As I said in a previous piece, I used to be an Amway distributor, also known as an IBO. While I was in the workforce, Amway and Amway-related activities took up the majority of my time. In the absence of a meeting or the presentation of the strategy, I would visit coffee shops or other public areas in search of new members to join my organisation. It happened while I was working with the Worldwide Group, and I was always told that we were "helping people." It was for the "cause" that I dedicated my life.
Looking back, we didn't provide assistance to anyone who didn't join the company. Even individuals who signed up for the programme did not receive any "assistance." The assistance that my upline was referring to was simply someone higher up in the organisation who could demonstrate the plan and assist active IBOs in recruiting others. This was done for free on occasion, while on other occasions you had to pay (for open meetings). Every opportunity to find recruits was taken advantage of, including weddings and other social gatherings. We never gave out anything unless a prospect expressed an interest in working with Amway. If they were not interested, then whatever assistance they received would come to an end. "They're not awful people, but they just don't get it," my sponsor would say, referring to the fact that they do not perceive Amway as their financial rescuer.
When I eventually recognised that the Amway opportunity was not going to provide me with a source of permanent residual income, and as a result of a disagreement with my sponsor, I made the decision to leave the company. All of my lifelong Amway buddies, on the other hand, never spoke to me again. With the exception of a few members of my group, the majority of my group quit. One of them, according to reports, went on to become successful in the industry and eventually reached the platinum level. According to me, this individual continued to be brainwashed and spent tens of thousands of dollars on brainwashing-related equipment and supplies.
I found it quite weird that after I left the Amway opportunity and Worldwide group, I suddenly discovered how much free time I had on my hands. It was a surprising realisation for me. I also found that I had more money to save because my salary wasn't being swallowed by PV and support materials. I was relieved. A portion of that surplus was able to be saved and put to work, and I am grateful that I did so today. Because of my job, I am able to live rather nicely at the time of this writing.
As time went on, I also read and heard about some of my crossline pals who had lost their houses and/or gone bankrupt, which was heartbreaking. I have a strong suspicion that their consumption of standing orders and attendance at functions played a significant role in their lives. Through various media, I also discovered that our WWDB leaders had lied to the downline regarding tool earnings. They had claimed that there was no profit to be earned from tools. Later, I discovered that some of them derived the majority of their revenue from the sale of tools. There has never been any accountability for the lies told by these officials.
Later on, I realised that several of my uplines had lied about paying for their homes in cash, and who knows what else they may be lying about now. I believe that upline greed has contributed to many of the challenges that the business opportunity is currently experiencing. It was in 2003 - 2004 that I first became aware of some of this information, and it was only afterwards that I became a member of the Quixtar blog. Since then, I've been considering whether or not to join Amway.
The best revelation I've made is that life continues to be fairly pleasant after leaving Amway!
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