True stories and conversations with survivors, advocates and experts on the insidiousness of cults, frauds, scams and pyramid schemes. Through compassionate and educational informal chats, we work to end the stigma of "failure", in an machine systematically designed for you to fail. Hosted by Roberta Blevins, star of LuLaRich. Life After MLM is a part of True Native Media. Visit https://truenativemedia.com for more.
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What’s the best chapstick for a dead body? How much do marketers really know about us? Is there such a thing as a “minimalist table?” Join author Don Martin every other week on Head On Fire, a search for answers to life’s biggest and smallest questions. He interviews experts in overlooked fields about subjects you either think you already know everything about or have never considered. From how morticians can turn you into a coral reef to the best way to investigate a cult, he asks the quest ...
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Leah Remini and Mike Rinder's podcast, Fair Game will take you behind the facade and expose the terrible truth about scientology's Fair Game doctrine. It's been used for 5 decades to destroy anyone they label an enemy -- former scientologists, media, government officials -- anyone they think is impeding their objectives. Leah and Mike are covering new ground, digging deeper than ever into the shocking documents, facts and stories that will make you wonder how any of this is going on in Ameri ...
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Happy October!!! Friend of the pod, Elora Dodd found the book How to Make Big Money in Multi-Level Marketing at the thrift store and sent it to me to use in AntiMLM content. For the month of October it will serve as our own culty version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and give us fodder for bonus episodes and extra content for True Crime mont…
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A.J. Jacobs is a New York Times bestselling author known for his immersive, year-long experiments, including The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, and his latest book, The Year of Living Constitutionally. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonf…
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Episode 259 : Eva Collins
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Eva Collins learned the hard way that the coaching and course industry is a less than scrupulous playground full of grifters and decided she needed to do something about it. In our conversation we cover the similarities of our own experiences in schemes, share the red flags to look out for when deciding to hire outside help and wax poetic on why th…
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Episode 258 : Robyn Hyer
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Robyn has had ADHD her whole life, and she's been chasing that "Dopamine Dragon" for as long as she can remember. In the various ways she's learned to control it over the years, it wasn't without the familiar game of MLMs, jumping from company to company, hoping to hit it big. Through joining the old standards, new fads and even a ground floor oppo…
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What can rejection teach you? with Victoria Aveyard
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By all accounts Victoria Aveyard is both an outlier and also as close to the Hollywood version of becoming an author as it gets. While the average age for a debut novelist is around 36, Victoria’s debut novel—Red Queen—was published shortly after graduating from college and went on to become a massive, runaway success. And so did all of the rest of…
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Episode 257 : Katie Woodward
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*Content Warning* In this episode we talk about heavy topics including Domestic Violence, Narcissistic Abuse, Ableism and Medical Trauma. Please use discretion when listening. Katie was a young woman looking to take hold of her independence and make it on her own when she first met Christian on a dating app. His prolonged abuse helped lay the found…
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Episode 256 : Sarah Rathbun Part 2
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In Part 2 of our story, Sarah and I discuss how the cult evolved after the bombs were successfully prayed away and the bunkers were abandoned in the early 90's. As the toxic diet culture craze came into fashion and being crunchy was the newest fad, Church United and Triumphant clung to their remaining members and adopted a macrobiotic diet. We talk…
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Charlie Sprinkman developed the app Everywhere Is Queer, which is quickly becoming one of the best, most comprehensive lists of queer owned and operated businesses. Whether you’re looking for a travel agent, a craft store, a bakery, or a horse ranch, the Everywhere is Queer app is helping people realize that supporting queer owned and operated busi…
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Episode 255 : Sarah Rathbun Part 1
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Back in the 1980's Sarah was born into a Doomsday Cult who worshiped the "ascended Masters" built underground bunkers in the Montana wilderness to survive the nuclear holocaust of The Cold War. But that's not all... Their exalted leader who was affectionately known as "Mother", also had a hand in helping create the cult, Twin Flame University. In p…
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Episode 254 : Dana Corrigan
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Dana had no idea the day my face came across her FYP, that in 2 years time her life would be totally different. It started off innocently enough, as an email asking questions, followed by light conversation back and forth, until the last email I received that started with "I just wanted to reach out and say - I QUIT!". But Dana's journey out of MLM…
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What is language? with Danny Hieber, PhD
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Danny Hieber earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his B.A. in linguistics and philosophy from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Prior to and during graduate school he worked for Rosetta Stone’s Endangered Language Program to create language-learning software with Native American com…
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Episode 253 : Ginger & Michael
