What a great read!

Hey, Hun offers an honest, critical, and empathetic look at MLMs, and does so in a way that’s super approachable and easy to understand. The connections to white supremacy were particularly interesting to me, and I wish it went even further. Similarly, I wanted to know even more about the history and rise of MLMs in terms of how they’re founded and owned by white men. (I suppose, like usual, I wanted it to be more radical. The heart wants what it wants!)

Still, I deeply appreciated the fact that the author mentions how inherently imbalanced MLMs are, and how a person’s background and identities would impact how far they can even make it in an MLM. It’s clear that she’s been doing anti-racist work, and it’s refreshing to know that simply in how she words things, the perspectives she offers, and the areas she acknowledges she’s not an expert in.

On the whole, this is a timely, relevant book that’s well-written, insightful, and entertaining.

Thank you to OrangeSky Audio and Netgalley for an ARC of this audiobook!

I have listened to numerous podcasts about MLMs and their predatory nature, so I had low expectations with this book. Emily Lynn Paulson, however, gives an incredibly interesting view into her time as rep for "Rejuvinate," the fake company she made up to, likely, protect herself from legal repercussions. The entirety of the book is from her perspective as a now-outside who has researched into cult-like behaviors and brainwashing, but she is able to explain how she was able to explain away the numerous issues with the business while she was still working for it. This is the first piece of media that made me feel like I understood the (mainly) women who joined these companies, rather than just belittled them for falling into the trap. It felt very nuanced and empathetic, and by the end I truly believed what Paulson had said in the introduction: Every person in an MLM is both a victim and a perpetrator.

There were a few instances, mostly in the beginning, where it would sound like Paulson, who also narrates the book, had spliced in numerous takes of a single sentence. It was also a bit confusing when new chapters would start. They were not audibly labeled as new chapters, and each chapter began with a quote from former MLM reps, so I would hear these little vignettes and think they were from Paulson until she named the person quoted. Other than that, Paulson did a fabulous job narrating her book, and I really enjoyed consuming the book in this format. I would highly recommend!

Thank you to #NetGalley and @orangeskyaudio for this audio-ARC

For anyone who was curious about multilevel marketing and how those businesses work this is the book that throws open the doors and airs all the dirty laundry. I wanted the LuLuRoe documentary on Netflix a while back and was stunned. I had watched a lot of women, mostly moms, attempt to shill all sorts of products over the last two decades and never really understood either the appeal or the pitch. Sure when I felt bad I would buy an eyebrow pencil or a face cream, but that was the limit of my involvement.

Paulson wasn’t just in an MLM, she was a top performer, and through this memoir of sorts, she dives into why she joined, the role white supremacy and misogyny play, and the predatory tactics and social/emotional control exerted over reps. I appreciate that Paulson takes a hard and honest look at why she joined, why she was able to succeed and on the fall out. From substance abuse to bullying to financial irresponsibility it is all laid bare and for the most part Paulson through research and experience lets us all in.

This was a fascinating listen, but you need to be ready for some Becky’s and Karen’s in power positions.

I have always been curious of those that buy into the MLM promises, this includes my own mother, but this book answered my true question of why? - making friends and extra cash as an adult is HARD. Promises of easy cash that could change your life and a whole network of friends makes it an easy choice for those that are feeling lonely and isolated.

In this Audiobook, Emily truly guides you through the start, rise, and end as an MLM "boss babe" and million dollar earner. From the start you are immersed into the world of a beauty MLM and you both root for her journey in the company and criticize how she could have fallen for the company's tactics.

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish and I cannot wait to recommend it to every former MLM "girl boss" I know. As a side note - I also loved the Cultish by Amanda Montell references as that is another nonfiction book I have enjoyed in the past year and this just expands her section on the predatory, cultish nature of MLMs.

Right before the housing bubble burst we were doing a lot of sales on eBay. Sourcing was a constant struggle, and I considered joining up with a MLM as a solution. Ultimately, I didn't have the money. I did notice that any time I would even casually appear interested in one I would briefly be flooded with attention. (Ultimately, I decided I wasn't social enough, either.) I understood that recruitment was important in a MLM, but I had no appreciation of how important it was.

Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing was informative in so many ways. Besides MLMs, I learned at least a little bit about everything from cults to career searching. This is one of those books that I can recommend to a number of different people based on its wide variety of subject matter. It's well-researched, too, which I totally respect. A large section of the work is memoir. Emily Lynn Paulson doesn't hold back on herself, but she does on other people when warranted, something else that makes this work stand out. She could've just gotten right in there and slung mud, naming names and burning bridges. Instead, she takes time and care to protect both the innocent and the less-than. She cites numerous sources to back up her hypothesis, just like someone with a research-based education should.

I believe that Emily Lynn Paulson is a good person at heart who wants to see other people doing well. This review isn't about me, but I will say that I am #blessed to have found this book at this stage of my life. (Yeah, there's a little bit of snark there. I really like her sense of humor. I think we might get along.) Seriously, though, I had never heard of her before reading this audiobook. Her journey resonated with me, and I now have a copy of Highlight Real: Finding Honesty & Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life on order. Thanks for that.

I would like to thank OrangeSky Audio for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook. It was amazing, five stars.

"Hey, Hun" was an interesting look into the cult-like world of MLM companies and the women who take part. I appreciated the background on cult strategies and how they relate to the tools and tactics used by MLM companies and employees. The author made the information clear and repeated it often enough to see the patterns and continue to assist the reader in making connections. Throughout the book, the author makes claims of White supremacy in connection with the actions of the MLM companies and employees. I have read enough on this topic to recognize this is true, however, I wish the author would have made more direct connections for the reader. For those who are unfamiliar, I do not believe the reasoning presented by the author was clear enough to really understand. As a White woman myself, I know we can be resistant to hearing about our privilege and I expect many women would chalk those parts up to "woke vocabulary" and not take the time to self-reflect. Where the topic was present throughout the book felt a little like an afterthought. Despite this, the end of the book and the acknowledgments delved more into the discussion of White supremacy and marginalization in a much more thorough manner, and I really appreciated how that was written. I wish the other parts were similar. I expect many women will relate to seeing themselves as that vulnerable person who was manipulated into this industry, and I hope this book can empower them to see exactly how they were taken advantage of and used as a tool of Capitalism, White supremacy, and patriarchy.

If you have made it to 2023 without being contacted by a friend in a MLM, then you are #blessed! As someone who has been invited to numerous Facebook groups, home parties and online catalog parties, I am certainly familiar with MLMs. MLMs sell everything from children's books to clothing to food. For those that have seen friends get pulled into these "home businesses", or have been tempted to ourselves, Emily Lynn Paulson gives an inside look to the interworking of the MLM world. While much of this information has been made known over recent years, this insider look gives more details and more of the "why" behind the decisions these (mostly) women make in the MLM pursuit. I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the narration as well as the information presented. Recommend.

4.5 stars

This was a compelling, compulsively readable memoir/“tell-all” that read almost like a thriller. Emily Lynn Paulson is very obviously a great storyteller. I was intrigued by the concept, but wasn’t expecting to be so completely hooked so quickly.

This was a smart, thoughtful, critical exploration of MLMs (multilevel marketing schemes/companies) and specifically of the author’s own experiences within an MLM. She does a great job breaking down and exploring the many different structure (not all of them pyramid-shaped, haha) that make MLMs possible, and successful. White supremacy, Racism, predatory behaviours, MLMs are rife with them, and Paulson dove into this in a way that was both salacious and fascinating, but also really human and empathetic.

It’s hard to critique a memoir, obviously it takes a lot to write your own story. And most often you are not the villain of it, so it makes sense that the author won’t be their own harshest critic. This book (for me) brought up some interesting thoughts about how complicit you are when you’re involved in a system that draws you in at your own most vulnerable, and then makes you turn around and prey upon other vulnerable people. I think the author touched on it a bit, and while no one owes anyone their story, I think more of an internal reckoning, and more acknowledgment of their own accountability would have helped me connect a bit more with the story. Obviously this story is told through the benefit of hindsight, so the “villains” and “mean girls” were clear (almost cartoonishly), and the empathy our author had was <i>not like other #BossBabes </i> - but the book (like MLMs) does skirt around responsibility a bit, specially the author’s own. I find it really notable how much the author made clear that they were not political, and how much they iterated that they toed the middle line (not too far left and not too far right) politically, yet they also made a point to talk about race, racism, and white supremacy in a way that made them seem like one of the only people in their world who is brave and antiracist enough to speak out. Perhaps I will always have a healthy amount of skepticism to any white woman who tells me about their braveness in the face of white supremacy.

