Episode 13: Outliers, Mean Girls and Time Freedom

Okay, friends, we are back in the studio, and I have a very schnazzy friend that I want to introduce you to, um, and her name is Carrie. And Carrie is, um, well, she wears many hats and I’m going to have her introduce herself to you. Um, but we crossed paths in a couple different ways and never knew each other until the last couple of years.

So, tell your, before we go into the MLM portion, who the heck are you? Like, what do you do? Give them your, give them your elevator speech of who you are. All righty,

[00:01:42] Carrie Ann: let’s see. My name’s Carrie Moulton. Uh, I spent 17 years in, right out of college, in radio and television, uh, doing morning radio on, let’s see, at one point we were syndicated on like seven major cities, so a pretty big morning show, and then I did afternoon, uh, news [00:02:00] locally here.

I’m in Phoenix, Arizona. So, did that for 17 years, um, loved it, but it was, I was a single parent, uh, to, at the time, three kids. Uh, so it was a grind, for sure. But it was the thing that I loved. I did a book report on Oprah in fifth grade and found out that she got her start in radio. And so it was like, done deal.

That’s what I’m doing. It’s gone. It’s going down. I was like, that’s what I’m gonna do,

[00:02:23] Erin: Oprah. I was gonna ask you what brought you into radio. Yeah, and I

[00:02:26] Carrie Ann: freaked out because like, she started radio at 15 and I didn’t start till I was like 22. I was like, literally tracking my life on hers. It was really delusional.

Delusional, but like that was the inspiration of like getting into

[00:02:39] Erin: it and set you up for a life of trauma. Just make a literally

[00:02:43] Carrie Ann: exhaustion great was great. It’s been great. So yeah, I did that and then had a really good friend That told me about this product in this company and Initially, it was to help her she had needed like to [00:03:00] I think she was trying to reach a bonus or something So it was to become a customer and then from there, it was like, Oh wait, there’s money.

I’m super red personality and I got I got hustled Yeah, I got hustled

[00:03:17] Erin: what you um He said that the money was appealing. Why? You were in your dream job, but what

[00:03:24] Carrie Ann: would it feel? Goodness. So I was doing 16 hour days and at the time I had what she was a, I had an eighth grader, a sixth grader, and a second grader.

And I, at this point I had gone a decade of never dropping a kid off at school, you know, I was I was waking up at 2 30 in the morning. I was on air from 5 a.m. To 10 a.m. Racing from one studio to another because then I did the afternoon news from noon to 3 racing at 3 o’clock to do school pickups and You know, I was that mom in the parent [00:04:00] pickup that was like, Oh, cool, that’s what you decided to wear to school today.

Like, I just, you know, I had my oldest daughter was student council president from second grade all the way to senior year. Never got to go to a pep assembly. I missed all of it. I had friends that would do videos. And I think at the end of the day, the girls understood the grind. Uh, but I missed so much.

And that was the motivation. Money. I don’t think that came until later, because I think money coupled with the time freedom was like insane to me. But initially it was like, gosh, if I could just get like a day off. And there was this idea of owning your time that, I could literally vomit, I heard own your time.

And that to me was like so appealing. And then, of course, I think that the upline, the girl that enrolled me, she very strategically sent me stories of other people who had owned their time and retired their husbands, and I was like, I’m in! What am I gonna do? What do you know? What’s the first goal? What [00:05:00] do we need to do?

Um, and really unknowingly just kind of jumped in totally, which I guess is the only way to do it if you’re gonna do it, right?

[00:05:07] Erin: Yeah. So, you had success. Um. Did it, what did it look like? I mean, your, what, what happened? Um.

[00:05:14] Carrie Ann: I, uh, I kind of, again, I always find the, like, what I view as the top dog in any scenario.

And I kind of modeled my journey of success. Like, okay, if I can hit this, she hit this in five months, I’m gonna hit it in four. She, you know, this one did it in ten months, I’m gonna do it in nine. Kind of modeled after that. And I was very much, um, I didn’t, uh, well, to this day. I’ve never really looked through a comp plan.

I don’t know. I don’t even under, I don’t understand any of that. I could care less. My thing was, just tell me what you need me to get and I’ll come back with it. Like, that’s it. I don’t care about details. I’m not worried. And then I got about three months in [00:06:00] and was like, I, there’s no way to do both. Like, I’ve got to pick.

I cannot continue waking up at 2:30 in the morning when I’m going to bed at 1:00. It hurts. Harassing friend. I just can’t. And so I made a game plan that I was going to save up in my annual income. My annual radio income. And if and when I hit that mark, I would retire and go with MLM. I just want to punch myself in the face hearing myself say that.

It’s stupid. Like a 17 year career. And what did I think? I thought I could just like, I don’t know what I was thinking. You get so swept up in everybody’s story. You get so, they do do a great job. Like, I wish there was like a MLM for world peace. Like, some kind of, some things are good, right? Like, some kind of, I don’t know, homelessness.

Like, why isn’t there, because you get so swept up in it. And you, you, you believe, [00:07:00] you believe that it, A, you think it’s gonna last forever. You think you’re, you know, I think you, they keep certain details from you, like how bonuses are paid out or what it takes. So there’s so many details that were kept from me just because they all want you to get to the right so they can get to a rank and yeah, but I ended up working, I think it took me six months to save six or seven months to save my annual income.

Okay, cool. All hell breaks loose. I’ve got some money saved. And then, uh, I got hit a promotion, and I stayed, I got one month’s pay at that promotion, and then everything crumbled. And then I would say, honestly, I had, I would tell you I had a really, the trajectory of my little MLM career, it was, Amazing. For seven months, eight months, and I stayed for five years.[00:08:00]

It was, it was four years and whatever that is, some change. Four years and change of a literal, I was like treading, I was fighting every day to just get back. It’s almost like a drug, like you have that initial high and everything you’re doing is trying to get back to that high. And you, you’re not going to.

So how,

[00:08:18] Erin: how long did it take you to hit that big rank that you only held for a month?

[00:08:21] Carrie Ann: I hit a big rank that took me nine months. Wow, that was fast. Yeah, I hit it really fast. I hit it really fast.

[00:08:28] Erin: Did they shove you up on a stage and make a big pedestal out of you considering your background and your personality and all that jazz?

[00:08:36] Carrie Ann: You definitely tried. Woo, they tried! And I was super against it. I think, it’s interesting looking back, I think there was a part of me that was like a little Yeah. I was a little bit embarrassed because when I finally stepped away from radio and television, I Um, you know, the job is so visible. It’s not like I was in a cubicle in an office.

It was like such a, it was [00:09:00] an, it was such a big deal. Yeah. And I was kind of self conscious about people know, Oh, she stepped away to do that, to sell those things. Like it was kind of, so I didn’t want any exposure. I wouldn’t even buy the merchandise. I remember Target and they had three tank tops for 20 bucks or something like that.

