Michaela Schell and Joelle Suess are two local network marketers who wanted to dispel common misconceptions about the industry. Schell got involved in direct sales five years ago through Rodan + Fields to balance work and family, while Suess started seven years ago with Beachbody as a student looking for extra income. They addressed five common myths: 1) Only people at the top make money, saying success requires hard work and an equal starting point; 2) Network marketing has cult-like tendencies, but it fosters a team mentality; 3) It attracts those with little business experience, but skills can be learned; 4) Pyramid structures are inherently bad, but the industry model has changed;

1. TwoNetworkMarketersWantToSetTheRecord
StraightAboutNetworkMarketing
by Nate Mickelberg
February 6, 2018, 10:46 am
Photography by J. Alan Paul
ADVICE BUSINESS PROFILE FEATURED TECH
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2. If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media, you’ve probably gotten an event
invitation like this:
“Stop by Susan’s LulaRoe party!”
“Come learn more about Mary Kay!”
“See why Tastefully Simple could be for you!”
They’re called multi-level marketing companies — also sometimes referred to as
direct-sales or network-marketing companies — and millions of Americans are now
involved with them. While the products and speci cs of the businesses vary, they all
operate under a similar commission-based selling structure. They’ve also, over the
years, developed a bad rap for their sometimes false promises and predatory
practices, though MLM’s proponents say the industry has changed for the better.
We spoke to two of those proponents this month, a pair of local network marketers
who assured us they were coming as “advocates for the business model” and not
advertisers for their respective companies. They viewed it as a chance to set the
record straight about what they feel are some of the misconceptions about the direct-
sales industry.
MEETTHENETWORKMARKETERS
Michaela Schell
Previously a marketing associate with the Grand Forks Region Economic Development
Corporation, Michaela Schell rst dipped her toes into the waters of network
marketing a little more than ve years ago.

3. “As anyone with kids knows, you can’t even go to the bathroom by yourself, much less
sit down and develop marketing plans and write creative content,” says Schell, who,
after having her rst child, tried working part-time from home. “I was nding it really

4. di cult. We had lost a full-time salary for our family, I was working horrible hours and I
was nding it really hard to nd childcare to even go to a meeting.”
When a friend and mentor recommended she give direct sales a shot, she was
skeptical but kept an open mind.
“Coming from the traditional, corporate business world, it was totally not what I
pictured myself doing,” says Schell, who’s now going on six years in the direct-sales
world with skincare company Rodan + Fields. “In my mind, it was home parties where
you felt obligated to buy, and it just seemed icky to me. But I did my own research and
said, ‘You know, this is my opportunity to try something different.'”
Joelle Suess
Joelle Suess’ direct-sales story began seven years ago as a student at North Dakota
State University. When a few years of living the college life left her wanting to get back
into shape, she came across a company called Beachbody, which can probably best
be described as a Net ix for tness.

5. She met a fellow Beachbody enthusiast online who was using the program as a way to
make a living, so Suess, who was looking for a way to make some side money herself
as she nished her degree, decided to give network marketing a go. A few years ago,

6. she quit her position in member relations at a local wellness center to make
Beachbody her full-time gig and stay home with her son.
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NO.1
Mostpeoplethink…
Only the people at the top make money.
Thetruthis…
Michaela Schell: The people at the top are obviously making money, but what people
don’t realize is how they got to the top. People think they can jump in, sign up as a rep
or a consultant for anything, make a post on Facebook and they’re instantly making
thousands of dollars.
What they don’t see is that the reps or consultants who are really successful are
working really hard at this business. We always say, “If you treat it like a hobby, it’s
going to pay you like a hobby. If you run it like a business, it will pay you like a
business.”
Joelle Suess: In this industry, nobody who’s earning an income is sitting on the
sidelines. We are the players in the eld, and there are actually FTC laws around
making sure that our compensation plans — as MLMs — are abiding by that.

7. “
Schell: If you want to continue to stay at the top, you have to continue to do the work.
What’s really important to mention, too, is that everybody, when they start, is on an
equal playing eld. Nobody is ahead of anybody else. For the most part, you all enroll
at a spot with zero customers, zero business partners and the same amount of
knowledge.
Suess: And each goal is individualized. I’ve seen some people who surpass the person
who brought them into the business.
Schell: You’re not held at a certain level because the leader above you is at a certain
level. You can grow bigger than them and make more than them. In a traditional
business model, you usually can’t overstep someone. You have to work your way up
the ranks, but that usually means the manager above you is going to get promoted
rst. So it’s actually a better model when it comes to that.
Suess: The beauty of network marketing is that everybody wants everybody to
succeed. I can hit a certain goal and level while encouraging somebody else to hit that
same goal. There’s room for everyone.
NO. 2
“If you treat it like a hobby, it’s going to pay you like a
hobby. If you run it like a business, it will pay you like a
business.”

