Growing up poor, I am no stranger to hard work, as I began working at the tender age of 11. My mother, her sisters and my aunts were my role models and they offered encouragement and instilled in me the value of having persistence, commitment and enthusiasm. That is why when I see the egregious claims that companies like Herbalife make about “gaining riches and reaching the pinnacle of your financial dreams,” it infuriates me and other Latino leaders who see this as a blatant ploy to prey on the values many Latinos and communities of color grew up with.
Don’t misunderstand. I am the first to applaud and champion companies that legitimately help those same communities create their own businesses and livelihoods so they can best raise their families and give their children even more opportunities. The sad truth is that Herbalife is not one of those companies. I know from personal experience.
My tía wholeheartedly bought Herbalife’s clever promotional materials promising an exciting “business opportunity” and truly thought it was a genuine way to earn a little extra cash on the side to better support herself in her senior years. During the years before her passing, I personally watched my proud tía as she enthusiastically promoted the products and thoroughly invested her time and energy in Herbalife’s many nutritional and weight-loss supplements as a distributor for the company, pouring her heart and soul into her business efforts.
Sometime later, I noticed her excitement slowly begin to dissipate, as many boxes and bottles of Herbalife inventory filled her home. She felt dismayed, disappointed and expressed deep disillusionment with the entire situation and herself. It was an unfamiliar sight to see the woman I grew up admiring and regarding as unshakable so down on herself. She gave it her all but yet it wasn’t enough. The worst part was seeing her lose faith in herself.
Serving as chief executive of Mana – A Latina Organization, I can bear witness to our community’s desire to seek out reliable, alternative ways to supplement our household incomes, particularly in this fragile economic recovery. As the past national executive director of Federally Employed Women Inc., a non-profit working to improve the status of women employed by the federal government, I thoroughly understand how Latinas continue to lag behind in employment and am well aware of the punishing wage gap that many face on a daily basis. It’s a wage gap that, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families, can make a very big difference when it comes to comfortably meeting their families’ day-to-day needs and providing for the future.
Not an exception
Unfortunately, my aunt’s story is not an exception. As such, the many recent widespread accusations against Herbalife and its long history of questionable and secretive business practices are of great concern and should be reviewed by the proper authorities. It is especially disconcerting after reading in a recent New York Times piece about Herbalife’s tainted products and faulty manufacturing processes that the largest segment of the company’s distributors are Latino, representing 60 percent, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. It is even more alarming when you take into account that 60 percent of Herbalife’s distributors drop out after the first year.
In a jarring and, in my view, questionable development, Herbalife has hired the well-known and -regarded former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, seemingly as a way to combat its tattered reputation the company is earning among Latinos across the country. My sense is that the mayor is not fully apprised of and/or does not completely comprehend the damage that Herbalife and its empty promises has inflicted and continues to inflict on unsuspecting Latinos looking to start a thriving business and end up earning less than minimum wage and in debt. Villaraigosa should seriously reconsider this new endeavor and at the very least have Herbalife come clean on its practices.
In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of Mana, we share the recent sentiments expressed by our fellow colleagues at the National Consumers League, League of United Latin American Citizens, Hispanic Federation and a handful of Hispanic members of Congress in their own letters to the FTC urging a comprehensive examination of Herbalife. If Herbalife is indeed innocent of these accusations and has nothing to hide, it should welcome the opportunity to let the facts speak for themselves and clear up any misgivings and misperceptions.
To have hope for our future helps us make the day-to-day struggle more tolerable but raising false hope, as I believe Herbalife has done to our community, is deceitful at best and criminal at worst.
Alma Morales Riojas is chief executive of Mana, a National Latina Organization, based in Washington. Mana’s mission is to empower Latinas through leadership development, community service and advocacy.
