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Content provided by Megan Bennett & Lesley Meier, Megan Bennett, and Lesley Meier. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Megan Bennett & Lesley Meier, Megan Bennett, and Lesley Meier or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
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Tupperware Dreams and Vitamin Schemes

1:01:33
 
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Manage episode 500613259 series 3616803
Content provided by Megan Bennett & Lesley Meier, Megan Bennett, and Lesley Meier. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Megan Bennett & Lesley Meier, Megan Bennett, and Lesley Meier or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Want to weigh in? Send us a text!

Remember that moment when your neighbor invited you over for "just wine and apps with the girls," only to ambush you with a sales pitch for overpriced leggings or miracle vitamins? You're not alone.
In this episode, we dive deep into the cultural phenomenon of multi-level marketing schemes that targeted Gen X women throughout the 80s, 90s, and beyond. From Tupperware parties our mothers hosted to the Mary Kay consultants with their pink Cadillacs, these pyramid-shaped businesses promised financial freedom while delivering financial ruin for 99.6% of participants.
Lesley shares her family's personal journey with Shaklee vitamins, including her grandfather's run-in with the IRS after some creative accounting with his vitamin business. We explore the awkward social dynamics of being invited to jewelry, candle, or kitchen gadget parties in our twenties when our bank accounts were running on fumes, and the guilt trip of saying no to friends who desperately needed to make sales.
The conversation covers a nostalgic tour through the MLM landscape - Amway, Avon, PartyLite, Pampered Chef, Silpada jewelry, LuLaRoe leggings, and dozens more that promised riches but mostly delivered debt. We analyze how these companies specifically targeted women with products related to beauty, home, wellness, and childcare, capitalizing on both financial needs and social connections.
As we reflect on these experiences, we question whether today's social media influencer marketing has simply become the digital evolution of the MLM hustle. Has anything really changed, or are we just seeing the same exploitation with new packaging?
Share your own MLM horror stories with us! Call our hotline at 1-888-GEN-X-POD or visit our website at genxwomenpod.com to connect with other Gen X women who survived the pyramid scheme era.

Support the show

Get your hands on our MERCH!!!
DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization!

Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights

March-April - Planned Parenthood

May-June 2025 - Indy Pride

July-August 2025 - WFYI

September-October - ACLU

November-December 2025 - Second Helpings

Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know!

SUPPORT THE POD HERE!

Want to continue the conversation?

Sign up for our newsletter! HERE

Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD

Send us your Dear GenX Women letters!

Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions

JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social Club
L.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group.

Follow us on
...

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Episode Introduction and Power Lines (00:00:00)

2. Puppy Recovery and Celebrity Deaths (00:07:04)

3. Trump's Smithsonian Takeover (00:17:49)

4. MLMs: The Pyramid Selling Phenomenon (00:22:41)

5. Family Vitamin Hustles and IRS Troubles (00:33:23)

6. The MLM Party Circuit Experience (00:43:22)

7. Are MLMs Dying Out? (00:53:13)

8. Closing Thoughts and Contact Information (00:59:29)

32 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 500613259 series 3616803
Content provided by Megan Bennett & Lesley Meier, Megan Bennett, and Lesley Meier. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Megan Bennett & Lesley Meier, Megan Bennett, and Lesley Meier or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Want to weigh in? Send us a text!

Remember that moment when your neighbor invited you over for "just wine and apps with the girls," only to ambush you with a sales pitch for overpriced leggings or miracle vitamins? You're not alone.
In this episode, we dive deep into the cultural phenomenon of multi-level marketing schemes that targeted Gen X women throughout the 80s, 90s, and beyond. From Tupperware parties our mothers hosted to the Mary Kay consultants with their pink Cadillacs, these pyramid-shaped businesses promised financial freedom while delivering financial ruin for 99.6% of participants.
Lesley shares her family's personal journey with Shaklee vitamins, including her grandfather's run-in with the IRS after some creative accounting with his vitamin business. We explore the awkward social dynamics of being invited to jewelry, candle, or kitchen gadget parties in our twenties when our bank accounts were running on fumes, and the guilt trip of saying no to friends who desperately needed to make sales.
The conversation covers a nostalgic tour through the MLM landscape - Amway, Avon, PartyLite, Pampered Chef, Silpada jewelry, LuLaRoe leggings, and dozens more that promised riches but mostly delivered debt. We analyze how these companies specifically targeted women with products related to beauty, home, wellness, and childcare, capitalizing on both financial needs and social connections.
As we reflect on these experiences, we question whether today's social media influencer marketing has simply become the digital evolution of the MLM hustle. Has anything really changed, or are we just seeing the same exploitation with new packaging?
Share your own MLM horror stories with us! Call our hotline at 1-888-GEN-X-POD or visit our website at genxwomenpod.com to connect with other Gen X women who survived the pyramid scheme era.

Support the show

Get your hands on our MERCH!!!
DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization!

Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights

March-April - Planned Parenthood

May-June 2025 - Indy Pride

July-August 2025 - WFYI

September-October - ACLU

November-December 2025 - Second Helpings

Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know!

SUPPORT THE POD HERE!

Want to continue the conversation?

Sign up for our newsletter! HERE

Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD

Send us your Dear GenX Women letters!

Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions

JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social Club
L.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group.

Follow us on
...

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Episode Introduction and Power Lines (00:00:00)

2. Puppy Recovery and Celebrity Deaths (00:07:04)

3. Trump's Smithsonian Takeover (00:17:49)

4. MLMs: The Pyramid Selling Phenomenon (00:22:41)

5. Family Vitamin Hustles and IRS Troubles (00:33:23)

6. The MLM Party Circuit Experience (00:43:22)

7. Are MLMs Dying Out? (00:53:13)

8. Closing Thoughts and Contact Information (00:59:29)

32 episodes

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