URAssociation uplines used to always talk about "growth" all over the place, and "this team is on fire!" On and on and on and on......my naive ass was thinking "people are making money in this business! Can't wait until I get going!" Now if you ready my very first blog "Come to my Seminar"you'll see some similarities. This post is kind of a spin-off of sorts.
The URA's premise was clear: You can make lots of money, and THIS TEAM is making lots of money. My sponsor Matthew even told me that URA was the #1 AMO for IBO's making money in their first six months. In "Come to my Seminar" I wrote how the year I went to my first summer CONference (before I joined). We rented a couple vans. The only drawback to the conference was that six of us were staying in a two bed hotel room. But other than that, it was ok. We went to a nice restaurant for lunch on the Baltimore harbor. Everyone was self-sufficient. We were good. It definitely accomplished its purpose.
Fast forward a year later. I'm active. A month in, a decent grand opening, and even a good friend of mine was on the brink of joining. Business was good. But all of the sudden, things were taken a turn for the 'holy shit, this isn't making sense.' We got an unpleasant voice mail from our upline platinum about being frugal with our money and not going out to eat. Making sure we chipped in for gas and went on the hotel room.
I was working part time for minimum wage at the time. I had my snacks, gas covered but I didn't have enough to chip in for the hotel room. Matter of fact, none of us did because there was going to be six of us in the room again! Another issue was the encouragement...check that...DEMAND that we pack lunchmeat, peanut butter and jelly, bread, fruit, and OF COURSE your lovely Amway products INSTEAD of eating proper food. However, for lunch we DID eat out....we chipped in for Pizza's and sat outside in 90 degree weather making phone calls to prospective IBO's while we ate.
So picture this scenario: We're at a CONference for a business that is supposedly VERY successful and making big money. Yet we have IBO's who can't afford hotel rooms, almost forbidden to go have a decent meal, and spend a whole weekend eating peanut butter and jelly. To the average cultist, that may seem reasonable. To the rest of the rational world: It's BULLSHIT. Go to any successful business that has weekend conferences (note: no CON in all caps) and ask if THEY pack lunchmeat and eat like peasants.
During the CONference there was a couple that spoke. They were known as "arrows." It's some kind of leadership position. Anyways, during the church service I saw the man closing a bag he was carrying. Inside, it contained a loaf of bread, some mustard, lunch meat and miracle whip. The first thing I thought was "yuck!" Not much on mustard and miracle whip together. Blegh. But then it hit me, even THIS guy who had done well enough to speak on stage was eating JUST LIKE THE REST OF US! It made no sense! It's like "once I work my way up, I'll be able to eat at Applebees next CONference!"
Word of advice to AMO higher ups: If people can't afford to go, don't make them. And if they DO go, it doesn't set the right impression to pack half a dozen people into a hotel room and eat sandwiches all weekend. That's one of the reasons my friend decided not to join. It didn't send a good message.
My other advice to AMO higher ups would be to tell the TRUTH to your downlines about how you make all that money. I know...hilarious!
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Sunday, May 7, 2017
We Didn't Start the Fire
Disclaimer: The thoughts in this blog are my own opinions. Names (if any) have been changed in order to protect everyone's privacy. The thoughts in this blog do not address Amway directly, but rather the motivational organization known as URAssociation (URA).
As time has progressed since my departure from URA, I've reached out to a couple people from the team that have left as well. EVERY person from that team has either left, or I'm confident has left. Whatever their status, the pictures of hopeful smiles at CONferences, and inspirational quotes about success have disappeared. Our upline emerald is still active however, but he can afford to be with the ticket commissions. Matthew and I saw each other at a friends funeral, but neither of us went out of our way to speak. I still hold no ill will.
One person that I've talked to fairly regularly since my departure is a girl named "Leigh." Leigh joined after I left URA but was still active in Amway. I left URA in October of 2014, but renewed my license in hopes that I could sell the product on my own, with no success. Leigh however was having a HUGE start to her business. She was friends with our upline platinum's fiancee (now wife) and came out swinging! She was selling the product like hotcakes and reached 6% very early.
She was placed on my downline, so I reaped the "benefits" of her success, though I didn't make squat because I wasn't selling enough product. But over time in my last few months in the "business" I noticed her numbers fell off a cliff. We had become friends on facebook and had been talking about her sales when she started, so I messaged her the rhetorical question of why she had fallen off. She first stated she was "taking a break" like so many people say, but I eventually got it out of her that the "business" was too much for her to handle. Leigh had a job, school and was engaged. The time that the platinum's fiancee and others were demanding out of her, like everybody else, just became irritating.
