Saturday, October 12, 2013

An Outsider's ZoiVi Experience

The story that I wish to share is not of the Zoivi member that realized that the entire thing was a scam, but rather my story is that of the girlfriend who had to watch the boyfriend she loved so much fall into this trap and turn into a complete stranger.

The past year Zoivi has caused me so much grief and I wish for no one to have the same experience. I want people to realize that when someone joins a cultish MLM such as Zoivi it does not only affect the person who joined it also comes with consequences that resonate onto the people closest to you: your family and your friends. So many relationships have been torn apart due to these so-called companies (I refuse to acknowledge them as legitimate honest businesses). The sad reality is that the relationships lost are never worth even the smallest fraction of whatever it is “earned” through working with these MLM cults.

My boyfriend and I have been good friends for over 4 years and during the last two we got together. We had an amazing relationship and we were good to each other. After a year of being together a friend of his roped him into going to a Zoivi meeting and then it all went downhill for us. He quit his good job and joined Zoivi and soon after quit college for it.

His life now revolved around Zoivi. All of a sudden, I scarcely heard from him anymore. He didn’t tell me what he was doing or what his job really was and whenever I asked him anything about work he was very vague about it. I became so frustrated because I wanted answers and I just felt deceived. All of a sudden he wasn’t sharing with me what is going on in his life. The worst was seeing all the pictures on Facebook and Instagram of him doing all sorts of fun things with these strangers and he couldn’t spend a day to do something fun with me. Screw all those “family days”; the only purpose those serve is to solidify their cult even more. Now the sweet loving guy I knew just walked around in a black suit all the time like a big shot, like all the other Zoivi people, but no one knew what he or any of them really did. I would hardly see him anymore, twice a month if I was lucky and our communication dwindled and for what!? Working literally 7 days a week with absolutely no time for anything outside Zoivi?! Coming home way past midnight regularly because of meetings and trainings?! (My favorite is that one time he was supposed to meet me then the CEO made a surprise appearance at 11 PM and called a random meeting that lasted like 3 hours and everyone HAD to flock to him…WHICH NORMAL COMPANY DOES THAT!)

So what was he doing at Zoivi exactly? All I ever heard of was training, training, one on ones, blah blah blah. First off, how much training do you need to sell mediocre, overpriced, not FDA approved diet products? Well then again probably a lot since no normal person in their right mind would purchase them without a Zoivi rep badgering and lying about the products. That is what they teach them in all those “trainings”,  lies and how to tell lies. From what I perceived from these trainings they all started with sob stories followed by feel good motivational talks and then by more brainwashing. I mean how does hearing sob stories help “build your business” exactly? Well in Zoivi’s case it just helps you sympathize with the speaker allowing the audience to trust the speaker enough so believe them as they fill you with lies. That was the brainwashing I was talking about. My boyfriend had come to believe things that don’t make sense. I’ve listed a few at the bottom, read them and enjoy the b.s.!

-          “college is a pyramid scheme” (Last time I checked you pay for valuable education, a degree, and chance to choose work from a larger job pool. They aren’t taking my money for nothing valuable in return. Yes the job market sucks and student loans are a pain but college is what you make of it and I still believe it still can be a viable tool to be successful.)
-          “look at those people working in Wendy’s, they could be making so much more money with Zoivi” (It is not my place to judge Wendy’s workers but they are making an honest living by not tricking people to waste their money behind a fake business opportunity! Besides in actuality those burger flippers are probably making more than most of those ‘Zoidroids’ who most likely don’t turn a profit when the expenses are added up.”)
-          “the products are not expensive” (Bullshit! The products are way overpriced! The same thing and even of better quality could be bought at GNC for fraction of the price. And they try to get you to buy their cheapest $700 package and then try to convince you that isn’t a lot..please give me a break. Besides they are not FDA approved and I did try their detox and all it did for me was make me puke! And all those “results” they show are not what they seem! Anyone could lose a few pounds of water weight if they starve themselves for a day as the detox instructs!”)
-          “I could retire in 5 years and retire my parents like Mr. Evaji” (More bullshit. Here is what really happens, you would join lose money and soon you wouldn’t be able to keep up all the expenses of your “business” this includes buying the product stock and other booklets and stuff needed to sell, pay for your website upkeep costs, buying expensive black suits and ties, paying for transport, buying outside food because you don’t have time to cook at home anymore, “family” activities, meetings, costly retreats (airfare, hotel, food…you pay for), and others exist that I don’t even know of. All of this not to mention all your time and energy! On top of that no pension, social security, or health insurance. If Zoivi really cared about its employees wouldn’t it have benefits or retirements plans. Yes they blab about this “residual income” but think hard about that and if that even possible by selling crappy overpriced diet products or by recruiting ignorant people? Eventually they will lose money and quit and competitors will destroy any so-called Zoivi “consumer base”. Either way, Evaji is just sucking everyone’s money for start-up fees and events.)
-          “I don’t want to work at a job just to make the boss money” (This one is so stupid. I mean at a job you work and make the money you earn, whether or not you are underpaid that is your judgment call. Besides there are bosses and business owners who make less than their employees or just break even, especially at a start- up business. Everyone starts somewhere, maybe you have to work for someone to learn the business to be the boss one day, or maybe you should go to college so you learn the trade and then be the boss. Besides the point, when you work at Zoivi, technically, you are not “your own boss” you still have and upline to account back to on everything you did and they make a share of your profits so, no you are not the boss of your own business they have control on your money and your “business”. And trust me your upline will be up your ass for every little detail in your life and call and text you 24/7 about your “business”, really a string of text from people in your upline at 12:30 AM about “business” is a little excessive. P.S. Duplicating Wednesday = You duplicate everything your upline does and they clone you to become them.)