I refused to like. I remember them being like, well, if you have a cup and it’s got the logo and like, people will ask you and it was like, nah, dude, they’ll ask me. It’s all good. Like, I just did it. So I was kind of like the anti, I was very anti, uh, and they knew. And I also feel like a lot of the girls around me were very not gullible, but they were so thirsty to be liked, so thirsty to be accepted, and I was the opposite of that.

And I think that was probably a blessing, because I had already had individual professional, whatever you want to call it, success or fame. I had done these amazing things. And I feel like a [00:10:00] lot of the girls around me, this was like their peak. Yep, they peaked, they were peaking, so this would, they were all in.

And I was like, no thanks, I’m good. And they were boggled, boggled by how I couldn’t care. But literally at that point, I came for the time and the freedom, and I came

for the check.

[00:10:17] Erin: I wish we would have met back then because you know, I, it’s so funny because I did not buy a ton of the clothes. I would, I remember having team members who probably made three to 400 bucks a month who were buying 900 of clothes at the store at the convention, um, because they thought that was going to build their business.

But it also was just a drug. It was like an addiction. It was like. The who’s who and you had to have your bling and you had to have your grace Um, and there were many years that I had one shirt and I had a tank top a green tank top with black over top of it.

[00:10:56] Carrie Ann: That was me. And I

[00:10:58] Erin: also was kind of [00:11:00] anti the cool kids club because I was bullied my full life anyway And so for me it it spewed mean girl from the day I got there.

And so I was very hesitant. I was very on the outer edge I mean for a while that when I was in MLM, I had a buzz cut So I like really like really separated myself. But you know what when we left I had a Blitz card attached to my purse Laminated like by the time I left even I and and you know why I think I did it.

It wasn’t because I felt like it it was gonna work or I felt like I felt cooler. I was always embarrassed. I was, I was embarrassed from the day I got there. But what happened to me is I got to that same rank that you were. And then I spent the next year digging my way, digging my way out. And so I was willing to do whatever it took.

Not putting a stupid ass card laminated on my purse. That was green. Like I was willing to [00:12:00] do that. And I just,

[00:12:02] Carrie Ann: yeah, I think after I lost rank the first time I lost rank. I was on a zoom with like the corporate queen and I think she had made a comment about if I walked by you would I even know what you do and I was like, that’s what I’m feeling.

Okay, let’s do it. He was

[00:12:22] Erin: such a master manipulator.

[00:12:23] Carrie Ann: And then, you know, you, I remember, I remember at one point having a conversation with someone that was like, who makes money off of this merch.

Like, you’re just giving your paycheck right back to them.

[00:12:37] Erin: Yeah. Why do you think your business crumbled? What was the, what, what

[00:12:42] Carrie Ann: happened? I think, well, I came in in 2013, and like, the day that I joined, they had banned the buy, sell, and trade groups. Remember, people were just hitting up those buys, and you would get 20, 30 people that were interested, and it [00:13:00] was so new.

I came in in 2013, and I, I, I think my timing was still good. But, I mean, within a year, if you hadn’t purchased them, an item, and it not work, and if it did work, you already joined somebody. So there was just like a massive, and then there was bad press. So then, I think I spent a lot of the recruiting dispelling these rumors out of the back of my head.

I was like, no, that’s absolutely correct. You’re absolutely correct. And then you hit this point of growth, which no one, there’s no training for. It’s like, just keep running. I wish that they had some kind of, maybe it’s like you hit a middle rank, and there’s, there needed to be a completely different mindset in management.

You have a lot of people that are like, High School is their highest education. They kind of did whatever jobs, lots of stay at home moms where their circle was super small. So they [00:14:00] lack social skills. Um, I wish that they had some kind of, I don’t even know what that would be professional development or something because.

They just tell you to go back to basics and you’re like even on my best day at basics I can’t plug all the holes. I’m seeing here. Yes for me. It’s like the eight months were complete bliss I ended up going on a cruise made tons of friends. You end up getting very clicky and I was kind of like the you know like the Peter Pan of the Lost Boys like I was like you I wanted I wanted the outliers I didn’t want anything to do with the like Barbies or any of that Yeah.

Yeah. But even then, and the weirdest thing about it for me was like that first year and a half, nobody talked about the struggle, so you really felt like you were the only one in the business failing. So no one talked, and you just did whatever. And it hit a point, I remember them encouraging me to purchase.

Get, uh, get gift cards and just purchase the volume [00:15:00] you needed. Look, your check’s gonna be 15 grand, right? If you drop four or five, like, and I refused. Refused. Was like, that’s not why I came here. Couldn’t do it. So for me, it was this constant Um, I laugh so hard, like last week I was kind of chuckling because I had, I still get hit up every month for somebody to join somebody’s MLM.

I don’t get hit up by anybody. constant. They don’t want me on their team,

[00:15:27] Erin: it’s weird.

[00:15:28] Carrie Ann: Yeah, it says you’re woke, girl. They know. They know. That is by chance that I’m duping you. Like, I’ll, yep, and I always have to look at my calendar to be like, oh, end of month. I’m trying to get that last minute volume in. Yeah, so forever, for the rest of my life, I will think of the end of month differently.

I will know like the rest of that. Oh, yeah,

[00:15:48] Erin: yeah. Um, so I’ll, I’ll just say this and we don’t even need to edit it out because I feel like it’s going to be so obvious, but I, so we have this camera back here. Uh huh. I don’t know what to look at. [00:16:00] So like for a while, I’m like going to look at the camera and then I’m like, this is so stupid because like, I, I have to look at you, but when I’m looking at you, it looks like I’m like looking at, so anyway, I’m looking at you.

It’s streptang. Can you tell Does it look like I’m looking at you? I think you’re looking at me. Do I look like I’m looking at you? Yes! I don’t No, you look like you’re looking

[00:16:19] Carrie Ann: down! I look like I’m Okay.

[00:16:20] Erin: So, hold on. We have to play with it. When I do this, am I looking at you? Yes, you’re looking at me. So I’m not, though.

I’m looking at the camera. Which, for me, is like The worst, because I Yeah, I’m like in your peripheral.

[00:16:33] Carrie Ann: I’m like, you can kind of see the outline of me. Yeah,

[00:16:36] Erin: I feel like I’m being disrespectful. Okay, right now, am I looking in your eyes? Yep, you’re

[00:16:42] Carrie Ann: looking in my eyes. Am I looking in your eyes? I can’t

[00:16:45] Erin: tell, because I am not looking at you anymore.

Okay.

Okay. I’m going to look at the camera. All right. I need you to know that actually I’m not looking at you [00:17:00] and so I feel disrespectful, but I, but you’re going to think

[00:17:03] Carrie Ann: that I’m looking at you. Okay. It

[00:17:05] Erin: works. It totally works. Oh, okay. Good. Okay. Um. Why did you leave? So I know you went to another company, but why did you leave the former I know it was crumbling and, but what got you?

