My husband wasn't abusive when we met and were first married. That started happening maybe six months after we were married.
He was already in Amway when we met, but he wasn't very active. After we got married, he started to get more active in "the business."
I didn't know much about Amway when I met him. I met his upline sponsors when we got engaged and I thought they were just good friends. After we were married, I went to a rally and was struck by how the wives seemed to be so supportive. Then I heard the Emerald wife speak, and all she did was edify her husband or go on to "us gals" that we needed to let go of any negativity. As I went to more functions, I heard the wives tell "us gals" to be submissive - that we were wrong for having any needs or requests. It's one of the kids' birthday or your birthday and there's a function? Guess which one takes priority. You can celebrate later when you're "Free," when you're a Diamond.
I thought there would be some sales training. I went to an Artistry clinic - they taught us how to put on makeup and showed us some of the latest colors. But there was nothing about how to find customers, generate sales, or even have a makeup party. At one time, there was a tape by Bettyjean Brooks (wife of Jim Brooks, WWDB) about how to build a retail business. I ordered it, but never received it. She and Jim divorced. Jim stayed in WWDB and the tape suddenly became "unavailable."
Husband really followed the "fake it 'til you make it" teaching. To everyone, he was Mr. Successful. After our child was born, I became a stay at home mother. He led everyone to believe that it was our Amway income that allowed me to stay home. We weren't even at 1500 PV. We never made any money. I kept my mouth shut and played the submissive/supportive wife role. Keeping the books, running call-in and pickup for our downline, and trying to peddle the products to "customers." He never tried to sell anything - that was the wife's job. WWDB taught that.
It all came to a head when the police got involved because of the abuse. He had to move out of our house. He lied to everyone, saying that it was all really nothing and that the courts (and I) were blowing everything out of proportion. After going through counseling and therapy, it was clear to me (and to the therapist) that he was not being honest with any of us. I filed for divorce.
It was then that the upline contacted me. Our sponsor (the wife), platinum and emerald each called me. It started out that they were "concerned" about me and wanted to counsel me. When I told them exactly what happened and why I was leaving, they told me that it was "unbiblical" for me to leave my husband. Yelling at me. Accusing me of negativity. They also said that there was no way he could have done those things, that they just couldn't believe it. I offered to let them see a copy of the police report. Nobody ever took me up on that offer.
Now, I can't say that Amway taught him to be abusive, but I wholeheartedly believe they taught him to be a good liar and how to hide the truth and dodge questions. They did everything short of preach that the "little lady" stay at home, pregnant and in the kitchen. Wives on stage used to brag about how the couple drove a hundred miles and left their kids sleeping in the car while they went inside someone's house to show a plan.
Freedom, indeed. More like servitude.
Friday, October 13, 2017
Amway/WWDB Teaching?
A comment that was left on one of my blogs regarding Amway and WWDB. Hopefully reading this comment will help some people, and entertain others:
Amway is composed of small-minded shitheads who think that certain kinds of behavior are "unbiblical." In other words, fundamentalist assholes from one-horse towns in the Bible Belt.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I build it without the system.
ReplyDeleteAmway, like so many other con games (which we even see in our government now) like to use "religion" and evangelical bullshit to deflect from their corrupt and lying shenanigans.
ReplyDelete@Francois, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by building without the system, but I understand from your other comments, you still think Amway presents a reasonable business opportunity if done right, and stripped of the cult like practices of some lines. According to this view, there are a few bad apples that are messing it up.
ReplyDeleteThis is problematic. As long as realistically, members are essentially buying for self consumption, and the hope of success is based on recruiting others that do the same, who would in turn recruit others, with no real cash flowing in from th outside world, then there is no hope that the story can have a happy ending for the vast majority. The system guarentees that most will be dissapointed, even if everyone in the group are super persuasive relentless hard workers.
The only way for that not to be true, is if there is an objective niche for Amway products at the prices offered, decoupled from the business opportunity, providing realistic prospects for an Amway product sales only business to flourish. That way, an Amway business can exist and expand without the need to duplicate itself. That is simply not the case.
Consider it was the case, if you supply each customer with part of their none perishible retail needs, you need to service a lot of customers every month to earn commissions to even match a decent income. That would be a full time job, for a gifted sales person, without a particularly high ceiling, and without being able to function without owner involvement (my definition for residual income).
There are easier ways to make money, even for people with no experience of business.
If you happen to be a sales person, which is the bare essential for this hypothetical Amway products distributor, there are easier ways to make a LOT more!
Ignoring the specific perils and cult like practices described in this blog, still wont result in Amway suddenly making rational sense.