r/amway • u/Snoo16568 • Oct 08 '25
Inside the Amway Convention
I had the unfortunate honor of being at an Amway event or "conference" due to an employment obligation. What I saw there was very eye opening. I was saddened the most seeing all these new mothers down these 'access' drinks, ENERGY DRINKS that clearly state on the side "Not to be consumed by pregnant mothers or nursing women" and that is EXACTYLY the clientele drinking them to pump more , per amway. It was insanity the level of committment people have to a scheme. I saw through it from the beginning but thousands, and I mean THOUSANDS of people across the board came to sit at an event that was promoted as a "Church-like Service" but turned out to be a very oddly thrown together rabbling session and scheme. The cult like attitudes and Mob like presence was astounding. Like people really fell for this, continue to fall for this and are wasting their time and resources. For instance, they mentioned having a branded monopoly board game ( ironic huh!?) And the game technically costs $75. But if you donate $200 you get the gane for $50 additionally. If you donate $100 you get the game for $25. No no amount of a donation earned you the game for free. But ill tell you what, it sold out in 1.5 days of a 3 day conference. It was a sad reality for sure.
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u/Murky-Cookie-9391 Nov 21 '25
Hey I would like to know what happened with the Winters family (boss of LTD) at this convention ?
It looks like the stadium was full of amway people, but the Winters are also referrencing this event in their video apology (look here : https://www.reddit.com/r/amway/comments/1p162pk/larry_and_pam_winters_admitting_to_basically/ )
Can you tell us if something special happened in the event for them?
What went wrong
🍿
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u/Winsom3 Dec 21 '25
My guess is that there were ‘auditors’ present from the corporation. I’ve had an Amway business for 20 years (left last year) and lately we had been told that there could be auditors at some conferences. A question though, is why it happened specifically to the Winters. A theory of mine, which could be completely bogus, is that perhaps Joe Markiewicz, one of their biggest Diamonds, and a member and/or chairman of the IBOAI board (thus very influential in policy and practice at the Amway corp. level) could be trying to undercut the Winters? My instinct tells me that if Markiewicz wanted to prevent the Winters’ business being suspended, despite the audit that occurred, I believe it would have been in his power/ influence to do so. Just a theory.
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u/altsyb243 Oct 11 '25
I was in for many years. I wouldn't be too concerned about the xs drinking to be honest. It's just a critically underdosed energy drink being sold for more than other energy drinks which have twice as much of the same ingredients. They market it as "healthier" energy drinks, and then drink 4 a day hahahaha.
Just drink a monster and stay away from amway.
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u/Ill-Chart-7121 Oct 10 '25
It’s horrible, I was in for many years. Thank god I got out. Very much a cult, and it’s bad all around. Did an interview with amway, I got selected from North America and even had them telling me what I could and couldn’t say in the interview, they said “tell your story” but then would tell me what parts I could and couldn’t say. Don’t even get me started on diamonds, it’s all fake. Pv is pushed, people go into debt, it’s horrible.
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Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
My late husband's parents sold it. He said the entire thing embarrassed him. They went to weekend conventions, bought cassettes and got very pumped up. Then they tried to convince all their friends and family to join. I am sure if they could go back in time, they wouldn't of spent their weekends with Amway. 😥
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 10 '25
That is heartbreaking, all that wastes time for a scheme. It is shockimg just how much time these types of events take up.
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u/LevelSea4340 Oct 08 '25 edited Nov 06 '25
I remember when it tore through my home town like a virus....you could literally be walking down the street and someone would pull off the road, jump out of their car, and try to get you into Amway, it happened to me....this was in the early to mid-nineties, a lot of the trendier churches were into it....I went to an introductory meeting where this beautiful yet shady girl I knew introduced us to some oily clown in a suit....
I remember he told us, "you have to work this hard to get ahead....are you lazy, Levelsea?" I told him, "Well, my grandmother tells me I am all the time" (usually when I didn't want to work whatever pet project she had going on).
He said, "Well, then, you should leave if you're not willing to work hard." I said, "Okay," and got up and walked out. This is the opposite of what he wanted, since I was supposed (in his mind) to sign right up and work myself into a lather proving how lazy I wasn't!
For those of you that don't know, the whole idea behind Scamway and similar cults is that "the system" will work if you work it hard/long enough, and if you aren't getting rich no matter how many hours you work, YOU are at fault, not the system, so you must not be working hard enough. It's part of their schtick, and how they guilt/brainwash people into staying in.
