have me at home, we did it with the intention of it being a long term decision. Our ultimate choice is to home educate them, and so this really is a long term decision for our family.
So what is my role, and what does life look life for us going forward?
It’s taken me a really long time to embrace that nametag and really to embrace homemaking as a whole. I guess some of that is this preconditioned idea that the work we do inside our home isn’t as valuable as working for an employer or working for money. The work we do in our homes, within our families, in raising our children, is the most important work. Society doesn’t value this work and it shows. We are always judged by “what we do” in terms of our job. Society doesn’t value the work I do within the home. Capitalism wants us to keep those cogs turning. It wants us, as parents, to get back in the workplace, but there is a slow rumbling movement of people who are saying “no, absolutely not, I’m not subscribing to that”. We cannot keep functioning in this fast paced, always on, hustle culture.
Now I am not suggesting we all need to rush back into the home if that is not our desire. We can, of course, be whatever we want to be as women, but also we still have a way to go. That gender pay gap is very real.
We still have a long way to go
But being a homemaker is undervalued. Being a parent is still undervalued in our society. Our work in our homes and as parents of the next generation isn’t appreciated. There is still so much to be done, and maybe that is the whole point. We have the power now to make that decision for ourselves, and we don’t have to be defined by a job or what we do. I had to sit quite uncomfortably with this title of homemaker for quite a while, because of all the negative connotations that surround it, but I am embracing it more and more, and as I do I feel more like I am stepping into my most authentic self.
My work is valuable. Your work is valuable. The work we do within our homes is really important. We need to keep this conversation going.
For me the most important work takes place inside my home, raising the next generation and instilling the values that they will take out into the world. I truly believe that it is such important work. Our children are going to change the world. What we do inside our homes can be monumental and the biggest contribution I get to make is in the little people I get to raise.
Wow it has been a while since I regularly blogged here but I have been thinking recently that I want to revive this space to share everything that I am getting up to. If you have followed me for a while you will know I have been a blogger for over 16 years at this point and I honestly go through stages where I blog regularly and where I just don’t blog forever.
Such is life with two toddlers at this stage but I am going to do my best to try and keep to some sort of regular schedule because one thing is for sure: I have SO much to share.
My sourdough starter is back
I had been thinking about diving into baking sourdough again for a while, and when I say it’s been a long time since I made and created proper sourdough from scratch, I mean it’s been probably the best part of a decade. Yup, I really haven’t had a sourdough starter to look after and feed for all of that time. It has however been on my mind for a while, to do another, so this past week I decided to get back to it again.
You can check out this post to find out how I make my sourdough starter a success.
What to do with the discarded starter?
If you’re a sourdough afficianado then you will know all about how to create your starter and feed it until you are able to bake your loaf, but if you’re brand new to the sourdough world then maybe you don’t know this: when you have to feed (ie, add more ingredients) to your mixture, you also have to discard half of the mixture every time, which leaves half of the discarded mixture every day.
Instead of throwing it away and wasting the ingredients, there are so many options with things you can make from it: from pancakes and waffles to crackers and flatbreads. There are so many things, it’s hard to know where to start.
Pancakes
Pancakes are a massive favourite in our house, so when I thought about what I might do with my sourdough discard, pancakes were the first thing to spring to mind. We are usually a fan of the UK kind of pancakes (small, crepe-like pancakes) but I decided to try making American-style pancakes.
I am going to make a confession here: I usually don’t love American-style pancakes. I know, I know. If you’re from the US, or American-style pancakes are your jam I apologise. I have just never really been sold on them. However, making a large batch of these sourdough discard pancakes has completely changed my mind.
What do you need?
The recipe itself is quite simple and probably everything you already have within your baking supplies, but here is your shopping list to make sure you have in. You can use this recipe time and time again to make these wonderful sourdough discard pancakes.
Shopping list:
200g of sourdough starter discard (you can use active sourdough starter but I tend to use the discards so it isn’t wasted)
200g of organic self raising flour (regular self raising flour will work fine)
1 tsp of baking powder
2 eggs
300ml of milk (I use whole milk but I am sure these would work with any milk)
You can make these pancakes any way you would usually make pancakes for yourself or your family, but something I want to share with you is the beauty of a pancake maker. Ok, so it might sound a little extravagent when you can easily just make them in a frying pan right? And maybe it is, but a pancake maker is something that has been part of my life since childhood. When I was younger my mum attended a new years party where the next morning for breakfast they cooked their own pancakes on one of these machines. My mum was hooked and set about finding her own. We’re talking about the late 90s/early 2000s and I think she found one in Lakeland. We used it all the time and it’s still going strong today.
