A "friend" is heavy into the beachbody coach MLM world--and I just can't look away. At this point we are only FB "friends" and I probably ought to unfriend her, but its slightly fascinating to me. She regularly posts about her workouts / food ( heavy workouts / light food) , but she has been posting bits about her finances--mostly hashtag style "#designedlife" and "#ideserveit" for things like quitting her day job, jetting about for beachbody trainings in different ( warmer) parts of the country and, most recently, trading in her old car for a brand new car ( that one she commented on something to the effect of "I know I can afford it and I deserve it!" ) Its interesting to me, the MLM set up seems designed for women to prey on their friendships, female guilt and their friends' insecurities to make a living.
Full disclosure: I'm a beachbody coach (known affectionately as a "discount coach", because I'm only a coach to get a discount on the products. I don't sell anything. I have no interest in that.)
However, I think that the beach body coach thing can really work. I know a couple of people who do it for a living. As in, they started up slowly while working a full time job, and it turns out they were good at it. They tend to be very upbeat, fit people, who are great at motivating others. They've gone on to get certified to teach classes, or become nutrition counselors, or to be personal trainers. So, health and fitness has become their "thing".
So they were able to build up enough of a business to quit. One of them makes six figures. It took years and a lot of work to get there, and they love working at home in their pajamas.
From what I gather, the trainings and trips can be free depending on how much business you bring in. So bonus! You can tell the people who really like helping others get fit (and treat it as a business), and the people who only treat it as a business.
Kudos to people who make it work as an entrepreneur. Occasionally I get pushed to "do more for my business", and to listen to team calls, read certain books, engage people, etc. But honestly, I'm just in it because it's helped me lose baby weight and because I believe in the products. So I ignore the pushing. I guess I'm not really interested in working at home in my pajamas.
I can see your point in using friendships and insecurities - but it doesn't necessarily come with all of that. I like the beachbody programs because they've helped me get fit in a short amount of time. But frankly, they won't work for everyone. I'd hate to see people prey on others. Help them? Sure. If someone told me that they had bad knees and ankles and loved working out in a group and needed some advice, I probably would recommend they join a walking group or a swim team.
Not sure if I'm trying to make a point.