You got, they, they got you good for the first one. How did they get you, did you go directly from one to two? Yes.

[00:17:22] Carrie Ann: And I had listened to everyone who had left before and it was like, get that last check, keep it quiet. Um, and thankfully I had been, oh my gosh, I left in the, in the almost daily. Facebook videos of the tearful goodbyes.

Do you remember when everyone was doing those, like, the horrendous tears? I’m so grateful, but I have to go! Oh, God. And then all the comments would be like, I hate you, I hope you die. What year was it? This would have been 2017. And there was like a bit of a mass exodus around that time.[00:18:00] [00:18:00] Erin: So I had a mass exodus in 2016.

[00:18:02] Carrie Ann: Okay, yeah, you were like the first wave. Oh, the drama. As always, you’re always on the cut. You always start stuff. You little fire starter.

[00:18:11] Erin: I was only a follower, but it was great. Okay. Yeah. But you So, tell me about your transition. Tell me about the

[00:18:17] Carrie Ann: next, the next place. So, a really good friend, um, who I just absolutely adored, she was another outlier, got treated totally terrible.

I think that I ended up meeting her because I didn’t even know her, and I heard girls talking about her. And my thing with anyone who’s being talked about, it just makes me want to meet that person more. Kind of like, you’re doing something right if they’re talking about you.

[00:18:38] Erin: I can’t even tell you how many friends I’ve made, and who I work with today, only because somebody talked trash enough about me to send them to me.

I would have continued to be a nobody, which is what they like to call me, and so, but instead I’m their friend now because they, anyway.

[00:18:56] Carrie Ann: How it works, I love it. Uh, so I had, like, reached [00:19:00] out to her, told her what the girls were saying, and, Oh, I just, it hurt her. She’s, she’s such a sensitive, sweet soul. I absolutely love her.

And, um, I got to know her story. And we just related on, on a friend level. There was more to it. And she never, in the entire time I’ve known her, has ever, ever, ever put money for what you could do for her. Or anything like that ahead of actually just being a friend, right? And that was so rare. I don’t think I had come across that in the MLM world.

And it really was like, okay, listen, there are good people. She was going through her own hell. I’m always attracted. I’m always, I feel like single moms are magnets. We always find each other. So she was a single mom just doing the best she could. And, um, I, what I really was drawn to was that she was trying to figure out where to go too. Every month, you’ve got people leaving, right? And it’s a ball. Yeah, [00:20:00] never be able to replace And I had kind of made a decision I don’t really I’m not really held bent on where we go, but like I’ll ride with you when you decide to go all ride with you. That was kind of the plan. And then just every month having somebody that I could kind of break down to.

Because he was talking about it. Everyone was making it like they were mak-, like the only way that you found out other people were failing was when they left and then they’re telling you that for six months, they’ve been putting things on credit cards in there, you know their kids aren’t in private school anymore and they’re selling their house and you’re like girl I just talked

[00:20:38] Erin: to you three months ago and they filed bankruptcy but they’re praying for forgiveness because it’s all their fault,

[00:20:45] Carrie Ann: right?

Totally and it’s like I came to you crying three months ago and you’re telling me to work harder. You told me to stop it up Uh huh rash man. So For me, um, being able to go to that friend and just keep it real. And I [00:21:00] have seen her as the, she had been in it, so like two years before me. So when I got in, she was like on the stage talking about.

You know, she was a waitress, man, but she was living off tips. It was nice to hear her success story. Yeah. Um, and so I was just stuck with her. I just, I had made a decision really early on. Not only was I going to be like her protector because we kind of met, um, but I was going to ride with whatever she was doing.

And so, right. And so thankfully I had all these years of marketing experience and, you know, marketing 101, never talk about what you’re leaving, talk about where you’re going. So I never even acknowledged it. I just immediately jumped in to, uh, the new thing and started talking about the new thing and, um, It was just this wave, it’s that same high, it’s that same high that you’re looking for, that I had for whatever it was, right, six months, seven months, you know, where you’re like, where people are hitting you up, like, what are you doing?

How are you doing it? What’s going on? I keep seeing you’re this and this, it was that [00:22:00] high again, and I didn’t even know the products. I think she had told me about like, the two, there were like two packages that people could buy, right? Okay. I didn’t even, there were like 20 products I knew of two packages, and that’s just what I hit the ground running.

Like, you can get this package or this package, and they’d be like, Okay, I’ll get that one. Okay, cool. You know? Yep. Hit the ground running. I really loved, I think that because the first MLM was in such a depressive state. Yeah. You know what, it was, there was so much energy with this new company. Um, mostly because they were like all former crackheads.

So I think that probably plays into it a little, but like, there was so much energy and everyone was, I feel like people had come from like, some kind of weird fitness background, right? So it’s like all these pictures of people hiking and, again,

[00:22:50] Erin: The product has like 8, 000 milligrams of

[00:22:53] Carrie Ann: caffeine, but hang on.

Like the first day I was like, like, oh, I don’t need a vacuum. I’ll just pick [00:23:00] my carpet. I don’t need a vacuum. The first day, girl, I was, I remember catching myself. I took the product and the fir-, I was like up on a, my coffee table cleaning the whatever fuzz from ceiling fans. Oh. I was like, wait. Just like a whole new hot.

But I had had so many depressive months. Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. And then the owners were like, young and hip, and I had come from the owner being like this old fart, like, Santa in the summer, boring, saying the same thing, making us call him coach, when like, I grew up playing sports! You are no coach! You’re not my coach!

Why am I calling you coach? What, I’ve never even seen you run! So for me, it was like these young hip guys and they were like on whatever these like MLM, they were like in the MLM magazines. They were like the sweethearts that year of the MLM industry. And it was like, I’m part of that, right? And they had parties and it was like, Oh my gosh, I love, I did love that.

It felt so good. And I think for me, [00:24:00] the way that I had left the first MLM, um, my enroller poached my team when she left. And so we had really hit a point of like, I’m either going to have to figure out how to, I don’t know, I’m going to figure out how to get back into the industry and just get back a real job, or I’ve got to go, like, the very few girls I had left were like, what are we going to do?

Even if I had wanted to stay, I would have been like Lone Ranger. I’d had no team. So we had to find somewhere. And you know, five years of these girls trusting me to make decisions, I was like, I got to be that person for them. And so that’s how I ended up leaving, but I was devastated. And the thing is, my upline, my enroller, was my morning show producer.

So I had 20 years, 23 years with her.

