Are Multi-Level Marketing Companies Empowering or Exploitative?

Jen Donald first heard about Arbonne a few years ago. A dental hygienist in Oakville, Ont., she was in the middle of scaling a patient’s teeth when she noticed her amazing skin. When Jen asked about her beauty regimen, her patient raved about products from Arbonne, a health and beauty direct sales company that claims to use a botanically based formula and premium ingredients.

And it’s working. In 2015, MLM companies generated $2.55 billion in sales, a 10-percent increase from a decade before, says Linda Herron, the interim president of the Direct Sellers Association of Canada . These businesses are overwhelmingly female: 83 percent of the direct sellers in Canada are women, something you’ve likely noticed if your Facebook feed looks anything like mine.

“It’s micro-entrepreneurship,” he says. “[Multi-level] marketing is just a form of direct selling. And it’s really about compensation. There’s single-level or multi-level, and that doesn’t mean anything other than how I get [paid]. People get all hung up on, ‘Well, it looks like a pyramid, so it must be a pyramid.’ But every company in the world looks like a pyramid!”

FLARE spoke to a handful of young Canadian women, most of whom said they make money on their businesses. For some, this additional income covers “extras” they might not have been able to afford on the paycheque from their day jobs. Take Stella & Dot stylist Elyse Berendson, a 29-year-old preschool teacher who joined the company to supplement her income.

“Most people aren’t in it to replace income. Most people are in it to make additional income,” says Hassay. “If you could give me $1,000 that I don’t have right now, my life would be a heck of a lot better. And that’s what most people are doing. There’s a wonderful group of women who join in September or October, buy Christmas presents for their family, quit in January and join again the next year.

In fact, Hassay draws a link between MLM’s popularity and the employment opportunities available to women. “If you look at ’40s and ’50s, which was the heyday of direct selling, women could be teachers or nurses. There were no other opportunities,” he says. “So, if you wanted some independence, direct selling Tupperware or Avon was all there was.” Unsurprisingly, considering the challenging realities of the job market today, Hassay believes we’re in the midst of a second MLM heyday right now.

That self-help-tinged speak is a common thread among MLM companies. Arbonne’s tagline is, “transform your life and the lives of others.” Part of Stella & Dot’s appeal, says Berendson, is that, “the [company’s] name stands for the CEO and Chief Creative Officer’s grandmothers, and the business is all about empowering women and creating a business her way on her own time.

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