I'm The MLM Lady People Love To Hate

You’ve seen our posts on Facebook. You’ve been invited to our parties. You may even dread seeing a message from us hanging out in your inbox.

We’re the MLM ladies everyone loves to hate.

And I totally understand why so many people loathe those of us who are part of a multi-level marketing-based business. The stereotypes exist for a reason, and they can be really freaking irritating. Depending on what model we choose, we may add you to groups without asking permission first. We might send your mom’s aunt’s hairdresser a friend request in order to expand our network. All we seem to share on social media is stock photo after meme after stock photo trying to sell you on our product of choice.

I get it. We can be annoying — really annoying.

But many of us are taking part in MLMs for a lot of reasons — and none of those reasons are to push you to unfriend us or burn an effigy in our name.

Some of us take part in MLM because we sincerely believe it can be a way for us to create a life we want to live. To you, it may look like we’re just trying to get you to buy more shit you don’t need. But to us, there’s a possibility of a brighter future. The chance of us becoming rich? Slim to none. In my world, though, every little bit helps.

Some of us take part in MLM because we just need something to call ours. We spend our days and nights devoting all of our time and energy to our kids and marriage and household, and we’ve lost sight of who we are as individuals. These business models are something that is for us, the woman, not the mom or the wife or the daughter or the grandma. It’s something that reminds us we were made for more than wiping butts and doling out fruit snacks.

And some of us do it to show our kids there’s more than one way to earn a living. We don’t have to, nor do our children have to, go to a 9-to-5 job we hate and work there for 40 years, then retire. We show our kids you can work from home, or you can work and travel at the same time, or you can be an entrepreneur, or whatever. The possibilities are endless. The point is not necessarily what we do, so much as it is to show our kids that the income-generating path we’re all on is not one-size-fits-all.

My hope is that those in your newsfeed who take part in these endeavors are respectful of you and your time. I hope they accept your “nope” and move forward without resentment. I hope they ask you before adding you to the same group a million times without your consent. I hope, even though their page may read like an infomercial, you can see their heart behind their incessant posts, and understand that they’re doing something that seems worthwhile to them. Just like you.