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It's about time we had another Herbalife episode, and this one might take the entire loaded tea/shake combo. Meet one of our Discord members Michael, and his mom Ginger who opened up their very own Herbalife Nutrition Shop without having to jump though any of the normal hoops. With shady business practices from their upline, and a less than honest …
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Hey! We're coming to you with a BONUS EPISODE that's a little different that usual, in fact this bonus episode is just an information filled conversation about an event coming up soon that could greatly benefit a lot of our listeners! The Untapped Event put on by the 12M+ Instant Teams Community is an unparalleled 3-day conference designed for the …
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Episode 251 : Don Martin
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First, I cannot believe we're on the OTHER SIDE of 250 episodes, and secondly it couldn't be with a more fun guest! Meet Don Martin, fraud investigator by day and host of the podcast Head on Fire. When Don made a video on TikTok asking about the potential dangers of Bomb Party, I HAD to make a reply video, and what happened was our worlds colliding…
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What is a storyboard artist? with Chris Copeland
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Chris Copeland has worked on some of your favorite things. Invincible, The Witcher, Young Justice, and he made his directorial debut for Dreamworks on the series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. He’s had a long career that began here in Chicago as a nerd who loved superheroes and now gets to help bring them to life. We talked about how a storyboar…
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Episode 250 : Chris Shelton Part 2
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It's our 250th Episode!!! Michelle is back to help with another Scientology episode! This time with our friend Chris Shelton to talk about his 27 years inside the cult and what the punishments Sea Org members receive are actually like. In this 2 part episode Chris shares about his time growing up inside Scientology, working as a Staff Member at Org…
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Episode 249 : Chris Shelton Part 1
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Michelle is back to help with another Scientology episode! This time with our friend Chris Shelton to talk about his 27 years inside the cult and what the punishments Sea Org members receive are actually like. In this 2 part episode Chris shares about his time growing up inside Scientology, working as a Staff Member at Org Bases like Big Blue in LA…
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Why are MLMs a scam? with Roberta Blevins
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Roberta Blevins left the MLM world in 2017 and spent all of her time since then educating the public on the dangers involved in joining these barely legal pyramid schemes. She was a key witness in the case against Lularoe and was featured in the documentary LuLaRich which showcased how the billion dollar clothing company misled thousands of women. …
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Episode 248 : Stefan & Jenna
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Have you ever seen someone on social media describing a weird encounter at a Walmart or a Mall where a random person comes up and starts strange conversations and complimenting them, and them wondering what just happened? I get tagged in almost ALL of them, and I always let the creator know that it's an MLM and to run. But it's not just ANY MLM, it…
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Episode 247 : TJ Musumhi
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Who doesn't love an Amway episode? I feel with each one we get 2 steps closer to figuring it all out, and still find a whole new set of questions to ask next time. In this chat we meet TJ Musumhi, a former member of the LOA LTD for 6 years. In his time with Amway and LTD, he faced faith manipulation and too many empty promises which lead him to dis…
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How do you take satire seriously? with Clare Brown
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Clare Brown is a satirist and author of the new audiobook New Nigeria County. Her social media platform is famous for flipping gender and racial stereotypes while both educating and inviting her audience to laugh. Email: contact@headonfirepod.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfi…
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Episode 246 : Irene Good
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Irene is one of our Discord member who wanted to share her story of not only being rejected by the Kundalini Yoga Cult, but also growing up with an abusive mother obsessed with the attention associated with medical abuse. From her doctor shopping mother, to being misdiagnosed, Irene shares the story of her childhood and the neglect and chaos she wa…
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Episode 245 : Lori Adams-Brown
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I met Lori in the most "Roberta" of all places, in the line for the Taco Buffet at a Podcast event and invited her to come sit at our table. Little did I know that that small act of kindness would end up becoming one of the most interesting conversations I had the entire weekend, and in that moment I knew I had to have Lori come share her story and…
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How do you bring characters to life? with Jennifer Hale
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Even if you don’t play video games, Jennifer Hale is still probably one of your favorite actors…you just didn’t know it. As of this recording she is just shy of 500 acting credits on IMDb including numerous roles in the Star Wars universe, Mortal Kombat, DC, Marvel, Disney. Even Biker Mice from Mars…remember that? She’s been in DuckTales and Rick a…
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Episode 244 : "Stitch"
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When I put out the call to action a few weeks back for more Cutco/Vector Marketing content, I was pleasantly surprised with the response! When we start digging into trying to figure out an MLM, it seems each chat clears up some things, but opens more questions about others and this conversation with "Stitch" was no different. We chat about how Cutc…
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Episode 243 : Apostate Alex Returns!
