WAHM chatall the ins and outs of being a Work At Home Mom, how to get popcorn out of your keyboard/printer, and when not to send that invoice with the scribble.
Kevin Vincent from the GHB team of Mela is also spreading this, so that may be of interest to you as well, Jess. He's higher up, if I recall correctly.
We watch the Pittsburgh news almost every day... get the Pittsburgh papers... and I haven't seen/heard/read anything yet... doesn't mean it's not true, but it does make one wonder.
Not to cause problems, but mamas please do you research about ANY company's products, even if they claim to be all natural...
I'm looking at a bottle of Koala Pals body wash and it contains...
* Tetrasodium EDTA http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/...p?chem_id=4334
Alter(s) skin structure, allowing other chemicals to penetrate deeper into the skin, increasing the amounts of other chemicals that reach the bloodstream
* sodium trideceth sulfate
This is also contained in dozens of johnson & johnsons and other baby care products that Mela likes to claim are "dangerous" - but what's the difference? http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov...l=chem&id=1086
It's just not that different that what I can buy on the shelf... at least not in my opinion. These are not natural ingredients.
I usually manage to refrain from posting this type of info to these types of threads, but the comment about it being our faults for thinking we're safe it would never happen to us (I don't know who said it and I'm not going to upset myself by reading back through all this to find it)... that really upsets me.
Just because I choose not to use Mela products doesn't mean I have my head buried in the sand. I've done my research.
If my child drank SOLUGARD, he'd be just as sick as the one in this story, correct? It's got ammonia in it. Yeah, maybe they don't claim anywhere that it's non-toxic but everything you hear is about how all their products are safe. Someone post the MSDS on the products. I'd like to see them...
I'll stick to baking soda, vinegar, and other natural things, thanks...
If my child drank SOLUGARD, he'd be just as sick as the one in this story, correct? It's got ammonia in it. Yeah, maybe they don't claim anywhere that it's non-toxic but everything you hear is about how all their products are safe. Someone post the MSDS on the products. I'd like to see them...
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I looked for them, too, but no idce -- I thought that by law EVERYTHING had to have MSDS sheets? But evidently Mela products do not come with them.
Melaleuca HAS them, they just won't make them public, kwim? Well, let me rephrase that... they are difficult to get. They will not give them out to MEs - at least they never would give any to me, when I was signed up, and I requested them. I was told repeatedly that they had to be requested from business development and could ONLY be provided if I was enrolling a day care or other organization which required it, and then they would fax the MSDS directly to that organization, not to me.
FWIW, Jess, I do believe that you are trying to help others. I'm not posting to make you feel bad at all. I wanted to help others too and didn't realize the people above me would try to get signups at any cost - even compromising the truth. It's easy to get stuck in the middle because you want to trust others, kwim? That's one reason I mentioned Vincent. If he got taken by this, then I hope that makes you feel a little better...
Location: an Uptown Mpls WAHM who is really a geek from South Dakota.
Posts: 9,614
I have already reported her to the policy administration department.
And not to be rude Jess, but I love some of melaleuca but one of the reason I chose not to sell their products is they use flouride in their toothpaste, they use SLS cancer causing bubbles in their bubble bath, and they use synthetic fragrances, dyes and fillers in many of their bath and body care products. So their are things that can KILL your child or you in many of their products.
And after Charlie puked yesterday, I grabbed my homemade Alice's wonder spray and sprayed the carpet, put the bottle back and then scrubbed the carpet. I don't leave even natural stuff out.
Quote:
Alice's WonderSpray™ (from Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan)
Combine the following ingredients in a 32 oz. spray bottle:
White vinegar - 1/4 cup
Borax - 2 tsp.
Hot water - almost fill bottle
Liquid Dish soap - 1/4 cup. Add last (try Palmolive or Seventh Generation)
Essential oil - 10 to 15 drops (optional, for scent. try lavender or lemon)
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Kathy-jo DH Jerry '99 Charlie 3.19.01 Angie 8.22.03
maybe i am out of the loop, ok, well i know i am out of the loop-but isn't the market board MADE for spam?
and i don't know jess at all, but i don't understand at all why ppl assume she made this up or passed it on knowing it was made up. i agree that it sounds completely false, but i am a bit cynical. i don't see why jess believing something she got in an email makes her a bad person. a bit too trusting perhaps.........
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Heather
married to carlos for 8 years
mama to sierra 12, alyssa 7 and samuel 6
I think what gets people is that it's the type of spam, kwim?
