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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)