Which is why I wanted to be real and raw with you, and answer those questions because I had them too, and I would hate for you or someone you know to miss out on an amazing opportunity because they didn’t truly understand it. 

Is this one of those things?

I totally understand how you feel, I felt the same way and to be honest…I couldn’t be stuffed working out whether it was or wasn’t so I said no for a few months to this business, I just knew that there was a stigma around things like this (didn’t understand why nor did I take the time to).

However - I saw people I really looked up to in the health and wellness industry getting involved, they weren’t being salesy, or sleazy, they didn’t change. They were still heartfelt, genuine and it was clear they weren’t out to scam anyone. They were being authentic, having way more fun than me and living on their own terms. Meanwhile, four months had passed since someone shared the opportunity with me… I was still commuting, I was stilling working 9-5 pm, my salary was capped and I didn’t feel like I was helping anyone. I was on the verge of burnout at the age of 23 thinking is this literally what my future looks like, working 40 hours for the next 40 years…I thought those 4 years being poor and hustling at university with this $30,000 HECS debt I am still paying off -  was supposed to give me more freedom?

So I did my research and I can now say hand on my heart I am extremely proud of the beautiful community we have created and the business structure behind it…but like I said I can relate as I was where you were so…

No. They were made illegal in the 1900s.

However, I understand why you are cautious about it because the pyramid schemes you’re referring to are known as “Ponzi schemes” (which isn’t what we do and I will explain that in a second). Most of our parents have had an experience with these illegal pyramid schemes at some point in their life before they were made illegal, which is the reason there is a stigma around what we do.  These schemes are a form of financial fraud where people make money purely by relying on people buying or investing in their business and recruiting people to join them in their business. There is no exchange of goods and services.

The short answer is no. The Program is independent and was created by our team of health professionals however we have partnered with an MLM company and use its business distribution model. So long answer is yes. We love and use a Multi-level network marketing / Direct Selling business model to deliver next-level value for our customers and provide flexibility and autonomy for our team.

Oh my god. I said it... it’s like MLM is a dirty word. But why…do you understand it?

So the best way to explain it is just like the checkout chick selling fruit and veg at your local grocery store! We do the same (although may I add, we are selling fruit and veggies that are better than organic, are tested over 4 times for pesticides, herbicides, mould and bacteria) and P.S just for the record…you don’t have to be a health professional to sell fruit, lets just clear that up! If you don’t agree please take that up with your local checkout chick at your grocery store and demand you see her qualifications, and the research on the health benefits of the fruits and veg before buying them - or god forbid the health benefits of the butter, chips and biscuits you’re putting in your basket!

So just like that checkout chick, we sell the best fruit and vegetables you can get your hands on - Juice Plus, which is a world-class wholefood nutraceutical support which aligns with our beliefs of health being holistic and food being medicine. But instead of all the money that goes into advertising for Woolworths or Coles, the rent the building is on, the rates, shipping costs, stock that just sits there and goes to waste that has to be chucked out, electricity bills, the wages for the teenager that doesn’t rock up on Sunday for his shift because he is sick (we all know he is hungover) ….in our business structure the middle man is cut out which means there is more opportunity for more money to end back in the ‘checkout chick’s’ pockets.

Did you know in traditional business, distribution and marketing equals about 85% of the price we pay for the product?

As opposed to MLM, where only 40 - 50% of the product cost goes to distribution and marketing costs, allowing you to take advantage of a higher value product at a lower price?

The Consumer wins!

Consumers get better value for their money as less is being spent on advertising and distribution. Usually, companies that take advantage of the MLM business structure have a product or service that is cutting edge. These products are often expensive to manufacture, lots of science and research goes into them and consequently the local ‘checkout chick’ isn’t going to be educated on the millions of products in her store, nor is she going to take the time to explain why you should pick the product that is $1 more over the product you are familiar with because they really don’t care! They are there to get paid their $19 an hour and go home. If you put a cutting edge product next to the other health products in a health food store or grocery store people don’t know what they are looking for. Think of it like this… you don’t find a Porsche at your local car dealership, do you?

The Franchisee wins

This business structure is great for people like me, who have a great work ethic because we get to dictate our wage, and how much we are worth. If we want to get to work and share the product or service with others, our pay is a direct reflection of how many people we help and share our product with. This is another reason why we are not an illegal pyramid scheme, we are compensated for selling a product. We do not get paid for recruiting people in our business. Another reason why this business structure is great for people like me who have the entrepreneurial spirit, is there are low start-up costs and no risks. In AUD its $165, $50 in USA, Europe and UK £50 - which again is another reason why we are not an illegal pyramid scheme - as they rely on large start-up fees to make money usually in the high thousands. This structure is also great for women who are just looking to create a 2nd income sharing what they are passionate about or an income that works around their values whether it be kids, family, education or travel.

