I WAS ON THE DR. PHIL SHOW!
If y’all don’t know, I was on the Dr. Phil show. Season 21 Episode 57 is the one I was on. It aired on November 30th and I pretty much blasted it all over social media because I was so excited. In the beginning I was a little weary about sharing that I was on the show because I wasn’t sure if I looked like an idiot, but I figured it’s still a pretty awesome experience so why not share about it. Let’s get into why I was on the show, my experience, some things I wish I would’ve said, and something I didn’t agree with. If you’d like to see the video that I made on my Youtube channel instead of reading through this post, I’ll leave that linked below.
WHY WAS I ON THE DR. PHIL SHOW?
The episode of the Dr. Phil show that I was on was about cult vibes, or cult culture. There were three of us who told our stories (Sarah Landry, myself, and Natalia Petrzela), a cult expert (Rick Allan Ross), and of course, Dr. Phil. Sarah was part of a cult called Nithyananda, I spoke about the cult like tactics used within the MLM (multi level marketing) industry, and Natalia spoke about a spin class that seemed a little cult like.
In case you’re new here, I’ve been speaking out against the multi level marketing industry on my Youtube channel since 2019. I’ve spoken about it on my blog a few times prior to that after my experiences in two MLMs. At first I sugar coated my experience, and then I really went all in on why these companies are horrible. Once I started creating videos on Youtube, I started researching the industry even more. That’s when I saw that others were calling MLMs commercial cults and I came across the BITE Model by Dr. Steven Hassan. More on that a little bit later though, let’s get into my experience.
MY EXPERIENCE
When I first saw the email about being a guest on the show, I really thought it was a scam. My husband and I started snooping around the interwebs and figured out that it in fact, was not a scam. This was real, and I was actually being asked to be on the show. Everything happened very fast. I responded to the email and then within 4 days I believe it was, I was flying to L.A. with my husband and our bebe. Getting to L.A. was an absolute hot mess express. This was at no fault to the studio, it was the airlines. Although, I will say the studio was so helpful and I cannot thank them enough for what was going on behind the scenes. There were so many issues with delays and the systems not updating.
Bottom line, it was incredibly stressful and I thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it in time. Well, we finally arrived in L.A. and by the time we got the to the hotel and settled in our room, we had about 10 minutes to order room service because we weren’t able to pick up dinner on the way to the hotel. It was probably about 11pm at this point. By the time that we had all gone to sleep it was probably around 1am. The wake up call was I think at 7, but I had started getting ready prior to that call anyway.
Once we actually got to the studio is when it really started to sink in that I was going to be on the Dr. Phil show. I started to get really nervous but prior to getting to the studio, one of our drivers had actually said not to worry because Dr. Phil has a calming presence about him and I’ll feel more comfortable once I’m talking to him. I went through wardrobe, hair, and makeup and then we waited until it was time to get mic’ed up and go on stage.
THINGS I WISH I COULD’VE SAID
Sarah went first and talked about being in Nithyananda for 9 years and surviving the cult, then it was my turn. A lot of people had actually reached out and said that my segment was the shortest of the three, which is why I made my video so I could talk about things I wish I could’ve said. We were asked not to mention the names of the cults or companies that we were a part of so I had to be very careful with my wording. I actually said more on the show that they cut out during editing.
It’s nothing that would’ve been taken out of context, but I wish they would’ve kept it in because something Rick Ross said would’ve made more sense. He had said in the episode that there is a fake it till you make it type of attitude and that was in response to something I had talked about. I had talked about a Mary Kay convention I attended in Atlantic City, NJ. At this convention it was all about hyping you up and keeping you motivated, which, don’t get me wrong, I felt VERY motivated when I was there. However, when I was removed from that I realized how it was truly just a bunch of fluff.
An incident that happened while I was there was something that was so interesting. First, if you didn’t know, Mary Kay has red jackets that are I guess you can say awarded to the higher ranks. Which means, you were able to differentiate who was just an average Joe like myself within the MLM and who was “elite.” I was waiting in the line at the bathroom during one of our breaks and there was a woman in front of me who had a red jacket on and red bottoms, or Christian Louboutins on which are a bucket list item for me one day. While standing behind her, I did tell her that I loved her shoes and she, very confidently, said “oh thank you, Mary Kay paid for these.”
I wish the show would’ve kept that in there because it’s so important to the story. Unfortunately, I was only able to talk about one MLM and not both of them, but I figured if anyone wanted to search for me afterwards, they would maybe find my channel and hear more about my story.
SOMETHING I DIDN’T AGREE WITH
Remember how I mentioned the BITE Model a little bit earlier? Well, here is where I’ll talk about that a little bit further. Dr. Phil said, and Rick Ross agreed, that MLMs are not cults. I highly disagree with this. I’m not trying to undermine anyone’s credentials or anything like that, this is just my own opinion. MLMs may not be the destructive cults that we think of such as Jonestown, The Manson Family, The Branch Davidians, and the list goes on. However, MLMs have been called commercial cults for a reason. These companies don’t just use cult like tactics.
I’ve had so many people reach out to me, one person’s story in particular has stuck with me through the years. That person had told me about her experience in Amway and how afterwards she actually had to see a therapist to deprogram, the same way you would from a cult. If you look at just the surface levels of MLMs, they just seem to have cult like tactics, but when you get into the underbelly of the industry, it shows more to the story. The BITE Model stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control. This is a great tool to use when evaluating if something is a cult. I’ve actually written about that here on my blog before. There are a lot of great articles and videos out there discussing MLMs and being commercial cults.
IN CONCLUSION
All in all the experience was a great one. I was so nervous not only because I was on the Dr. Phil show, but also because I wanted to make sure I was a good representation of the anti MLM movement. There are so many people who have done great work within this movement and I didn’t want to tarnish that. However, my husband told me, don’t be nervous, you’ve told your story so many times that you got this. I did just that. Even though I would’ve loved to talk a little more in depth, but due to time constraints I can only say so much. Before we move on to the linkup, I’m going to leave my video and the episode linked below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9hbXjl8ex0&list=LLDkcxSCwDhYNMlxYqR5thmg&index=3&t=2007s
Monica, I am glad that you shared this follow up post because I really wanted to hear more from you on your topic! And not just because you’re my friend, but because I find it so interesting and I did feel a little like your part was cut short. It was nice to have some of those blanks filled in! It was a great episode though and you looked and sounded fabulous!
Shelbee