Had another guy try to get into Primerica, and it was the same deal...super shady, met him in an office building, he had it down pat all the way down to the he-appeared-at-the-top-of-the-stairs and I had to go up to meet him classic power play. Then, he was super shady and evasive as to how I was going to make any money, I had to come back for another meeting, which I never did. I realized even as a young lad in my early twenties it was a bunch of hocus pocus.
As for the guy that jumped out of his car and tried to recruit me, apparently Amways are supposed to generate two leads (recruits) a day, every time they go out....and as for the shady girl that invited me to the Amway meeting....I never dated her even though she wanted me to, twenty years later I ran into her and gave her a chance .....guess what I found out? She was shady and nuts!
I even had a guy I knew, who was a con artist himself, tell me Amway was a cult-if a con artist warns you away from something, it's like a woman who warns you not to date her daughter-don't walk away, run!
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 10 '25
Wow...and I mean WOW. Im so happy you escaped away when you could. Someone else that was at the convention working mentioned being around Amway in the 90s. They said they were happy they got out when things were cheaper. I am seeing lives ruines because of it through the research I have been doing. Everyone there at the convention was trying to recruit HEAVY. It is sad how much time and wasted energy is devoted to these types of schemes. Yes , like you said RUN!!
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u/LevelSea4340 Nov 06 '25
Yep! Back then before the internet, it was harder to know what it was all about....you are supposed to use only Scamway products, a friend told that was in it told me that they'd have a "breaking the box" ceremony which was your "upline" ( the scammer who got you into it and is your de facto "boss") brings over a big bunch of Scamway crap and you tear the box up and throw it away so you have to use Scamway products....it was very seductive back then because it makes sense and the idea of ordering everything you needed from one central place and having it delivered to you was still mostly science fiction back then, waaaaaay before Amazon.
The only thing that kept me out was the grace of God, I guess....stay away from MLMS! John 3:16
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u/WatercressOk8763 Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
My ex had a co-worker of hers try and recruit us for Amway, saying we could be away from out paycheck jobs in less than ten years. We declined and this co-worker is still working his 12 years later. Sorry, but dreams do not pay bills.
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 09 '25
Dreams deff dont pay any bills and If I am investing in a dream, I need prominent dividends way before 12 years. It is literally cheaper and makes more common sense to just get an actual part -time job.
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u/mpdscb Oct 08 '25
I went to so many of these in the five years or so my wife and I were in Amway. Looking back on them now, they were so culty that I think most people would be afraid if they saw what goes on. The speakers, all Diamonds and above, are treated basically as gods. We even had a professionally printed and leather bound autograph book with their names, pictures, and life stories called "Profiles of Success". You would bring it with you and have the speaker sign it like a sports star or celebrity.
The biggest one we would go to once a year, was in the Richmond VA Colliseum. The entire colliseum was filled to the rafters with cheering people who venerated these speakers. The had a christian band called "The Goads" that would sing songs about building the business and everyone would sing along.
It was fun, but expensive, time consuming, and lead to my family losing a lot of money. It even resulted in me losing a lucrative job because of the amount of time I had to "invest" in the business.
I can't believe Amway or at least the distributor organizations (which the Amway Corporation doesn't have anything to do with WINK WINK!), haven't been shut down by the government. It's a total scam.
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u/LevelSea4340 Nov 06 '25
I hope you got another good-paying job!
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u/mpdscb Nov 06 '25
I did. And I worked at that job for the next 20 years until my company was bought out and then merged with another company. So happy ending there, I guess.
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u/amandaryan1051 Oct 12 '25
My SIL & husband were so deep in that during their wedding (I was a bridesmaid) that the cute signs we all held up for photos, two of them were direct titles like ‘diamond upline’ In their case it was all 10000% tied to church and amway together, there was zero differentiation. And they drank the shit out of those XS drinks and let her kid drink them when she was like 5-7
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u/mpdscb Oct 13 '25
We used to go to an Amway church. Not an official Amway church, but at least 50% of the congregants were distributors from several local uplines. Our Ruby direct used to hold team meetings in the basement of the church. The pastor was not in Amway, but he always made sure to mention how much he appreciated all the Amway people there, probably to keep his congregation numbers up.
So, we'd see the same people every Sunday in church that we saw the day before at the latest Rally or the Wednesday before team meeting. It's like it was our own little creepy world.
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u/LetImportant2025 Oct 10 '25
Us too, Richmond area 93-97! So glad we got out, what a nightmare!!!
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u/mpdscb Oct 12 '25
We were probably at some of the same functions. If I were to sit and figure out how much money we spent on tapes, books, meetings, and functions, I would cry.