That being said - overall, this book was a really human and sympathetic way of looking at the cult of MLMs, and the very human, and very flawed people within them.

If you want half LuLaRich, half Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism then Emily Lynn Paulson's Hey, Hun is for you. Paulson offers an interesting (and rarely seen) perspective as someone who made it to the top of the pyramid. She blends reporting and scholarship with memoir in a way that is true to her authorial voice. It's a fun read, even if, in the year of our four-part-investigative-docuseries 2023, there's nothing groundbreaking.

There were certain places where the narrative fell flat, relying on the very "bossbabe" rhetorical tactics she decries; she repeats how racist MLMs can be, without digging into what that practically means, and suggests she's stepping back from social media to take action in her community (against racism, I think), but again fails to expand on any actual effort she's undertaken. She repeats these talking points that are now pretty common across social media threads, but doesn't sufficiently unpack them or their impact on her experience (if any). The pithy subtitle suggests there will be a detailed takedown, but Paulson maintains a decidedly moderate stance; she does not leave the MLM, coasting on the work of her downline and pulling in $15k/month. This was probably the part that felt the most out of touch. She expresses guilt for encouraging people to stick with it because it will help her bottom line while explaining that she had to get rid of the au pair.

I do have more significant reservations. As the book closes, Paulson suggests that she is out of the MLM life for good because she now recognizes its harm. She has instead turned her attention to life/sobriety coaching, which she admits can be a predatory field. She suggests that her certificate program was rigorous, but fails to name it. She then launches her newest venture, a paid subscription service to help sober moms find support and community (hang on...isn't that exactly how she said people got lured into MLMs?). This final sales pitch just hit me wrong and rang hollow. You can take the woman out of the MLM, but you can't take the boss out of the babe.

She signed up for the sisterhood, free cars, and the promise of a successful business of her own. Instead, she ended up with an addiction, broken friendships, and the rubble of a toppled pyramid . . . scheme.
This was interesting enough, but I felt like it was way too long. It made the points it needed to make pretty early in the book and then it was repetition from then on.
I've listened to podcasts that make the same point much better and quicker.

If you’ve been around on the internet for a while, you’ve probably received a “Hey, Hun!” message from an MLM #girlboss. Emily Lynn Paulson became so high up in her MLM (referred to here as “Rejuvenate,” but you can find the real name of it with an easy Google search), that she was in the top 0.05% by the time she left. The story she tells here charts her journey, from the loneliness she felt before she joined (as a SAHM to 5 children) to the worldwide conventions she attended after she got sober to talk about how the MLM helped save her life. But after six years - and with the help of sobriety - the bloom was off the rose, and Emily could no longer deny the truth as she now saw it.

I liked a lot about this. It certainly pulls the curtain back on the toxic structure and culture of MLMs. I wish the author had spent a little more time with her exit and how she navigated life post-MLM, but overall I thought it was a good and educational read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ALC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC of this book. I am always fascinated with a MLM story, and this one did not disappoint. There is the usual narrative, but this book goes beyond memoir. It is also a well researched book covering many facets of the MLM world in general. I have received many Hey, Hun! messages, and it was interesting to see an honest account of the business model from someone who was successful.

I love a cult story! And MLMs certainly can have cultish behavior (also check out Cultish by Amanda Montell)
I really enjoyed this first-person memoir of what it was like being entrenched in an MLM. Some WILD stories and I also appreciated the author addressing the white supremacy and problematic behavior inherent in MLMs.

As you might guess from the title, this is a book about a woman’s experience working in an mlm. Like other recent cult centered books, this one highlights the ways mlms have cult qualities. It’s well researched.
Pros:
-narrator is stye author and that always works for me! Great inflections.
-I truly appreciate how minority groups were discussed.
-it got gritty.
-good use of humor
Cons:
- it could have been shorter. A few points were rehashed over and over.

This book gives the first-hand account of a "boss babe" working in multi-level marketing. It shows the author's personal journey from what attracted her in the beginning, to how she climbed the ranks to the very top, even achieving the illustrious "free car" (which had some stipulations). It bravely exposes the manipulative tactics MLMs use to recruit and maintain their network. At the same time, because the narrative is coming from a former rep, it does not condemn the individuals who participate and offers a lot of empathy for those who have essentially been victims of the larger corporations. This book is unique because it offers the inside perspective that is inaccessible to those who have not joined. As someone who enjoys a little juicy gossip, I was disappointed that the author used a pseudonym for the company name (although this likely to protect her from lawsuits and review sabotage from current reps).