I loved it so much that it was on my wedding registry because you better believe I wasn’t going off into married life without one. It was so gratefully received and we still use it all the time now.
You can of course make these in a regular pan but if you’re wondering whether to invest in a pancake maker, I definitely recommend it. It’s great for making little omelettes for the kids too. It definitely gets a lot of use in our house.
Active or discard?
You can make your sourdough pancakes with your active sourdough starter if you really want to but the great thing about this recipe is it is a great way to use up your sourdough discard than throwing it away. So while you absolutely can use your active sourdough starter in this recipe I prefer to save my active starter for gorgeous loaves of bread. I prefer the no-wastage version and use the discards in this recipe.
Sourdough Discard Pancakes Recipe
Sourdough Discard American Style Pancakes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
200 g Sourdough starter discards
200 g Self raising flour, Organic if possible
1 tsp Baking powder
300 ml Milk
2 Eggs
Instructions
Measure out your milk
Crack your eggs into the milk and whisk together
Add your sourdough starter and whisk until smooth
Add your baking powder to your flour and mix
Add flour and baking powder mix to your milk, egg and sourdough mix, whisk together until smooth
Add some oil or butter to your pan/pancake maker and using a ladle add some mixture and cook on both sides until brown
Once you start baking with your sourdough discards you will realise the world is your oyster when it comes to things you can make. Aside from being able to bake beautiful sourdough loaves with your mixture you are also able to make such a variety of foods and snacks with the part that would usually be thrown away.
I would love to know: Do you bake sourdough? And if you do, what have you made with your discards before? I think my next plan is to make sourdough discard crackers.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram to follow along with our daily life, or join me on Pinterest to get inspired.
Today’s blog post is going to be about how you can embrace the slow down in your life. Since I started talking about living slowly on my Instagram page I have definitely started noticing more of an uptick in questions about just what living slowly entails. I find it a really difficult question to answer because living slowly can mean something different to everyone. However, I do go over some of the things that I consider living more slowly in my own life.
I think it’s important to understand where the idea of living slowly came from in my own life. Again, if you follow me on Instagram you know that I sometimes talk in-depth about my experiences within a multi-level marketing company and you may, as a blog reader, have seen that here too. Multi-level marketing has a culture of hustle, of being always switched on, and having to constantly work because if you’re not constantly working or constantly hustling then there is absolutely no way that you will be able to make money. I speak in greater depth about the pitfalls of multi-level marketing in some of the posts I posted here so be sure to check those out.
Leaving hustle culture behind and embracing the slow down
Leaving a multi-level marketing company and the onset of the global pandemic provided the perfect opportunity for me to look at my life and embrace slowing down. While the pandemic has of course been dreadful, it did provide us, as a family, with ample opportunity to rethink our priorities and the way we live our life. When I think about slow living I often think back to that first period of lockdown, where the world completely changed on its axis in the blink of an eye. For us as a family, we were able to embrace being home with nobody having to work outside of the home which did provide us with some comfort. I often remember standing outside on my balcony just looking out into the world and wondering the sorts of things that were occurring out there. It’s something that I still do to this day.
There were so many aspects of slow living that we had already embraced in our lives but it was definitely the beginning of a whole lot more. When the world started to open up again all of the things that I did before, to some extent, I was in no hurry to rush back to. Everything just seems so insignificant now I have embraced something else.
The pandemic opened my eyes to slow living
Throughout the pandemic we embraced so many different things, always trying to become less dependent on the outside world. In a way, we have always embraced so many things that lend us to this way of living, but the pandemic turned us inward and enabled us to look at some of the other things that we could be doing to create a life that felt good. I have long hated overconsumption, hustle culture, always being switched on, and everything that exists in this capitalist culture that we find ourselves so ingrained in.
Slow living is about what that means to you. It is about detaching from a world that would rather you stay always connected, always switched on, always consuming, and always spending. It is about leaving behind some of the more problematic aspects of life that society pushes on us. It is about slowing down and embracing a slower more intentional way of living. What that looks like might look different for everyone, but I have put together this fun, free checklist for you to download as you get started in your slow living journey.
