Awakend fails to provide ownership and corporate information on its website. The company also fails to provide a corporate address.
On the “contact us” section of their website, Awakend states it has “limited support”. Any questions are to be directed to Awakend uplines.
Awakend entered prelaunch in early August. This is cited as a reason for limited support.
Contact Us
We are in an exciting prelaunch phase with limited support! Please contact your upline leader with any questions.
Two months in and that excuse is stretching thin.
Company ownership and corporate details, support and at the very least where you’re operating from are basic requirements for due-diligence.
If you’re accepting distributor enrolments this information should be ready to go before you prelaunch.
BehindMLM covered Awakend’s prelaunch on August 18th. Given Awakend’s disclosure failures, we’re relying on my previous research.
Awakend’s prelaunch corporate marketing efforts are headed up by Danelle Meoli and Chip Macgill.
On social media Meoli refers to Awakend as her company. Such to the extent there are other Awakend owners and co-founders, they haven’t been publicly disclosed.
In August BehindMLM noted eight admins of Awakend’s official corporate FaceBook group. Today that’s been whittled down to four; Danelle Meoli and husband Scott, David R Teodosio and Ashlee Headlee.
Under the Meolis you have a bunch of their former Exp Realty and NewULife downlines.
As far as I can tell, everyone who was positioned before Awakend’s public prelaunch is tied to Meoli through her past MLM companies.
While Meoli is based of of Connecticut, Awakend may be primarily operating out of Texas.
I’ll update if Awakend ever gets around to providing consumers with a clear picture of company ownership and its ownership team.
Failing which:
If an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money.
Awakend’s Products
Awakend’s flagship product is the weight loss supplement Zenith.
Zenith is marketed on the premise that overweight people are leptin resistant. Leptin is cited as
a hormone made by fat cells that regulates foot intake & energy expenditure by communicating with the brain.
The theory is that overweight people have too much leptin, creating leptin resistance over time.
Zenith “gently decreases” leptin levels, reducing leptin resistance and enabling the hormone to work as it should.
Awakend do not provide retail pricing for Zenith on their website.
Thus far the only pricing revealed in Awakend marketing is $135 a month for distributor autoship. This is presumed to be a wholesale price, suggesting Zenith’s retail pricing will be higher.
Awakend’s Compensation Plan
Awakend’s compensation plan pays on retail sales and recruitment. Residual commissions are paid through a binary team.
Additional performances and rank bonuses are also available.
Awakend Distributor Ranks
There are fourteen ranks within Awakend’s compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Distributor – sign up as an Awakend distributor
- Qualified Distributor – maintain a 100 PV personal order over a rolling five-week period and recruit two distributors (placed one on both sides of the binary team)
- Amber Director – maintain a 100 PV personal order and generate 1000 GV in weaker binary team side volume over a rolling five-week period, and maintain two personally recruited Distributors or higher (placed one on both sides of the binary team)
- Crystal Director – maintain a 100 PV personal order and generate 2500 GV in weaker binary team side volume over a rolling five-week period, and recruit and maintain four Distributors or higher (placed two on both sides of the binary team)
- Sapphire – maintain a 100 PV personal order and generate 5000 GV in weaker binary team side volume over a rolling five-week period, and maintain four personally recruited Distributors or higher (placed two on both sides of the binary team)
- Emerald Director – generate and maintain 200 PV over a rolling five-week period (100 PV must be own order), generate 7500 GV in weaker binary team side volume over a five-week rolling period, and maintain four personally recruited Distributors or higher (placed two on both sides of the binary team)
- Ruby Director – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 10,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and recruit and maintain six Distributors or higher (placed three on both sides of the binary team)
- Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 20,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and maintain six personally recruited Distributors or higher (placed three on both sides of the binary team)
- Blue Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 50,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and recruit and maintain eight Distributors or higher (min three on both sides of the binary team)
- Double Blue Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 100,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and recruit and maintain ten Distributors or higher (min three on both sides of the binary team)
- Triple Blue Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 250,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and maintain ten personally recruited Distributors or higher (min three on both sides of the binary team)
- Black Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 400,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and maintain ten personally recruited Distributors or higher (min three on both sides of the binary team)
- Double Black Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 700,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and maintain ten personally recruited Distributors or higher (min three on both sides of the binary team)
- Triple Black Diamond Executive – maintain 200 PV (100 PV must be own order) and generate and maintain 1,000,000 GV over a rolling five-week period, and maintain ten personally recruited Distributors or higher (min three on both sides of the binary team)
PV stands for “Personal Volume”. PV is sales volume generated by an distributor’s own orders and retail customer sales.