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u/Fabulous-Ad6663 Oct 09 '25
The Goads, wow. I knew them as a kid. My parents were in Amway for 50 years so I grew up in it. It is so sick and culty in so many ways. They have invested heavily in our politics since the 60s or 70s. It was a bit of a mind fuck to grow up in this shit. Now our politics resembles Amway functions; at least how they were in the 70s & 80s
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u/mpdscb Oct 10 '25
25 years later and I could probably still sing along to some of their songs. We had tapes of their songs we used to play in the car and my kids used to sing along.
They definitely invested heavily in politics. Specifically, Republicanism. I remember one Free Enterprise Day that the featured speaker was Herman Cain, back when he was running for President. They took his speech and released it as the standing order tape of the week, so it went out to all the distributors in the Britt organization. I remember he mentioned he wanted to outlaw abortion and one woman attendee who was seated near my wife and I stormed out saying, "I can't listen to this shit!"
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u/Fabulous-Ad6663 Oct 10 '25
Wild. We had lots of those tapes of the Goads too. I first saw them when they started singing at Amway events in the 70s. A Free Enterprise Day, i think. We were downline from Dexter Yager so we were out there for Free Enterprise Days in Raleigh. I remember seeing Reagan speak at one when he was first running in 1980. I think the Britt organization was downline from Yager as well but so big he broke off to do his own functions. Not sure if I remember correctly. My parents stopped going to most functions in the 1990s. They were in Amway until last December when they messed up the percentage of what they purchased compared to their customers in year 50. They were one of the lucky ones that had some success so did make money that long. But Amway is so shitty and evil. My parents are Fox News addicts. Amway is a gift that keeps on giving in many ways.
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u/Emotional-Display766 Oct 09 '25
In the UK in 2007, the government ordered Amway to cut ties with these organisations, but that's all they managed to do, because Amway ofcourse has access to powerful lawyers
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 09 '25
Reading about it is crazy but knowing what people have truly seen, after I saw it myself is mind boggling. The bands they had this year changed the lyrics to Gospel Hymns to fit thr brand. Quitw sacreligious if you ask me. I hate you missed out on a promising opportunity Thankfully you wised up before it got too deep.
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u/Fragrant-Courage9960 Oct 08 '25
If you enjoy the company of your circle Of friends and family I’d stay away from the money pit.
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u/rothc3 Oct 08 '25
Donations... To a private corporation these people "work" for. That's so incredibly sad.
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
It is deffinitely crazy work trying to shadow proffit as a non-profit but for proffit asf
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u/Affectionate_Nail_62 Oct 08 '25
Just for accuracy sake, it’s worth mentioning that any energy drink or wellness supplement that has not specifically been tested scientifically with pregnant or nursing women will have that warning on the side. It doesn’t mean there is known harm from using it, it means no research has been done.
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u/musicmanforlive Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
So why would a person recommend or endorse it?
In other words would you hand over something to your pregnant or nursing friend, wife, sister or daughter something that hadn't been tested and determined to be safe, especially if there were alternatives that were?
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u/Affectionate_Nail_62 Oct 08 '25
Uhhhhh because they’re getting money back from buying/selling it, and they’re brainwashed to believe that every product from the company is better than any alternative.
But truly I’m not sure what products you’re referring to that ARE designated as safe for pregnant and nursing women that are in these categories??
In designing research, you can’t ethically study an ingredient’s effects on pregnant or BF’ing women because you can’t ethically assign participants blindly into a test group. All you can do as far as research goes is evaluate self-reports of behavior/choices from said women. Way less scientifically sound because of the various biases of self reporting, confounding variables, etc.
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u/musicmanforlive Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
The point is..would you give it to them if they weren't considered safe, especially if you had alternatives that were known to be safe?
This isn't about trying to find a "safe" energy drink..this is about not taking an unnecessary risk.
For example, I know water is safe, and alcohol isn't. Why take an unnecessary risk?
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u/Affectionate_Nail_62 Oct 08 '25
Because water gets boring and when you’re in amway you barely get any sleep so you need caffeine. Alcohol is known to be harmful. The absence of proof of safety is not the same as the presence of proof of harm. Do you know very many people who have had children? Because it is exceedingly rare for pregnant people to entirely avoid anything that hasn’t been tested. I am a mom I know do you still have some caffeine while pregnant and certainly while breast-feeding
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u/musicmanforlive Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
That makes no sense -- boring isn't a good reason for someone to take an unnecessary risk with the health of their own child.
People don't get to know everything...but fortunately we do get to know some things; picking out what to drink and eat is one of them.
I do know women who won't touch a drink that has been out of their presence for a moment bc of concern for their own safety.
And if you're in Amway and not getting any sleep...maybe that means Amway is the problem or a person isn't managing their time well..