Anyways my boyfriend basically turned into a Zoidroid douchebag. He completely changed! It was like he couldn’t think for himself and he lived in this little Zoivi bubble. It is part of any cult to brainwash the followers into developing this ‘it’s us vs. them’ attitude. His personality changed, he wasn’t fun anymore and he became cruel. He would be happy when he told some girl off in a one-on-one (the meeting to sign people up) and made her cry saying that she was stupid and would never succeed in Zoivi or have a mindset for success... yeah he turned into a jerk, completely the opposite from the kind, sweet guy I knew.

When he started missing important things such as Valentine’s Day and a college formal (that I really wanted to go to) for Zoivi trainings and meetings, I just became more and more frustrated, mostly frustrated seeing him slip away. Then I started researching what Zoivi really was, and the words MLM and pyramid schemes etc… and I started to realize the truth of what he was involved with and whenever I’d bring any of it up he would get so defensive and retaliate with the usual “you are being too negative”, “you sound like a confused person”, “you are overthinking it”, “it’s too big for you to understand”, “we are going to take over the world, trust me and don’t worry about it”, ugh the bullshit, used to piss me off to no limit! He would never give any adequate answer backed up by facts! Instead of having a mature conversation I was spoken to as a child. The best phrase that pissed me off royally was “you don’t support me”.  BULLSHIT I supported him through a lot of shit even with the Zoivi crap I tried adjusting to it and cheered him, went to stupid functions because it made him happy. Then all of a sudden when I mention that I read that it wasn’t a stable business, I don’t support him all of a sudden. I see now that it wasn’t only heartbreaking but also unfair. I was just so hurt I tried keeping everything together and it all still kept falling apart. Eventually, he ended it saying that he felt bad for not being a good boyfriend to me and not giving me the time he deserved, of course he also had to add in that our relationship was too much a distraction for his business. Yeah right, I hardly saw him anymore or have normal conversations with him, how was I any sort of distraction to him? I felt like shit and so confused because we were so good before all this Zoivi garbage. Before all of the Zoivi crap he was a good person, kind, loving, loyal guy, now I don’t really know what he is anymore.

Looking back now, I realize from slight comments I’d hear from him, that all along the Zoidroids have been meddling in our relationship. I remember one time he told me that those Zoivi girls told him that if they had a boyfriend as busy as he was they would have broken up with him a long time ago. When I went to their stupid events I remember having this discussion with them, “Wow you’re so busy with college and work and he’s so busy doing big things over here, how does your relationship even have time?” I mean really, why is that any of their business! I feel like behind my back they have been slyly encouraging him to break up with me, mostly evident in the terrible nickname they gave me behind my back. On top of that after I met a lot of them, I asked the boyfriend the next day what they thought about me, his response was that they all were asking him why he didn’t get me into Zoivi already! I mean I was like thinking they’d say oh she is nice or we like her, she’s cool, or something like that. Why does the first thing out of their mouths have to be, “Why won’t she join?”? Since when do the people you work with have any say in your relationship?