How we maintain a slow life
Living slowly seems to buck the norm but that being said it’s a theory that once adopted you will find very easy to continue. Today our days are filled with slowness, no hurry (unless really necessary – sometimes it’s just not always possible to embrace in a world that is set on going fast), and taking our time. In our home, we particularly embrace things like growing our own, slow food at our allotment (you can follow our allotment journey here), embracing an abundance of time in nature, embracing slow food practices at home, and disconnecting, where possible, from the outside world. Living slowly is a process that can mean different things to different people. For us it embraces a lot of our home life, how we live, work, and function and that is a huge privilege.
I would love to hear what slow living means to you, so be sure to leave me a comment or message me on Instagram. You can, as always, email me too: hello@amypigott.co.uk
People asked, so today we are doing it, we’re going to delve into multi level marketing. If you follow me on Instagram then you will already know that I have recently started opening up and sharing my experience within a multi level marketing company, why I find them particularly problematic and how I hope my experiences, and the experiences of many, many others will help people realise what they are really like.
When this opportunity (and many others since) was presented to me, I was told I could work in the small pockets of time in my day and that, the implication being, that I could be successful (in fact anyone could) just by fitting it around my busy life. However, the opposite is true. Before you join an mlm you’ll be told how easy it is, how it can fit around your life, how you can fit it into the small pockets of time in your day. When you are on the inside you’ll hear that if you aren’t seeing success it is because you aren’t working hard enough, that the business works if you do, that it’s not easy. Now, like I have said before, I don’t think anyone expects a paycheck for doing nothing, and I know myself just how hard I worked and how “all in” I was. The lack of “success” wasn’t because I didn’t work hard enough, or because my “mind wasn’t right”, or that I wasn’t doing enough IPA’s (income-producing activities). Let’s be truthful about something for a moment – how much you work and your overall work ethic has absolutely nothing to do with whether you will be successful in an MLM. When you get into the business structure, luck and the size of the team you have recruited into your downline, however, does.
These companies, in my opinion and in the opinion of many others, are very cult like in their tactics. They manipulate, control you mind to some extent, brain wash you and control so many aspects of your life. They also have a failure rate of more than 99% meaning that more than 99% of mlm reps will either not make or will loose money. Shocking I know – but the FTC undertook research of 350 MLMs and it concluded that more than 99% of participants will loose money. It also noted that the average income of someone in an MLM is £0.
MLMs are predatory, cult like organisations that promise mainly us women whatever we want to hear, tell us we can do it, control our minds and manipulate us into a system that will result in financial loss for more than 99% of people.
Before I go
I often get asked “why now?” when it comes to talking about multi-level marketing, and I guess the answer is multi-faceted. It took me a long time on the other side of multi-level marketing to understand about the business model, that I wasn’t a failure, that it wasn’t me, and also to feel strong enough to speak out.
Those currently in multi-level marketing do spend a lot of time calling out anti MLM creators, as people who are just negative, haters, people who weren’t successful, question their work ethic and accuse them of being awful people who are focused on hating on individuals. It’s not easy at all to walk straight into that fire. When I first spoke out about my experience in a multi-level marketing company (which, by the way, is the common experience of most people) I immediately got a bit of hate. People talking about you, ranting at you, making videos about you isn’t the easiest to deal with let me tell you. Telling my story is incredibly uncomfortable as it is and to be met with this, has me questioning a lot whether it is really worth the hassle of sharing. If I don’t though, who will? I am extremely passionate about exposing this predatory business model, where 99% lose by it’s very nature. While it’s never easy and it’s never personal about those currently in MLM’s (I’ve been there, this isn’t about these people, I truly believe they are brain washed), I feel my story is important and if it can stop others falling for these predatory schemes then my work is done. I am passionate about exposing these businesses, the business model and helping others avoid them and the fallout that they cause, but I won’t be victim-blamed, gaslit, or silenced.
Everything written & spoken here is for educational purposes and to spread awareness of my personal experience and opinion. My opinions don’t represent the company I partnered with, or any other network marketing or multi level marketing companies. They are my experiences and not facts.
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.
We’ve all seen them, we’ve all been sent that “hey hun” message where the sender tells us that we would be great at what they do, some of us have even fallen for them. I fell for one, and through my Instagram platform, YouTube and here on my blog I want to shout louder about this predatory business model, embrace anti MLM advocacy and share just why these are businesses that should be avoided at all costs. Today I want to share with you the bait and switch methods used.
