There’s a good chance I get pretty fired up in this one — and honestly? You’ll understand why the second I tell you what sparked it. An Instagram reel from a top earner in a shampoo network marketing company, boarding a chartered plane in Christian Louboutins, mocking women doing UGC, Amazon Influencer, and affiliate marketing.
And the implication? Do MLM instead. This could be you.
I’m not here to be bitter. I’m here to give you the receipts — because now even the FTC is.
The FTC Just Took Action — And This Is What It Means
What Actually Happened With the Case
The FTC took action against a high-level MLM participant for deceptive income claims and misleading lifestyle marketing tied to recruitment. Not the company — the actual influencer. That distinction is important. The FTC alleged that luxury lifestyle content and exaggerated earnings were being used to convince people to join network marketing opportunities.
And according to FTC review disclosures? Shockingly enough, most participants earned little to no money. Many earned nothing at all. In some companies, the overwhelming majority of people never made meaningful income.
That matters because showing the top 0.1% without talking about the other 99.9% is marketing. It is not transparency.
The Math Nobody’s Talking About
Let me break this down in plain terms. Based on FTC analysis, 73–99% of MLM participants either lose money or earn very little. Only the top 1–5% earn what most people would call substantial income. Earning $100,000 or more? We’re talking roughly 0.05% of participants.
And even those numbers don’t tell the whole story — because companies advertise gross commissions, not actual take-home. Someone can “earn” $60K in commissions and still lose money once you subtract product purchases, conference travel, monthly minimums, content creation costs, and unsold inventory.
“Showing the top 0.1% without talking about the other 99.9% is marketing. It is not transparency.”
Why I Can Say This — And You Should Listen
My Background in This Industry
If you’re new here, this part matters. I spent over a decade in network marketing, specifically Beachbody — which I call the Artist Formerly Known as Beachbody. And I wasn’t average. I was in the top 0.01%. In Beachbody, that was called Legacy Club — meaning you had accrued over a million dollars in commissions.
I had multiple business centers and accrued multiple seven figures in my time there.
I understood the compensation plans. I knew how to recruit. I was a leader. I knew how to social sell. So this episode is not coming from someone who never made it. There are a lot of people who like to go after MLMs who were never in the top tier.
This is coming from someone who absolutely made it — and who now sees things very differently.
The Hard Truth About Why I Made It
Here’s the question I had to ask myself honestly: when I ended up in the top 1% of network marketing, was that because of the MLM itself? Or was it because I already had the personality traits, the competitiveness, the leadership ability, and the discipline?
I was class president of my high school class. Captain of my golf team. Voted most likely to succeed. I became a Division 1 golf coach — the youngest head coach in the country at 22 years and one month. I’m a PGA professional. I’m a professional athlete.
That grit, those communication skills, that drive — all of that would have likely made me successful in anything. It wasn’t the vehicle of network marketing or Beachbody. And that is an important question, because a lot of top earners are either naturally high performers — athletes, entrepreneurs, leaders — or they were people whose backs were completely against the wall.
They had no choice but to succeed. Neither of those stories represents the average person who just wants to make some extra income from their phone.
“Exceptional people often succeed in multiple business models. The problem starts when exceptional people are used as evidence that exceptional outcomes are normal — because they’re not.”
The Private Jet Is Not the Point — The Implication Is
What’s Really Being Marketed
I want to be clear: I am not a hater when it comes to nice things. Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Jimmy Choo — in my previous life, I got it. I like luxury items. What I am disgusted with is the lifestyle being presented as attainable through this specific vehicle, when the math simply doesn’t support it.
Private charter flights for a three-hour trip? Easily $20,000–$35,000. I know this because my members charter flights all the time — I have students who own their own jets. Christian Louboutins run $800 to $1,500 per pair.
The imagery of walking onto a chartered plane and implying that network marketing is what paid for it? That’s not transparent. That’s a funnel.
The Context That Changes Everything
When I looked deeper at this influencer’s profile, I noticed she had added something in her highlights — basically covering her bases. She was already a seven-figure business owner before she ever joined network marketing. She had Airbnbs generating seven figures.
She was a business coach generating seven figures. She had multiple revenue streams and an already-built audience.
That changes the context entirely. You’re not watching a normal person succeed in MLM. You’re watching a serial entrepreneur who already understood branding, sales, leadership, and marketing leverage a business model as one piece of a much larger ecosystem.
That person is an outlier. And there is nothing wrong with being successful — kudos to her. But a serial entrepreneur succeeding in network marketing does not prove that network marketing works for the average person. Full stop.
UGC, Amazon, and the Income Path That Actually Makes Sense for Most People
Apples and Oranges — Literally
The real gut punch in this whole thing? She was mocking women doing UGC and Amazon Influencer content. Let’s talk about that comparison honestly.
In UGC, you can earn $200 for a single brand deal with little to no effort. You don’t need a downline. You don’t need a team. You don’t need monthly minimums. You don’t need to recruit your friends and family. You get paid up front — or you create a digital product you own that sells repeatedly.
To make that same $200 in a network marketing company, you’d need to sell to three or four people — with no guarantee the sale goes through, and with the decision ultimately not being yours. The average MLM participant makes around $1,000 a year or less. Many make absolutely nothing.
Building Skills vs. Building Someone Else’s Downline
Here’s what I see so clearly now that I’m in the world of UGC, Amazon Influencer, digital products, and content creation: when you do this work, you’re building communication skills. Marketing skills. Editing skills. Sales skills. You’re building audience trust. And these are assets you own.
With MLM, yes — you learn to edit reels and create content. But you’re not getting paid for that directly. You have to hope someone clicks your link. You have to hope someone joins your team. You’re not building equity. You’re building someone else’s compensation plan.
One of my students — a former Beachbody coach — had her colon removed and created a guide specifically for people about to go through the same thing. She’s literally taking her pain and turning it into a digital product she owns, helping others and generating income. That is the difference.
“There’s a difference between ‘this is possible’ and ‘this is probable.’ And that distinction matters a lot, especially to the FTC.”
Action Steps
- Do the math before you sign up for anything. Find the income disclosure statement and read it — the actual percentages, not just the top earner stories.
- Ask yourself: is this model dependent on recruiting? If the answer is yes, your income relies on convincing others to do the same thing you’re doing.
- Look into UGC, Amazon Influencer, and affiliate income as alternatives that pay you directly without requiring a downline.
- If you’ve been in MLM and it didn’t work — it’s not you. The model itself is designed for most people to fail so a very small number can succeed at the top.
- Build skills and assets you own. Whether it’s content creation, a digital product, or a service — create something no company can take away from you.
Bottom Line: A luxury lifestyle is not proof that an opportunity works for the average person. If a business model only looks incredible at the top 0.1%, that’s not financial freedom for most people — that’s a funnel.
