Complaint Review: HERBALIFE - Los Angeles California, Nationwide

Greetings fellow networkers...

Before I make a comment about the above comment, please allow me to fill you in on my beginning experience with Herbalife

I became an Herbalife affiliate in early April of 1985 under one of the original top nine people in Herbalife.  Before I signed up, I was

facing a devastating divorce, living in my car, and I was out of work. I had seen Herbalife on satellite television and they captured my attention. 

I was actually recruited through an ad I saw on the lasy day of my job.

During 1985, the three top MLM companies were Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife.  Since I had a nutritional background Herbalife made

sense to me.  When I attended my first distributor meeting, I was so excited by what I saw, I purchased $4,000 worth of products

so I could qualify as a Supervisor in my first month, and start making money that night – remember I was motivated because I was out of work.

Since my purchase was so large, I qualified for a greater distributor discount.

I was told by my upline that all I needed was a distributor kit and that it had a 30-day sample of the product included.  At that time, it was just Formula 1,2, and 3.  They advised me not to purchase $4,000 worth of product... and that I should try the product first.

This was impressive to me, since other companies I had been involved with believed in front loading people with tons of product.  Actually, it was never the company that promoted front loading, but the distributors who pushed large upfront buy-ins.

I ignored their advice because I could see the big picture and I knew I could move the product simply off of my excitement and willingness to share the product testimonials. I was impressed by the fact that I could start making money simply by telling stories, either about the product or the opportunity.  I wanted to become a high paid story teller.

I would have to say, any Herbalife distributor who is unable to move product is simply not doing the work, and the work is simply speaking to people through the utilization of testimonials.  Those who do the work reap the rewards... everything else is an excuse.

By the time I drove home from my first meeting with a car full of product, I had already sold over $250 worth of products... one program to a woman in a video rental store, and one to a woman in 7/11.  And it all happened just as they told me it would. 

They told me if I would simply wear a button that said, "Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How!" that I would make sales... and they were right.  

Both of those women asked me "How?" when I approached the register to pay.  All I did was ask them a simple question that my upline told me

to ask, and then I pulled out a brochure and read those women a few testimonials. Before I knew it, I had cash in my hand.  WOW! Was I excited.

The next day, I left my house at 8 am, when the stores opened, and I figured all I had to do was wear the button and walk through more stores.  But before I did, I walked into my bank to deposit the cash from the night before, and wouldn't you know it, the teller asked me, "How?".  I was so excited to share the testimonials, I guess the volume of my voice began to raise, and before I knew it, I had 5 bank tellers surrounding me to listen.  I would have to say my excitement was contagious... because all 5 tellers ordered the product.  By the end of the day I had now sold more than $1,000 worth of product.  And by day three, these women were starting to lose weight.  And then the referrals started to happen.

By my fourth day I had sold over $4,000 worth of products,... and as far as I knew, I was the first distributor to ever achieve that level of sales in such a short period of time -- at least at the Herbalife office I had attended.  But what was about to happen as a result of those sales was nothing short of amazing.

Since I was under one of the top people in the company, the news traveled up to corporate the next day, and before I knew it, I was being pulled in.

Over the next few years I was able to establish some really great relationships with the big players in the industry, allowing me to experience special consideration invitations which would typically occur 6 months in advance of a MLM company opening its doors. 

All expenses would be paid to fly me in to meet with the founders of the company.

In the eary years, I remember my first training with Jim Rohn, I pulled him to the side and told him I wanted him to be my mentor. I asked him, "How should I start?". He recommended I read his book, "7 Strategies to Wealth and Happiness", of which I purchased the next day and read it from cover-to-cover.  He also told me to listen to the "How to Build Your Distributorship" tapes everyday for 30-days, and I did. I was then able to speak them word-for-word at a moments notice.

The next time I saw him, I told him that one day I would like to be on stage like him and to eventually work my way up to a corporate position in the network marketing industry. He said, "If I can do it, an Idaho farm boy, you can do it.  Be persistent and never give up on your dream.". 

Well as fate would have it, I eventually ended up on stage training others and I held the positions of a member of an advisory board, Director of Communications, Director of Marketing, and eventually President.  By the time I reached President, Jim had already passed away so I was never able to share the joy.