8. Mostpeoplethink…
Network marketing has cult-like tendencies.
The truth is …
Suess: … Can I say that I think it’s a good thing? If a network marketing company is
representing something that’s positive, why not be a part of that?
Schell: I think it’s more of a team mentality than a cult. Think about it with anything
else. What do baseball players do? They hang out together all the time, they help each
other, they’re supportive. You’re in the trenches with your teammates, and they know
what you’re experiencing and going through. You’re working together to help
everybody succeed, and they’re going through the same struggles you are because
they’re in the same business you are.
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9. Michaela Schell turned to network marketing as a way to better balance a career and
taking care of her three kids.

10. If it’s a good environment — and the majority of network marketing companies are —
they’re working to help people be better, not worse, people. Cults try to make people
do what they say. Our goal is to help people lead the best life they want and what’s
best for them.
NO. 3
Most people think …
Network marketing is lled with people with minimal business experience.
The truth is …
Schell: If you’re successful at network marketing, it’s because you have the ability to
learn, and you want to learn. I knew nothing about skincare before I got into this. In my
line of work, a lot of people think you have to be an aesthetician or something similar.
You don’t. It’s the same thing with Beachbody. You can learn a lot of the skills.
I also think you can use the skills you already have to be really great in this business. I
have friends who are teachers, and they’re fantastic at it because they love to teach.
I’m really great at marketing, and so I use my marketing skills. It’s about running your
business with the skills you already know and then lling in the gaps.

11. Suess: Nobody goes to school for network marketing. It’s learned, and the industry
itself teaches you a lot.

12. Schell: I mean, how many of us went to college and aren’t doing the thing we went to
school for? You learn more in the rst week than you could’ve ever learned in four
years of school.
The American Dream used to be: Find a good 9-5, work there for 50 years and retire.
And now it’s changing. What people coming into the workforce now value most over
even pay are exibility and time freedom. Can I do this job from home? Can I take a
vacation when I want? Can I take a day off from work when my kid is sick and not be
stressed about it? At a lot of traditional jobs, unfortunately, they can’t do that because
they need to have their stores open at certain times and have obligations to other
things.
The reason network marketing is getting so much more popular is because it’s not
only providing people a way to earn an income; it’s providing the exibility that
traditional jobs just can’t.
NO. 4
Most people think …
Pyramid structures are inherently bad.
The truth is …
Schell: Most (business structures) are a pyramid, with somebody at the top. When
network marketing came out many years ago, there was a different structure than
there is now. We’re no longer a (pyramid) as much as we are a circle. I’m in the middle
of that circle, and my team surrounds me. And they have their own circle, and they can
grow that circle as big as they want.

13. “
With a pyramid, it gives the illusion that somebody can’t make more or can’t out-title (a
person above them). In network marketing now, that can happen. Pyramid schemes
are technically illegal; there are laws in place. That’s what I get asked about the most,
but companies can’t do that anymore.
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Suess: In network marketing, nobody bene ts from just signing up person after
person. Success lies in: Somebody comes into your business, you link arms in the
circle and everybody grows in strength. That’s where the unity and the success comes,
not from, “Who’s next? Who’s next? Who’s next?” It’s when you bring someone in, and
they see the de nition of the success they want. Then, they feel good, and they help
somebody.
NO.5
Most people think …
You need a large network of people to get started.
Thetruthis...
Suess: I didn’t even build my business or team with anybody local. I went through
social media, talking with people who were like me and had the same interests.
“Pyramid schemes are technically illegal; there are
laws in place.”

14. Schell: I was kind of the opposite. I was a little worried that my network wasn’t huge. I
didn’t have the thousands of Facebook friends that other people had, so I did kind of
start with my more tight-knight group, and I shared stuff with them.
It’s necessarily what your network is; it’s who you are. If you’re a person people trust
and you have their best interests at heart and they feel comfortable with you, that will
grow your network either through referrals or a new teammate that has a new
network.

15. “These products were created to be great products on their own, and they could do
just as well in a department or (retail) store,” says direct-sales proponent Joelle Suess.

16. Suess: My advice would be to look at different companies of interest that you might
have, use (the product), and if you nd yourself liking it and talking about it — like you
do with your favorite restaurant or you do with a great movie you just saw — that could
be your golden-ticket business model because it will come naturally and won’t feel like
yucky direct sales.
For me, it was tness. At the time, I knew I needed to lose 30 pounds, and it was
embarrassing to go to a gym. I started using the product, connected with a mentor,
and she said, “Hey, did you know you could make some income with this?” At rst, it
was a part-time thing, and then I saw that it could potentially grow bigger and bigger.
But it started with rst using (a product) that I loved.
Schell: I was looking for something else because what I was doing in the traditional
corporate world wasn’t working for me. And when I was approached about this model,
I knew nothing about skincare at all. When I went into it and was doing my research,
though, I did it from a standpoint of: Maybe I’m not passionate about skincare, but I
am passionate about helping people.
Rodan + Fields
RodanAndFields.com
Beachbody
Beachbody.com
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Written by Nate Mickelberg
Nate Mickelberg is the editor of Fargo INC! He holds his master's in journalism from the
Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.