We talked about the problem with Amway's prices, the time they demanded interfering with work, and then Leigh finally dropped a bombshell on me.
Turns out she was listening to one of the CD's, you know the ones that if you don't listen to you'll fail at the "business" (LOL) and the speaker (she couldn't remember the name) said. "I drove by the firehouse one time and I see all these people just wasting their time."
This speaker was talking about the FIREFIGHTERS working a job that isn't going to make them financially free.
That was the last straw for Leigh, as she is a volunteer firefighter/EMT. That was a WTF moment for ME! FIREFIGHTERS WASTING THEIR TIME?????????
So let me get this straight...
If this speakers' big expensive mansion catches on fire, WHO is he going to rely on to put it out? Because firefighters don't need to be working that job when they can be pushing Amway products. I guess he must think Mr. King or Mr. Prince is going to Superman on over to their house, and put out the flames with perfect water!
What a dipshit!
The URA cult has reached a point where evidently we don't need firefighters, cops, military, etc. Amway is going to save the world! We'll fight ISIS with Rhodiola in our veins and we'll pelt them with full XS cans! And we'll bankrupt them by making them buy $18 shampoo! BUT OF COURSE, I'm surely mistaken as to what that speaker was saying as there is always some rationalized bullshit they'll use to cover up what they really meant.
Firefighters don't waste their time. They save lives. URA and other AMO big shots waste YOUR time, and ruin YOUR life.
Burn!
As time has progressed since my departure from URA, I've reached out to a couple people from the team that have left as well. EVERY person from that team has either left, or I'm confident has left. Whatever their status, the pictures of hopeful smiles at CONferences, and inspirational quotes about success have disappeared. Our upline emerald is still active however, but he can afford to be with the ticket commissions. Matthew and I saw each other at a friends funeral, but neither of us went out of our way to speak. I still hold no ill will.
One person that I've talked to fairly regularly since my departure is a girl named "Leigh." Leigh joined after I left URA but was still active in Amway. I left URA in October of 2014, but renewed my license in hopes that I could sell the product on my own, with no success. Leigh however was having a HUGE start to her business. She was friends with our upline platinum's fiancee (now wife) and came out swinging! She was selling the product like hotcakes and reached 6% very early.
She was placed on my downline, so I reaped the "benefits" of her success, though I didn't make squat because I wasn't selling enough product. But over time in my last few months in the "business" I noticed her numbers fell off a cliff. We had become friends on facebook and had been talking about her sales when she started, so I messaged her the rhetorical question of why she had fallen off. She first stated she was "taking a break" like so many people say, but I eventually got it out of her that the "business" was too much for her to handle. Leigh had a job, school and was engaged. The time that the platinum's fiancee and others were demanding out of her, like everybody else, just became irritating.
We talked about the problem with Amway's prices, the time they demanded interfering with work, and then Leigh finally dropped a bombshell on me.
Turns out she was listening to one of the CD's, you know the ones that if you don't listen to you'll fail at the "business" (LOL) and the speaker (she couldn't remember the name) said. "I drove by the firehouse one time and I see all these people just wasting their time."
This speaker was talking about the FIREFIGHTERS working a job that isn't going to make them financially free.
That was the last straw for Leigh, as she is a volunteer firefighter/EMT. That was a WTF moment for ME! FIREFIGHTERS WASTING THEIR TIME?????????
So let me get this straight...
If this speakers' big expensive mansion catches on fire, WHO is he going to rely on to put it out? Because firefighters don't need to be working that job when they can be pushing Amway products. I guess he must think Mr. King or Mr. Prince is going to Superman on over to their house, and put out the flames with perfect water!
What a dipshit!
The URA cult has reached a point where evidently we don't need firefighters, cops, military, etc. Amway is going to save the world! We'll fight ISIS with Rhodiola in our veins and we'll pelt them with full XS cans! And we'll bankrupt them by making them buy $18 shampoo! BUT OF COURSE, I'm surely mistaken as to what that speaker was saying as there is always some rationalized bullshit they'll use to cover up what they really meant.
Firefighters don't waste their time. They save lives. URA and other AMO big shots waste YOUR time, and ruin YOUR life.
Burn!
