Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with this whole Rodan and Fields thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a ride. I signed up a while back, thinking it was your typical multi-level marketing deal. You know, buy a bunch of skincare stuff, try to sell it to your friends and family, the whole shebang. But then, boom, they just went and changed the whole game.

So, I got this email, right? And it’s them saying, “Hey, we’re switching things up!” I was like, “What? What’s going on?” Turns out, they decided to ditch the whole MLM model. No more recruiting a “downline” or whatever. They’re calling it an “affiliate program” now.
I dug around a little, trying to figure out what was up. It looks like they axed about a hundred jobs in the process. Ouch. They said it was to “support the revamped model.” Seems like a big deal, cutting that many people.
What did they actually do? They basically said, “Okay, if you’re already selling our stuff, and you want to keep doing it, cool. We’ll give you a bigger cut of the sales you make to customers.” And, they threw in some extra discounts on the products, which, I guess, is nice.
But I wanted to get the full picture, so I spent some time looking for more about this. They mentioned something about reaching “new customers” and “unlocking growth.” I guess they figured the old way wasn’t cutting it anymore. Apparently some consumer intelligence company had data showing that MLMs were having a tough time. Makes sense, I guess.
I even found out that Rodan and Fields, the creators of Proactiv, made this change. Starting in September, they called it quits on the MLM model. They’re really trying to streamline things, it seems. I mean, they used to be all about the multi-level marketing thing. Now, they’re just… not.

Here’s what I did to get a better grasp on this:
- Read their announcement email: That’s where I first found out about the change.
- Checked out some news articles: There were a few articles mentioning the job cuts and the new “affiliate program.”
- Looked at their website: I wanted to see if they had any more details about the changes.
- Thought about the industry: It seems like MLMs are kind of on the decline, so this move makes sense from that perspective.
So yeah, it’s a pretty big change for them. I’m still not sure what it all means for me as a seller, but it’s definitely interesting to see a big company like Rodan and Fields totally ditch the MLM model. It makes me think maybe they saw the writing on the wall or something. Only time will tell how this all plays out, I guess.
I will keep my eyes on this whole thing and see what happens. Will it work? I don’t know. But it’s sure to shake things up in the skincare world.