to worry about my friend's obsession with Herbalife?

She will come crawling back one day, when she reliezes she can’t sell it to people. I hope you tell her to jog on. MLM sellers are nutcases.

Agree totally with the above poster. I was suckered in myself years ago when I was about 18. They really do sell you the dream.

I'd advise not totally writing off her and your friendship just yet. She's in peak happy herbalife mode. I'm not saying that her ignoring you is acceptable at all. But just wait, she will eventually see the light when her and her family's money runs out.

I promise you it won't last, just be the bigger person and when the realisation hits her, be the great friend that you are for her then. I know it's painful, but people going in at the bottom rarely make any real financial success. It becomes sunk cost after sunk cost on the bought stock.

Is there any way at all you can get in touch with her husband and give him the heads up about what's going on?

So sorry. This really is a cult, i couldnt get away from the person who did the hard sell on me, she freaking hated me for saying no. iwhen she did her sell i was in the midddle of a personal convo about a recent and close berevement ffs.
In a way at least you know her better. You could text her and ask her to contact you and once shes done with herbalife or not.

These things are indeed cults. They are like the Event Horizon of consumerism. It's really, horribly sinister, and escapees learn the hard way both financially and psychologically. Hate them with a passion. There's loads on YouTube that exposes them.

And now of course we have the same thing going on with digital and AI platforms. Grim. Utterly grim.

Herbalife is such an evil set up. It’s just a pyramid scheme hiding behind iffy diet products. Herbalife had some serious bad press after Betting on Zero and has come perilously close to being shut down by the FTC in the US. They paid a $200m fine and have had to restructure and demonstrate that 80% of their sales are to genuine customers outside the scheme, BUT there are no such requirements outside the US so they appear to be doubling down in the UK.

Here they have the toothless DSA rules. The DSA is a promotional organisation staffed by MLM bosses, for the gain of MLM. The fact that Herbalife has adopted a strategy of hiding itself behind “nutrition clubs” shows just how willing they are to mislead as part of their strategy. It’s the same with Forever Living who have had to close their MLM altogether in the US to swerve serious consequences for the lies they’ve been telling for decades. In the UK they are trying very hard to keep going and are free to do whatever it takes with very little chance of consequences. This is very bad news for people like your friend.

MLM is such a cult and you’re right OP that isolating people is part of it. They love bomb people, tell them they are visionary and destined for great things. They tell them that the critics and the doubters are sheep stuck in 9-5 jobs with no prospects and/or they’re envious because they have already failed in MLM or they are not brave enough to be an “entrepreneur”. Then they play to the sunk cost fallacy - success is just around the corner, don’t be a quitter. You’ve put in so much effort don’t give up now.
Then they make is scary to quit - people in the outside are against you. That might be starting to come true if someone has alienated everyone by trying to monitise them.

Whenever I’ve spoken to a journalist or researcher wanting to write/broadcast about MLM they always comment about how difficult it is to get people to talk, even off record, about their bad experience. The fact your friend has gone silent may indicate that she is beginning to realise it’s costing her more than she is making. Research in the US has shown that 99.6% of people entering MLM will lose money (when factoring in their expenses), the chances your friend is in the tiny percentage who turn a profit consistently is unlikely, especially now recruitment is stalling in the UK and MLM as an “industry” is not what it was. Let’s face it, it’s not about selling shakes, it’s about recruiting everyone she knows.

I watched the doccumentary Betting on Zero and people are still taken in. Yes its culty.

I know someone who does this and it does seem quite culty and a very uncomfortable use of friends / family for business.

I am surprised it's still got such a presence still going post-Wegovy etc. as I presume their target market is people looking for fast weight loss rather than people generally invested in a healthy life style.

It’s the 80s all over again. 😂 My neighbours 40 years ago did Herbalife. Every time I went to their house to play with their dc they made us all drink cups of aloe vera juice. They were bonkers and continued in every MLM known to man until they died a few years ago. Not the same one, because none of them ever made any money, though you would have thought getting in at the bottom of the pyramid would have done it. Just ignore her. It will go badly. But you don’t want to engage or buy anything.

This sums it up, really 😂

It's an MLM, read up on them and just let it be. She will fall back down to earth with a crash.
archive.ph/3C1q4

There was a local group called NutritionXXXX and they were posting great weight loss results. I looked into it and realised that in all the photos, there were these massive shake bottles, and the background was full of HL products. I know somebody who was doing it and they are now running their own business doing it. They approached me and I politely said not interested.

As with any shake diet, as soon as you stop the weight piles back on again.

It is an awful aggressive MLM scheme. It was over 20 years ago when they conned gullible XH into parting with thousands of pounds buying stock. When he couldn't sell it, they bought it back at half price...

Your friend won't listen until they see it for themselves, they are obviously very gullible and have fallen for all the crap. You could have a word with her DH if you think he will listen and talk sensibly to her about it.

She sounds great, I really think you should support her.

#bossbabe #ceoofmyownlife

A woman I know did this. Bombarded us with Monet posts, including really out of character things like videos of her showering using the products (she’s a married mother of 3 and I imagine her kids were mortified), and signed up family members and friends. Once the bubble presumably burst, she just never mentioned it again. I can’t believe she didn’t even do one explanation post to warn off others or apologise for encouraging others to lose money in a scam. Can’t look at her the same now.

I met somewone who did the hard sell on me. I wasnt pleased and told her, she called me a negative person. Apparantly anyone whi challanges the script is a negative person.

Gosh I can’t believe herbal life is still a thing. I used to work with a bloke who gave up a secure career to pursue the herbal life dream. Safe to say it didn’t last long and he’s now back doing a normal job. It’s such a scam.

Currently watching my SIL throw thousands of pounds and hours of her time into this.

I actually introduced her to it; I went to one of their ‘breakfast clubs’ for a few weeks and invited her along.

Basically back when I was a newly qualified yoga teacher I went along because the ‘coach’ (ie Herbalife rep) offered me a teaching job, it was a pure con, I thought I was going for an interview and he made me sign up for his club first; then he overcharged me to sublet the premises from him for a weekly class (I could have paid half as much to rent it directly from the owner, seriously scammy behaviour).

They keep the name Herbalife quite quiet, it’s all ‘LocalTown Nutrition Club’ now.

Once I realised it was a pure MLM con (which took me a few months tbh as I was ignoring a lot of red flags myself) I tried to talk to her about it and she doubled down and stopped speaking to me. It’s a fucking cult. Two years on she is totally immersed and so is her husband (my DH’s brother).

I’m about to qualify as a PT and nutritionist, it’s my literal full time career now, but they won’t listen to anything I say because apparently X (the club leader) is the expert above all experts and I’m wrong and a hater or jealous etc. It’s actual cult tactics.

Yeah these things are like a cult. I had a friend who sells Utility Warehouse and blocked me on social media after I refused a 'consultation ' I think he had to provide 100 contacts when he started, which is basically all family and friends.

Your friend is a grown woman and it's her decision, all you can do is sit back and wait for it to implode - and be a good friend when it does!

Do you know her husband well enough to raise with him?

I think people that get sucked into these kinds of MLM often feeling they are lacking in community and connection and they get sucked in for that side of things. There's likely nothing you can do but maybe just send a message to check in every now and then, so if she ever thinks about leaving she still has at least 1 non-MLM friend around

Begin with an 'A' by any chance....?

Family member was totally blinded by an MLM (make up/skincare) - very cultish and just couldn’t be told and it was like a personality transplant with all the cold selling to anyone and everyone.

Blew over 10k chasing the dream I’d say before quietly stepping away and oddly just never mentioning it again - and avoiding the subject whenever mentioned…