Why are there so many links to the LDS Church?

A drive along Interstate 15 reveals Utah County’s status as the unofficial center of multilevel marketing, from its multiple corporate headquarters to billboards to Young Living’s lavender farm in Juab County. You can find many indicators that indicate.

Utah has more MLM businesses, or what the industry and many economists call direct selling companies, per capita than any other state, making it a “global hub” for the field. According to a study by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.

MLM models are often promoted to potential sellers as a way to earn money while working from home or having a flexible schedule. However, as the Federal Trade Commission wrote in his July 2022 article, “Most people who participate in legal he MLMs make little or nothing. Some make no money. Some people lose it.”

The FTC also says that in some cases, “people believe they are participating in a legitimate MLM, when in fact it is an illegal pyramid scheme that steals all their investment money and leaves them with large debts.” It is written down.

Dozens of MLMs, primarily based in Salt Lake County and Utah, employ some 14,000 people directly and thousands more indirectly through suppliers.

Young Living, doTERRA, and other industry giants also host conferences, attracting thousands of visitors and their tourism dollars.

The Direct Selling Association, the industry’s national trade group, said direct selling companies are thriving because Utah supports entrepreneurs and values ​​community.

Researchers and industry leaders also point to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a key factor in attracting these companies to Utah. His MLM is so common in the Beehive State that there is a well-documented joke about it. The acronym MLM can also stand for “Mormons Losing Money.”

Over 90 companies in Utah

A 2022 report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute identifies 91 companies headquartered in five of Utah’s 29 counties, primarily along the Wasatch Front.

The Salt Lake Tribune searched the state’s system and found data for 78 of those companies. (The Utah Department of Workforce Services’ search system requires at least five characters, but some company names have only four characters.)

Two other companies, Clad & Cloth and BeneYOU, appear to have closed or been absorbed into other organizations.

The Direct Sales Management Association, an industry lobbying group in Utah, asked us to verify the list in the August 2022 Gardner report to see if there are any additional businesses or if some businesses have closed. did not respond to the request.

Disclosure restrictions prevent reporting exact employment numbers, but the 78 companies for which the Tribune obtained data employ between 7,200 and 14,500 workers.

The state’s numbers do not include thousands more independent salespeople in Utah.

For example, doTERRA boasts on its website that it has 3 million independent resellers worldwide. Young Living claims 6 million people, and Zaire Active says it has several thousand people in the United States and Canada.

According to DirectSelling.org, there are nearly 1 million full-time direct sellers in the United States and 6.8 million part-time sellers.

More than 163,500 people are involved in the industry in Utah, according to the Direct Selling Association.

Conservative women, mission and independence

So why are direct selling companies thriving in Utah?

That may be due to the state’s business-friendly reputation. As the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity touts, Utah “continues to be at the forefront of innovative and awe-inspiring economic opportunity initiatives.”

Gov. Spencer Cox said Utah is setting the standard for entrepreneurship and growing startups.

From WalletHub to US News & World Report to CNBC, Utah is consistently ranked as one of the best states for business.

The Direct Selling Association said in a statement that companies in the industry “feel welcomed to Utah for a variety of reasons, including our entrepreneurial-friendly business environment and our strong community focus across the state.”

This national group has several Utah-based members, including Nu Skin, Stampin’ Up! And USANA.

Another explanation may be what many people associate with the Beehive State, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Deborah Whitehead, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado, concluded in her research that the Salt Lake City-based faith is one possible link between MLM and Utah.

Whitehead started her career a decade ago after seeing the rise of “mom blogs” (particularly among Latter-day Saint and evangelical Christian women) and realizing that many of them were also involved in MLMs. I jumped on this topic.

She found that direct selling appealed to ordinary conservative women.

“This situation creates a bondage for many women,” Whitehead said. While some conservative family traditions hold that mothers working outside the home are detrimental to the family, the economic reality is that most families can survive on a single income. She said she could not.

Whitehead said MLMs can serve as a solution by allowing women to contribute by having a business they can run without leaving their homes.

This echoes what direct sellers told the Tribune in 2022, praising the flexibility of business hours and the ability to take control of business operations.

Latter-day Saint experience and doctrine fuels this, Whitehead concluded in an article published in the Mormon Research Review early last year.

“When young people go out on a mission and serve, they come back with certain skills that actually translate very well into direct sales,” Whitehead said.

She said Latter-day Saints who serve in the church’s volunteer ministry are becoming more comfortable going door-to-door delivering pitches they have memorized and honed. They become accustomed to rejection.

Whitehead said Followers is also community-oriented, giving independent sellers a strong network they can leverage to build their business.

Additionally, she pointed to the doctrine of self-reliance. She pointed out that this is a theological virtue, meaning stocking up on food, forgiving debt, and sticking to a budget, but it could also mean starting your own business.

Entrepreneurship is “not something every Mormon has to do,” Whitehead said. “But the church provides resources to help members start their own businesses if they wish.”

Leaders in the direct selling industry also acknowledge the connection between faith and MLMs. His CEO of Perfectly Posh told KUTV in 2016 that the prevalence of direct selling companies “must have something to do with how LDS culture works.”

Whitehead emphasized that the church acknowledges the dark side of direct sales, such as the practices documented in the 2021 documentary series “LuLaRich.” The four-part series chronicled the rise and fall of his MLM leggings distribution company, LuLaRoe, of which the Latter-day Saint is the founder.

“There is criticism within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints against the tendency to embrace the theological doctrine of self-reliance and distort it into purely material success,” she said.

Whitehead added that church leaders are warning against falling prey to the idea that making lots of money equates to good mental health.

In 2021, the Church updated its online General Handbook (which includes instructions for lay leaders and members) to toughen up Latter-day Saints about illegal business schemes, especially those that seek to take advantage of members’ memberships. I warned you.

“Affinity fraud occurs when a person abuses the trust or confidence of another person to deceive that person. This can occur when both people belong to the same group, such as a church. Yes,” the guidelines state. “It can also occur by abusing a position of friendship or trust, such as a calling in the church or a family relationship.”

The handbook specifies that “members may not state or imply that their business dealings are sponsored, endorsed, or represented by the church or its leaders.”

Megan Banta I’m a data enterprise reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune. A position supported by philanthropy. The Tribune controls all editorial decisions.

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