GV stands for “Group Volume”. GV is PV generated by an Awakend distributor and their downline.
Retail Commissions
Awakend distributors earn commissions on the sale of Zenith to retail customers.
Awakend states:
The commission amount is equal to the retail price less the wholesale price.
Given Awakend hasn’t disclosed the retail cost of Zenith, we can provide you with specific retail commission amounts.
Recruitment Commissions
Awakend distributors earn commissions on recruitment of new distributors.
- recruit a distributor who signs up with a 2 Bottle Starter Pack and earn $25
- recruit a distributor who signs up with a 4 Bottle Starter Pack and earn $50
Awakend also has pre-launch founder positions running into thousands of dollars:
- Essential Founder – $1295
- Premier Founder – $2495
- Elite Founder – $3495
Presumably recruitment commissions are also paid on these options. If so, details aren’t provided on Awakend’s website or in their compensation plan.
Residual Commissions
Awakend pays residual commissions via a binary compensation structure.
A binary compensation structure places a distributor at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):
The first level of the binary team houses two positions. The second level of the binary team is generated by splitting these first two positions into another two positions each (4 positions).
Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated as required, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.
Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of distributors. Note there is no limit to how deep a binary team can grow.
At the end of each week Awakend tallies up new sales volume on both sides of the binary team.
Provided a minimum of 500 GV exists on both sides of the binary team, distributors earn 5% of generated sales volume.
Once paid out on, volume is flushed. Any leftover volume carries over into the following week (capped at 3,000,000 GV).
Matching Bonus
Awakend pays a Matching Bonus on residual commissions earned by downline distributors.
Awakend pays the Matching Bonus via a unilevel compensation structure.
A unilevel compensation structure places a distributor at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited distributor placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 distributors recruit new distributors, they are placed on level 2 of the original distributor’s unilevel team.
If any level 2 distributors recruit new distributors, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
Awakend caps the Matching Bonus at seven unilevel team levels, based on rank:
- Sapphire and Emerald Directors earn a 10% match on level 1 (personally recruited distributors)
- Ruby Directors earn a 15% match on level 1 and 10% on level 2
- Diamond Executives earn a 15% match on level 1, 10% on level 2 and 5% on level 3
- Blue Diamond Executives earn a 15% match on level 1, 10% on level 2 and 5% on levels 3 and 4
- Double Blue Diamond Executives and higher earn a 15% match on level 1, 10% on level 2 and 5% on levels 3 to 7
Rank Achievement Bonus
Awakend rewards distributors for ranking at Sapphire and higher according to set timelines:
- qualify at Sapphire Director and receive $100, do it within 5 weeks of signing up and receive $500
- qualify at Ruby Director within ten weeks of qualifying as Sapphire and receive $500, do it within 15 weeks of signing up and receive $1500
- qualify at Double Blue Diamond Executive within thirty weeks of qualifying at Ruby and receive $1000, do it within 30 weeks of signing up and receive $5000
- qualify at Triple Blue Diamond Executive within thirty weeks of qualifying at Double Blue Diamond and receive $2000, do it within 52 weeks of signing up and receive $10,000
- qualify at Black Diamond Executive within thirty weeks of qualifying at Triple Blue Diamond and receive $3000, do it within 78 weeks of signing up and receive $25,000
- qualify at Triple Black Diamond Executive within forty-five weeks of qualifying at Black Diamond and receive $10,000, do it within 110 weeks of signing up and receive $100,000
Lifestyle Bonus
Diamond and Triple Blue Diamond executives who qualify and maintain rank for ten consecutive weeks qualify for the LifeStyle Bonus.
- Diamond Executives receive $750 a month
- Triple Blue Diamond Executives receive $1500 a month
To maintain the Lifestyle Bonus, rank must be met over a rolling five-week period.
Joining Awakend
Basic Awakend distributor membership is $50 annually.
New Awakend distributors can also sign up with a Starter Pack:
- 2 bottles of Zenith Starter Pack = $260
- 4 bottle of Zenith Starter Pack = $500
Presumably until prelaunch ends, Awakend Founder positions are also available:
- Essential Founder – $1295 (4 bottles of Zenith, Sapphire Director rank for 1 year and an Awakend NFT)
- Premier Founder – $2495 (8 bottles of Zenith, Ruby Director rank for 3 years and an Awakend NFT)
- Elite Founder – $3495 (12 bottles of Zenith, Diamond Executive rank for 5 years and an Awakend NFT)
As detailed above, Awakend’s Founder positions have distinct financial advantages over regular distributor membership.