The Company wins

This business structure is also great for companies because instead of paying those employees who pretend to look like they are busy for the whole shift (you know we have all been there, spending the shift looking busy cleaning up an isle), they just pay the workers who are getting the work done. Don’t do the work - don’t get paid.

You don’t have to have a background in business to know this isn’t a scheme...its smart business!

In those illegal Ponzi schemes I was telling you about, yes  - where there is no product, no service, no business opportunity - just an investment, large enrolment fees and a mission to recruit others to put $$ in a ‘make-believe’ kitty - as you scam people into this scheme you make your way up to the top where you get to collect go and say byeeee suckerssss!!

But as I said (and I hope you’re picking up what I’m putting down), your earnings in this business are a direct reflection of the work you put into your business and how many people you help by flooding their body with the nutrients it needs to do what it is designed to do. There isn't some greedy guts at the top taking everything while you get a small percentage (which is more like a traditional business these days, the CEO takes the big bucks and everyone else works hard for minimum wage. Do you work in a hospital, government, retail, apprenticeship? That is more like a “pyramid structure” you were referring to earlier).  

There can be people new in this business making more money than the person who shared this business opportunity with them who had been doing it years longer - it’s just how many people you share the product or service with.  If you’re really into compensation plans and the nitty-gritty -  (this isn’t a blog for that but we can send a training video to you that goes for about an hour explaining how it all works if that’s your jam, I am sure you would even be able to find it on the Internet!)

I hope I did a good enough job at explaining why this is earlier... but if you still have doubts (I love my stats guys, I had to learn to in my honours year writing my thesis!)

Science and research studies have found we trust our friends and family more than advertising, funnily enough, we know that even though we see an advertisement of a famous singer/model advertising she’s loving $5 shampoo and conditioner…we know to call B*$#shit!

But on the other hand, if your mum or best friend saw a great movie, found a great restaurant or a skincare product and recommended it…we trust them and often will go try it for ourselves.

That is why cutting edge products with lots of research behind them that are making massive ripple effects in peoples lives, wellbeing and health is not found in a supermarket. A satisfied consumer is way more powerful with 78% of people buying a product from peer recommendation vs 14% from advertisements. Because these products are so amazing they rely on helping people get amazing results so others can genuinely and passionately share them with their loved ones. Most online businesses have caught onto this which is why they pay pretty Instagram models on your feed to post and endorse their products because they know you’ll trust them over paying thousands of dollars for advertising on tv, shops or magazines.

We have seen first hand what these products can do, from our own experiences or our clients inside the Healthstyle Emporium. Seeing the results and how amazing the Juice Plus products can be, adds fuel to my fire and makes my why so much bigger than me. That is what gives me the courage to get out there and share our mission (despite others out there not understanding and still having an ignorance towards MLM, maybe you were one of these people? I hope after reading this, I may have changed that for you).

I understand how you feel, trust me like I said I felt that too… even after learning all about pyramid schemes and realising this isn’t one of them.

But can I let you in on a little secret? You’re already a network marketer. In fact, we all are!

You know that TV series you recommended to your mum on Netflix? And that amazing lipstick from MAC you told your bestie about? That’s network marketing in action. And I am willing to bet that your mum and your bestie were both so grateful for a recommendation from someone they could trust. Now imagine if Netflix and Mac paid you for making recommendations just like that - for products you already love and know are making a massive difference in peoples health and wellbeing. That’s all that network marketing is, and when it works? When it’s done with authenticity and passion? Well, there’s no more powerful business model in the world.

We are in a health crisis. The World Health Organisation 2017 tells us that Chronic diseases kill 40 million people each year, equivalent to 70% of all deaths globally. The 4 groups of diseases that account for over 80% of all premature deaths are; cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. High processed packaged diets all increase the risk of dying from a chronic illness.

Prevention is one of the most powerful things we can do when responding to chronic illnesses, providing our body with the nutrition it needs to be able to do what it is designed to do - is a massive part in it. When did we make life so complicated? We are killing ourselves, we need to stop eating shit and eat more whole foods that are touched by the sun, move our bodies, stop stressing and drink more water (we all know this!!)

However in our fast-paced lives, it’s not that we don’t know better, it is just we struggle to do better. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that only 2.5% of children are getting the recommended daily serving of fruit and vegetables.

So many of us are aware of this and are trying our best, but fail to realise that the “fresh produce” the vast majority of us are eating is sprayed with pesticides, injected with colours and preservatives and grown in nutrient-depleted soil - so the fruit and vegetables we are eating and feeding our families do not have the same nutritional value they did twenty years ago...