[00:24:51] Erin: I did not know that. Oh, yeah. I

[00:24:53] Carrie Ann: was, it was like, that was my friend. I mean, like, baby shakers, and we, every, [00:25:00] everything traveled. Like, we came up in radio together. Yeah. I was, gutted and I, I think the jump to the next, it’s almost like a relationship. You know, there’s the person that sits in the pain and they work through it, and there’s the one that just gets ano in another relationship and like they’ll just ice it over.

That was jumping into the new NLM and I found myself just trying to recreate what I had before. It’s all

it was.

[00:25:25] Erin: yeah. Well, and there’s something, you know, you’ve mentioned, uh, drugs and addiction and, um, that high that came at the beginning. I think that, and, and like, I wish we could have an MLM for world peace or like something that actually does some, somebody good.

I think that what happens to people is they do have that high and they do, you know, for you, it wasn’t the feeling valued. It was building something, it was creating something, it was being a part of something. It was meeting really cool people. It was. Um, I’m sure there was a million other things, but what we were building wasn’t [00:26:00] real, and so when you get out of it, you just want to do it again.

Like, I didn’t, when, when I, I think I knew, probably the same time as you did, like, I think I knew pretty much right away that, like, Mmm, we’re putting a blanket on some shit, you know? Like, I knew. But I also, like, once you get in so deep, it’s hard to come out of it. And once you’ve had the high, you just want it back.

Like, I will never forget calling my mom, calling my husband and saying, like, cannot, you will never believe what we made. Didn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered that I worked a

[00:26:35] Carrie Ann: thousand hours. Right. Actual slave labor.

[00:26:40] Erin: Yeah. All I knew was that I was gonna change my whole family’s life and I was fighting for the same time freedom.

So it’s like this weird addiction. Um, just so, but I, I got confused. Did you quit radio while you were in MLM? Oh my

[00:26:52] Carrie Ann: gosh. Okay. So my story, I always think my story is a little bit different because I was surrounded by, you know, stay at home [00:27:00] moms that, what is it, the 500 a month? Get a pedicure card, go out to coffee with friends. Have some freedom. Not have to ask your husband for. Okay. um, money and I remember this post that was like viral at the time where it was like the husband and wife are out the out to dinner and the wife was like, keep your card. I’ve got it right. I didn’t have any of that. I was already a single mom.

I was successful professionally, but I had no time and I need no time. I was waking up at 2:30 in the morning. Uh, for sh- for work, um, getting done at like three, then God, if there was a concert or an interview or anything I had to do, yeah. There were times where my head was hitting the pillow at 11:00 PM and I was up at 2:30 AM I had no time, and I remember somebody, I can’t remember who, but she was on stage.

There weren’t many girls in my same situation, but the ones that were really spoke to me, because I remember her saying, um, she’s paying for a house that she’s not even like, she’s not even in. And that, [00:28:00] that got me. So I came in for the time and I made a deal with myself that if I could get, if I could earn one year’s salary for my job, if I could match that, that I would.

Leave my right and it was like the I mean, it was the constant push was the constant push to leave your job You’re j o b. You’re I mean, I think you’re an egg or at all, right? And every call that I was in there was some kind of push and if I did have any struggles Everything was related back to will you still do are you really all in because you’re still working full time?

So are you really are you really committed? No, it’s just like are you gonna pay But I got suckered, and, uh, I ended up putting in, I, uh, I was on contract, so I ended up not renewing my, uh, radio contract, and just stepped away, uh, and it was crazy because I remember, again, everything comes back to chasing these [00:29:00] first, these highs, because I remember like the first week I had left radio, and I’m like all in with MLM, and I do remember being like so amazed It was probably the first time in my adult life that I didn’t have an alarm waking me up.

That whole wake up with the sun, that whole thing they sold you, right? But the other thing was I remember sitting in my living room, I was on my little laptop, probably harassing a friend from high school to buy something. Do you have 70? If you have 70, you’re good. So it’s like. Um, and I remember hearing this noise outside and it, like, startled me.

I was like, whoa, what was that? I look outside and it’s the garbage truck. That was the first time I was in my house in the middle of the day and I heard a garbage truck. And I remember, like, that’s, that’s one of those, like, core memory, okay, they were so bright. Oh my gosh, I’m, like, cold. And then it ends up being, like, The prison that you’re, like, you’re just the drug you’re trying to get back to.

Cause who cares? Like, Like a different

[00:29:58] Erin: person. You know what [00:30:00] sucks about it too? Okay, so I didn’t know that you quit during that time. And I want to talk finances in a second too. You know what sucks about it too is that, I believe in it. Like, I believe in fighting for time. And I believe in, like, I’m not picking my kids up from school today, um, just due to scheduling.

But I take them every single day. Like. I, I’ve missed one day like in the last, you know, however many months, unless I was out of town, just simply because like, I was on the path of hardcore corporate America and I would have gotten really good at my job and I was going to make, I was making big six figures in my early twenties.

Like, Oh my God. Oh God. I thank God I had a few hard years or else I’d be like. I’ve been buying frack or something. I mean, I have a pony in my backyard, you know. 100%, right? Buying

[00:30:48] Carrie Ann: for an alpaca or some bullshit.

[00:30:50] Erin: Um, But, I was on the path of being on an airplane every week. I was on the path of leaving my house at 6:45 in the morning and becoming a [00:31:00] vice president and doing all that. And I remember thinking, like, I would rather die. Like I, or not even, I would rather die. I never thought that it was, I’m dying. Like, I remember thinking I’m going to just trade a life of love and fun and excitement for what I think is supporting my family, but I’m miserable.

And I’m not saying corporate America is miserable, but I knew the role that I was moving into was not a fit for me. And I was doing it out of duty. So, what sucks is that I believe in the dream that we sell and that is sold. It’s just that you sell the dream and then you sell a fake. It’s like, it’s like you’re selling little kids tickets to the ice cream truck, but it’s actually a crackhead in the truck that’s like getting ready to traffic them.

I mean, that’s how it

[00:31:51] Carrie Ann: is. Well, at least

[00:31:52] Erin: it’s not that bad.

[00:31:53] Carrie Ann: And nobody’s telling you that all that ice cream melted and then they refroze it. They

[00:31:57] Erin: refroze it and it’s got, like, [00:32:00] disgusting old mold on it. Right. That’s the thing that makes me upset. Yeah. And I

[00:32:06] Carrie Ann: think the path to success. At some point, I co-signed that lie to every single person that I recruited.

There were different months where, on the 30th, I was devastated. Because I knew I lost rank. I woke up on the first and I was pulling people in with my success story. I had only checks from a month, like six months prior, because there was no way I was going to show them the ones I was making now, right?

Yeah,

[00:32:35] Erin: because you had bought the ice cream, and you had refroze it, and you had to sell it, because

[00:32:40] Carrie Ann: you already bought it. I had it. And that crushed me. That crushed me, because that is not my nature. I’ve always prided myself on being, for better or worse, I’m always going to be authentic. I don’t care if you love it or hate it.