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Apostate Alex returns to update us on the happenings of Scientology in the UK, and Michelle is back too! According to Alex, he's been "a bad, bad, boy" and has a lot to report on the Anti-Scientology protests and the shady government involvement that's been keeping him busy the past 7 months. The jokes alone are worth the trouble. He also shares hi…
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What's the danger of censorship? with Maggie Tokuda-Hall
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Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a children’s and young adult author who writes stories that help kids of all types see themselves on the page as the main character. She also writes books that help parents and kids have age appropriate conversations about the world we live in. One of those books, Love In The Library, became the centerpoint for exposing a long…
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Episode 242 : Mitch Brisker
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Mitch Brisker was a 23 year old heroin-addicted film school drop-out when he found Scientology in Downtown Hollywood. Through recovery, he went on to become a successful commercial director and caught the eye of Scientology’s notorious leader, David Miscavige. Mitch ultimately became the chief architect of Scientology’s global propaganda machine, c…
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Episode 241 : Shannon Vavich Part 2
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In Part 2 with Shannon, we get deeper into the reasons why MLMs are prevalent in the lives of military spouses, both as representatives and customers. Shannon also shares with us, some of her side hustle journey to where she is today, and offers lots of job advice for those leaving MLM and transitioning into doing their own thing. From gig work and…
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What is memory? with Dr. Althea Need Kaminske
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Dr. Althea Need Kaminske is a cognitive psychologist who teaches at the Indiana University school of medicine interested in the application of human memory research to educational settings. She also helps run The Learning Scientists, an international group of cognitive psychologists who engage in science communication about the science of learning.…
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Episode 240 : Shannon Vavich Part 1
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Shannon reached out to me because it's time for her to tell her story, and I was happy to oblige. She's a military spouse and mother and she had some things she needs to get off her chest when it comes to MLMs and the US Military. In Part 1 Shannon and I discuss the times she found herself in Mary Kay, and the gross recruitment tactics that were us…
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Episode 239 : Cristie Stogner
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Not everyone who joins an MLM has a horrible experience, some people join MLMs to have some fun, make some friends and get a decent discount on a product they can't seem to live without. With some questions and concerns about her current MLM, Cristie reached out to me to find answers. She loved the products, her upline was great, and she was seemin…
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Matthew Keith is a Barbie collector, photographer, and doll expert whose work has been featured in The Los Angeles Time, NewNowNext, and on a social media feed near you. Find him at https://www.dollsonthebrain.com Social links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.…
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Episode 238 : Kimberleigh
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Kimberleigh is a member of our Discord and wanted to share her story of being in BOTH Cutco, a famously "masculine" MLM, and BeachBody, a famously "feminine" MLM and how different the experiences were with not only product and culture, but recruitment and FOMO. And as a special added bonus, Kimberleigh gives us some tips and suggestions for beefing…
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Episode 237 : The 2024 MLM Conference
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I took my laptop and a microphone to the MLM Conference to chat with people on break! I took all that audio, plus my own thoughts and experiences and created a fun episode about what happens at the con when the zoom is paused. If you're looking to be a part of the 2025 MLM Conference, please reach out and I will get you in touch with the Steering C…
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Chaya Milchtein is known to the internet as the Mechanic Shop Femme. She uses her platform and her new book Mechanic Shop Femme’s Guide to Car Ownership— to make every facet of car ownership less terrifying—from the day you decide to purchase to doing your own regular maintenance and care—and she’s showing folks in the margins of society who are ty…
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Episode 236 : Shelly Snow Pordea
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*This episode includes topics on child abuse, purity culture and child sexual abuse. Please use discretion when listening.* Shelly Snow Pordea was raised as an Independent Fundamental Baptist, and experienced CSA at a very young age, in fact too young for Shelly to process what had happened to her. It wasn't until a tent revival style sermon about …
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Episode 235 : Casey
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We watched the documentary "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" on Discord and were FLOORED by the entire production. From the horrific story of child abuse to the sensationalized, dramatic storytelling, something always felt slightly off and prompted more questions than it ever answered. In this bonus episode we have listener and Discord Member Cas…
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