Note: I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author and I feel like she could have a side career reading audiobooks.

"Hey, Hun" is like stepping into the wild world of multilevel marketing (MLM) through the eyes of someone who's been there. You know that opening line MLM "bossbabes" love to use? Well, this book dives deep into their tactics with a narrative that feels just like their social media posts. It's a double-edged sword though. On one hand, you get an insider's look at the deceptive charm and persuasion these MLM folks employ. But, the constant "hey girl" vibe can get annoying and might not be everyone's cup of tea.

That being said, the author does an impressive job shedding light on the inner workings of MLM schemes. They reveal the subtle manipulations and promises of financial freedom that often lure unsuspecting individuals into this web of opportunity. The personal anecdotes shared throughout the book make it relatable and highlight the emotional toll MLM involvement can have on people's lives.

Moreover, "Hey, Hun" raises thought-provoking ethical questions. It explores the blurred lines between legitimate business ventures and exploitative pyramid schemes, encouraging readers to critically examine the often deceptive practices employed by MLM companies. The book is a wake-up call for anyone who has been enticed by the glamorous promises of luxury cars, exotic vacations, and "being your own boss."

While the constant use of the MLM jargon and tone can become grating, the book's narrative style effectively serves its purpose of immersing readers into the MLM world. It provides valuable insights into the tactics, emotional manipulation, and financial pitfalls faced by those involved. If you're curious about the inner workings of MLMs and the cautionary tales of those who have navigated this high-pressure industry, "Hey, Hun" is an eye-opening read that warrants a solid 3-star rating.

This is a great mix of a memoir of Emily's journey up and out of a MLM organization mixed with great research / references to other books / studies to really understand the ploys, ideals and cultists tactics used to intice people to join and stay. It also shows how much the #boss babe life takes on your emotions, relationships and finances. I found this a great insite as someone who has never been involved in a MLM but have known several who have at least tried them.

I really appreciated the mix of her life experiences and research. It gave it real depth to the information.

If you enjoyed Cultish by Amanda Montel and wanted more then I think you would really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing is the book you need to read or hear now!

Do you have a fascination with MLM culture or cults? Emily Lynn Paulson has provided an eye opening, hilarious and well written first hand account of her experiences. Paulson includes the highs and lows and provides clear comparisons to other cult and mlm research. Paulson is the real deal and rose to the top of her pyramid and experiences the very high costs of total devotion.

For the audiobook, Emily reads as herself and it is soooo good. You will be enthralled with the techniques and tricks used by MLM's as Emily demonstrates each one that worked on her and that she used on friends herself. If you ever wondered how an MLM works, or why a friend or family member got sucked in or just have a fascination with culty-like clubs, Hey Hun is for you!

#Orangeskyaudio #EmilyLunnPaulson #HeyHun #DownwithMLM #Rejuvenate

This was phenomenal! I graduated college right around the time MLMs were exploding and watched many of my peers buy into these programs to no avail. I've always been fascinated by them and Hey, Hun does an incredible job of explaining how women get sucked into the programs and begin to feel trapped within them. The insights Emily shares on the true cost of rising to the top in an MLM was eye-opening. Of course we all feel we know the cost of annoying your friends and family, but the additional monetary costs were drastic as well. I'm so glad she published this testimonial, I'm hoping it will help the many women struggling within these systems to gain the courage to finally leave.

I found the author who narrated the book to have a pleasing voice, which immediately pulled me into the book.

I thought it was very interesting to see an ex-hun write a book about their experience in a MLM. Admittedly, I sometimes struggled with understanding how and why people got roped into these pyramid schemes, but after reading this book, I now better understand the psychology behind them.

Since I had a prior interest and knowledge of the subject, I was intrigued with what this book would bring to the table, and I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed. I’ve seen documentaries/interviews with other ex-huns, but I think the format of this book was more conducive to extensive analysis of life inside a MLM. You are able to get more out of a longer piece of work like a book versus shorter film pieces.

There were times it felt like a setup to promote other services/works by Paulson, which felt a little disingenuous, but not enough to take over the point of the book.

I personally like books that offer both facts and personal narratives because it makes it both informative and engaging. This one certainly fit the bill, and I would definitely recommend it to others who want a good overview of MLMs, even to those who may already be really familiar with them. Who knows, you may just learn something new!