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Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Cast Zodiac Signs, MLMs, and Mormon Internet Fame
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Coco Moco
Have you ever noticed that some of the biggest mommy bloggers since the rise of influencing in the 2000 and tens are primarily Mormon? If you haven't noticed, that's okay. They don't always advertise it, nor do they have to. But it is one of those things that you can't unsee once you've seen it. That is what we will be diving into today on the last episode of Ahead of the Curve with Coco Moco By. Before I begin a summer break to travel for work, we are going to be diving into the popularity of Mormon influencers and then also the show on Hulu that inspired this episode, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. So the reason that I'm going to be taking a break and don't worry, because I will be pausing subscriptions. So those of you guys that are paying members, you don't have to worry about pressing any button. As long as I'm not posting episodes, you will not be charged. So I'm starting off by going to New York City and I'm speaking for the second year in a row at Tribeca Film Festival, which is super, super exciting. And then after that, I am going to literally get on a flight after my week in Europe and I'm going to Cannes lion, which I've been to before. And I'm so excited that I get to go back this time as an official Cannes lion creator. The first with my talent agency they sent me. Now I'm an official Cannes line creator. Some of the other creators that are on the roster that I'm so honored to be a part of are like Colin and Samir, my role models. Amelia Dimms, my role model. Robin's on Monte Gr Boss Town. Jake, Shane, just I think Brand Flakes is going to be there. Who I actually spoke at Tribeca Film Festival last year with him. So super full circle moment. I'm so excited for Cannes. I'm so excited for Tribeca. And then after, I'm bringing my sister and my friend along and we are going to travel Europe for a little bit. So I will be pausing my substack. It's actually kind of serendipitous. Cause it's been exactly a year since I got on Substack since I got a part of their creator program. And I have grown so much in a year on here. I'm so grateful. What started as a social experiment to see what I could do turned into 10,000 subscribers. Me becoming a bestseller. So thank you guys so much for that. This past year, just a little update and then we'll get into the Mormonism of it all. But I. I think Friday, this episode comes out Monday. Friday I finished my Saturn Return, you guys. Saturn Return is one of the hardest things that you can go through. It happens to everyone around the time that they're 27, 28 years old. And it lasts for about three years. And I just finished mine. It's gonna retrograde slightly and go back in in September, but the bulk of it is over. I had the worst two years of my life. From betrayals, from financial betrayals, from being cheated on, from like, just everything it felt like imploded. And the way I describe my Saturn Return is that I felt like before I was running on grass. Like, my whole life it felt like I was on grass. And I could see the goals that I had in mind and. And I could estimate how long it would take me to get to those goals. And I could see things clearly and I could move as fast as I wanted. And then Saturn Return happens. And it starts slowly, but it's like you get put into a pool of water. It starts slowly by you dip your foot in, and then you slowly start getting pushed further and further into the pool until you spend two to three years and you're completely submersed in a PO pool and you're able to open your eyes and you can kind of see around. You can see the goals that you have and the milestones that you think you're supposed to be hitting, but it's kind of blurry and your eyes burn and you're trying to run like you did on the grass, but you're moving in slow motion and you're. You're yelling for help, but when you're underwater, no one can hear you yelling for help. So finally, I know people say that good things come out of your Saturn Return. I guess I look different. I look completely different. But that wasn't really intentional. It kind of just happened. I don't know what else could have happened other than I have amazing friends that stuck by me and I'm working on my show Middle Row, that I think my Saturn Return and realizing I didn't want to be a part of the peanut gallery that is pop culture commentary anymore in the direction that that genre was headed. It forced me to start my show Middle Row with Kokomoko and I've been filming like back to back episodes at Spotify's theater the past few weeks before I leave for Cannes. And I even hired an amazing video editor who's working with me now, making the episodes look beautiful. And the guests that I've been having on, the people that have been reaching out to be guests on the show, it's insane that these people even know me. So I'm so grateful for where I'm headed and I hope that I just have better luck now that I'm done with my Saturn return. And I don't want to scare you. You'll make it out alive, I hope. But if you're starting your Saturn return or it's going to happen in the next few years, good luck, Good luck, good luck, good luck, good luck. Just good luck. Because you're going to need it. It's going to be crazy, but, yeah. So that is what I'm going through. I did a year on Substack the last year, which I'm glad I stuck with it because it was the hardest year of my life. But Substack was the one thing that kept me grounded and I had to stay on a schedule for, you know, you guys pay for my substack, and I don't take that lightly. And so you guys are my boss. Like, I was like, I'm going to give them an episode every Monday unless there was like, a holiday and it got pushed back. But every single week I put out an episode and then every Friday, I put out a trend report every single, like, week for a year. And I'm so proud of myself because it was a lot of work, but I loved it. It was intellectually stimulating in a way. Tick Tock was different, and I'm just grateful for 10,000 subscribers. Thank you guys so much. You guys are my boss. You're the ones that I want to do the best work for the coconuts over here. So, yeah, so I will be on break, but you guys don't have to worry about pressing anything. As long as I'm not putting up episodes, you will not be charged. But you can follow my socials for some European updates. So back to the episode. Okay. Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I'm really fascinated by pattern recognition in the creator space. And one thing that you cannot ignore if you study the creator space is the connection between viral mommy influencers, them just being super famous and Mormonism. And I want to start out too by saying that I don't have any opinion on the Mormon religion because I am not a part of it and I don't know enough about it to have an opinion. I was raised around so many different religions, including Mormonism. My parents never raised us any religion, but I grew up in SoCal and so I grew up going to the JCC with my Jewish friends. I grew up going to Catholic church with my Catholic friends. I grew up praying before dinner with my Christian friends. And I grew up actually, surprisingly, a lot of girls that I cheered with when I did All Star cheer in Orange county were Mormon. I don't know what the tie is between Orange county cheerleading and Mormonism, but that was the first time I learned what Mormonism is. So I grew up around so many religions, so I try not to judge at all. As long as you're a good person and it makes you be a better person, I think that's all I can say for that. So I'm making this episode not to judge the Mormon religion, but you just look at different patterns within the Mormon religion and how it relates to influencers. So I hope you appreciate that the table of contents for the episode is number one. We're going to start with the history of Mormonism and mommy influencing and famous influencers that are Mormon who are not on the popular Hulu show. Because it's not just the Hulu Show. And then we're also going to talk about the connection between mlm, so multi level marketing, which is a very predatory type of business, and the LDS Church and how it perfectly fits into behaviors on algorithms and social media that are rewarded by platforms. And then in the extended episode exclusively for the paying members@cocomoco.substock.com we will be talking about specifically the cast of the Hulu show and what I want to dive into is their zodiac signs. So no one else has done it. No one else has broken down their zodiac signs. So I did some research and I put a little list together that we're going to analyze their sun and moon signs. And then I also just want to end it by talking about the difference between this show on Hulu and then the way that Bravo runs their shows and their reality stars. I think the most biggest comparison to the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would be the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. But I think that Hulu did something differently from Bravo that gave this show specifically a breath of fresh air. But then I also think Bravo has one specific piece of leverage over Hulu when it comes to the franchise. So we're going to dive into that on the extended episode, which you can listen to by becoming a paying member for $9 a month at kokomoco. Substack.com love you guys. Love you coconuts. Thank you for a year of listening to my substack and this podcast. Let's dive into the episode. On September 9, 2024, a writer named Emma Spector wrote an op ed for Vogue titled How I Ended My Voyeuristic Relationship with Mormon Mom Culture. Spectre talks about her early obsession with watching curated LDS mommy influencers on Instagram in the 2010s creators like love Tazza, who no longer actively post. She expressed her initial excitement with the show coming out the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu, but that despite the cast's insistence on this show presenting a new model of Mormon womanhood, it's difficult to forget the LDS Church historic role as an agent of white supremacy. And she talks to Mom Fluenced author Sarah Peterson, who confirms that there is a pattern between the biggest mommy influencers and their connection to evangelical or Mormon religions that uphold the patriarchy. Once you notice that the major mommy influencers from Instagram in its early days to YouTube to TikTok are mostly Mormon or ex Mormon, you can't unsee it. Or they're they're Mormon adjacent. Like Aspen Ovard, one of my favorite beauty influencers growing up, who I remember on YouTube and then she got married at like 19 and started having kids and she was from Salt Lake City. She's not Mormon, but she is like Mormon adjacent. Like she's just around that community and has talked about it. So there's a lot of Mormon adjacent, Mormon or ex Mormon women who are the biggest mommy influencers. So let's talk about famous Mormon influencers outside of the show. So not Taylor, Frankie Paul and them. But like other big influencers, some of them would be Nara Smith, Ballerina Farm and the now disgraced Ruby Franke. Hannah Nealman, AKA Ballerina Farm, was raised in a devout Mormon family in Springville, Utah. She pursued ballet at Juilliard before transitioning to farm life with her husband Daniel Neeleman, son of JetBlue founder David Neeleman. Together they manage a 328 acre farm in Kamaz, Utah where they raise eight children and share their lifestyle with millions on social media. She's been done editorials in magazines and she has been the center of so many conversations. So she's really kind of broken out of her own bubble. And like I say, that third party perspective that you have to get to become bigger than your own fandom, she definitely has reached that. In the last year, along with the rise of Ballerina Farm, we saw Nara