So Juice Plus is a convenient and affordable way for us to help our clients bridge the gap, not only for their health but for their children’s. With any adult order, the company sponsors a child under 18 years with free nutrition for up to four years. We have a responsibility to share this - this is where real meaningful change can happen. With education and support, we can start to change the terrifying health statistics I shared earlier. The results have already been amazing.

Most people who join our business have a massive passion for health and wellness and are actually health and wellness professionals themselves. They take their credibility very seriously, so we aren’t willing to share something that isn’t backed by research and a company they can trust. Juice Plus is the most research nutraceutical in the world, it has been around for 24 years and has over 30 medical journals published, proving its effectiveness.

Ok I get it, the product is amazing but I just want to be part of the Healthstyle Emporium, why not just run the program itself?

Ok, want the honest truth?

Because health is holistic, it is about the mind, body and soul. But we also know people are lazy! For example, I have a background in Psychology and Neurolinguistic Programming, and some of our clients won’t do the life coaching activities I set them, they won't try the meditation’s the team psychologists recommend, they won’t make the recipes our nutritionist has put together or the fun work out guides our PT’s have put together -  but they will take their wholefood capsules every day… so if all else fails we know that they can get great results from taking the products alone and stall gain amazing health benefits. This in turn (from a business perspective) will keep them as clients in the Healthstyle Emporium, even if they don’t use the resources we have put all our love, expertise and energy into creating for them.

Partnering up the Healthstyle Emporium with Juice Plus - also means our gorgeous clients get more value for their money. The coaches in the HSE do what we do because we are passionate about helping others and don’t believe in bandaid effects and love sharing the message of holistic and preventive health.

We are here because we want to help. Our clients are getting their wholefood products for the same price as they would if they just bought it off the international Juice Plus website, but through us, they get a beautiful holistic health program worth hundreds of dollars for free. They also have access to a range of health professionals inside the Emporium, as well as their own wellness coach, which essentially is their very own cheerleader and accountability buddy in the program to love on them and help them get back on the bandwagon after a bad day (because we all know we have them!).

P.S when do you ever buy a product from your grocery store and have the lady at the counter check in every few weeks to see how you’re loving the product and to ensure you’re having an amazing experience?

And the MLM business structure we use is what allows us to be part of the Babes in Business team and be our own boss (meaning we get to work where we want when we want and with who we want), with low start-up costs, have a mentor showing us exactly how to build a business, a blueprint and proven system we get to put our own flavour on, community to lean on, laugh and cry with, leverage resources and skills AND create a residual income doing something we are passionate about.

Residual income is when you continue to get paid after the work is done.

If you are literally working for a living…how do you live when you’re not working?

If we ran this program without the product not only would we be doing our clients a disservice but we would all still be exchanging time for money… I  know that is what you may have been taught at school but I promise you, you will never get ahead working for a living (that's a whole other video, but if you want to watch that, you can check this VLOG I shared previously).

Ok -  so if we have decided we don't want to work for a big corporation where the man up the top makes all the big bucks and we want the freedom to work for ourselves. What happens when you are your own boss but you get sick, clients cancel on your appointments, you go on maternity leave… you don’t get paid! That is why the residual income in our compensation plan is so powerful and why so many entrepreneurs choose this business model either to supplement their existing income streams/jobs or coaching practises or replace it altogether.

Did you know 300 000 people every week are starting a home-based business, at a time where daycare is more than most mums wages, where mums are being forced back to work before they are ready because they don’t have maternity leave and are missing magical moments with loved ones. Where people are wanting to travel but don’t have enough recreational leave, people are losing their jobs and being made redundant because online businesses, technology and machines can do things better than we can - our business structure itself is in high demand.

I personally am about teaching others how to live a ‘Life Above Zero’. That is what my book and my coaching practice is called. It is my message and mission in life and this has been the vehicle I have used to create a life I love rather than settling for one. I would be doing you all a massive disservice if I didn’t share it with you, and invite you along so you can see how I did it or at the very least even explain to you why I did it, in case it has been your own lack of understanding or others uneducated (but probably well-intended) opinions that were preventing you from making a decision that could completely change your life, like it has mine.

As I said, Babes in Business is a group of passionate women helping and empowering others to live a life of health, wealth and abundance which is why I hope you can understand now why were are proud of the community we have created, the business structure we use AND the products we have partnered our online holistic health program The Healthstyle Emporium with.

Our personal motto is “knowledge is power but only when shared”, this is powerful and we care enough about you to share it with you and explain and clear up some of the misconceptions we had too.

If this is something that resonates with you - we would love to teach you how to do what we have done, just reach out. All the girls on our team are open books with such big hearts. It might be something for you, it might not be - but what if it could be exactly what you’ve been asking the universe for?