Our Network Marketing Journey – Smitten with the Company

The success and prestige of an international company, its philosophy, seemingly high integrity, unique product line and the understanding that its business plan would make it possible for us to earn a very lucrative income, was attractive to us.  We were smitten. 

By becoming independent distributors with this company, regardless of how impressed we were with its credentials, our work was going to entail sales and we were becoming network marketers.  Waking up to that reality was difficult for me.  I hadn’t really envisioned that I would go from being a graduate of a very prestigious university, then a freelance journalist, research consultant, university instructor and artist to becoming a sales woman in the network marketing industry (see https://businessintegrity.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/my-first-encounter-with-network-marketing)

By keeping my eye on the company’s high profile, I wasn’t aware that I was about to compensate for what felt like a drop in career status.  I became driven to be successful, to earn the impressive awards that the company’s business plan offered, and the recognition that accompany them, including trips, cars, high achievement levels, exclusive club membership and a good income.  This achievement and status oriented lifestyle presented by the network marketing industry, and that we became part of, was familiar to me.  It was similar to the lifestyle in which I grew up.

However, even with all the perks, I became increasingly uncomfortable with being involved in a line of work and an industry that was devalued by society.  There were too many negative connotations associated with them.  My enthusiasm eventually began to run out as a result of constantly being confronted by people’s scepticism.  Trying to convince people was never my style and pursuing materialistic goals was never my true values.   My writing and art were of primary importance to me and I had looked to this business to fund those interests.

It took a head on car crash, which occurred 16 years after we began our network marketing journey, along with drastic changes made by the company to its business plan and way of doing business that I began to face the music.

This is part of a series, Our Network Marketing Journey: https://businessintegrity.wordpress.com/blogs-2/our-network-marketing-journey/