If cloth diaper making mamas posted about how disposibles cause asthma, or have toxic chemicals, etc every time they spammed, I have a feeling they'd upset mamas, too. They don't. They post the good things about their diapers and the sales they offer. Totally different kind of spam.
Or if the mamas who make cloth pads or sell the keeper or diva cup posted how it's your own fault if you die of female cancer because you didn't use their products, there would be some upset mamas.
How about if the mamas who sell organic baby clothes posted about how a little one has cancer and that they "warned" her and if she had only spent a fortune for organic clothes the baby wouldn't have been exposed to all those chemicals and it wouldn't be fighting cancer?
It's not the spamming, it was just the way it was done, IMO. Yeah, the market board is for spam. But I can see where this is seriously upsetting to mamas, whether true or not.
My goodness, we can't post on the market board about Laci Peterson or when an abducted child is found dead, because it might upset mamas - how is this that different?
There is a bigger issue here than just spam...
And again, Jess, this is nothing against you personally. I know first hand this is what the Mela groups teach their mamas to do to market.
Edited to add, I don't think anyone was saying Jess is a "bad person" - it's just the tactic used is so emotionally charged that it is GOING to elicit a strong reaction - that's what hype like this is supposed to do - only the reaction is supposed to go the other way, this marketing tactic either works great or fails miserably for exactly that reason. It's designed to get strong emotions going, those emotions are supposed to motivate you to BUY instead of anger you, but it doesn't always work... read up on your marketing, mamas. (that's a joke, no one take offense, I work for a marketer so I read this stuff constantly - go check out Marcia Yudkin's most recent article on hype and you'll recognize a lot of this if you want to know more about marketing ethically).
This makes me think of Meeshi's posts on animal rights. Meeshi isn't a bad person, I happen to agree with a LOT of her posts - it's just something she's passionate about, and it upsets people sometimes the way it is presented. When you're passionate about something, especially something controversial, there's a fine line there. If people feel like it's crossed... they're going to be upset. And Meeshi has no personal financial interest in us not buying cow meat, kwim? So when you involve our emotions WITH our finances, it gets even stickier.
There's just never an excuse to exploit a tragedy, as Karen did.
Last edited by Stargazer441 : 08-23-2004 at 01:52 PM.
Cheers, Danica, for going right to the hospital! I emailed someone there last night when I first read this story and was wondering if I would get a response. I think I probably emailed the same person you spoke with!
Tasteless, tacky, sad - that this is acceptable marketing to anyone in the company in question.
BTW - Kathy-Jo - I love that cleaner! I bought a bottle (by giving a $1 donation to the enviromental school) at the Green Expo at the State Fairgrounds this spring.
They never claimed to be ALL natural. They claim to be SAFER. They do have product lines that are all natural and everything in their products are thoughly tested.
Last edited by littlemamajess : 08-24-2004 at 12:28 PM.
i guess i am more out of the loop than i thought, b/c i hadn't noticed that much other stuff about those products. but then, i don't read all the posts here either. i don't have time, so i usually just skim what i think i would like.
i see your point about the other mamas not posting in that manner. i was just thinking yesterday (when i first read the post, the original) that ppl were a little harsh, i didn't know the history.
ETA=i was posting in response to snowflake, i didn't realize that there were so many posts in between us.
Last edited by heather4285 : 08-23-2004 at 01:59 PM.
Again I have to say it is not how *I* was taught to market. I could never see myself saying the things Karen said. I just copied/pasted her email as I received it, which I realize was not the smartest thing to do now. It is ALL over the email lists and I've gotten it several times from lots of different reps so it's going very widespread already so I hope we find out the truth soon. I still have a hard time beleiving it is made up and probally will until I get confirmation that it isn't.
I just honestly care about people. I'd give someone the last dollar I had if they needed it more then me or sell something I loved to help a friend. Even when we had money trouble, I still sent things to moms in need even though I couldn't afford to.
I also live with a man that is VERY VERY VERY mainstream. He would have a BIRD if my house smelled like vinegar and woudl be ANGRY if he had to use cleaners that didn't WORK. Our Company is a great mix between natural and mainstream. Probally the ONLY way to get safer products into my home. So yes I love what I do, and I love helping others.
