Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans

Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist Jane Marie expands on her popular podcastThe Dreamto expose the scourge of multilevel marketing schemes and how they have profited off the evisceration of the American working class.

We’ve all heard of Amway, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and LuLaRoe, but few know the nefarious way they, and countless other multilevel marketing (MLM) companies, prey on desperate Americans struggling to make ends meet.

When factories close, stalwart industries shutter, and blue-collar opportunities evaporate, MLMs are there, ready to pounce on the crumbling American Dream. MLMs thrive in rural areas and on military bases, targeting women with promises of being their own boss and millions of dollars in easy income--even at the risk of their entire life savings. But the vast majority--99.7%--of those who join an MLM make no money or lose money, and wind up stuck with inventory they can’t sell to recoup their losses.

Selling the Dream ＂is an urgent and riveting exposé＂ (Publishers Weekly, starred review) that reveals how these companies--often owned by political and corporate elites, such as the DeVos and the Van Andel families--have made a windfall in profit off of the desperation of the American working class.

Jane Marie is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist, a former producer of This American Life, and the host of podcasts The Dream and DTR. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Cosmopolitan, The Toast, and more. She lives in Los Angeles with her daughter. Follow her on Twitter @SeeJaneMarie.