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Fantasy Football: The Anti-Amway!
Disclaimer: The thoughts in this blog are my own opinions. Names (if any) have been changed in order to protect everyone's privacy. The thoughts in this blog do not address Amway directly, but rather the motivational organization known as URAssociation (URA).
Been a while. But sometimes you just gotta take some time off and wait until the right inspiration hits you. And boy, did it EVER!
When I wanted to start my "Cultism on YouTube" series, one of the videos I wanted to show was a young couple that was in Emerald Qualification being interviewed from the same guy who interviewed our good friend Tracey Eaton (See: Fight, Kick, Scratch and Crawl post) for his YouTube channel. Sadly, the video isn't on his channel anymore. Guess they wanted to "keep it pure" (See" Purity Through Anonymity") as well. Hey ho!
Luckily your dude remembered most of their interview. Now this couple, we'll call em Jax and Tara (LOVE Sons of Anarchy!) do their interview and go through the same 'we need to get focused' blah blah blah. Then he eerily says "don't worry about what's going on in the world." And "eliminate all distractions." And you WONDER why I call this blog the Financial Jonestown. How much more cultish can you sound???
I actually saw their interview before I joined and while they DID give me a bad vibe, they also proposed an interesting feature. They were both young and on their way up the ladder QUICKLY! Much like our upline Emerald they had propelled to URA stardom in a very short time so obviously if THEY could do it? Why not you? I got my first dose of Jax and Tara when they kicked off the Friday Night session of Summer CONference. I was interested to hear their story and then they dropped a bombshell when they mentioned who their sponsors were:
Mr. and Mrs. Prince.
WOMP! WOMP! WOMMMMMMP!
That was another one of the many red flags I endured that weekend. The vibe I got was that they were INSIDERS getting the best advice from the big wigs while the rest of us lived off the table scraps. Now, in their interview, Jax was asked the BLATANTLY RHETORICAL question: "Do you play fantasy football?" Of course, the 'focused' and 'non-distracted' Jax quickly replied "nope. No fantasy football, no XBox, no nothing. I love them, but they don't put me ahead financially." And HERE is where we arrive at my point for this blog.
I played in two fantasy football leagues this year. One was for a cash prize of $200, the other was for a trophy that you get to keep all year, plus $40 that was left over from the trophy purchase. I won BOTH leagues. Yes, awesome I know you don't have to tell me. NOW it's time for a famous number crunch:
In Amway, I paid $150 for my startup kit. $100 for a Summer CONference ticket, $50 for gas, plus another $50 for expenses. I spent around $300 for personal volume/samples/etc. The money I MADE in Amway? Probably in the neighborhood of $250. So $250 profit with an expense total of around $650, I netted a whopping total of -$450. This of course is just coming off the dome, but you get the picture.
Now, this year in Fantasy Football, my league fee total for both leagues was $40. I made $240 PLUS a trophy. That nets me $200 and a 365 day reminder sitting in my room of how much of a Fantasy Football badass I am. Much nicer looking than those cracker jack rings the diamonds wear. I even get to DECORATE it how I please.
So you have a net profit of -$450 from reading books, listening to tapes, wasting a weekend with little sleep packed in a hotel room with six men, weekly business briefings, conference calls, showing plans, team get togethers, etc. etc. etc. OR you get a POSITIVE $200 net from setting your lineup with the occasional research. At the most EXTREME 2 hours a week. Seems like a no brainer.
And there's always the argument: Well you got a point, but WHAT IF YOU DON'T WIN??? Ok, that's a fair point. In which case I would've had a net profit of -$40. Less than 10% of what I lost in Amway! Also, if you play in a Fantasy money league, you have probably 8-12 teams so you have a 1 in 8-12 of winning the grand prize and an even better odds to win money if they give prizes to 2nd/3rd place. Forget the odds of making Platinum/Emerald/Diamond....try to find the odds where at the end of the year, you've netted a PROFIT. Just go look up THOSE odds and tell me how you would fare!
So now I totally understand why Jax, Tara, Mr. Prince, and the rest of the Executive Douchebag Committee look down on Fantasy Football: IT'S BETTER COMPETITION. Is it gambling? Yeah, but at least it's honest. At least you know how much you can gain/lose. With the URA and their counterparts, it's thievery. Thievery of your trust, your confidence, your money, YOUR SOUL.
In closing, Jax and Tara referred to a saying they have in their home state of Texas: "Let er' rip tater chip." It really should've been "rip em' off jagoff."