They don't put their stuff on the shelves so that it can help mothers and fathers stay home with their children. So that every purchase supports 7 families, so they can offer this awesome compensation plan, so they can keep their prices LOW because they don't have to have middlemen. So they can keep their products FRESH and not sitting on shelves for months at a time. THAT is why they don't sell the products in stores. There are TONS of other products out there on the shelves that people can buy if they want to, at health food store and even regular stores are getting safer products in now! So people that go to the store have options too! Some people (like ME!) hate shopping... more, my KIDS hate shopping so saving me a trip to the store is worth tons! I usually spend so much I DO NOT need when I go to the store so shopping there saves me moeny in that wya too. Plus they give me 10% back on every order to go towards free products, access to tons of money saving services (telephone, internet, mortgage, finance, travel ect!)
To me it just make sence to switch stores. It doesn't for everyone and that's ok with me. I'm not a pushy person. I know some teams are very different then ours. They are very pushy, mean, sales pitchy and taught different things. Our team is not that way (and Karen IS with another team so maybe that is how they do things)
Please don't judge all of us because of ONE person. It is not the way everyone does things or the way we are all taught.
~Jess
Last edited by littlemamajess : 08-24-2004 at 12:30 PM.
maybe i am out of the loop, ok, well i know i am out of the loop-but isn't the market board MADE for spam?...i don't see why jess believing something she got in an email makes her a bad person.
I think the issue here is that this is disguised SPAM which plays on emotions. It's one thing to say "buy this product because it is safer" and another thing to put forth a story (true? not true?) of a supposed recent tragedy and use that story to sell your product. Now, I think Jess was truly trying to help people by making them aware of the issue but I think Karen and/or whoever wrote this whole thing was using a sad situation (which may not even have happened or could be an exaggeration of what happened) to push the product.
Yes, dangerous chemicals are an issue.
Another issue that might be just as important is the "stressed/anxious mom" issue. Ok, I admit it: I am OCD about some things and tend to be cautious and anxious. I am aware of this and try to counter my natural tendency to worry with logic (and prayer!). Having said that, I know that stress and worry do play a big role on my health - physical and emotional. I try to avoid stories that add to my problem in this area. I don't think things like this help me. I suspect I am not the only mama who struggles with emotions based on stuff like this. I agree that something like "Mamas, be careful about toxic chemicals. *insert a one sentence synopsis of the tragedy* I certainly would not take advantage of a time like this to bring forth any specific product to sell.
I don't think Jess is a bad person. I didn't see that others thought so either. I think most of us think her heart was in the right place. That story is awful. The emotions it brings forth are terrible. Jess seems to want to make sure this does not happen to any child. Still, I think emotions got the better part of reason by posting this, but perhaps this post will serve to 1) remind us to be careful about any cleaners/chemicals and 2) remind us to be careful of marketing ploys - especially those that play on your emotions.
Jess, how well do you know Karen? Is this someone you know IRL?
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~Rondi~
Wife to Rich. Mama to 8 year old Elisha (aka Mr. Memory); 6 year old Chloe (aka a real life Diva) and 4 year old Jadon Jack (aka Mr Messy)
I want to pitch in and say Jess would never intentionally try to guilt people into joining Melaleuca by sharing stories like this. While Melaleuca products are SAFER than many household products, not all of them are natural.
I am on the same team as Jess for Melaleuca ~ I never got this email. So maybe Karen is a friend of hers? Or she's part of a team? I don't know a lot of people on my team nor do I receive emails (except from Denise and maybe a few from Jess) ~ I would like to think that the story is true. I hope that the truth can be found ~ this is a horrible story... very sad and heart-breaking.
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ISO:
Boxtops for Education
Clothes for my kids (WAHM PERFECT!):
DD: Winter Jammies size 6-7 100% cotton
DS: Winter Jammies size 6 100% cotton
Omgosh Rondi Jadon is getting so big! He is just precious.
I do not know Karen that well. She and I have emailed back and forth occationally and she seems like a truly nice/sweet person. I really don't think she's is making it up but anything is possible on the internet.
An exaggeration maybe, but I really don't beleive she flat out made the whole story up. I have emailed her and am waiting for a reply but I do truly believe she is at a funeral today so am not expecting a responce for awhie.
~Jess
Last edited by littlemamajess : 08-24-2004 at 12:30 PM.
I'm not posting to make you feel bad at all. I wanted to help others too and didn't realize the people above me would try to get signups at any cost - even compromising the truth. 
(that's a joke, no one take offense, I work for a marketer so I read this stuff constantly - go check out Marcia Yudkin's most recent article on hype and you'll recognize a lot of this if you want to know more about marketing ethically).
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