After reading the other reports I decided to share my story. Unlike alot of the other former reps who wrote in I got to see a Granton office set up from the ground floor, and actually made it to asst. management. It took two years and my whole life.
I started in Ottawa and was told by my manager that we were going on a two week road trip to Toronto to help his promoting owner set up a new office. I packed my bags and kissed my girlfriend and told her I'd be back in a couple of weeks.
6 months later I was still living in a hotel in Toronto which i couldn't afford and no longer had a girlfriend or any friends who weren't in the business.
I built a huge crew which, anyone who has ever got to leadership knows, meant I was giving most of the money I made in the field to my weaker distributors in an attempt to keep them from quitting before I could get promoted.
I stayed mostly because I had a great deal of respect for my "owner" and then I got promoted and reality came crashing in.
1. there is no base salary once you make it to management.
2. Your owner's stroke in the field is not yours: it has to stay in security until you get promoted out.
3. You only get your overrides if your team continues to crack criteria.
The worst thing that happened to me was after my promotion. I was pulled into the office and told that one of my leaders was about to be promoted and that meant he would pass me by, which was code for, I want to promote him out first generation and get more cash more than I want to be loyal to you.
After that I just kind of burned out and started looking at the business for what it was.
I finally got out the easiest way I knew how. I went on a road trip with my crew, and one of my guys was so desperate for cash he stole a pile from settleup. I phoned my owner and lied saying i had taken it to pay my old hotel bill, knowing he felt bad enough about what had happened to just fire me instead of pressing charges.
I wound up living in a homeless shelter after that for awhile. I'm still thousands of dollars in debt to the hotel I was at. and I'm just now a year and a half later getting my feet back on the ground.
I live in Halifax now and am about to get married. Life is getting good again, but like they say in the matrix, I wish I'd taken the other pill. The worst thing that was done to me was to have that hope dangled in front of me and I know I'll always feel limited working for anyone else but I guess that's life.
I guess my final advice to anyone still in the business is this: look at what you've gained and lost so far, count the number of people who have dissapeared while you've stayed, and then decide whether the carrot being dangled is worth the pain.
Julian
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada
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