What I do know is that the relationship that I cared for so much he thought was second to Zoivi. I was like he was cheating on me with Zoivi and Evaji! Frankly, since the first time I met Evaji, before I researched any of what Zoivi was about, I had a bad feeling about him. I didn’t trust him. Maybe it was the whole I lived in my car sob story I couldn’t believe or maybe it was the way all the Zoivi reps were willing to do anything for this man even lick the dirt off his sandals, either way I knew he was shady shit. The way they extol him like some sort of god is just creepy. I mean they put so much trust in this guy who ultimately created such an elaborate system to use them all. He has so much control over them! They would do anything he said just to suck up to him, because if he likes you or not matters. For example, my boyfriend had told me if he likes you enough he would invite you to live in the mansion, that and if you are doing successful in your “business”. Evaji is just a creepy man all-in-all. Once I told my boyfriend that I thought Evaji was gay because he dresses so flamboyantly and he was so appalled at my statement he was like no Evaji has plenty of girlfriends and that Evaji only wears the best brand named clothes and at the end of every month he throws away his entire wardrobe and buys a new one. OK, WHAT A WASTE! By the way everyone in Zoivi has such an obsession with name brand items, only brands like Hugo Boss and Armani they should wear. I don’t like their materialistic attitude and the need to smugly rub this “lifestyle” in everyone’s faces to make it seem like their little cult is superior to everyone else. My ex-boyfriend used to be humble and never cared about pointless crap about the brand of his tie but now he does just like the rest of them. Evaji either trained him or they all just want to be dicks just like their god. I just think Evaji is not a genuine person, all the niceness fake, actually all of Zoivi is really good at putting up this nicey nice act but it is just that, an act. They just care about your money not your friendship.

These Zoivi people are terrible and ruthless. If they ever approach you, avoid them at all costs. If you think this is a great opportunity to make money or to make new friends, think again. You won’t make money. If you do, it would not be honest money or worth the time and effort you put in. You won’t make friends. People interested in you only for your money and people thinking that you are going to fund their dreams; these are not real friends. Lastly, I ask you to think about your boyfriend or girlfriend, your real family, and your real friends before if you ever consider joining Zoivi. If you love them and care about them do not push them away with something as stupid as Zoivi. The people that care the most are usually the ones affected the most by stuff like this, so don’t hurt them. 

15 comments:

  1. Well said, clap clap clap.

    Dumb Zoidroids, let me tell you one thing that may shock you. The owner of this comment had worked literally in an underground animal research facility that Yale University Animal Resource Center owned. His job there is to dump the stinking cages filled with mice shit and pee, sometime even with live mice pups, wash them in a tunnel washer, and finally assamble the cages and make it as the new home for future incoming mices.

    He makes about $400 a week, about $1200 a month as a part time worker, a year? Well, you do the math. This amount is the cause of the economy crisis, back in 2002, a part time worker makes about $1100 in a week.

    Really, lighten up. Even working at a "shitty" job like this make more then you guys do, you guy still thinks that it is a marvelous business oppotunity. Well, I wouldn't be suprised when I see you guys one day wonders on the street of NYC looking for food and money, like one of those smelly homeless people, LOL!!!!

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    1. It seems this story really got to you, perhaps all of it it's true.Zoidroids get pretty funny when deffending their pathetic cult.

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    2. lol yeah.

      I know who you are, and you know who I am.

      To be honest, I would feel empty inside when this whole Zoivi thing blows over, I had never felt this much of a thrill in my life!! I had fun watching stupidy and ignorance plays out of itself, and I laughed like a manic at every single moments of their pathetic defensive comments on facebook.

      Oh well, when that happens, onto the next show.

      Delete
  2. You said “college is a pyramid scheme” (Last time I checked you pay for valuable education, a degree, and chance to choose work from a larger job pool. They aren’t taking my money for nothing valuable in return. Yes the job market sucks and student loans are a pain but college is what you make of it and I still believe it still can be a viable tool to be successful.)"

    Hahaha!

    This is exactly how it is in MLM -- it is what you make of it. If you think you're going to get rich quick then you're sadly mistaken. It's a business like every other business. It's a distribution model that moves goods and services.

    Did you know that today in 2013, 50% of college graduates between the ages of 18 - 25 are unemployed. 50%!! So does that mean college is a scam?!

    Most people don't "fail" in MLM.

    They quit.

    Most people go to school for 4 years to make $60K per year.

    But when they get into an MLM and when they don't get rich in 90 days they quit when these same people went to school for 4 years to make $60K?!

    Hello?!

    Amway: around for 50 years. Herbalife: around for 30 years. Avon: more than 100 years. NuSkin and many others have been around for many years. All MLM. All operating in the U.S.

    But it's a scam right?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FclI8hGQgb4

    MLM is not a scam. It is what you make of it and that is a lot of work and perseverance as is everything that you do for the first time.

