CHAPTER 6:
Free At Last

Lester Canon had said on many occasions that there would come a time in this business when I could experience freedom. He was absolutely right, but not in the way he thought! After quitting, I experienced total freedom. Gene Williams was also correct when he pointed out, "In this business you will find out who your real friends are." Well, I found out who my real friends were because when I quit, they quit!

In the weeks that followed I must have confessed my blunder a hundred times over. Some of those who had avoided me like the plague because of my winsome attempts at indoctrination now curiously listened as I acknowledged, in detail, my genuine reformation. One such person was Rupert Koblegarde. Rupert is one of Portland, Oregon's first-string corporate attorneys. If he weren't such a splendid and enjoyable sort of guy, he would have most likely thrown me out the day I barged into his office declaring, "I'm free, Rupert!" "What are you free from, Phil?" Rupert mused, now leaning back in his big leather chair' "You know that soap business I was in? I quit. I feel great! For a while I was beginning to feel like a zombie all over again. I thought I could never be deceived after my experiences in the Temple. I thought my ability to discern deception was now sharp. Now I know that I was wrong to have gotten in, but it all seemed so straight." His secretary, who momentarily had to retreat when I so suddenly burst in, stood at the door expecting an explanation. "It's okay, Dolores. Phil just had some good news to share." With that she closed the door and left us to our conversation. Rupert got up, walked over to the window and stared out to the city below. I knew how he felt about this particular business, but I was hoping he would share some of his feelings concerning my newest declaration. He just stood there holding his chin for several moments. Finally he slowly turned, looked right into my eyes and asked, "What are your plans now, Phil?" "I'm going to tell the story," I replied quickly. "What else? Someone has to tell it!" Looking over my head at the shelves of books on the wall behind me, Rupert said, "Then I have a book you need to read."

I left his office with a copy of Con Man or Saint? by John Frasca. As I walked along the Portland sidewalks, dodging the oncoming pedestrians, I thumbed briefly through the text. I couldn't believe what I was reading! Glen Turner, a hare lipped sharecropper, had borrowed $5,000 and turned it into $100 million in 24 months. He had started a cosmetics business called "Koskot." One of the characters in the book was Willie Towner of Marion, South Carolina, a dump truck driver turned super salesman. Here's an excerpt of the story:

Willie Towner strode into the room. Glen was dumbfounded. Willie never had worn a necktie in his life. Now he was wearing a suit that shimmered. He wore a pink shirt and a fancy silk tie, a darker pink than the shirt. His shoes were made of alligator skin. Is that Willie Towner who used to drive a dump truck for the county? Holy cow. Willie smiled at the small group. "Gentlemen, I'm going to show you how you can become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. I'm going to show you how you can earn more money in a month than most people make in a year." He spoke quickly, confidently. He walked over to a small blackboard set in a corner. He pulled it to the center of the room. While he talked, he scratched astronomical numbers on the board...

There was no way I could put this book down. As soon as I got home, I continued reading and didn't stop until I had finished it about 4 a.m. The Glen Turner story was full of strikingly comparable methods and often-repeated statements which ironically are used by many Amway distributors today. Some of the most commonly used cliches are "Dream," "Believe," "Think success," "Believe in yourself," "The only way you can help yourself is by helping someone" and "Fake it til you make it!"

After reading Con Man or Saint?, I have often wondered if Amway distributors borrowed this terminology from Turner's group, or was it Turner who confiscated these words and phrases from some Amway distributors? Could it simply be a coincidence? For 24 months I dedicated countless hours in researching and compiling reams of information on the Amway Corporation, Inc. and the Amway Distributors' Association of the United States, an unincorporated association. I would eat, sleep and dream Amway--not in building a business, as before, but in finding out how it was built and how it operates!

I spoke with distributors at all levels of achievement. I interviewed scores of individuals who left the business for one reason or another--some at the Diamond level, others who were just beginners. I have read page after page of public and government testimony concerning this business. I have interviewed hundreds of distributors, many of whom have confirmed the existence of problems which I had suspected for so long. Leaving the business and now attempting to come back to collect important information was like pulling teeth. You see, quitting this business, especially in my line of sponsorship, is similar to being excommunicated from a church. Everyone associated with the organization avoids you like an epidemic. You are labeled as "one who is negative--a loser!"

If you are in John Wells' line of sponsorship, you have most likely heard John's lesson on how to handle these failures. Somehow one gets the feeling he was talking about some maggot species when he stood before the crowd and said, "I wish these dead losers would just get out. All they seem to do is lie around and stink up the place." The man who made this statement and his sponsor, Mr. Lester Canon, have both been in powerful positions as board members of the Amway Distributors' Association of which Jay VanAndel, chairman of the board, and Rich DeVos, the company's president, are also members. I believe it is important for each reader to understand the power these individuals have over their followers. The statements, which I have pointed out, are really just the tip of the iceberg! There is no doubt in my mind that these men possess some sort of charismatic power, which enables them to control such a large organization. These types of comments have had devastating and crushing effects on many of the individuals towards whom they were directed. In my estimation less than one-half of one percent of the entire assembly of distributors has and holds this unimaginable power to control others; therefore, we are talking about a very small number of people controlling a vast number of individuals.

I remember the telephone call I received from a very frantic woman in Salem, Oregon. She was calling me about my book on the Jonestown tragedy. I was new in the business, having been in only a week. "I hope that I am not disturbing you, Mr. Kerns. I go t your telephone number from your publisher in Plainsfield, New Jersey. I read your book on the People's Temple, and I just wanted to give you my condolences on the loss of your mother and sister in Jonestown. Towards the end of our telephone conversation, she asked, "Oh, by the way, are you aware of the Amway business?" "Yes," I replied, but I did not tell her I was in the business. "You know, every time I go to one of their meetings, it reminds me so much of your book--all of the chanting and the way they malign and twist the holy scriptures for gain. I feel that this business is a cult. I think you need to tell the world about this company." inside I was chuckling to myself. "This is so far from the truth thought. "This is just a soap business--an opportunity." I dismissed her statements from my mind because I felt they were unfounded and drifting somewhere between "Star Wars" and the "Twilight Zone."

However, today I know better; I wish I had not shunned this woman's notion so abruptly. I hope that if she reads this book, she will call back so I may apologize.

Could this organization be classified as a cult? There are, without a doubt, many different characteristics utilized within this integration of salespersons which could lead many individuals to arrive at the same conclusions this lady did.

I now realized there was more to this business than just soap and spinoffs. There was POWER! Amway speakers are most dynamic.

"The question of who is brain washing whom depends on which side you are on and what you are calling 'brainwashing.'"

Wes Lockwood
Human Behavior
October, 1976

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