Now to comment on the above comment:

During my years after Herbalife, I was fortunate enough to work side-by-side with Larry Thompson on another MLM opportunity.  During that time, I never witnessed Larry ever doing anything that was inappropriate.  He held tight to the ethics and principles that I learned from him and observed in Herbalife.  It's true, I was not that close to him when he was involved with Herbalife so I have no comment of his actions behind the scenes with Herbalife.

During our time working together, Larry became extremely upset with the founders of the company during one of our local hotel trainings.  Just moments before the show, Larry confronted the founders behind the curtains with a fierce vocalintensity expressing his dissatisfaction and promptly gave them his termination notice on the spot. I do believe Larry completed the training and then never returned.

So from my point of view of knowing and working with Larry, he was a man of his word and stood firm in a position of personal responsibility and integrity.

I welcome your comments... :)

Greetings fellow networkers...

Before I make a comment about the above comment, please allow me to fill you in on my beginning experience with Herbalife

I became an Herbalife affiliate in early April of 1985 under one of the original top nine people in Herbalife.  Before I signed up, I was

facing a devastating divorce, living in my car, and I was out of work. I had seen Herbalife on satellite television and they captured my attention. 

I was actually recruited through an ad I saw on the lasy day of my job.

During 1985, the three top MLM companies were Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife.  Since I had a nutritional background Herbalife made

sense to me.  When I attended my first distributor meeting, I was so excited by what I saw, I purchased $4,000 worth of products

so I could qualify as a Supervisor in my first month, and start making money that night – remember I was motivated because I was out of work.

Since my purchase was so large, I qualified for a greater distributor discount.

I was told by my upline that all I needed was a distributor kit and that it had a 30-day sample of the product included.  At that time, it was just Formula 1,2, and 3.  They advised me not to purchase $4,000 worth of product... and that I should try the product first.

This was impressive to me, since other companies I had been involved with believed in front loading people with tons of product.  Actually, it was never the company that promoted front loading, but the distributors who pushed large upfront buy-ins.

I ignored their advice because I could see the big picture and I knew I could move the product simply off of my excitement and willingness to share the product testimonials. I was impressed by the fact that I could start making money simply by telling stories, either about the product or the opportunity.  I wanted to become a high paid story teller.

I would have to say, any Herbalife distributor who is unable to move product is simply not doing the work, and the work is simply speaking to people through the utilization of testimonials.  Those who do the work reap the rewards... everything else is an excuse.

By the time I drove home from my first meeting with a car full of product, I had already sold over $250 worth of products... one program to a woman in a video rental store, and one to a woman in 7/11.  And it all happened just as they told me it would. 

They told me if I would simply wear a button that said, "Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How!" that I would make sales... and they were right.  

Both of those women asked me "How?" when I approached the register to pay.  All I did was ask them a simple question that my upline told me

to ask, and then I pulled out a brochure and read those women a few testimonials. Before I knew it, I had cash in my hand.  WOW! Was I excited.

The next day, I left my house at 8 am, when the stores opened, and I figured all I had to do was wear the button and walk through more stores.  But before I did, I walked into my bank to deposit the cash from the night before, and wouldn't you know it, the teller asked me, "How?".  I was so excited to share the testimonials, I guess the volume of my voice began to raise, and before I knew it, I had 5 bank tellers surrounding me to listen.  I would have to say my excitement was contagious... because all 5 tellers ordered the product.  By the end of the day I had now sold more than $1,000 worth of product.  And by day three, these women were starting to lose weight.  And then the referrals started to happen.

By my fourth day I had sold over $4,000 worth of products,... and as far as I knew, I was the first distributor to ever achieve that level of sales in such a short period of time -- at least at the Herbalife office I had attended.  But what was about to happen as a result of those sales was nothing short of amazing.

Since I was under one of the top people in the company, the news traveled up to corporate the next day, and before I knew it, I was being pulled in.

Over the next few years I was able to establish some really great relationships with the big players in the industry, allowing me to experience special consideration invitations which would typically occur 6 months in advance of a MLM company opening its doors. 

All expenses would be paid to fly me in to meet with the founders of the company.

