A woman diagnosed with cancer has admitted she used the disease to generate revenue for her business – as she described the immense “guilt” she felt after “exploiting” her story.
Emily Lynn Paulson, a 43-year-old Oregon writer and speaker, said she joined a multi-level marketing company, which she didn’t name, in 2013 to “get away from it all.” stay home mom.’
The mother-of-five started promoting skincare products on her social media accounts for money, and the paychecks were soon rolling in.
But in 2015, when she felt like she was “on top of the world,” Emily was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
After sharing the heartbreaking news with some employees at the company, she was stunned when one of her business partners suggested she “use her diagnosis to her advantage”.
A woman diagnosed with cancer has admitted she used the disease to generate revenue for her business – as she described the immense “guilt” she felt after “exploiting” her story
Emily Lynn Paulson, an Oregon writer and speaker, said she joined a multilevel marketing company in 2013, which she didn’t name
The mother-of-five started promoting skincare products on her social media accounts for money, and the paychecks were soon rolling in
“I couldn’t understand how anything about this painful experience could be beneficial,” she explained in a recent essay for the Today Show.
“That is, until she reminded me that many women in our MLM had monetized sympathy for their circumstances — the woman whose husband had died, another whose son was suffering from a life-threatening illness, another whose home was owned by was destroyed in a hurricane.
“I’ve seen firsthand these women gain sympathy, which inevitably led to sales.”
But in 2015, when she felt like she was “on top of the world,” Emily was diagnosed with cervical cancer
While Emily admitted that her “intuition told her it was less than ethical,” that feeling was soon “overwhelmed by hope that the shitty situation could lead to something positive.”
When she was undergoing treatment, the author said she asked team members below her to host events “in the name of cancer research” in exchange for offering them free products.
She soon saw her sales skyrocket, and although she donated “a portion” of the money she made to charity, she kept most of the profits for herself.
“Not only was it an outright bribe, it was coercion because I was their upline. I was in a position of power and they wouldn’t let me down,” she wrote.
“Besides, how dare you say no to a woman with cancer who is (apparently) trying to do something good?
After sharing the heartbreaking news with some employees at the company, one of her business partners suggested she “use her diagnosis to her advantage”.
She soon began hosting events “in the name of cancer research,” and while she donated “a portion” of the money to charity, she kept much of the profits
After undergoing surgery and completing treatment, Emily was eventually in remission — and she soon began to realize what she had done was wrong
“This pressure also extended to customers. What kind of person wouldn’t buy a $50 eye cream knowing that a few dollars in sales would boost something good?
“All along, it’s been a duplicitous way for me to increase sales and my customer base.”
At first, she said her behavior “made her feel good,” but over time, she noticed “growing guilt” building inside her.
She said she not only used her illness to “increase” her “sales and rankings,” but she also “coached” others at the company to use the same tactics.
After undergoing surgery and completing treatment, Emily was eventually in remission — and she soon began to realize what she had done was wrong.
She branded her actions “predatory and heinous,” while revealing that she ultimately decided to step away from multilevel marketing.
“It took some clarity and distance from my diagnosis to realize that what I had done was neither helpful nor charitable — it was predatory and heinous,” she continued.
Emily, who is now cancer-free, branded her actions “predatory and heinous” and vowed never again to use her “sob story” to “manipulate” people.
She has now written a book about her experience, Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing, which is due out May 30
“I continued to deconstruct my behavior, change the way I spoke to people, and eventually broke away from MLM entirely.”
Emily’s cancer sadly returned in 2017, but this time she said she “refused to use her diagnosis to manipulate those around her.”
In the end, the author – who is now proudly cancer-free – said the experience helped her open her eyes to how common it is in marketing for people to use their “sob stories” to try to make money.
“I became more aware of the success stories that started with a sob story. I realized it wasn’t (quite) a fault in me, but a fault in the system,” she concluded.
“I now see that the combination of sales and charity is no more than a marketing ploy – direct donations to charities are always the best move.”
She has now written a book about her experience, Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing, which is due out May 30.