And I, I had to buy into that lie. That was devastating. That was nothing more than telling people they’re gonna, [00:33:00] I’m gonna help solve their problems, knowing I just locked you into a autoship every month so that I could, you know,

[00:33:07] Erin: listen, I, I want to, I want to talk about this and maybe we talk about it later.

Maybe we talk about it now, but you talk about knowing, knowing that you’re hurting somebody. I have such a hard time with what’s happening now. Like, we thought that we were slinging, you know, refrozen ice cream goodies. And, and what I see today and the influencers that are doing it, first of all, they’re veterans.

Like they’ve been around the block. These are people that you and I know, and then a lot of people that you and I don’t know that are literally posting on their page with their hands up, you know, doing the thing, like probably what they’re. Latte, living their best life and I saw a, I saw a post the other day that was like, I’ve made $180,000 in the last however many months.

And I, you know, if you’ve, if you watched [00:34:00] me over the last seven years and you, and you trust me, then take the leap and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And like, it infuriates me. And I, I’ve tried to like get a little bit more vanilla and like, I try not to hashtag people’s names anymore. You know, yeah, the old me and like, that’s the, that’s the Erin that came from the gravel road that will say, that’s the Erin that got you me.

I was like, that’s my girl, but I’m trying to like tone her down or not. But here’s what I want to say is like, you freaking know, you know, that throwing that out and good for you, boo. I hope you are paying off your debt. Cause we all know you have it. And we all know that the reason that you are doing this, even though, you know, better is because you.

Have screwed up over and over and over again, and you have no other choice

[00:34:49] Carrie Ann: we get it Okay, so we

[00:34:51] Erin: can talk all the smack because we’ve done it But at some point in time you have to make better decisions. And so you posting You’re big fancy income and [00:35:00] suckering people into their last five hundred dollars that they have before Christmas when you damn well Know that they’re not gonna make that money back.

You’re not even selling products anymore I mean at least we had products that we could leave in our closet. I mean

[00:35:12] Carrie Ann: right now now It’s like a straight scam hustle. Hey, my favorite is yeah where I’m gonna sell you I am only on social media once every, once a week, maybe, and it’s just to post a cute selfie of me and my boyfriend on some vacation, or me with my kids, whatever your, whatever new job you’re getting, whatever.

I’m only on social media once a week, and I don’t respond to anybody’s comments. I’m only, purely narcissistic. I’m only here to show you how amazing I am. But let me sell you an organic social media marketing plan. What on earth?. That one was like offensive because you’re that is strictly everything.

Everybody has a list of why they’re not succeeding, right? And so you think they’re [00:36:00] these quick fixes, whether it’s your social media presence or I can hack the algorithm, this ever, no one ever know, you know, and you are literally preying on everyone’s insecurity. And you’re, you, you’re like trading your, the trust they have in you with this.

A social media is not something you can just do it for a living. You can’t just wake up and. Watch some, what is it? It’s like a PowerPoint presentation. And it’s, that to me was like, you’re, either you’re in so deep that you don’t know, or you absolutely know what you’re doing. And it’s like, $500? That’s a ton, that’s somebody’s electric bill, their groceries.

And you’re, and then, and then to brag about it. I made $10,000 this month. Like, who could

[00:36:44] Erin: you really help? And who else made a dollar? Who, who else has made anything? You’re the only one making anything. And and that’s why I know that they know, I know that they know. I do not think that we’re, I don’t think that anybody’s head at this point es especially the [00:37:00] ones that have been there, done it over the years, and it’s just, they’re, they’re drowning.

They’re struggling. I do feel, I felt in past tense bad because I’ve been there and I’ve been desperate. Um, but it, but it’s yucky now. So it, it really bothers me and I think I need to do some deep, I feel like a deep dive would be fun. I feel like a dive of like, or how about I buy the course and then y’all can just have my login?

Right?

[00:37:25] Carrie Ann: That’s seriously,

[00:37:26] Erin: a lot of this hate. The course for free, how about that?

[00:37:29] Carrie Ann: Or the other one that’s killing me is this debit card situation where you like, put your, you are literally selling your friend’s banking information. Their private, personal. Banking information for what and like the moment all the

[00:37:46] Erin: top leaders that have jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped are now doing the next scam that it’s the literal red flag.

That’s the only red flag you need I don’t look at who’s doing it and you will say That it’s a rim flap and [00:38:00] anyways, my, my question for you, although I started ranting and spewing hate at the camera, which it looks like I’m spewing hate at you, but I’m not because you’re down here.

[00:38:09] Carrie Ann: Yeah. All right.

[00:38:10] Erin: I’m worried.

I want to be like, I’m Carrie, but

[00:38:15] Carrie Ann: Oh my God.

[00:38:18] Erin: So you talked about the heartbreak. So when, before we were kind of prepping, cause we kind of figure out like, what the heck is your story? So we know how, kind of what direction to head. And, and, I would say I didn’t have the heartbreak, but I think it was because I made my heart be hard as stone, and I, I just, when I’m hurt, I get pissed, right, just why you liked me, because I, yes.

Um, why do you think the cult like behavior happens? Why do you think it’s such a cesspool for mean girls? Like why does the MLM space, because I still talk to people to this day, that their PTSD isn’t from the product, their PTSD isn’t even from the compensation, like maybe they made a little [00:39:00] bit here and there, but it wasn’t, it was the bullying.

It was a culture. It was the friends they lost. Like what do you, what’s, give me your scoop on that. What happened to you and why do you think it’s a problem?

[00:39:10] Carrie Ann: But I think the underlying issue is that the vast majority of MLM success, the success stories, I really think they come from, it’s overrun with people who peaked in high school, right?

It’s overrun with people who, they don’t have the social skills, they weren’t. Really in a professional setting to where I understood how you handle yourself. They haven’t had professional development. They haven’t really answered to a boss or a board of governors or they haven’t had that kind of thing.

And so this little bit of success. It’s like it is their drug. They, the fact, I mean, I remember being in meetings and girls talking about my team and my, this and my, I think that they had never been a [00:40:00] part of something where they really, they really thought their, they owned their teams that they own people. And so what happens with that kind of person is they’re so easily sucked into whatever I remember.

It’s like, oh, these girls are getting these, remember those flip flops, they were like the flip flops with the, I should go run and grab one, they have like the, um, cloth, I don’t remember what they were called, but it’s like if they had them, you had to have them, a Louis, everybody had Louis Vuitton bags, and everybody had, it was like you had to, there was this urgency, and that comes from people who haven’t had anything, they don’t know, you I don’t know who they really are yet and this becomes their identity and I think for the few people like you, me, a handful of other people, we’ve had an identity outside of that.

