The rise and fall of 'Rejuvinat'
My thoughts on what happened with R+F and the current state of the MLM industry.
First, before I proceed, I want to remind everyone that everything I say about MLM reps comes from personal experience—I HAVE BEEN THERE.
Second, I am not heartless. Yesterday, I spent hours chatting with people dealing with this via phone, text, and DM. I have many friends who have been impacted by this.
Third, I tried to warn you.
And last, I’ve decided to turn on a paywall for future posts about R+F as well as comments/notes because fuck that. You can read my work, but if you want to argue with me or leave hate comments, you can make it worth my while.
So, what happened?
Yesterday, Rodan + Fields announced it would leave the MLM industry. They will still (for now) exist as a company and (for now) pay their reps as affiliates. No more pyramid, no more teams, no more recruiting.
To put this in perspective, had this happened at the height of my #bossbabe era, my paycheck would have been slashed from $40K to a few hundred dollars a month.
For the 90 percent of the Rodan + Fields contingent who was making very little or losing money, this change won’t matter much, other than leaving reps with bruised egos for trying to recruit into a system that no longer exists.
For those who were earning any income off of a downline (that is, the people they recruited, their customers, and the team they recruited), this has devastating consequences.
Why is R+F leaving MLM?
The same reason that Seint, Beautycounter, and others have: consumers are waking up to the fact that MLMs aren’t a good thing, and revenue has declined for the past five years.
The company's founders chose the MLM model because, at the time, it was a money-maker. In the early 2010s, you could make some serious cash by telling a bunch of stay-at-home moms that they could ‘own their own businesses.’ I joined in 2014, believing the rhetoric that the founders ‘wanted to create more woman millionaires than any other company.’ Yes, I truly believed that.
With the rise in social media in the mid to late 2010s, MLM’s flourished! You could find anything you wanted on Facebook. Needed an eye cream or a collagen powder, even some earrings? Your Facebook friend list had you covered!
Over time, Facebook and, later, Instagram began to suppress the posts of MLM reps. Why? I mean, why not? Why would Zuck want to give you a free platform to sell your shit when he could sell advertising? By the late 2010s, we had begun to see the shift to influencers and paid ads. By the time the pandemic hit, you didn’t need to buy from the lady down the road; you had retailers and influencers in your face selling you anything you whispered near your phone the day before.
And then, 2020 happened. *Shudder*
While there was an uptick in reps targeting women to use their products to cure Covid and have financial freedom, which caused the FTC to take action, the MLM industry never fully recovered.
What are the R+F reps saying?
The responses are all over the board. From radio silence to “God will provide” to shock and rage and lots of blind delusion.
Some women I chatted with yesterday were glad they’d been building a plan B, or had long ago made R+F their plan B (or C or D). Some said they needed this kick in the ass to figure something else out. But many echoed the same thing: they were sad for the people who lost everything, and they felt duped.
It’s easy for anyone, including me, to say, “HOW DID YOU NOT SEE THIS COMING?” And yet, I understand entirely.
In an MLM, you’re taught to fight against naysayers. Any dissent against your goal to ‘find financial freedom’ is met with the belief that people must not want you to succeed. The sunk-cost fallacy comes into play; you’ve put so much time, energy, and money into it, how could you not stay to make it work? So, no matter what, you will rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic even as the ship is sinking.
I was not surprised at all to see the cheers of support for R+F by tippity-top reps, even after having their income decimated. And today, they are touting the excitement of another product launch. It’s sad. And I probably would have done the same thing ten years ago to save face. Who wants to believe they joined a scam? Who wants to realize that they spouted FOR YEARS about what a life-changing opportunity they were involved in, only to have it blow up catastrophically?
Another large contingent of reps is still singing the praises of MLM but has already left for other companies.
And it’s easy to judge that behavior, too: How could you join another scam when you just got royally fucked over? But the truth is, there’s something much more comforting about the devil you know than the devil you don’t. Joining another MLM may be the most logical, comforting thing.
What I’ve learned since leaving MLM: Some go down with the ship. Some will jump on another sinking ship. Some will leave quietly.
Very few will leave and write a book.
More questions answered!
I woke up to ten zillion comments and questions, so I thought this would be an excellent place to post the most frequently asked.
Q: What happens to the free cars?
A: The cars aren’t free and never were. As I explained in my book, reps buy or lease their own car (which needs to be a specific color or brand depending on the company), and then the company gives a small stipend, assuming the rep holds the correct rank (a certain number of team members or sales). If the rep doesn’t fulfill the multitude of caveats and requirements, they don’t get the stipend. So, no more MLM, no more car program, no more stipend. Reps will have to, you know, pay for their own car. Or sell them. That’s it. R+F owes nothing.
Q: I buy products from R+F; what should I do?
A: I mean, do whatever you want. Honestly? If you like the products, go to town. The reality is that the affiliate model is much more ethical than MLM. It’s straight sales with commission. Your payment will be supporting whatever rep you’re purchasing from, not their upline, but you’re still supporting a company that fucked over a bunch of people. Do with that what you will. I will never do business with R+F purely out of spite, but that’s just me.
Q: Is this going to keep happening with other MLM companies?
A: I believe so.
Q: My upline left R+F about five months ago and joined another MLM. She promises this won’t happen with the new one, but I’m scared to join her.
A: You should be scared! Tell her good luck, but know that she’s saying what she’s saying to try to recruit you. She may believe it all to be accurate, but the truth is, this can happen with any MLM company. Her ‘new gig’ may be seemingly skyrocketing now, but only because so many displaced reps from other companies have joined. Before too long, the same thing will happen to Shaklee, Bravenly, Olive Tree People, Beauty Society, or whichever other shiny penny is being flashed in your face right now. Please don’t join another MLM.
Q: This needs to be a documentary.
A: Stay tuned :)
Q: How can I learn more about MLMs / what is an MLM / explain everything to me like I’m 5, thanks!
A: I so conveniently wrote an entire book about this!
Don’t forget to pre-order the paperback version of my book for juicy bonus content (made much juicier thanks to recent events!)
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading :)
Seeing the name “Shaklee” come up so much is unearthing memories of my swim coach who pushed Shaklee supplements, vitamins and sports drinks on us from the time I was in 5th grade until I graduated from high school. The Good Girls bought the products. You were in or out of his good graces based on “who was taking their nutrition seriously.” He “won” a “free” car. And this was in a working class town in Indiana, so even $30 for some BS powdered sports drink in the 90s was not easy for some families.