Hi everyone! First time actually creating a post in here so I'm sorry if it's a bit jumbled, long-winded, or just outright doesn't make sense. I hope that this story can at least help people who are thinking about joining an MLM. Onto the story my friends. Might want to grab a snack, it's a long one.

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So I was in ItWorks for about a month. It was absolutely horrendous. At the time, I was a broke college kid (that still hasn't changed) about to move across the country to be with my boyfriend who is in the Air Force. I was scared, relying solely on my parents, had no money, and no plan. We had just bought a house and I was a terrified cat mom of 2 demons. So I began looking for ways to make some extra income without actually committing to a job I would have to leave in about two months. I had seen A LOT of stuff about ShitWorks from many people I followed. I always politely turned down their requests and never got any annoying pestering. But I met this girl (we'll call her Amanda) and she seemed to be just like me. A freshly graduated adult, working a full time job and still struggling to get by. But apparently this business was changing her life and she had made so many friends because of it. (Sure, Jan.)

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She messaged me and we hit it off. We had really similar personalities and she had a spitfire personality which I loved and related to. I told her to give me a couple weeks to come up with some extra money and if the $20 promotion was still going on, I would join. Fast forward to me biting the bullet and signing up. I got in and immediately was welcomed by so many women. I was lifted up and told I would do amazing things in this business. I immediately joined every Facebook group and every groupchat I was offered. I met so many kind people that looking back on this and telling this story always makes me a bit sad.

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At this time in my life, I was still reeling from the rejection that sorority recruitment put me through the previous semester (different story for a different day) and I was looking for a "tribe" to call my own. I was looking to fit in and I thought I found it. So I watched the "training" videos, texted my upline constantly, followed about a zillion people on Instagram and the second I could, I was messaging around 100 people a day (200 if I wasn't busy). I was the epitome of a hunbot. And what's really sad was I didn't care what I had to say to make a sale. I would say ANYTHING my upline sent me in order to seal the deal. I was the perfect pawn for them. I was exactly what they were looking for. I did anything and everything to seem impressive to these new "friends" so they would like me more.

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Everything was going okay for a couple weeks, I was a bit upset I wasn't making sales or recruiting people too much but I chalked it up to it being around Christmas and people weren't looking to really buy too much. I was convinced that after New Year's I would be selling and signing up people left and right and that I would be getting a FAT paycheck come the 15th. Well. That couldn't be further than from what happened. I barely had anyone buy. My upline began placing her orders under me so that I would add to my rank and make my way from Distributor to Executive (those dumbass ranks I swear).

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I wasn't doing well. I was becoming more desperate to make sales so I was messaging EVERYONE I could in hopes of making something. However, my clouded vision suddenly started clearing up when I messaged one girl (frankly, I can't even remember her name so we'll call her Emily). I was talking to Emily about the products when she mentioned she couldn't afford them (very typical response) so I screenshot the conversation and sent it to Amanda (upline) and asked what to say. I already knew what was coming but I frankly didn't have every single script saved in my notes (there are simply too many to keep track of it's ridiculous) so I wanted to ask. I was told to mention the business opportunity to her because "she obviously needed it." So I did because at this point I had no dignity left. She kept saying that she couldn't afford the $20 but Amanda kept pushing me to get this woman on my team. The things she told me to say to this woman who had just been fired and had kids to feed made me sick. Kept on about how she really needed this to provide for her family and that it was easy money as long as she worked hard and how she didn't want the first month of the new year to be full of disappointment.

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At this point, I had stopped messaging Emily and had been quiet on my socials. I didn't post annoying stories, I didn't message random people unless it was getting a response from a previously sent cold message. I felt...gross. I realized that the woman on the other end of that screen was a person. She was just like me when I started. She was scared, had no plan, and was worried about anything and everything. I felt horrible.

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So I started deleting every message I had sent from my inbox. I slowly started taking down my posts, changing captions on selfies I liked, stopped responding to people who were interested, stopped sending Amanda screenshots, stopped being active in groupchats. After about a week, I blocked Amanda on my socials, I left the Facebook groups and iMessage and Instagram groupchats I was in.

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I was out at trivia with my friend (we did that every Wednesday night when I lived back in Tennessee. I really miss it) when Amanda texted me, asking what was going on. So I sent her basically a novel about how I still loved the girls I had met on this journey and that I know by leaving I would be ending those friendships but that it wasn't anything anyone did. It was the fact that working my ass off only got me $11.64 for the month. Sleepless nights and pushing deadlines was all for a measly $11.64 that I couldn't even cash in because they didn't start payouts until you got to $15. I told her that I didn't have the time for this anymore, especially for such little payout that I couldn't even get. She basically called me lazy, unmotivated, a quitter, the usual. That hurt me because I really thought me and her had good friendship going.

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I got messages over the following days from people asking what happened. I never responded. It hurt too much knowing what was probably being said about me. In the end, no one from that team still talks to me. They've all either unfollowed me, unfriended me, or blocked me on their socials.

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A huge part of me is glad I cut my losses before I got in too deep. But a small part of me is sad that those friendships I was making are all gone. I went from feeling like the outcast to feeling important to right back at outcast. It was soul-crushing if I'm honest. I still to this day struggle with being rejected by new people I meet. I still struggle with potentially being used in a friendship. I still struggle with seeing who true friends are. And now I live in Idaho and know only a handful of people. I had to start my life over but it's been worth it so far. I have an amazing boyfriend, two adorable cats, amazing family and friends back home, and wonderful new friends here.

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So, long story short, MLMs really aren't worth it. The promises of riches and friends are a lie. They're just looking for someone to replace the weakest link in their pyramid (which I later found out is exactly what Amanda was doing with me. She had some slackers she wanted to replace.). I still struggle with things but everything is getting better.

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I get tons of follows on Instagram from hunbots and it makes me sad. I try to educate them as best as I can but it usually doesn't work. Oh well. I hope this story helps someone. Whether you are someone thinking about joining an MLM or just someone who wanted to hear a story, this is all I got. I hope someone enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!