I’ve gone most of my life without really knowing anyone who is involved with multi-level marketing, aka pyramid schemes. Honestly, I kind of pity some of the people who get involved with them. But save for a couple of suburban moms I know tangentially, I’ve been kindly spared from solicitous direct messages from boss babes about how their products – or joining their team – will change my life. 

Until this year. 

It would seem my cousin has fallen prey to the seductive lifestyle that so many MLM girlies rave about. Being independent, working from home, creating your own schedule, travel incentives – it’s all part of their desperate effort to make their pyramid schemes pay off. And sadly, Molly* has slid into my dms telling me how she wants to help me with my «journey» and my «problems.» If a Monat collagen supplement could solve my problems, believe me, I’d have spent that money a long time ago. But I’m a little smarter than that, which means seeing messages and posts like these is really annoying. 

Needless to say, there are plenty of anti-MLM people out there, especially on Reddit. And thanks to the r/AntiMLM subreddit, I’ve seen some brilliant memes, cringey posts, and ultimately sad stories about pyramid schemes and the people who perpetuate them. And I’m here to share them with you.

*Name changed for privacy reasons