Check out my MLM YouTube Video on the bait and switch method
I have covered 6 top ways that Multi level marketing companies will manipulate you via the bait and switch method, so be sure to check that out. You can subscribe to my (new) channel to support me, the content I create and also to be first in line when I release new content. It is my goal to delve deeper into multi level marketing, the business structure and I hope through this anti mlm education I am able to save some people from falling prey to their predatory nature.
Multi level marketing is, network marketing, is direct selling (to some extent), is social selling. There are so many names for the same thing, but multi level marketing is a business structure where reps (ie, independent contractors) join a company (either for free or they pay to join) and sell the products and recruit others to do the same. It has been compared to a pyramid scheme in many instances, but it is a structure whereby you would earn through your own sales along with the sales and recruitment of your downline.
Multi level marketing reps use attractive wording, phrases and ways in which they depict their life in order to pique your interest into the business model. You will often hear phrases such as “join my team”, “join this business” or that “this business is doing xyz for me”. The goal is to make you interested enough so that you enquire or even convince you to join.
MLMs are manipulative and deceptive, one of the most deceptive business models that exists. They are known for their alleged cult-like tactics, their manipulation, mind control and bait and switch strategy. MLMs are a business opportunity that is designed for you to fail, with 99% of people not making money or turning a profit and the overwhelming majority running a deficit overall.
What is the bait and switch method & how is it used in multi level marketing businesses?
Bait and switch is a sales tactic, a way in which reps bait you into their MLM using some key phrases and wording by using specific claims about the business model and then switch these on their head once you have joined. I think you’ll be able to see just how deceptive these MLM businesses really are.
Bait and Switch One: “The business is so easy”
I am going to start right here with one of the most common bait and switch tactics that can be seen in multi level marketing companies, that the business is “so easy” or that you can fit it into the “pockets of time in your day”. The implication here is that whether you are busy or not, whatever your life looks like and whatever time you have available that you can work your business in those moments, that it will be enough and you, like apparently many others, will be able to run a successful business. It can fit into your life and you can work when you have the time and that you will earn money doing so.
When reps are trying to recruit you they will imply that regardless of this you will be able to make money, no matter what you can contribute to it. Now I don’t think anyone truly believes you don’t have to work and of course nothing comes without doing anything but the insinuation that it’s easy to do and easy to fit into a busy life is something that is common in mlm bait tactics. You have the freedom when and where you work (ie, those pockets of time in your day). You believe that you can fit this in here and there throughout your day. You are told you can be successful doing that so you believe it to be true.
Then comes the switch, when you realise that it is not as easy as it has been made out to be and you’d maybe like to meet one of these people who apparently earnt all this money in just 30 minutes a day or less – because it is sounding pretty unbelievable at this point. The narrative then changes to “that this business isn’t easy”, it takes a lot of time and effort if you want to make any money.
You realise quickly that making money isn’t easy and working in the pockets of time isn’t enough to see the income that you were promised.
The response is usually that “the business works if you do” (I mean it doesn’t, because it doesn’t work for more than 99% of people wo join) but in multi level marketing there is a blame culture. If you aren’t seeing results it’s your fault, it’s because you aren’t working hard enough (even when you are) and that you need to treat it like a full time job (even though you were told you could do it in 30 mins a day).
The fact of the matter is, how much you work and your overall work ethic has absolutely nothing to do with whether you will be successful in an MLM. When you get into the business structure, luck and the size of the team you have recruited into your downline however does.
Bait and Switch Two: Like minded besties
You will often hear your friends in an MLM refer to the supportive community, their new best friends, like minded people and couldn’t speak more highly of the people in their MLM with them.
Before you join you will hear MLM reps countlessly recall how incredible their community is within their MLM, their team and how these men and women (predominantly women) are the most amazing group of people they have ever met. They are so grateful to have stumbled upon this like minded group of people who are so supportive of their dreams. It is a great bait tactic because in a world where we are more and more separated from our communities and as mothers, our village, we crave this kind of connection, community and friendship. This longing for community is how many reps prey on people while recruiting.
When you join an MLM the lovebombing, a classic emotion control cult (and abuse) tactic to keep you loyal and illicit postive emotions. These people (who know nothing about you yet) will tell you how successful you will be, how excited they are and things like they can’t wait to run to the top of the company together. This overwhelm of emotion makes you believe it is true too. This is the start of the road to emotional manipulation.