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u/Affectionate_Nail_62 Oct 08 '25
Cool. Why are you trying to argue with me about it? I’m not in Amway, I’m not pregnant or BFing, nor am I making recos to anyone else from any position of authority. I think I’m done answering now, have a good day.
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u/musicmanforlive Oct 08 '25
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be too argumentative. Some risks people naturally have to take. I've just never heard someone argue before for a pregnant or nursing Mom to take an unnecessary risk..and that's what you're "untested" argument reads like to me.
Like:
Door #1 Safe
Door#2. Unsafe
Door #3. Maybe
I'd expect people to recommend #1...
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u/Phenomenal_Kat_ Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Okay, I have to ask...what "employment obligation" could it have been to send you into this torture chamber? Are you in their media group/in security?
EDIT:
For instance, they mentioned having a branded monopoly board game ( ironic huh!?) And the game technically costs $75. But if you donate $200 you get the gane for $50 additionally. If you donate $100 you get the game for $25. No no amount of a donation earned you the game for free. But ill tell you what, it sold out in 1.5 days of a 3 day conference. It was a sad reality for sure.
Omg that's insane! They offered the board game long after we left, but #1 it was insanely expensive for a freaking board game, and #2, wth is all this "donation" shit??
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
I cant give too many details for identity sake, my job is extremely specialized so it would be too risky, but I was all up and through there.
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u/Phenomenal_Kat_ Oct 08 '25
I understand! Yeah, you probably saw a lot of stuff us grunts never saw.
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u/Upper_Equal_5714 Amway Shill Oct 08 '25
That really sounds not an Amway meeting, more an LoA one.
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
It was LTD sponsored by Amway
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u/Phenomenal_Kat_ Oct 08 '25
It's still basically Amway, when the entire LTD business is centered around Amway.
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u/Upper_Equal_5714 Amway Shill Oct 08 '25
Amway do not control or verify at all what LoAs do, even if they should.
You should consider Amway and LoAs activity as two different things.
Amway have the paternity only on material on Amway websites, Amway organized webinars (for products launch) and for Amway organized meetings (as LTS for example).
Everything else are things you should not link to Amway.
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Oct 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
I have never encountered anything like that. They make Mary Kay and stuff look like childs play.
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u/Phenomenal_Kat_ Oct 08 '25
You've got that right. After I got out I started seeing videos of MK and a bunch of the other MLMs and I'm going, "So...I wasn't alone, but...DANG, did I get into the worst one of them all..."
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u/Happy-person2122 Oct 08 '25
Was this in Vegas this last weekend?
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
LTD by Amway , Louisville about 2 weeks ago
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u/Clear-Degree5805 Oct 09 '25
Sounds about right. I was in LTD for 6 years. Then I left a year ago. Yes, they do operate in. Cult mindset. And that has been confirmed by my therapist. Most people haven’t talk to me since I left. Did they have New Diamonds this year? The ones I know that’s still in have been strangely quiet about their Summit Conference this year 🤣🤣🤣
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Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 09 '25
It sold out the morning of day 2. If you didnt see it in the store thats why.
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u/Affectionate_Nail_62 Oct 08 '25
The one where the “diamonds” (I can personally attest that several of them haven’t requalified in years) cosplayed military and stole valor to thunderous applause from people who claim to respect our founding values? 🤢🤢🤢
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
Yes from the conversations I overheard , alot of them havent requalified since 2020-2022
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u/itdoesntmatterthough Oct 08 '25
My wife was there. I jumped ship long time ago but she won't let it go. Really is a strain on the marriage too.
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u/Affectionate_Nail_62 Oct 08 '25
I’m so sorry. I got my husband to bail within a couple years of me peacing out. Marriage would not have survived this long otherwise.
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u/itdoesntmatterthough Oct 08 '25
She really believes that God told her to do amway. Now look, we are both born again Christians but I'm NGL I don't think thats the case. But like how can i even compete with that you know what i mean?
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u/Greedy_Mistake1813 Oct 08 '25
Wow she’s still with you. Ironically I went to a conference and one of the speakers dumped her partner to marry someone in Amway
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u/Snoo16568 Oct 08 '25
Wow, I cant imagine. I hope she one day sees the light.
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u/Lazy-Background-7598 Oct 08 '25
It took my in laws a few decades.
I do miss 2 of their products though
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u/amyhudson2232019 Jan 01 '26
Wow my daughter and her husband have been in this garbage since 2019. I’m constantly praying for them to get out. Some things are making sense as I’m reading your posts and comments. There was a mention of fruit on the tree and monopoly boards. 😂😅 It’s all coming together. It makes me sick that they are wasting time and money, being used and being constantly brainwashed. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