Drinking the Girl Boss Kool-Aid Lux Alkazar Note: the following is an opinion piece recommending you do your research before using supplement products. When I was eighteen, I nearly joined a multilevel marketing (MLM) organisation. I’d moved out of home and was working full-time in retail for the first time in my life. After working a long shift and coming home to find no one who was going to make dinner for me, I quickly got into the pattern of spending my new expendable income on fast food. It was great ‘til it wasn’t, and unsurprisingly, I started to feel groggy and run down. Then one day I got a message: “Hey Hun! How have you been? I don’t know if you’ve seen my posts, but I’ve started using [supplement company] and it’s completely changed my life. I love it so much that I’ve decided to become a coach. I’d love to send you some info. Do you have any health and wellness issues right now? It’s especially great for energy and weight loss.” Okay, look. I know these types of messages and ‘hunbots’ are a well-known meme at this 26
point. Without outing how old I am, I’ll just say this — it was a while ago and it was the first time I’d ever seen this kind of message, let alone been on the receiving end of it. I’d never heard of this company. It was from a girl I’d always been friendly with in high school. Most of my friends had moved away to start university, so to be honest, I was pleased to hear from her. The idea of grabbing a coffee with someone was tempting enough in itself, even if she was only reaching out to try and sell me something. I also felt a little paranoia sneak in, wondering if she’d seen me at work recently and was hinting that I looked tired and had gained weight. With my work hours it was hard to find a time to meet up, so we ended up planning something for the following month. But, in the meantime, she’d add me to a Facebook group full of lovers of this supplement company from all over Australia, so I could get some shake recipe ideas and be inspired by the success stories.
Guild Council goes through more Office Bearers than Pelican goes through bad ideas.
