Podcast Summary: The Dream Team

Episode Title: The Dream Team
Host: Little Everywhere (Jane Marie)
Guest: Brandi Hadfield
Release Date: July 11, 2025

1. Introduction and Background

Brandi Hadfield introduces herself as a 45-year-old psychotherapist in training, currently based in Toronto, Ontario. She shares her journey transitioning from a multi-level marketing (MLM) company to pursuing a career in psychotherapy.

• Brandi Hadfield [00:28]: "I'm in my fourth of five years of training as a psychotherapist, which I restarted after I left a multi-level marketing company."

2. Joining Juice Plus Company

Jane Marie initiates the conversation by inquiring about Brandi's involvement with MLMs. Brandi explains her recruitment into Juice Plus Company, highlighting the company's shift from a full MLM to an affiliate-only model.

• Brandi Hadfield [02:41]: "So I was part of the Juice Plus Company. They sell like fruits and vegetables, powdered, encapsulated, and like a plant-based omega and protein powder that's vegan."

3. MLM Culture and Practices

Brandi delves into the MLM environment, discussing the company's mission to promote healthy living and how her personal beliefs aligned with the company's evangelical Christian-leaning culture. She reflects on the pressures and conditioning inherent in MLM structures.

• Brandi Hadfield [03:49]: "There's definitely some people in my downline, like in my team believers and very much still in the company."

4. Personal Struggles and Burnout

Brandi recounts the challenges she faced balancing her MLM commitments with personal life, especially during the pandemic. She describes experiencing isolation, burnout, and the detrimental impact on her mental health.

• Brandi Hadfield [34:13]: "During the pandemic... I was just hustling my heart out, thinking I was changing the world, and... I hit a wall where I burnt out."

5. Leaving MLM and Recovery

Brandi explains her decision to leave the MLM, citing financial shortcomings and the unsustainable nature of the business model. She discusses her journey towards recovery, emphasizing the importance of disconnecting from the MLM community to regain her mental well-being.

• Brandi Hadfield [21:28]: "It felt difficult to sever ties. But then I felt like, okay, this is a real like black and white reason that I can leave because it's just not making sense financially."

6. Insights on MLM as Commercial Cults

In a profound discussion, Brandi presents her academic insights on MLMs, proposing that they function similarly to commercial cults by inducing behaviors like dissociation, denial, and narcissistic grandiosity. She shares her plans to explore this theory further in her thesis.

• Brandi Hadfield [39:56]: "I propose that multi-level marketing companies induce, or commercial cults in general purposely induce dissociation, denial and narcissistic grandiosity."

7. Impact of MLM on Personal Relationships

Brandi reflects on how MLM involvement affected her marriage and friendships. She touches upon the emotional toll of integrating MLM activities into her personal life, including the introduction of religious elements and the pressure to recruit others.

• Brandi Hadfield [15:42]: "I was kind of becoming Christian, like, as I was going along. And I talked to my husband about that, and that was probably the thing that was most... challenging."

8. Future Plans and Advocacy

Looking forward, Brandi shares her aspirations to create a nonprofit focused on commercial cult recovery. She emphasizes the need for resources and support for individuals exiting MLMs, aiming to provide psychoeducation and peer support.

• Brandi Hadfield [36:01]: "I'm actually in the process of trying to create a nonprofit for commercial cult recovery. We started our first peer support group meeting last month."

9. Concluding Thoughts

Brandi concludes by expressing her commitment to helping others understand and recover from the manipulative dynamics of MLMs. She highlights the importance of providing accessible resources and support systems for those affected.

• Brandi Hadfield [38:44]: "I'm still really finding my way out of the wellness world because it was such a huge part of my identity."

Notable Quotes

• Brandi Hadfield [08:18]: "People are always like, oh, they're all just suckers. And I'm like, no, they're like you and me. There's nothing weird or special about people who get involved in MLMs. It could be anybody."

• Brandi Hadfield [11:05]: "I think with most people, if you spend enough time, you're going to see them get immersed in it."

• Brandi Hadfield [26:27]: "It's like tough love. Then there's like a team call every single week and then there will be bigger team calls like for the greater, you know, upline."

• Brandi Hadfield [43:19]: "They're almost training the empathy out of you."

Key Takeaways

• MLM Recruitment Dynamics: Brandi's experience underscores how MLMs attract individuals through relatable figures and promise of success, often leading to deep psychological conditioning.

• Psychological Impact: The involvement in MLMs can lead to disordered behaviors, such as obsessive control over diet and lifestyle, contributing to mental health challenges.

• Cult-like Structures: MLMs possess cult-like characteristics, including indoctrination, emotional manipulation, and coercive control, which can adversely affect personal relationships and individual autonomy.

• Recovery and Advocacy: Exiting MLMs requires significant emotional and psychological effort. Increased awareness and support systems are essential for recovery.

Conclusion

In this episode of The Dream, Brandi Hadfield provides an in-depth exploration of her journey through the MLM world, highlighting the manipulative practices and personal struggles associated with such environments. Her insights offer valuable perspectives on the psychological ramifications of MLM involvement and the path towards recovery and advocacy.