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    1. Lou Abbott will have disagree with you

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUWmgsgMkPU

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    2. I agree with Michael
      Well what about McDonald's for example they are huge. And then you have c.e.o to the vice presidents, main manigers, supervisors... all the way down to the people frying and cleaning in each mcdonald store throughout the world. Doesn't that appear as a pyramid? =_= and people dont fail they quit.

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  3. Hi Micheal and the above Anonymous, this is the person who wrote the above post and this response is for you. Cheers.

    Ok, woah there buddy. I see you’re a big supportive of MLMs and good for you. First off, let us talk about college. You pay college tuition in order to receive an education. That is it. That is the job of a college; you pay for the service, which in this case is the college providing for you the means and resources to receive an education. Now there are two types of colleges, you have your non-profits and your for-profits. Non-profits are legitimate and the money you pay you do see back in the education you receive, the quality of your education, and campus resources; the college does not function in order to generate a profit. For-profit colleges you have to be careful. These could be scams as the colleges function as businesses and try to generate a profit, so the quality of education may not be up to par. Either way, a college’s purpose is to provide education; they are not required to get you job when you graduate that is your responsibility, so stop attacking colleges because they are just doing their job.

    College is an option and it isn’t forced upon anyone. But it is true that many people choose to go because with a degree a stable-job outlook looks better than without one. Now, I don’t like how you make it seem that 60k a year is a failure. First off, with 60k a year you could lead a decent and comfortable life. With a 60k a year job, it seems to have a great deal more stability than a commission based MLM job. Also, with stable jobs come important benefits such as health insurance, pensions, 401ks, etc… You mentioned 50% of college grads between the ages of 18-25 are unemployed. What was the source of that statistic? Also, do you realize that people usually people graduate college at the age of 21 or 22 and above, with the exception of the few gifted kids that graduate younger? With that being said, 4 or 5 years after college many students are looking to enter institutions of higher education such as grad school, law school, or med school and they are not really looking for a job yet but rather focusing on studies. Some kids take some time off after college, some kids do internships. Therefore, I am not surprised that 100% of college grads aren’t employed in this small window you provided.

    Now onto the topic of MLMs! I don’t think they all are bad. For example Avon, I buy their stuff all the time! They work on commission of what they sell; there isn’t any recruitment which they make money off of, just solely profit derived from selling products. When MLMs enter the territory where uplines and downlines exist, profit is generated mostly from recruitment, and the product is just a placebo, then I have a problem with that. When MLMs start using brainwashing techniques, market a “lifestyle”, and rent fancy cars just to attract people to drop $1000 to work for them, I have a problem with that too. That my friend is pyramid scheme disguised as an MLM. There is no focus on the product anymore but a great focus on perfecting techniques of lying and tricking people into paying to work. And the work is really just learning how to lie and trick people. That there my friend is a scam.

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    1. I'm the anonymous guy with the video and the guy who said I worked in the "shitty" job at Yale

      One thing to add about Avon. While this company may seems like a pyramid scheme to many people because there are still people who fails at making money in Avon, it is still not a pyramid scheme!! Because during my time at Yale with the "shitty" job, I can see Avon's brochure being in the break room for us workers, and they are updated monthly. What do you call that? Proper advertisement or something? Oh yes, exactly that.
      Avon is an MLM company that actually tries to sell their stuff. If you had seen the video I provided, it will be the second pyramid on the right, while the first pyramid on the left is what Zoivi is.

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    2. Exactly they focus on the products, the quality of the products, and how to ensure their consumers get fair prices. There is none of this profiting from recruitment garbage going on like in other MLMs such as Amway, Herbalife, and Zoivi. Unlike Avon, these MLMs lose sight of the "consumer" and don't even attempt to provide them good products or service; their only goal is scamming people to pay money to join.

      Delete
    3. Avon products are actually IN STORE which differentiates them from an MLM business. Same with HerbaLIFE.I worked with Zoivi and its all bull. You know what Saul Tepizila told me when I asked "why not sell in store?" he said because it would take away from profit and they can't afford to sell their amazing products to become "mainstream". They also say they are the BEST network-marketing company NO DOUBT, Bullshit. BULLSHIT BULLSHIT. This company played the hsit out of me, took my money too many times for nothing in return. The way I make income is if I recruit enough people to balance BOTH side of my pyramid and once I hit a certain amount of point i make my first income. -___- and the thing with education is that education is ALWAYS beneficial compared to an MLM. Half of these people are disgustingly illiterate. I've worked very closely with some of these people and they do nothing but sit around, making phone calls in some restraunt or coffee shop (Guy and Gallard, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks) and talk about Zoivi or taking over the world. It can get really annoying. REALLY annoying. With education, its all about the way you utilize it. Yes, its true most successful business owners never graduated college HOWEVER, they do posess a well-educated background in their craft in one way or another. Half of these people in this company lack education. (not simply by the books) Knowledge is ALWAYS a wonderful thing and opportunity to have, and the way this company dongrades this is sort of compromising. Those statistics are also soooooo off. Pick up a book on business or do some research with a well accredited article.