We know what the world looks like and so it’s craziness just here for the check. I don’t know, it wouldn’t even be your friend if we weren’t in it, you know, kind of a thing. Yeah,

[00:40:59] Erin: it’s like a [00:41:00] magnet for daddy issues. I really firmly believe it and you,ref- um, you referenced the coach, um, I’m, I really think that, I think that companies almost make a business plan.

You know, you think about a company making a mission statement, I mean, I’m just going to assume, and maybe I’m talking trash here, but I think that the, the bad

[00:41:20] Carrie Ann: MLMs

[00:41:21] Erin: make a plan to get people addicted to the family and to the identity. And, like, the one that we were a part of, it was this daddy

[00:41:34] Carrie Ann: thing. Still be.

That people that got stuck the

[00:41:37] Erin: hardest were the ones with the biggest daddy issues. And that, that is one thing that broke my heart. I, I know people that hate my guts and I, I, it’s, it’s conflicting for me because, um, I’ve been a real, you know, like I haven’t been that nice. But I also feel that, like, I’m not impressed with them, but I also feel bad because I watched them.

[00:42:00] Finally feel like they were doing something amazing and finally feel like somebody was going to be proud of them and somebody was celebrating them. I mean we know as adults adults don’t get celebrated. I mean good god. Think about how many moms out there are just drowning in loneliness and so I think that’s something to be preyed upon to and I think it’s all on purpose and then and then you get them in groups, then you get those a lot of women that have never been a part of the cool club or the cool club 1992 when they had their letter jacket and it doesn’t fit anymore and so now they’ve made a new cool club you And you get so tightly ingrained into that, and, and then they tell you that anybody that doesn’t support you in your MLM shouldn’t be your friend.

And your only friends are the ones that are in your MLM, so how the hell are you going to leave it? And then when you leave, or when they leave, you said earlier, like, Oh, I thought, I thought we were actually friends, my bad. Like, I thought this was something different. And

[00:42:57] Carrie Ann: I fell for that. I got, I, as [00:43:00] hard, as hard as I am, and as much as I feel like it came.

into it really like, worldly. I had street smarts. I, that threw me, that really, of everything, forget the money, eventually you’ll figure it out and make it back, for me it was really thinking that, like sharing parts of your life with people, going on trips together, going on trips together, and because you changed a job, they blocked you, are you, like that to me was just gut, gutting.

The other thing with the MLM I feel like, and they’ll have to answer for this someday, the way they manipulate primarily Christianity. The way that they manipulate people with, oh, I was in so many calls where it was like, I woke up in the night. God was, this is what God put on me. God put it on me that you’re supposed to be on my team.

God put it on… do you know how many times I’ve heard, like the way they manipulate [00:44:00] that all these people that are just unassuming and just want to belong to something. And what was the pray ’em out? Oh my God. I forgot. Oh, you just gave me goosebumps.

[00:44:13] Erin: We’ll all like to vomit right now. Yeah, and they’re on the pray ’em out.

They, they said we prayed them out and then they called me the devil. Like,

[00:44:21] Carrie Ann: so, I mean. Which is just, come on! None of that is like used lightly. They were strategic with how they, oh my god. That’s where you get into the cult, the cult stuff.

[00:44:34] Erin: Have you watched Netflix documentaries recently

[00:44:36] Carrie Ann: about those cults?

Yeah, and you know the first thing that comes up, it’s all, it’s all, for me it’s all MLM. Same exact steps. Same step.

[00:44:45] Erin: The, the couple, it’s on Netflix right now, what is it called? It’s a couple, and the twin flame one, have you watched it? Yes. I actually had

[00:44:54] Carrie Ann: to turn that one off because it was too, You know how with some cults you hit a like, okay [00:45:00] listen, Even the, like even the Forrest Gump level of gullibility, how did you stick?

Even if this is the first, like were you held in a closet and this is the first like sign of civilization you came across? Yeah. Cut me some good slacks,

[00:45:14] Erin: that was a little crazy. Yeah, I, I watched that and thought, you know, Okay, here’s what I thought, is that, like, basically that documentary is like their own version of whatever would be considered MLM exposed.

They’re like, they’re like trying to make up for what they did.

[00:45:33] Carrie Ann: And looking back, they feel

[00:45:35] Erin: so guilty, but they’re all victims of this whole ordeal. But you know, there’s a million of those and smart people get sucked into them. And even when they’re exposed, people are still a part of it. I mean, that couple still has a Facebook page.

You can’t comment on their stuff. Like I went down a rabbit hole.

[00:45:56] Carrie Ann: Did you? You sure did.

[00:45:58] Erin: Oh yeah. I’m like, [00:46:00] hello, you know. Um, I mean, they still have a following. That’s just what’s so crazy about it. Okay. I have a different, I want to change gears because you, you didn’t fulfill, you didn’t stay in your contract.

You got out of radio. You then left company number one, went to company number two.

What happened with your finances? And you don’t have to go into super detail, but like, did you save that money? Did you, what ended up happening that you bought out of MLM? Like let’s talk, because here’s why I asked that. And you don’t have to get really personal with it, but we really got fooled in that arena.

Ooh. So I got, and, and I duped myself, so I take full responsibility for it, but I, I set out doing that to go, to quit my job. So it wasn’t like I got convinced to quit my job, like I hated my job, which is why

[00:46:51] Carrie Ann: Okay. But, but we saw that

[00:46:54] Erin: that life and that freedom and that potential, and the, the phrase that kept being said over and over [00:47:00] again was going all in, just like you said.

Like they ask if you’re. You must not be all in if you still have your job. But then there was literally zero financial literacy. Like give, give me at least a version of that and I want

[00:47:11] Carrie Ann: to talk about that. Yeah, so I think, okay, so there were several steps, which I’ll call milestones, to your all in ness, right?

The first would be quit your J O B, then it was like, retire your husband, then it was pay off your credit cards, and I remember, like it was yesterday, videos of people with their cut up credit cards. Like cash for, or what was it? Christmas in cash. Remember that was a big one. It was all of this. It’s so funny because I look back and it’s like, this was a step by step guide on how to literally destroy

[00:47:49] Erin: your life for the next 20 years.

It

[00:47:51] Carrie Ann: was a, it was like that. Cause here’s the thing. It’s all built on this premise, this falsity [00:48:00] that you’re going to make this same check for the rest of your life. That’s the thing. That’s. That is, nobody talks about it, it’s like, I mean, I remember losing rank and being like I can’t be the only one that lost rank and I made, I just talked about it, I don’t, I don’t, know, it wasn’t, I wasn’t attached to that rank, right, it wasn’t like part, it becomes a part of people’s identity, I remember saying it in one of these triple presidential groups or whatever and I remember girls messaging me like, oh my god, I can’t believe you talked about it.

I lost it six months ago and it’s like, girl, you are on here every day talking about buying houses and what you’re doing and so for me, that was the, it’s all built on this falsity that that check that highest check or that bonus that you’ve got is gonna. Be there forever. And it’s, if you get it for six months, you’re killing it.