Word of advice: If you're low in the draft, draft two receivers.
Been a while. But sometimes you just gotta take some time off and wait until the right inspiration hits you. And boy, did it EVER!
When I wanted to start my "Cultism on YouTube" series, one of the videos I wanted to show was a young couple that was in Emerald Qualification being interviewed from the same guy who interviewed our good friend Tracey Eaton (See: Fight, Kick, Scratch and Crawl post) for his YouTube channel. Sadly, the video isn't on his channel anymore. Guess they wanted to "keep it pure" (See" Purity Through Anonymity") as well. Hey ho!
Luckily your dude remembered most of their interview. Now this couple, we'll call em Jax and Tara (LOVE Sons of Anarchy!) do their interview and go through the same 'we need to get focused' blah blah blah. Then he eerily says "don't worry about what's going on in the world." And "eliminate all distractions." And you WONDER why I call this blog the Financial Jonestown. How much more cultish can you sound???
I actually saw their interview before I joined and while they DID give me a bad vibe, they also proposed an interesting feature. They were both young and on their way up the ladder QUICKLY! Much like our upline Emerald they had propelled to URA stardom in a very short time so obviously if THEY could do it? Why not you? I got my first dose of Jax and Tara when they kicked off the Friday Night session of Summer CONference. I was interested to hear their story and then they dropped a bombshell when they mentioned who their sponsors were:
Mr. and Mrs. Prince.
WOMP! WOMP! WOMMMMMMP!
That was another one of the many red flags I endured that weekend. The vibe I got was that they were INSIDERS getting the best advice from the big wigs while the rest of us lived off the table scraps. Now, in their interview, Jax was asked the BLATANTLY RHETORICAL question: "Do you play fantasy football?" Of course, the 'focused' and 'non-distracted' Jax quickly replied "nope. No fantasy football, no XBox, no nothing. I love them, but they don't put me ahead financially." And HERE is where we arrive at my point for this blog.
I played in two fantasy football leagues this year. One was for a cash prize of $200, the other was for a trophy that you get to keep all year, plus $40 that was left over from the trophy purchase. I won BOTH leagues. Yes, awesome I know you don't have to tell me. NOW it's time for a famous number crunch:
In Amway, I paid $150 for my startup kit. $100 for a Summer CONference ticket, $50 for gas, plus another $50 for expenses. I spent around $300 for personal volume/samples/etc. The money I MADE in Amway? Probably in the neighborhood of $250. So $250 profit with an expense total of around $650, I netted a whopping total of -$450. This of course is just coming off the dome, but you get the picture.
Now, this year in Fantasy Football, my league fee total for both leagues was $40. I made $240 PLUS a trophy. That nets me $200 and a 365 day reminder sitting in my room of how much of a Fantasy Football badass I am. Much nicer looking than those cracker jack rings the diamonds wear. I even get to DECORATE it how I please.
So you have a net profit of -$450 from reading books, listening to tapes, wasting a weekend with little sleep packed in a hotel room with six men, weekly business briefings, conference calls, showing plans, team get togethers, etc. etc. etc. OR you get a POSITIVE $200 net from setting your lineup with the occasional research. At the most EXTREME 2 hours a week. Seems like a no brainer.
And there's always the argument: Well you got a point, but WHAT IF YOU DON'T WIN??? Ok, that's a fair point. In which case I would've had a net profit of -$40. Less than 10% of what I lost in Amway! Also, if you play in a Fantasy money league, you have probably 8-12 teams so you have a 1 in 8-12 of winning the grand prize and an even better odds to win money if they give prizes to 2nd/3rd place. Forget the odds of making Platinum/Emerald/Diamond....try to find the odds where at the end of the year, you've netted a PROFIT. Just go look up THOSE odds and tell me how you would fare!
So now I totally understand why Jax, Tara, Mr. Prince, and the rest of the Executive Douchebag Committee look down on Fantasy Football: IT'S BETTER COMPETITION. Is it gambling? Yeah, but at least it's honest. At least you know how much you can gain/lose. With the URA and their counterparts, it's thievery. Thievery of your trust, your confidence, your money, YOUR SOUL.
In closing, Jax and Tara referred to a saying they have in their home state of Texas: "Let er' rip tater chip." It really should've been "rip em' off jagoff."
Word of advice: If you're low in the draft, draft two receivers.
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