      Eductaion is not the path towards success nor is an MLM company. Success is within. It is all about knowing, acting, and doing while staying humble, giving back, and always learning. There is no materialistic value to what you make of yourself while maintaing love.

      Want to learn from an ACTUAL successful enterprenuer? Read Donald Trumps books or Roberts.

      Delete
  4. continued...

    You say work and perseverance are good things and I agree with you 100% like everyone else who reads your comment. You also say that going to school for 4 years is a waste if you will be making 60k per year, I can’t agree with that. The success rate of people who made any sort of profit over their expenses is very slim and almost non-existent. These people are usually people at the very top of the schemes and of all the uplines because they are getting part of all their downlines work. They make up roughly 1% of the cult-MLM world. There are people determined to make money and who work hard spending 10+ hours a day on building their businesses and they still don’t see a profit and if they do it is a very small one of a few thousand dollars a year. Most of the time it isn’t their fault; it is because the system is flawed. At lease at a job if you do your work and you do it well, you are guaranteed your paycheck. In a pyramid scheme MLM you aren’t guaranteed anything and you spend all your time and effort working to recruit. Once you pay your money to join and you’ve exhausted all your contacts to recruit, the company no longer has use for you and you become disposable. You could still have a good work ethic and have perseverance, but at the end of the day you could fail. You could spend 4 years doing it and still come out with negative profit, not to mention all the time and energy wasted which could’ve been used constructively like at that 60k job where you could’ve made $240,000. On top of that you get no benefits, no social security, health insurance, etc…

    Amway and Herbalife, are you bringing these up to rub it in my face that MLMs could get away with scamming people for years? They have been around long enough because they have perfected the art of brainwashing young ignorant people and providing those with high to keep them hooked. Leaders in Amway have disclosed that most of the money was made from selling the Ambots supplemental CDs and books and paying for elaborate business meetings (check out the 60 Minute’s Amway report on Youtube). These two companies are around because are the best and most convincing scammers in the business and they were some of the first to use this model, so they have power. I also blame weak MLM laws for allowing these pyramid scheme behaviors to be brushed under the mat and allowing companies like these to continue to exist.

    Now you say that most people don’t fail at MLMs, they quit. You also make the claim that they quit because they didn’t get rich in the first 3 months. Well if anyone were to tell me that most of the employees in a company quit in the first 3 months, then I would assume something was wrong with the company and not the people. They quit because they realize it is a waste of time, a crappy way to make money, and they lose contact with the people who they really care about. If they continue there is no guarantee they will make money and more guarantee that they will lose money even if they do work hard and do everything they are told. People who don’t make profit aren’t failing MLMs, MLMs fail people.

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  5. Is NuViza the same as ZoiVi?

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    1. Yes, they just changed their name to keep scaming people.If you see they're the same people from zoivi, same products,logo just different name

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    2. And they claim to just have started in the industry to get more people (suckers) to join but they have been doing it for years now with different names and still haven't made it

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  6. I am so sorry to learn about your experience and that you lost a good friend to this organization. In 2014, two "friends" from my high school tried to recruit me to meet with them/learn about ZoiVi. I received my bachelor's degree in nutritional sciences so even from the get-go, I knew I was NOT going to be involved with ZoiVi but I wanted to help my friends out of it. Sadly, I ended up never meeting with them. I regret it often.

    Our lives went their separate ways-- I earned my M.S. and started medical school... and they stayed with ZoiVi. From the bottom of my heart, I hope that these people find a way out of this company. In HS, I knew them to be bright, determined souls who were exceptionally intelligent and knew what they wanted from life. If I could, I would ask them: when your child grows up, enters college and so on, would you want them to work for ZoiVi instead of going to school?

    There is one person in particular (still working with the company) name Xiao Chen, who I hope will come to her senses soon. Otherwise, her joining ZoiVi and all its ancillary companies would have truly been a great loss to the world that lay before her.


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