Free Enterprise

12/13/23 • 49 min

In the premiere episode, we start at the logical place: the beginning. After Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos founded Amway, the world - and our political sphere - was never the same. The jury is out on whether that’s for the better...or worse. I also speak with Chrystal, a former Independent Business Owner with Amway and member of the motivational organization, Leadership Team Development (LTD).

Sources:
Amway
Amway Income Disclosure
60 Minutes "Soap and Hope" 1999
Amway/Alticor Lobbying and Political Donations
Sean Munger Substack
Final Order in Regard to Alleged Violation of the FTC Act, 1979
LA Times: Amway earnings
Merchants of Deception by Eric Scheibeler

Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Thanks for listening. Email us at [email protected] and follow us at @oppcostpod on Instagram & TikTok.
Brought to you by Bloww Studio. Scripted, hosted, and edited by Jill.

Thanks for listening. Email us at [email protected] and follow us at @oppcostpod on Instagram & TikTok.
Brought to you by Bloww Studio. Scripted, hosted, and edited by Jill.

Previous Episode

Opportunity Cost S1 Trailer

How did multi-level marketing become a $186B industry? What does it mean to lose your identity and find it somewhere else? Are distributors who build teams of hundreds underneath them victims? Or are they villains?
Maybe the answer to these questions is somewhere in the middle. Who we are determines what motivates us, how we make decisions, and who we trust. This includes when someone we know or don’t know tells us we can have everything we’ve ever wanted...by joining their network marketing company.

I invite us to take a look under the hood to find that these companies and their representatives are much more complicated than they appear. Each episode, I try to answer the question, is this the opportunity of a lifetime? Or the illusion of one?

Thanks for listening. Email us at [email protected] and follow us at @oppcostpod on Instagram & TikTok.
Brought to you by Bloww Studio. Scripted, hosted, and edited by Jill.

Next Episode

Living Water

Seekers looking for community outside of traditional religion might find themselves in the New Age movement. These groups are not free from the grip of MLMs and the wild health claims made about their products. Enagic distributors claim to have the secret to long-lasting health in their Kangen water ionizers. I also speak with Anna about her time in Enagic, and the MLM distributor to QAnon pipeline.

Sources:
Enagic
Enagic Income Disclosure
When Multi-Level Marketing Met Gen Z by the Atlantic
Is Alkaline Water a Miracle Cure? Or BS? The Science is In by the Guardian
FTC Cease & Desist to Enagic
Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Thanks for listening. Email us at [email protected] and follow us at @oppcostpod on Instagram & TikTok.
Brought to you by Bloww Studio. Scripted, hosted, and edited by Jill.