Smith. Now she was not raised Mormon, but she married model and former Tumblr heartthrob Lucky Bluesmith, who is Mormon. She says she is not a hardcore Mormon, and that they were not married in a Mormon church, but that she and him are exploring their own religion. While her content often showcases traditional homemaking and family life, Nara emphasizes that these choices stem from her personal interests and health considerations and not a religious doctrine. She has addressed the misconceptions about promoting religious agendas because a lot of people say that her and Ballerina farms are trad wives, which means traditional wives. Which I do think that the harshness on those women, even if they are representing a movement, I don't think that they themselves are purposely trying to be a propaganda machine. I think that there's other factors that push them out that are outside of their control. So I do want to say that she's addressed. So Nara Smith has addressed misconceptions about promoting religious agendas, stating, I'm definitely not doing that. Everyone's religion and faith is something so deeply personal to them that I would never want to put something out there for people to follow. I never have and I never will. So Nara kind of outwardly distances herself from. From the Mormon title. However, it's still something that exists in her world because of her husband. And then. Ruby Frankie is a mommy vlogger who grew on YouTube with her Channel 8 passengers. She has since been arrested and imprisoned for abusing her children to the point that one of them escaped out of a bathroom window and ran to a neighbor's house. He was emaciated and had scars on his wrist and ankles from handcuffs and a cayenne pepper paste created to further hurt and wound the children where the restraints were. I actually can't talk about this case without getting emotional, so I have to stop here. It's like, there's like, a lot of things I see on the Internet, but, like, this is one of those cases that I actually can't talk about. Yeah, it just makes me sad. I'm getting sad thinking about it. Anyways, okay, so Ruby Franke is a devout member of the LDS Church, and while she doesn't represent an entire religion, the LDS Church still has yet to excommunicate her, despite these crimes. So do with that info what you will. Outside of the evil Ruby Frankie, is it a coincidence that the last two major influencers to break through on TikTok one even making it to the Forbes Top creators list are Mormon or Mormon adjacent. So just let that sit in. Like, once you see it, you can't unsee it. And then something that can help us understand algorithms and social media that ties into the Mormonism as well is multi level marketing schemes. I'm sure you guys, if you're listening to this, you probably know what they are because they're a faucet of the Internet. That's really fascinating. So if you listen to like marketing content, you've probably heard about MLM content. But Mormons and MLMs and their adoption of social media all go hand in hand. Did you know that Utah has been identified as having the highest concentration of MLM companies per capita in the United States? Utah is also home to the LDS Church. So what is it about Mormons and predatory MLMs that seem to go hand in hand? What is it about their culture that makes the LDS women specifically more susceptible to falling for an MLM scheme than any other demographic in the United States? And what is it about these behaviors that also lend these Mormon women to making for such popular influencers online? Here are some of the reasons that the Mormon women are drawn to MLMs which also make them primed for going viral. Number one, they're often stay at home moms. The expectation to stay at home lends itself to someone who can post more frequently online than someone with a typical 9 to 5 job. Social platforms also highly reward and push out content that is seen as safe for advertisers. So cooking content, homemaking, interior design, children, makeup and hair and all of these fall under the umbrella of things that Mormon women are seen as being able to do and monetize while still staying under the umbrella of femininity that is imposed on them with the LDS Church. Another thing is social networks. Church activities and social gatherings facilitate the ideal environment for an MLM to survive. Spreading like a Contagion the extensive social networks of an LDS Church create a breeding ground for recruiting and selling products. It also makes them great for having a kickstart with their social media. Getting that initial engagement and buzz really helps when you're already a part of a broader community. Another is traditional roles and financial pressures. The emphasis on traditional roles and the woman staying at home and paired with the keeping up with the Joneses financial pressure of being in a tight knit community that values aesthetics like the LDS and MLM creates this illusion of a woman being able to stay at home with the kids while still being able to make money to help them keep up with the Joneses. Another thing that makes influencing a great option for them. Also white beauty standards. While not necessarily proven, maybe it has and I just haven't seen those studies. I'd love to see them if they exist. I've done my own social experiments on the algorithm. And I've definitely noticed discrepancies that seem valid. But it is long believed that algorithms reward and push out conventionally attractive white creators more than any other demographic. Not only that, but also white creators are seemingly, in my experience, less likely to be punished for doing something against guidelines or even like speaking out on a hot button topic. White creators are able to get away with it more versus a person of color. They're going to be penalized in the algorithm and by the platforms much more. So that all has to do with these ingrained institutional systems that set up white creators to be paid more, to get more brand deals, to be pushed out