Hello,

It sounds like your way has worked for you and you are exactly where you want to be. :)

Regards,

Jason

Yes, always. 🕊️

Hah hah, no my name isn't sting. Maria originally gave me the nickname stingy and then changed it to sting. :)

I will admit the comment section for this one was a happy surprise. I was caught off guard the most by how many others here have tried their hand in Amway (Quixstar).

I didn't know they had changed it, but am going out on a limb here and say they did it because of the negative cult image their sales force had built for them.

My upline fell apart in a short time span as well due to my leaving.

I spent a lot of the first half of my life involved in martial arts. I was quite an enthusiast, and collected various magazines as well.

From the time I was a child from the magazines I had grown familiar with a famous Wing Chun master who had actually taught Bruce Lee in China. His name is Augustine Fong.

My sponsor roped him in shortly after me, without even knowing how famous this guy was worldwide. When he told me he was in shock at my excitement and my demand to meet this guy. He set it up, and I dug through my boxes and found a magazine I had where he was a featured artist.

I brought it and had him sign it, and was struck by how humble the man was. He was actually in shock I had known of him from my childhood 2000 miles away.

So when I quit, he began pressing our sponsor about it. He had already been running into folks he was pitching this at, telling him this could work for someone like him but not ordinary folks. I heard I was the last straw and he not only quit, he told my sponsor it was a scam and he didn't want to hear of him pitching it to anyone else ever again.

Needless to say, our sponsor quit as well, hah hah.

Thank you so much for sharing your own experience with them. I smile reading comments where folks like yourself also have great things to say about the motivational tools they offered. It wasn't only me, hah hah.

Regards,

Jason

Nope! Jason, it was not only you. Thanks once again for a very engaging thread, and yet another fun story.

Hazel

The tapes were awesome.

I believe the tapes helped me as well, although I had already moved on to self employment. My favorite obviously that Larry Winters tape.

Thank you for sharing the impact the experience had on you. So many associate negative impacts cults have, especially regarding the Amway experience which has become the punch line of many a joke. yet I imagine there are many of us who had very positive experiences even if it didn't make us wealthy.

Regards,

Jason

Thank you :)

A quick look at your profile tells me you have lived an interesting life and picked up many skills as well. Your home and family are lovely, your humility in thankfulness heartwarming.

I mentioned elsewhere in comment we are bombarded with cult messages almost non stop. It's just most aren't trained to understand most cults are subtle and dependent on how we come across them are instead viewed as institutions, or accepted due to those around us accepting them thus creating an air of credibility.

Cults aren't by default bad things, but understanding what they really are allows us the ability to examine with a critical eye the real value of the thoughts they wish to bind to us.

Regards,

Jason

Thank you for being so kind, Jason. I hope you have an excellent holiday weekend! Good luck.

Regards, Matt

Thank you and likewise.

The granddaughter just got here, and will be getting the grandbaby in the morning for the day so will be quite entertaining having children underfoot again. :)

Regards,

Jason

The concept has a lot of potential. In an expanded way, we all still participate in a similar structure. The difference being that instead of say ordering from Amazon we order from our upline (or direct from the company dependent on level). Instead of Bezos and investors making all of the money, it is spread out somewhat to regular folks.

One can even see some similarities to affiliate marketing, only instead of being online it was in the physical.

I saw directly where the problem in the structure was based on the lie that hooked me.

I was already self employed buying and reselling at that time. The person who randomly pitched me used a misleading hook stating that one could purchase from hundreds of name brand companies at wholesale.

It was a great lesson for me in how words can be manipulated based on the structure they reside in.

While the products were in fact wholesale based on their pricing within the Amway structure, their wholesale was more expensive than buying it off the shelf at the store. So there was no money there for me to resell as I had originally intended.

It has to be that way though, as there are different levels of profit sharing possibly dipping in on each sale.

The base idea though of buying everyday items from your friends instead of Sam Walton and giving them some of the profit is quite alluring. It seems to me however that the structure necessary would have to give not only a little more price break from the company, but a lowering of the profit potential at each level to stop the items from being to expensive and meaningful to those who just wish to consume.

The cleaning products weren't bad actually, and their health products were ok also.

I mentioned elsewhere though that the ones really cleaning house in this thing were making the bulk of their money from meetings, speaking fees and educational motivational tapes.

The tapes were 6.00 each to the regular folks. So if you were under me and I got you on the subscription plan (1 to 2 tapes per week) I would make a cut of that, as well as my upline.

The person who made the tape upline getting a decent amount of the cut.

Then there were the weekly meetings that we had to pay to bring our new recruits to. Once again, the speaker getting the lions share, the direct levels split that with their uplines.

Then there were the rally's that weren't cheap. You wouldn't believe how many folks they packed into these things. The speakers for those made a nice little bit as well as that was where they were recording the motivational tapes for further profit.

Bill Britt who came up with this from my upline was a genius. He created a hustle separate but parasitic to the Amway model that was way more profitable for many than Amway itself could ever be.

Thanks so much for reading and sharing your own experience with one of us who were infected, hah hah.

Regards,

Jason

I've noticed many don't really understand the idea of a cult, which is because the societal cult leaders use misdirection to avoid being detected themselves.