However, the switch is that these relationships are transactional (for those you are making money for in your upline) and conditional (based on whether you stay in the company). Once you realise you aren’t making money and want to leave sometimes its the idea that you will lose these friendships that keeps you in longer than necessary. Once you leave an MLM those still involved, that were your community and your best friends will often shun you, block you or unfollow you. It happened to me, one of my “best friends” in the business, and also my upline, cut me out entirely when I left and started talking about the predatory nature of these businesses. When you aren’t part of an MLM you aren’t worth anything to them anymore and there is no need for them to continue being your friend, because you no longer serve a purpose. This is because these were never true friendships in the first place and were truly transactional.
MLM’s also actively encourage you to cut out people in your real life who don’t support your business, because you don’t need to surround yourself with negativity. This cult like tactic, of cutting you off from love ones is a form of manipulation and control that encourages you to only be a part of the MLM community and encourages avoidance of anyone who believes in something different than you do, enabling you to exist solely in an echo chamber of fellow mlm members who all think, do and exist the same as you, thus sinking participants deeper into the groupthink ideology.
Bait and Switch Three: No quotas (but there is really)
Another bait and switch tactic within mlm companies is the no quotas, fees, requirements spiel. That you can decide what to spend and nothing is compulsory. When you are being recruited into an MLM the reps will often serve you with information such as it’s free to start (in some companies) and will go on to tell you that there are no quotas to hit, no fees, no requirements and what you spend on your business is completely up to you. While this isn’t untrue because these things aren’t technically compulsory, they are hidden and some end up being fairly essential if you want to run your business and make money. This is so manipulative.
The switch is this: many companies have many associated costs that are required even if they are technically optional. This might be a personal volume level to achieve (personal volume is often orders you make and in some companies the orders of customers you enroll). Some companies require you to place a monthly order of personal volume to stay active or to qualify to be paid commissions. In fact in most companies there is a requirement for you to reach in some form (whether that be through customer or personal orders) for you to qualify for your own commissions. To put this simply, if I earn £100 in commissions, but I don’t fulfil the requirements to get me that commission (whatever they may be in that specific company) then I won’t get paid. I will have done the work but I won’t get paid. Where in any other business model is this legal?
You’ll also find that a common phrasing before you join is that “we don’t hold inventory” as a way to explain that you won’t have to purchase unnecessary product in the hope you might sell it. Many mlm companies now are structured that customers can order via a website (that you might have to pay a monthly fee for – I had to pay £20 a month for mine in my company) and the company will take care of the orders, shipping, and returns and reps don’t need to have anything on hand. Once you’ve joined you will frequently hear that you need to be a “product of the product” meaning you will need to purchase products from the company to use to entice people in. This ends up with many reps being overloaded with inventory that they are unable to shift. This leads to the question – who are the real customers of these MLMs? I believe that for the most part retail customers make up a far smaller amount than the reps do, leaving reps as the true customers of the company.
Despite being told you won’t need to spend anything, and while nothing is compulsory it is still going to be required if you wish to earn any income at all, or stay active or rank up. There are all kinds of loopholes which are going to require you to spend money you more than likely won’t be making back.
Bait and Switch Four: You don’t need a big network (errr you actually do)
The next tactic rolles nicely into something you have to do a lot when you are a rep for an mlm: overcoming objections. Overcoming objections is something that is really common in MLM’s, for every objection that people have MLM reps are trained to overcome them, encouraging them to move these objections aside and forge ahead. Some reps will even term these as excuses. Team pages are filled with scripts to help you overcome common objections with ease. MLM reps soon build this into part of their reportoire.
A common objection for those being recruited is that they don’t know enough people, that they don’t have a large social media following and they are worried that they won’t have people to sell too. Don’t worry guys, selling is such a small part because the main focus will always be on recruitment in these business models. Through the bait process, or the recruitment process, current reps will overcome these objections by saying that you don’t need a lot of friends or you don’t need a large following, or that when they started they only had 100 followers, or Ashley didn’t even have an account, anyone can do a business like this and they will train you and give you all the tools you need for success.
The switch is that the opposite is true, reaching out to friends and family is a common tactic when it comes to hitting rank or promotions (they encourage you to reach out to people who will always support you no matter what, to help you with an order if you need volume to rank up). Also, you aren’t magically going to have people exist that want to try the products or join the business, it is hard enough getting people who trust you somewhat.
