In this episode, Kate does an unforeseen spinoff mini dive into something that wasn't on her radar until recently: highly instagrammable shake/smoothie/tea/coffee shops that are secretly tied to an MLM. With data showing that these 'nutrition shops' lose thousands annually, they have widely become known to be a covert recruiting tactic for Herbalife that are posing as mom & pop shops in small towns and cities alike. With minimalistic branding, instagram-friendly backdrops, little to no ingredient transparency (but appealing drink names), friendly staff, and financial incentives to share on social media, these storefronts provide all the ingredients for the thing Kate hates the most: a manipulative enterprise that preys on vulnerable people in the name of help, nutrition, religion, success, or any abstract characteristic that a person is both unqualified to make and deceptive in their solutions. At one point there is a tangent into numerology & Pythagorus’ (of pythagorean theorem fame, obv) cult, but, par for the course on this show. Kate also reads e-mails from listeners who wrote in to spill the tea they once unknowingly drank. Enjoy!

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Works cited:

https://iamherbalifenutrition.com/healthy-weight/herbalife-nutrition-clubs/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/herbalife-a-pyramid-scheme_b_4220426

https://www.mlmnewsreport.com/herbalife-linked-to-drug-trafficking-money-laundering-in-new-investigative-report/

https://www.plainsite.org/realitycheck/herbalife.html

https://sweetscienceoffighting.com/herbalife-side-effects-and-horror-stories/

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2013-feb-15-la-fi-herbalife-latino-20130216-story.html