Could I make six figures from my couch? Influencers said yes – so I tried

I've been approached about five times in the last 40 yrs with people eager to sell Amway-type services. These people were "friends" or more than casual acquaintances. I would always warn them that, while I was fascinated with the mechanics of this type of business, I would listen to everything they had to say but at the end of our meetings, they would probably get no sale from me. This did not stop them from wasting hours of their time. It was so amazing how the right buttons got pushed on these people and they bought into the whole MLM ecosystem.

A very long time ago I was "amwayed" by somebody I liked. It was hugely dispiriting, both because of the emotions they use (under training) to make you want to both spark joy in them, and make money, and because of the utter futility of their effort to dig out of a financial hole by monetising their relationships.

I think they realised very quickly we weren't a fruitful relationship for that gig and it moved on, but I have been reminded of this ever since when people mention this kind of MLM approach.