What they really mean is that they are going to provide you with a number of spammy ways to grow your network. You will need to constantly be adding to your instagram or facebook network, adding people, growing your numbers, so that you can eventually have more people to sell to and recruit. It’s about reaching out to people who have never shown an interest in the company at all, or the products (thankfully I didn’t do this – I would at least only message people who had responded on a poll – although most didn’t mean to so I am sure it felt more spammy to them). It’s the reason we all get those “hey hun” messages, as some teams still train people to cold message people, the modern day equivalent of cold calling. They bait you in telling you you don’t need a big following and the switch it to “actually you do, here are some spammy ways to get it”.
Bait and Switch Five: The free (but not really free) car
This bait and switch tactic is one of the shadiest parts of mlms. I am sure you have all seen them, the free car rewards that are often shared on social media by MLM reps. They claim various things, like a free car or a car paid for by their company, but the reality is very different.
In my MLM this wasn’t a thing, so I am going on research and reports from other MLM companies. This tactic is one of the shadier parts of these MLM companies. In most instances the car is your own car, it’s not bought outright by the company and gifted to you, it is in fact a car loan, in your name. That’s right, the company encourages you to take out a loan that they actually might not financially contribute too for long. The car payment is usually acquired when you reach a certain rank and will be for an extra payment (which might not cover the entire monthly payment) towards the car. If you drop below that rank you lose access to this additional payment, leaving you responsible for paying that debt.
Bait and Switch Six: Time Freedom
This is something that I am sure we have all heard an mlm rep say once, or a thousand times, that they have “time freedom” or “freedom of time”. The bait part of this tactic, to draw you in tells you things like this company will give you time freedom, you can “own your own time”, you can spend more time with your family, with your children, be a stay at home mum if that is your wish, time to travel. Whatever it is you would like more time to do.
The switch, ie the reality, is that you will have to work constantly to even a hope of potentially making any money. You will be told you can work anywhere but the reality is that you will have to, again if you want a chance of making money. You will be expected to work all the time, any time, any place, at any event and on any holiday. You don’t get time off because if you take time off, firstly it’s looked down on as if you aren’t a hard worker (always gaslighting you over your work ethic these mlms), but also the whole thing you’ve built could crumble. However, because you can work from anywhere you will actually be expected to work from anywhere.
You’ll hear: “I am so grateful to my business because it means I don’t have to take time off”. People work on their holidays, during emergencies, in hospitals, during inductions for having their babies, through significant life events and through every event that they probably should take time off for. They’ll tell you its because they want to but really it’s because they have been conditioned into believing they have to or have to want to. And they really do, or the whole thing falls apart or they will earn less than nothing.
If that wasn’t gross enough you are expected to take personal situations and turn them around and use it as why you are so thankful for your business, to try and profit off of these things. They encourage you to talk about how your business allows you to work through these difficult times. These are the parts I truly hate MLMs for. They manipulate their participants into doing these things, that they will look back on one day and feel so uncomfortable with.
A way that MLM reps draw you into their company throughout the recruitment process is by using the earning an extra income theory. They say that their company is a great way to supplement your income and you can use the business to cover bills, pay your car payment, retire yourself from your 9-5, that it is the same as starting your own business (it isn’t) and you can start your own journey to financial freedom. The truth is that for more than 99% of people this is all unattainable as per a study from the FTC. The business structure itself cannot support it. For the minority (the 0.4% who will turn a profit, not be necessarily making a lot of money but turning a profit and not loosing money) the 99.6% will be loosing. The average income of someone in an MLM company is £0. Let’s just sit with that for a moment.
The switch comes again, once you are in the company. The tough love (which is usually top leaders yelling at people over video in the name of “getting fired up”) that say that for the people who aren’t earning money yet this is part of business ownership and these things take time (they do in a traditional start up but that’s usually not what was promised to us in the recruitment process). You’re reminded that this is a business and you just need to work harder (gaslighting) and wait longer (designed to keep you in the MLM and not quit).
You are constantly reminded that this is normal for business owners – only you aren’t actually a small business owner when you’re an MLM rep, you’re an independent contractor for a billion dollar corporation.
Bait and Switch Eight: Own your own business & be your own CEO
To reiterate the above, you aren’t actually a small business owner when you’re an MLM rep, you’re an independent contractor for a billion dollar corporation.