Right. I got it for two. That to me was [00:49:00] the devastating, devastating. And then it’s just, you are, you’ve got like a scarlet letter. It’s like the loser, you know, then you’re just in scramble mode to get back to whatever. That for me was the big thing was. Losing rank, trying to get back. And then it’s like, okay, just make a goal today of getting three new.

Like every, they always had these impossible steps to reach.

[00:49:26] Erin: Right.

[00:49:27] Carrie Ann: Um, but I’m with you on the daddy. I’m so with you. And God, people felt, do you know what tripped me out? Maybe the dude’s fell for the coach dudes might’ve fallen forward harder than we, the females men were in. I need to be up on stage with coach.

It was like you were the president. When I tell you the

[00:49:49] Erin: level of aggression that has, I’m, I’m talking about my own personal experience. Great. I mean, I mean, they’re in it to win [00:50:00] it. And again, I think you prey on people who need you. I think that it was a situation where they just drink so much of the Kool Aid that they can’t come out of it.

And so, once you start spouting off the truth, it’s like, it’s like when you don’t want to hear it, you just, you gotta hate. So, yeah. And do you think that like other companies are, do you think they’re all as good at it? I, I see people at all the different companies that just have. I don’t know. It’s just the hype is being sold so big and and I think you said something really valuable and then i’m going to go back to finances because I want to I want to let you be um, I don’t know how long we’ve gone, but I want I want the financial part to be maybe a subtopic maybe a Maybe something because I really feel like it is a piece that is missing.

That is so big that we have so many people that maybe they, maybe they watch this podcast and [00:51:00] don’t come out and think they hate MLM. I’m not saying that they should, but all the lessons learned. And the biggest one is that every damn dollar you make, you better put it away. Like every dollar you make and like the order shouldn’t be.

Quit your job and then try to pay off your credit card debt I meet people that got out cash and took pictures of it and just used those same pictures over and over and over again and said that they paid for stuff with that cash when, when that was absolutely false and then what was being sold as the business and even the product was that come in and do this product and post on social media by the pool with your kids and you can also pay for this with cash and it just was a lie on top of all and those were the same people that had lost their rate six months prior that were just hustling even harder and lying even bigger to get back to their initial rank because they were so behind.

I mean, you might have cut up your credit cards at one point. But when your paycheck dips to half the next month, [00:52:00] you got to get a new one. Like, I don’t know. I

[00:52:01] Carrie Ann: just, no, you’re so right. You’re totally right. You’re no. Yeah.

[00:52:07] Erin: I just think it’s, it’s a real problem. And I think today, you know, we, what do you think about this?

Like, do you think that people would need, and you got, you and I’ve talked about finances a ton, but do you think that it would be helpful? So let’s say we have MLM exposed, but let’s say we, we, we went to the right and we acted like MLM exposed was a totally different conversation and we just did basic financial literacy.

Real stories and real, you know, real life examples on how people went from, you know, how people use this much of their check and they make it go this far and how, I mean, even as simple as like how to set up certain accounts and how to make a budget and how to, I just, I feel like, and I’ve been ranting about this since college, but like, I feel like, especially in the realm of MLM, but like look at [00:53:00] TikTok and look at Instagram

[00:53:01] Carrie Ann: and look at all these influencers making crazy, insane money.

Oh my God, it’s gonna last forever until it’s, I’m, I’m, that’s the field I work in. And honestly, it’s like one off color comment and you’re canceled and it’s gone. And like sponsors are gone. Like, I think say, I think the biggest thing, like if I could go back and redo, it’s a good question. I would’ve just stored every because.

The way that I was taught, or not taught, because I followed the herd of idiots, I feel like it totally adjusted, it totally warped my sense of like how I spent money, too. Because in 30 days you’re gonna get more, right? So it’s like you’re spe you’re living so much in the moment and why would I, why would I save?

Or why would I, I would have gone back and probably done, well, I would have put away for taxes. Off the top, I wouldn’t have even touched that. And I probably would have figured out a way to live off of, [00:54:00] like, a third of what I was making. I need the best, or But you are I remember having months where I was getting 18 grand, and I think we got paid on the 10th, and on the 9th, I’d be negative in my account.

[00:54:16] Erin: You weren’t even a big baller. You’re not Not even remotely! You’re not fancy. Not even remotely! You remember thinking, like, I don’t even know where that money went. I have

[00:54:29] Carrie Ann: no I think it, for me, I look back and it’s like, there was no such thing as getting gas, right? I was running in and getting snacks everywhere I went because for so many years it was like I was really, really good and I was, you know, you got paid every two weeks and I had like, I was like on top of it.

But I think the other thing is you’re now not working. All you’ve got is time. It’s like, you know, and then there’s. I hit a point in, in [00:55:00] MLM where, especially when, cause we were kind of on the cusp, Facebook was big, right? That was kind of like where everyone was existing. But during the course of growing in MLM, you got Instagram, you got all these other huge platforms.

And then you had to have a life. You had like, then you’re going on trips just so you can get photo opportunities. And you’re like, Oh my God. And don’t get me started on the. People that were like, paying off people’s layways, but it didn’t count if it wasn’t on camera. Oh, I’m gonna kill those people to this day.

Like, yeah, let’s put the, put the poor struggling family, but it’s good, cause this is what your, this is what your commission is covering. You’re such an angel. Are you kidding me?

[00:55:38] Erin: But

[00:55:39] Carrie Ann: yeah, for me I, yeah, it conditioned, I’m telling you, I remember it being like the ninth of the month and like, I wanted to be like the first person to get my commission in because I had gone to this completely unrealistic, extreme, I would be in best like on clothing boutiques, my son, [00:56:00] my son could wear the same three basketball shorts and the same three shirts for an eternity and I was like, seeing pictures of all these sidelines that were like, you know, doing all this stuff for their kids and it’s like there was this need, this really jacked up need to Yeah.

Keep up with the Joneses. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s where I would go in just to have Yeah. Some of these people, it’s the most money they’ve seen. It is the most, their bank account is, they don’t even know what You know, it’s like if I gave my son a hundred bucks right now, it’s like ten grand to an adult. It’s that same kind of, and there is no You, you are, you are in a group of other idiots that have, no, you are taking advice from other idiots who won’t tell you that they actually had to borrow money from a parent or they’re in the hole, everybody is faking and fronting and you’re trusting them.

That is wrong. And you’re listening to a

[00:56:55] Erin: crowd that would shame you for having that

[00:56:57] Carrie Ann: job. Totally, like, are you [00:57:00] kidding? Are you kidding? I almost wish that there was like some federal law where MLM had to take taxes out. How could it just that single action I think would help people because I’m like you I do believe in the model Yeah, there there’s really if you want if you want to dip your toe into entrepreneurship Yeah, do you think it’s a really great you’re gonna have a low upfront cost You’re gonna really get to understand marketing and how you work and your audience and like all of that I think it’s I think it’s a beautiful like but it’s not I think it’s less than 1 percent of 1% That can make you a full time and that’s the delusion.

