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'Little Bosses Everywhere' looks into the Wild West of multilevel marketing

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Manage episode 484142159 series 2988566
Content provided by NPR. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by NPR or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.
Multilevel marketing – or MLM – first became popular in the period that followed World War II. Since then, millions have tried their luck as salespeople for companies like Amway, Mary Kay, Cutco and Herbalife. MLMs offer themselves as low-cost paths to entrepreneurship, but very few of their participants are able to earn a living wage. A new book Little Bosses Everywhere by Bridget Read traces the history and culture of the MLM industry. In today's episode, Read speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about why this business model flourishes in economic uncertainty, the unregulated nature of the industry, and the blurred lines between MLMs and pyramid schemes.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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966 episodes

Artwork
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Manage episode 484142159 series 2988566
Content provided by NPR. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by NPR or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.
Multilevel marketing – or MLM – first became popular in the period that followed World War II. Since then, millions have tried their luck as salespeople for companies like Amway, Mary Kay, Cutco and Herbalife. MLMs offer themselves as low-cost paths to entrepreneurship, but very few of their participants are able to earn a living wage. A new book Little Bosses Everywhere by Bridget Read traces the history and culture of the MLM industry. In today's episode, Read speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about why this business model flourishes in economic uncertainty, the unregulated nature of the industry, and the blurred lines between MLMs and pyramid schemes.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
  continue reading

966 episodes

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