I Was Part of a Pyramid Scheme and It Almost Ruined My Life

I was job hunting post-university when I unknowingly applied for a pyramid scheme. It changed my life. I was 20 years old and naive; I thought I should start out in marketing. This pyramid scheme was similar to a multi-level marketing company, but involved door-to-door sales. It’s something I had never envisioned myself doing, but I was lied to for so long that I didn’t realize what I was doing until I felt trapped.

I applied for many jobs, but one company seemed particularly eager. It described itself as a “sales and marketing company” and had a competitive salary and room for growth. Almost immediately I had a Zoom interview with the manager. The interview wasn’t about the job, but about my personality, and I was so charmed that I didn’t question it. I was invited for another interview with the person that would be my team leader—my now-boyfriend, a cheerful Irishman. I was offered the job, but had no idea what I would be doing every day.

On my first day, people were introduced to me as “highrollers,” the ones who made the most money. The highrollers consisted of a 17-year-old boy who was constantly vaping, and two other guys in their twenties. They were pleasant, but they weren’t professional. They spoke in slang and made derogatory comments about women. I was surprised that these were the people I was told to look up to.

The office was bare, with nothing much more than a ping pong table. My training consisted of me standing at a whiteboard learning how to manipulate people. Two other girls and I were encouraged to make people feel guilty that others had signed up to monthly charity donations and they hadn’t. We were also told to “make people feel stupid” for not giving us their bank details.

Getting promoted made me realize all the lies I was told.

Later in the day we went out door-knocking. I gave people my pitches and got them to sign up to a reputable charity. It turned out that I was good at door-to-door sales, and the team I worked with embraced me. At this point I didn’t mind that nobody told me I was only being paid commission, because I was making hundreds weekly. My leader was on a business trip at the time, and when he came back we clicked. I thought things in my life were looking great: I had new friends and I was being told that what I was doing wasn’t just door-to-door sales, but building foundations to start a company of my own.

When I hit the criteria to get promoted, everything changed. I was now interviewing and training people. It made me realize all the lies I was told, because I was telling others that they would be wealthy business owners within months, and they’d be working in a professional setting. Yet I still convinced myself that I wasn’t doing anything wrong because it was for charity.

After my promotion, I got a better understanding of the business. The way it worked was that you would start off as a distributor making sales. The next level is leadership where you have to reach £500 in a week. When you’re a leader you train enough people that you can start your own company, and start the cycle again. The idea of financial freedom was why I was so adamant about sticking with this job, and whenever I complained about the weather or racist remarks I received from someone at their door, I was told by my colleagues and manager that I needed to stop being such a pussy. My manager would ask us why we wanted to have our own companies, and I told her it was to take care of my family. She would use that answer against me later, saying “Have your goals changed?” whenever I came to her with problems.

Things got worse when my boss found out about my romantic relationship with my leader. He was her right-hand man, and if he became a manager, she would be making more money. When people knew about our relationship I was treated differently. I was ignored and spoken about behind my back. I think people were jealous of his favoritism towards me. But I felt like he was the only person I could confide in. Our boss decided the best thing was to move him, and everyone else I worked with, to Belfast. She saw me as a distraction to my boyfriend, and started to see me as a threat when he booked a day off to go to my graduation. He was scolded for it, but we were so brainwashed and didn’t think our manager could be wrong. It was a group of people that all thought the same way, and if you strayed away from them, you were alienated.

My boyfriend was confident that we could make a long-distance relationship work, but our colleagues were not. People told me that I was holding him back. One of the last things my boss called me was a “selfish fucking prick,” due to my poor performance. I stayed in Liverpool to work under another manager in the business. Suddenly nobody wanted me around, and I felt like dead weight in my relationship. I stopped making money and was alone. I struggled to get out of bed every morning to face the 13-hour day I had ahead of me. I got an infection, then a call from my manager in Belfast berating me for leaving work early. The fact that I was so sick that I could barely walk didn’t make a difference: If I didn’t make money for myself, she wouldn’t get her share of my commission.

I realized it was time to go home. I was close with my family, and I wish I had turned to them sooner. My boss said that my family would be a distraction, and our families were lazy for working 9-to-5 jobs rather than hustling like us. My family told me they were worried about how much weight I’d lost. This is the first time I’m admitting that I didn’t eat because I didn’t care enough about myself, or my life, to eat.

My family hated my job, but I needed something bigger to change my perspective. Soon, that something bigger came. When my boyfriend and I went to Ireland so I could meet his family, I discovered I was pregnant. We knew our priority was being good parents, and we had to drop everything we were working towards. I’m glad we did, because we ended up having twins.

I was at this job for just six months. I always thought being a young mom would ruin my life, but it saved my life. I don’t know where I would be now if it weren’t for that positive pregnancy test, because I wouldn’t have left the job for anybody or anything else. It took a lot for me to accept that I was doing something wrong, and that I was enabling other people to do these things in a vicious cycle. This is why young people are targeted in this business: We don’t have as much life experience and can be easier to manipulate. I will never again compromise my morals just because somebody validates me.