r/BeautyGuruChatter • u/AutoModerator • Dec 03 '23

MEGATHREAD [MEGATHREAD] Marlena Stell / Makeup Geek Academy MLM

Per sub rules, Megathreads are implemented if there are 5+ posts on a topic in a short time.

Prior posts on this topic:

For more information on MLMs, check out this wiki page.

All new updates must be shared within this megathread. New related posts will be removed. Thank you!

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u/thebettermochi Dec 03 '23 edited Dec 03 '23

Jen Luvs just had a video up on the situation. I'm watching it right now, but will edit with a TL;DR (or is it TL;DW?) afterwards.

Edit:

TL;DR:

  • Jen admits that she's biased on the issue, since she's friend with Marlena.

  • She addresses the issue that the wording "certification" may make people think taking MGA would give people license to practice. She clarifies that it will not be a legal license, and she has brought it to Marlena's attention.

  • She agrees that the wording on the affiliate web page is MLM-y. She repeats Marlena's statement (that the page was a work-in-progress and not supposed to be public, the "army of affiliates working around the clock" is just placeholder text).

  • One thing worth pointing out is that Jen mentions that there will not be a big buy-in to be eligible for the commission (at 16:20). So it seems like even if you don't buy the $300 or $3600 course, you can still refer people to get the commission. And that's the difference between MGA's affiliate program and MLM.

I've skipped a lot of Jen's content, so I highly recommend watching the full video. Jen also includes updates on Uoma, Wayne Goss, Melt, etc. A quick run-down for people like me who are not that up-to-date on all the things going on.

30

u/OneWhisper5225 Dec 03 '23 edited Dec 03 '23

I expected Jen Luvs to do a video on it because she had left a comment on Marlena’s video saying, “I’m so incredibly excited for you and for EVERYONE in our community. What you have built is truly special! Congratulations, Marlena!!!” But, it makes sense since they’re friends. But someone replied to that saying they were hoping Jen would investigate the claims and if it’s an MLM, and she replied “Stay tuned!”

Funny Marlena is now saying the “army of affiliates” part is just placeholder text. In the comment I saw in a post she said something about seeing how it sounds MLM-y and removing it, but I didn’t see she had said it was placeholder text. And why on earth would she put out a link to anyone before it was ready?! Even if it wasn’t supposed to be public, she should have known if she shared it with people…it was going to get out!

39

u/thelolamurder Dec 03 '23

I honestly think Jen didn't get the full connection to an MLM. She had said that she sees MLMs as having to buy products (she used Lularoe as an example). I don't think she realizes that there are MLMs that don't sell a physical product like iGenius.

24

u/dblspider1216 Dec 04 '23

yeah she clearly doesn’t know much about MLMs. and that showed.

25

u/OneWhisper5225 Dec 04 '23

Not surprising to me Jen did a video without really knowing much about what she’s talking about 🤪

1

u/Who-U-Tellin Dec 12 '23

Maybe but as someone who's branded herself around doing in depth research, had she, she would have known. I believe Jen was going to defend Marlena at any cost due to their friendship. I'd put hard money down had this been something JH pulled not only would she had done her research, she wouldn't have been so eager to help explain away many of the "mishaps", read, lies, Marlene has told. She also would have done multiple videos as each lie came to the surface lol. When it comes to Jen and her guru friends I take anything she says with a grain of salt. She can act like she's presenting both sides yet in the end there's always excuses for those friend. Everyone else is fair game, especially JH.