They have gotten many to believe a cult is a bad thing and associated it with evil structures (usually religious in nature).

However it is more than that, and includes just about everything that you know that has been handed to you as a reference point.

It even is apparent as part of the root in the word cult-ural.

Here in the U.S. a drastic example of this was the invasion of Iraq. It was evident to many of us there were no weapons of mass destruction from the start of that narrative.

Yet because of the horror of that sad day in September, associating it with that allowed an opening for a cult to be built around it.

Allowing many things by extension, such as the final step in the long ongoing invasion of Iraq, passage of anti terror bills stripping Americans of constitutional rights, the shifting of a ton of tax money to the war machine (contractors, manufacturing, etc) and on and on.

The flip side of that is more subtle, From the foods localities prefer, the acceptable social interactions.

I have another example of this that was a stark contrast.

I was born and raised in Indiana, which is part of what they used to call the bible belt.

I can remember as a child there was an area they were approved to build a store for adult toys, videos and peep shows. There was a lot of uproar over it. When the store was almost completed, someone burnt the store to the ground. Because it went against acceptable (cult-ural) normality for a majority of folks there.

I say this because I can remember the conversations I was hearing about it, and there was a joy in the tone over it being stopped.

Fast forward to when I moved to Arizona as a young man. I can remember scanning the classifieds for a job. There were a ton of gay dating ads in there, huge ads. I about fell out of my chair, because it caught me by surprise. Back then from where my roots were, those ads would never have been allowed.

It was (and is) a learned response that the cult-ural leaders of the area ensure are instilled and honored in the areas they rule.

Most of us however never question these thoughts that are handed to us, that we give our energy to sustain and grow more thoughts to.

A more personal observation now.

I evaluate folks a lot (myself included).

Much like Brenda, I see that you are strong enough to step outside of your boundaries to explore new things. Her cultural structures are bent more towards teaching which she also does in the physical world. Yours are more on social which is often a much overlooked yet necessary skill for the area you operate in. These cultural legacies you both carry are most evident in the way you interact here.

I believe you too will do well in this endeavor. Your strength will allow you to self reflect and modify regardless of the cult-ural structures you arrived here with.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment, and giving me a reason to write another book as a response. :)

Hope you had a great night. I slept so well. When I finally got to sleep yesterday I had only had about 4 hours of sleep in almost 2 days. It reflected a lot in this post. I had to edit edit edit and still see glaring errors, hah hah.

Regards,

Jason

I can imagine how stressful your environment at work can be. i worked very briefly at an ICU unit in Tucson cleaning and left after 1 month. The sadness that permeated the folks there, the uncertainty and at times loneliness they felt was to much of a pull on my emotions.

I remember some of the nurses were so jaded I decided then that I would die at home when the time came. Surrounded (hopefully) by folks who cared about me instead of jaded hearts who possibly would be charged with my care.

I'm heartened by your level of caring, that you have refused such a defense as becoming jaded in your dealings with others.

Yes, zombie is an apt description, hah hah.

I'm stubborn though and insist even now at my age to stay up once home to have some me time before going to sleep.

I hope that you find many hidden treasures in your night at work, that give you a rebirth of sorts at being part of something magical as can also occur in your field of work.

Thanks so much for writing a book :)

I've often felt that the real gold of a post is to be found in the comments.

Regards,

Jason

You said

"The little joys I get from work are from the patient’s families that allow me to continue working with their little ones, and you feel their trust and respect. That is very fulfilling. And the experience sometimes extends to friendships post hospital confinement."

I knew you were one of the ones who do this. :)

I had the night off, kinda sorta.

We had the granddaughter who is 4 spend the night, and she has such a high level of energy. Today we got here little brother and between the two of them am enjoying my quiet now. :D

Hope your two nights went well.

Regards,

Jason

No, they're mom came last night to get them as my partner had to work today. She'll be going over there tomorrow with Easter baskets for them while I try to get some sleep to get rested up for work.

Those are some incredible stories you have to share.

You are much like my mom. She has dedicated herself to charity work, once as a child even winning woman of the year award in our state.

She has friends everywhere, and I won't be surprised when she passes at a large crowd from all over the country coming to pay their respects to her.

I envy those of you like that, with that ability.

I appreciate the unspoken treasure of your story. Which is your surprise over the gratitude of others.

It's a demonstration your gifts to others is done with no merchant mentality expectation of a payoff for it down the road. To be a recipient of such a gesture from another is often not so easily encountered, and can make one pause in gratefulness when it happens.

Regards, and hope you have a nice holiday as well.

Jason

Thank you.

She is an amazing woman. I can remember as a child she worked all day and then in the evenings would volunteer her time through Pioneers testing the hearing on babies at a local hospital, among the many things she had going on.

I would go with her sometimes and put packets of papers together while she and her friend would go do the testing.

She still keeps at things today, despite her age and need to slow down a little.

I remember when my dad passed away and I met her pastor. I mentioned to him about her winning that award and he had no idea. It wasn't something she talked about, and no one there knew about it.

I can imagine you can write books on it indeed. You are quick to offer help which I can attest to firsthand.

I don't mind the books by the way :)

Hope you have a Happy Easter.

Regards,

Jason