in the algorithms, and just overall rewarded for their content compared to their counterparts that might work just as hard, if not 10 times harder. The white and beauty centered world of Mormonism makes them the perfect candidate that the algorithms look for. And then lastly, something I haven't heard anyone talk about when it comes to why Mormons seem to make such great influencers and also why they're so ingrained with MLMs as well. Specifically, not just their beauty, not just them having to be stay at home moms and the emphasis on femininity, but it's actually their missionary training. So the missionary trainings of Mormons really makes them great at recruiting for MLMs and great at growing on social media like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. There's a constant desire ingrained in them from birth to constantly reach outside of their already established social bubbles and a lifelong pursuit to recruit more members, whether it be missionaries or followers online. Whereas other religions might be a lot harder to get into, like Judaism is a lot harder to become a part of. Whereas something like the LDS Church or even like a Jehovah Witness, they really want people to go out and recruit. So it just depends on the church. But specifically, the LDS Church really, really values you spending a lifetime recruiting as many people as you can. And that is the type of mindset that really aligns with being able to succeed on social media where like, if you think about it, you think about your followers like recruits. Like every single day you're going and you're, you might not be physically knocking on doors, but you're trying to make content that can reach more people and convert them to become your followers. Just like a missionary going to a foreign place and trying to baptize and convert as many people as they can. And then one other theory that came up during my research is that the LDS Church could be funding members to become influencers, pushing lavish lifestyles to then attract new LDS members and potentially them even paying to boost words like Mormon in the feeds. We now know that from the fallout of the Ends With Us movie that there are nefarious PR companies that can boost certain terms in the feeds and even censor certain words, topics or videos without ever having worked internally at the platforms. YouTuber and former LDS member Alyssa Grenfell has stated on her channel that she believes the church was sponsoring influencers through meals and travel and that the organization was funneling money towards the term Mormon online. She states that it is tricky in the sense that the church might reimburse travel and events, but they can't outright pay the influencers directly since current members of the church might become upset knowing that their I think it's called tithings, like their donations are going towards paying influencers directly. So instead they find ways to do it indirectly. So I thought that was really interesting. And then kind of like the last layer here is there's also this other stepping stone that a Mormon woman can take in the journey of virality which then opens them up to a whole other audience as well, which is the virality of leaving the LDS Church. I feel like this isn't always talked about because it's not always intentional from the influencers themselves. If you're ingrained in a church like that, to leave it could mean ostracization from your family, from your support network. So I don't think it's a decision that they make lightly is like, hey, I'm going to go viral. I think it usually is an authentic part of their story that when they do open up about does lend itself to a whole other audience. There is this kind of wave of support and intrigue that can come online once a Mormon mom leaves the LDS Church and begins to speaking about it. Mormons get a lot of support from other Mormons which can jump start their careers. But they can also get a huge wave of support from millions of people that are fascinated by Mormons and ex Mormons who are finally speaking out against the church online. The inner workings of the LDS Church and what happened behind temple doors is very, very secretive even to those in the church. So anyone who's gotten close to the inside and is now willing to talk about it become another piece to this big puzzle. And I think that like the fascination with the outside world around Mormons is also why Hulu picked up this show and it's a hit. They could have been like the Secret Lives of Catholic Wives and it might have been interesting, but like there was just something fascinating about Mormonism and its secrecy that I think elevates the show. So there's many factors that can make Mormon women primed for social media algorithms, as discussed above. But now I want to dive specifically into the Hulu show, the secret lives of Mormon wives, and the way that I best know how, because there's a million podcast episodes already dissecting the show. But I'm going to dive into all of their zodiac signs, their sun and moon signs, because that's kind of the first thing I have to look up when I'm watching any new reality show. And then we are going to also look into the difference between Hulu and Bravo and how they kind of film their reality shows and why I think this Hulu show felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the legacy Bravo shows that have been running for decades. So if you can hear my voice for a little bit longer, then you can unlock the second half of this episode by becoming a ping member of my best selling substack@cocomoco.substack.com for just $9 a month paying Coconuts. I'll see you on the other side and if not, thank you for making it this far. I'll see you later when I am back from Europe and my break and I feel fresh and I have a new mindset and I can bring a breath of fresh air to these episodes. Thank you so much for being with me this past year. Coconuts. I love you so much. You are my one constant in a year of chaos and I appreciate you for that.