In the eary years, I remember my first training with Jim Rohn, I pulled him to the side and told him I wanted him to be my mentor. I asked him, "How should I start?". He recommended I read his book, "7 Strategies to Wealth and Happiness", of which I purchased the next day and read it from cover-to-cover.  He also told me to listen to the "How to Build Your Distributorship" tapes everyday for 30-days, and I did. I was then able to speak them word-for-word at a moments notice.

The next time I saw him, I told him that one day I would like to be on stage like him and to eventually work my way up to a corporate position in the network marketing industry. He said, "If I can do it, an Idaho farm boy, you can do it.  Be persistent and never give up on your dream.". 

Well as fate would have it, I eventually ended up on stage training others and I held the positions of a member of an advisory board, Director of Communications, Director of Marketing, and eventually President.  By the time I reached President, Jim had already passed away so I was never able to share the joy.

Now to comment on the above comment:

During my years after Herbalife, I was fortunate enough to work side-by-side with Larry Thompson on another MLM opportunity.  During that time, I never witnessed Larry ever doing anything that was inappropriate.  He held tight to the ethics and principles that I learned from him and observed in Herbalife.  It's true, I was not that close to him when he was involved with Herbalife so I have no comment of his actions behind the scenes with Herbalife.

During our time working together, Larry became extremely upset with the founders of the company during one of our local hotel trainings.  Just moments before the show, Larry confronted the founders behind the curtains with a fierce vocalintensity expressing his dissatisfaction and promptly gave them his termination notice on the spot. I do believe Larry completed the training and then never returned.

So from my point of view of knowing and working with Larry, he was a man of his word and stood firm in a position of personal responsibility and integrity.

I welcome your comments... :)

The individual "reporting" on me and Herbalife in a slanderous diatribe is a disenchanted ex-girlfriend and stalker named Nicole O'Neil.  She acknowledges that the Herbalife products do work.  Herbalife is a New York stock exchange company operating completely legitimately in 71 countries with 3.2 billion dollars in sales.The CEO of the company is Michael Johnson the former President of Disney.

I, Jeffrey Powers, have been healthy for 17 consecutive years due to Herbalife products. My friends call me Benjamin Button.  My Herbalife customers are extremely happy with the products.  Some of them have been my satisfied customers for 15 years.  My soul is very healthy and intact.  I am extremely proud of my association wtih the company. I am proud of hosting 700+ infomercials and training sessions for the company.  My mom lived a completely healthy life to the age of 92 due to Herbalife products.

As far as the slanderous, lying comments by Ms. O'Neil, an angry ex-girlfriend who did not get what she wanted from me in a personal sense, she had absolutely NOTHING TO DO with the resurgence of Herbalife.  She simply happened to be my girlfriend at the time. 

She is disgruntled and, I note, quite anonymous in her accusations.  Cowardly, lying and troubled is how I would describe this individual.

But all you do is say "I was there" and claim that somehow or another, the people in Herbalife have their souls ripped out of them.

How? Why? If you were a marketing manager for, say, Dairy Queen, and someone came to you, looking for a franchise, you would charge them money. You would expect them to run their business, usually 10-15 hours a day, and you would expect that they would pay for the location, for the equipment and for the products that have your company's name on them. Not to mention the franchising fee of $20,000-$35,000.

And, of course, the cost of those things would not guarantee that the specific location would be successful. Nor that the employees (hired by your new franchisee, at his/her cost) would be reliable or honest.

NO COMPANY can guarantee success. EVERY COMPANY offers the opportunity for success, and every company has people who are successful, and people who are not.

I wasn't with Herbalife at the beginning; but I have been with them for 8 years. I am healthy. I am healthier than my brother the doctor, who doesn't "believe" in supplements. Are there crooked people in Herbalife? I'm sure that there are. Just as there are crooked priests, ministers, rabbis, imams. But the majority of people that I have had the good fortune to know are honest. They understand that offering a business opportunity is offering a risk, and that the people who choose to take that risk are adults who need to assess their own work ethics, their own tolerance for risk, and their own ability to take rejection. Because there is a LOT of rejection in any business.

I'm puzzled by what you thought you were revealing in your rambling, disjointed rant. You seem to be angry, but at what, exactly? Were there dishonest business practices? You don't identify any, just vague comments about changing personalities. You have me baffled, Dear.

I had a good friend who got into selling that stuff for awhile...I think it was late 80's-early 90's, not sure. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing more.