Reps will use phrases such as “owning your own business” or refer to you as being the CEO. The switch is that that isn’t the case at all, you aren’t the CEO of anything. You aren’t even your own boss. You have no control over anything that the company does, brands or sells. You have to abide by the company rules in every aspect. I actually got pulled up by compliance once I had officially left because I sold my surplus product (see: holding inventory above lol) on ebay and this is forbidden by almost all, if not every single one, of multi level marketing companies. It can result in you being terminated from the company. As it was I had already finished and had no intention of returning + I made a tidy sum of money.
If you can be terminated then you aren’t your own boss.
Another common tactic used in the bait and switch method is claims such as “these products are the best”, “they sell themselves” and common objections about not being a salesperson. Remember above where we mentioned that mlm reps spend a lot of time and have a lot of scripts all about overcoming peoples objections and convincing people to join.
Not being a salesperson is a common worry for people being recruited into an MLM. People aren’t inherently convinced on sales jobs and don’t think they will be able to do it, and I think this is fair. We’re not all salespeople and I think it’s ridiculous to think that we are. This is almost always met with wording such as “I’m not a salesperson either, but this isn’t sales, it’s just sharing products that you love”. MLM reps will almost always fall into comparing it to sharing your starbucks drink on social media, it’s a common shame tactic that they are telling you that you share your starbucks drinks and they get paid (Starbucks don’t actually get paid everytime a photo of their drinks are posted on social media – so actually maybe the reps are right because they don’t get paid for sharing their products either). The main point though is that we don’t have to monetise our entire lives, if you want to share something on social media have at it, and don’t let anyone in an mlm shame you for not getting paid to do it, chances are they aren’t getting paid either.
It is also 100% a sales job, whether that is selling the products or trying to sell people on the business opportunity and a life that doesn’t exist.
Another common tactic within this subject is that the products just “sell themselves”. The switch, once you’re on the inside is that they really don’t, you have to constantly message people, sometimes cold message people, if your MLM trains that way. There is an end of the month culture where people are scrambling to get orders, rank up and do anything to claw in as much final volume as possible. This is because the end of the month is when people hit final ranks, at the beginning of the month every rep is reset to 0 and their volume and rank only increases when orders run, reps run their monthly orders, you enroll new customers etc.
Ten: Let’s talk about the “uncapped earning potential”
Ok, let’s do it, let’s discuss that “uncapped earning potential. When you’re in the recruitment phase reps will tell you that there is an uncapped earning potential or that people can rank up over their enroller and that there is a seat at the table for everyone. These people are usually not making money either it is worth noting.
The switch is that you need to rely on others to make money, you aren’t in charge of how much money you make and you need to work 24/7 and encourage all your downline to do the same, keep recruiting and selling the products just to try and break even with your paycheck. If you are lucky. While it might be “uncapped” as in nobody ever knows what they are making, if the business structure supported and more people were making money the 0.4% would more than likely be earning less. They don’t want that now, do they?
And as for earning more or ranking up over your enroller (not sure why you’d care about this other than to try and desperately prove its not a pyramid – it proves nothing btw) it is possible, but so is pigs evolving into having wings and flying. It could happen but it probably won’t.
Conclusion
These are just some of the bait and switch tactics, along with all the usual predatory or cult like tactics these multi level marketing companies use to convince you to join. The truth however is far from what we see offered by reps in the recruitment. You might be asking yourself why people stay, knowing all this. But the problem is the mind control, the manipulation and the cult like tactics that take place with these companies mean that many aren’t aware until they are on the other side, like I and many others are.
The goal with anti mlm education is obviously to help people trapped in mlms if possible, however thats not always possible. However if it can help just one person not fall for this predatory system then that is good enough for me.
Everything written & spoken here is for educational purposes and to spread awareness of my personal experience and opinion. My opinions don’t represent the company I partnered with, or any other network marketing or multi level marketing companies. They are my experiences and not facts. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
It’s been a year, actually, it’s been two. Living through a pandemic is anything but easy but something these last two years have enabled me to do is live life a little more intentionally. Spending more time at home than ever before has made me think more about our home, the way it is organised, how the spaces we have ebb and flow, and more importantly it has taught me how to live with less.
There are so many things in the way we chose to live overall that I have been thinking about recently and I have been unpicking how it is all connected. Slow living, living with less, living small, and intentional and inspired living is my jam. We don’t live in the biggest, most expensive home but it is my dream. It’s a space I have loved to create, being inspired by living with less.
What inspired living is all about?
