Complaint Review: The Women’s Information Network

I was drawn to The Women's Information Network "The WIN" because of its mission and vision to strengthen women and families worldwide. I knew this was a company I wanted to be a part of.  I was hired by founder and CEO Paula Fellingham with the promise to be paid “as soon as the money comes in.” I was honored to be part of such an organization and if I had to work without pay short term I could do that. I trusted Paula's word to pay me along with the rest of the team “as soon as the money came in.” Weeks turned into many many months of not being paid. She met with investor after investor…knowing this kept us (the WIN team) hanging in there, working without pay, waiting and hoping the money would come soon so we could get paid and The WIN could move forward in a more efficient way. 

As time went on, I began to question things being promised, stats being reported etc…. Several of us on the WIN team began to do our due diligence and discovered that pretty much everything about the WIN is fabricated from the number of hits on the website to the number of “Live Events” to the number of countries the WIN is “in”. Paula has the analytics to prove the boisterous 500,000 – 1 million “unique” hits per month on the website, but it was discovered that she hired a company (promising to pay them “as soon as the money comes in”) to defer traffic to the website so the high numbers would attract investors.  It just doesn’t sound ethical to me. When I questioned the legality of the hits, her response was “well they are people”.  Technically “they are people”…the hits are deferred “people” from China and other Asian countries, but they are not looking for The Women’s Information Network.  They are what is called “garbage or dirty traffic”.  Paula calls them “unique” hits. 

I have no doubt that Paula Fellingham started with a pure heart with real intent to make a difference for good in the world, but somewhere along the line the number of "hits on the website" and "the number of countries The WIN is in" and how big The WIN could look, became more important then growing a business with integrity.

When I resigned from The WIN and tried to warn other people about the fabricated WIN facts, she accused me of being slanderous and threatened me with legal action. I was told from others that left The WIN before me that they too received threatening emails and phone messages accusing them of being slanderous and trying to personally hurt her and The WIN, when in reality, we are trying to warn others of the untruths being publisized on the website, emails and documents. Too many have been hurt. 

Paula continues to move The WIN forward. She is currently promoting a huge event in LA called “The WIN Big Event”, advertising WIN programs that do not exhist, and humanitarian projects that are not happening. See theWINonline.com.  I recommend that if you are considering investing in The WIN or being part of The WIN in any capacity you do due diligence. Snoop. Dig, and or talk to any of the large number of WIN team members that have come and gone since 2009. On the surface the WIN looks amazing, but if you look behind the curtain you will see there is nothing there.