That’s the like, it’s, it makes me so sad. It makes, I, I set myself back a decade. Financially, in all forms. Um, like who I trust. I, I dealt with probably five, six years. I mean, I’ve been in therapy since 2015. And I’m telling you, the first [00:58:00] couple of years was MLM. Just, just the self hate. The like. I, it was a real struggle for me because you’ve got on one hand, your business is failing.

So you’ve got to recruit. Yep. And on the other hand, I’m straight up to your face telling you you’re going to make what I’m, what I can’t even make. Yeah. I’m straight up selling you a lie and that it goes against everything I am. Yeah. So I, I really, I came out of it with like a lot of, yeah, a lot of self hate, a lot of self doubt.

Um. And then you feel like you don’t, you don’t know who any, you don’t know who your real friends are. You don’t know, are you saying these nice things to me because, what do you need? What do you want? What am I, what am I getting from, you know? Like, it’s so, a whole thing. And I feel like, um, like I said, the idea of MLM is great.

But as with everything, people screw it up, right? Like, I always say, I love the idea of people, but I don’t really like people. Like, I’m [00:59:00] not real. It’s just, it’s the same thing. And I don’t know what happens because you’ve got like your CEOs and your, We have a schmucks

[00:59:08] Erin: that that’s, I mean, I literally, that’s what I was going to say is that a half of these companies are just schmucks that have seen an opportunity to make money off of people that can get suffered into cults.

I mean, that’s how I, I, I, if you, if you put a list of the CEOs, I bet there are some good ones, but there are a lot of just top earners that decided to go be CEOs

[00:59:31] Carrie Ann: and no. That’s true. And then you see how many times they filed bankruptcy and changed names and it’s this straight hustle out.

[00:59:38] Erin: We have this beautiful new company because a month ago, our first company failed, which had very similar products, just a different brand, but we have this, we have a new investor and so we’re going to try it again.

And then we’re going to recruit this one company that’s failing and just take all of their people and we’ll make it look really great. I mean, what? Right. Ignore the lawsuits.

[00:59:57] Carrie Ann: Those are being settled. You’re like, what? I [01:00:00] wouldn’t. If I was in the job market and I researched a company and had that going on, I’m out.

In the real, real world, I would never commit my time professionally. And here we are just jumping because you’re just looking for that next hit, that next like dose of hope. And when your self esteem gets tied to it and your self worth gets tied to it, oh, you’re done. You’re done. You’ll go for anything.

And then it’s like, it’s like being, I was at the, um, in Vegas this weekend. It’s like so funny because it’s like, you know, all these people, they’re just, they just keep hitting that button because it could be the next one. This could be the next one. And the reality is if you don’t get yourself together, it does not matter.

It could be placed in your lap. You’re not going to be able to, you’re not going to be able to maintain it. You certainly aren’t going to be able to bring others along for that journey. You know, the whole thing is just, oh, and I,

[01:00:48] Erin: I didn’t know that you had, I really, I didn’t know that you had, I thought your experience was kind of mild, but I really feel like it was less mild than I thought.

Um, you said it seven, [01:01:00] 10 years, that kind of breaks my heart, friend.

[01:01:01] Carrie Ann: And I also, and it took me five years to even get back into my industry, because here’s the thing, my, my professional career was me, it wasn’t what I did, it was literally my personality, it was how on top of, I mean I was CHR, so that’s Contemporary Hits Radio, and I was, it was all things trending, I was on the bench, I wasn’t even, I wasn’t even in the field, five years, that is, I effectively retired, effectively, effectively.

And threw away my education, what I had built for, like, all of that, gone. And there are benefits, right? Like, I was able to stay home with my son, and that is a, you’ll never regret that. Right. You don’t under, like, It came at a worthy price. Yep, it had a, it had a forever price. And now I’m behind the scenes, right?

Now, now it’s social media. And as volatile as that is, I will take the worst day of that [01:02:00] compared to the, I will take, I will never, ever, ever leave. It gave me a newfound respect for corporate America, and obviously it’s got it’s ups and it’s downs, but my goodness, at least there’s a level of transparency.

At least there’s, I know who I’m working for, and I know what I’m doing. This mess, any time I see any of these like, Right now I have a couple of friends that were doing really well MLM and they’re kind of where you and I were that Last two three years where it’s like, okay, you’re technically selling your house and downsizing But like let’s let’s let’s call it something different and it’s super excited But then when I talk to you alone, you’re super depressed and stressed out why your third company this year that you’re like so like It’s the, it’s trending, it’s new, it’s the, you’re using the same language, it’s all this hype and where, where are you?

Like, where, and it’s just, it’s funny cause it’s, [01:03:00] I’m sad, it makes me sad. It

[01:03:02] Erin: makes me sad too. It’s one, I don’t, I think I’ve decided I like being a consumer of podcasts. I don’t always like posting them. I love the conversation, but like, God forbid I have to wash my hair and like get in front of this, like that’s not my jam.

But I, I really, but I really am sad, and I really think that, like, we just, we have to keep talking about it, even if they don’t listen. Somebody’s gotta

[01:03:23] Carrie Ann: Listen to it. Especially now, because now, I mean, the big difference in the last 18 months, maybe two years for me, now there’s nothing. Even if it’s a crappy product, like an energy coffee or a, Right.

Crackhead pills that are gonna give you energy for six days and you’re gonna be laying in bed at two in the morning wondering why you haven’t slept since Monday. But like, whatever. Like, that was like, walking around with a patch of energy. A patch of energy. Don’t they have that for like narc Isn’t that like a narc?

Don’t they do that for people that are like, in withdrawals? I’m pretty sure, I’ve never done that drugs, like, [01:04:00] but I’m pretty sure, it’s like, I think they give you a patch that like, slowly distributes, same kind of thing, and

[01:04:10] Erin: then you’ve got customers that,

[01:04:13] Carrie Ann: clearly it’s not in their budget, but it’s like, do you just have three days worth, and you’re like, I’m literally, involuntarily has become a crack dealer because this is, I know that migraines and the, oh my god, and you’re just like, what am I doing?

What is happening here? But it’s like, at least there was a product, even if it was crappy. Now it’s not even a product. Now it’s you. Now it’s your data. It’s your personal information. Now it’s just a full blown scam. Yeah, it’s just hope.

[01:04:44] Erin: It’s not even, it’s nothing. It’s just, it’s thin air that’s being sold as hope and it’s just a crock of shit and I can’t even stand it.

So, well, thank you, friend. I appreciate your time.