Here Come the Flying Monkeys

Explaining MLM and Cult Apologists

“Find a Buddy”

The company's founder loved to tell us to “find a buddy” as a way to distil all of his advice down to one simple secret to success within the company we were working for. It sounds so folksy, especially when said in a Southern drawl. Leaders would echo the “buddy” sentiment, saying it makes the business-building more fun. Uplines would encourage us to focus gratitude on our ability to “pick who we work with.” I’d eventually learn that while recruitment and relationship-building are core tenets of most cults, ironically, so too is psychological isolation. A dynamic is fostered from the beginning for ultimate loyalty towards the organization and the leadership, and this is tested when group members show disobedience.

When Jenny first began showing signs of disloyalty to our company, I was determined to nip it in the bud. I ratted my “buddy” out to leadership for trying to sell products from a competitor during our twice-annual conference. When Jenny later confessed to me that she decided to rejoin the MLM she had been in prior to ours, I was livid. “To me, this feels foundational,” I had said. Meaning that our friendship literally hinged upon us being “besties in business.” I believed, like in the case of those who were ex-communicated the previous couple of months during the pandemic, that Jenny’s behaviour was a distraction. And distractions were the enemy—literally.