Living a slow, more intentional way of living is a wonderful adventure. It is a constant work in progress and consequently is something that people always want to know more about, especially over on Instagram. About the connection between being intentional about the way we live, living with less, decluttering, creating intentional spaces around our home, our commitment to living a more simple life, the way we approach our finances, consumerism, our commitment to being as eco-conscious as possible, our wellbeing and even down to our digital connections. It is all connected and it runs so deep. It is a wonderful journey as you slowly unpick it all and unlock how to live a more intentional, inspired life.
I am about to embark on a fresh start (when it comes to our home) on the other side of Christmas and I would love for you to join me. I have created a fun and inspiring email series where I’ll be sharing my thoughts about why we started living intentionally and why it works along with my best tips for decluttering, organising, and what I have found works over the past few years. Plus there will be lots of freebies to help you simplify your home, your life and live that slow, intentional life you’ve always dreamed of.
You still have time to join us on the journey we’re going to take together early next year. Just pop your details in the box below and we’ll be starting in the new year.
You will hear from me once a week, on Sunday morning, with a little email covering some of my favourite topics and tips when it comes to living more intentionally.
I can’t wait to see you there and to take this journey together.
Since the beginning of the year I have had some plans for our outdoor space. We live in a split level flat with a nice sized balcony and it was one of the first things that we renovated when we moved in four years ago.
When we first moved in it was a blank canvas of concrete on the floor and the metal railings, it looked so dull and boring and had so much potential. You can read all about my first renovation here, but essentially I added some wooden clip-together flooring, some artificial grass, and some cane fencing for extra privacy. This served us so well for the last four springs and summers, but with a growing toddler (who just turned 2) and another little one on the way this spring, I wanted to update the space. I wanted to ensure I had a safe space where the little one’s can be outside regardless of what is happening in the outside world, this became even more important throughout the pandemic and various lockdowns of the last year. I also wanted a space for all of us as a family including a safe space for our indoor cat to enjoy some safe relaxation in the sunshine should she want it. We are also passionate about growing our own produce and although on the waitlist for an allotment we also love to do some small growing at home too, and have done this for the past four years.
A space for the little ones
With a two year old toddler and also a baby on the way I began to think about the ways in which I could create an outdoor space that our children could use safely, use for an abundance of outside time for the times we aren’t out exploring nature, a place my daughter will be able to spend her time as I approach the end of my pregnancy and maybe am not as mobile as usual, and also a place she can be when we’re in those early newborn days. I also want it to be a place they can both grow into as they grow. We have a mud kitchen outside which we bought for my daughters second birthday which I am sure will get ample use by both of them throughout the years.
We pulled up the old grass and wooden flooring and started from scratch, adding artificial grass across the entire length of the balcony* and making what appears like a grassed garden for children to play in. We have kept the cane fencing, although I do think it might need replacing sooner rather than later as it’s quite weathered. We live a few floors up but also high up on a hill above a valley so the weather can really get to us out here.
Obviously being high up we have the worry of safety so we decided to add some secure safety netting. Our daughter is never left unattended outside but just knowing the netting is there means we’re much more relaxed ourselves when we’re all out there. We also have an indoor cat who does enjoy a little sunbathing on the balcony and we wanted to ensure she was safe too, so another great way to ensure the entire family is safe.
A space for us
We also wanted a space which worked for us. Although I don’t expect we will have a lot of free time to relax just us two out here for a while I wanted to ensure the space was as much adult friendly as it was child friendly. It meant added the netting with some height so it’s easy for us to walk out onto as well. At the moment we have our garden chairs in storage but they are there should we need them.
A space to grow
We’re passionate about good food and growing our own produce and we’re hopeful that we will soon be able to scale that up a little more as we’ve been on the waitlist for an allotment for the past 6 months. But aside from that we also love growing on our balcony too, and have grown some produce every year we have been here. Lettuce and Strawberries have always been my favourite, and easiest, to grow. This year I was actually going to take the growing season off due to the baby arriving in late May, I thought I should probably rest and give myself chance to relax and not have too much to worry about. So what did I do? I bought a small greenhouse, various seeds and pots and decided to grow more than I ever have. That certainly does sound like me. We decided to put the greenhouse at the opposite end to the mud kitchen and create a beautiful little growing space for me but also that my daughter can help me with too.
I am so overjoyed with how it has turned out. It has created a beautiful space that suits the needs of our whole family, our little oasis of calm in a crazy world.