Awakend Conclusion
There are essentially two categories of weight loss products; those that directly contribute to weight loss, and those that assist primary weight loss strategies.
With respect to Zenith, Awakend instructs consumers to
use Zenith in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet and regular exercise program.
This places it into the latter weight loss product category.
This isn’t a bad thing but it’s important to note that, such to the extent Zenith assists with weight loss, if the diet and exercise aren’t kept up, it’s a temporary solution.
And at $135 a month wholesale, a somewhat expensive one.
This is by no means unique to Zenith as a product. The bottom line is if you can’t maintain a healthy diet and exercise, Zenith isn’t going to do much for you long-term.
This raises the question of, if you’re able to maintain a health diet and exercise, do you need supplements like Zenith to begin with?
If you implement a reduced-calorie diet and incorporate exercise – if your daily calorie intake is in a deficit, that is you’re burning more calories than you’re eating, you’re going to lose weight period.
In that sense Zenith is an appetite suppressant. If you need that to curb your appetite I’d argue there are far cheaper suppressant options available.
One could argue targeting leptin reduction is more effective but that brings us back to self control. Zenith and other appetite suppressants aren’t long-term solutions to weight management.
If you want to maintain a healthy weight, you have to make a conscious decision to change your diet and exercise. Sticking to that is a long-term solution.
Obviously the weight loss industry is worth trillions globally, so people are buying supplements like Zenith. Personally such that you feel the need to spend on weight loss products, I think the you’re better off directly targeting your diet.
One other point to note with Zenith is it is heavily marketed on the results of a 2008 study and patents.
This a a complicated and extremely messy issue, dating back to over a decade.
The long and the short of it is Zenith originally made its debut as Max WLX in the 2000s.
Max WLX was part of Max International’s MLM offering.
This fell apart on or around 2010, resulting in a bitter legal feud involving multiple parties.
BehindMLM has already covered the saga across multiple articles:
As of September 2022, a California Court confirmed “the rights to the Patent remain unsettled.”
A trial to resolve the issue once and for all is currently scheduled for March 28th, 2023.
BehindMLM maintains Awakend shouldn’t have launched until the patent issue is resolved in its entirety.
Moving on to Awakend’s compensation plan, it’s unfortunately a typical autoship recruitment pyramid scheme.
This begins with pay-to-play:
- Awakend’s founder packs correlate potential income directly with how much is spent; and
- Awakend distributors are forced to maintain a monthly order to qualify for commissions.
Active – This means you maintain at least 100 PV within a 5-week rolling period.
This 100PV must be a personal order (does not include Customer CV).
Having a 100 PV Subscribe and Save order is the best way to maintain active status. (Ozedit: “subscribe and save” is what Awakend calls autoship)
Pay-to-play in an MLM opportunity is a strong indicator of a pyramid scheme.
In the case of Awakend, this is signing up, having to place a monthly product order to qualify for commissions, and then getting paid to recruit others who do the same.
Awakend setting up its compensation plan as an autoship pyramid scheme, makes “retail” statements like this come off as pseudo-compliance lip-service:
As a new Member, your focus will be on developing a base of retail and preferred customers.
You’ll also focus on helping your downline generate volume through sales.
Further driving home the lack of retail focus in Awakend is there being no retail pricing on the company’s website. For the last two months the only product orders Awakend has taken in are distributor orders.
And you have Danelle Meoli on social media bragging about Awakend’s “record breaking sales”:
Unless you’re looking to fast track an FTC investigation, I wouldn’t think how quickly you’ve build a pyramid scheme is something you’d want to publicly brag about.
The FTC is very clear on MLM companies without significant retail sales activity being pyramid schemes.
An autoship recruitment compensation plan practically guarantees an MLM company will not have significant retail sales.
The last thing I want to touch on are Awakend’s NFTs.
Despite being a heavy marketing point in prelaunch corporate webinars, there’s no mention of NFTs on Awakend’s website.
Here’s Danelle Meoli introducing Awakend’s NFT offering;
Whoever opens a company in network marketing and direct sales, and marries web 3 technology, NFTs … whoever does that first, it’s gonna go viral. It’s gonna rock the industry.
Our backoffice is the first in the history of direct sales to actually have the technology in our backoffice, all integrated. It took months and it is now ours. We can take crypto if we want. We can sell NFTs if we want.
Other companies are going to take this concept and run with it. You are in a company that is literally, it’s uh historic what we’re doing.
When I first came across this in August I called it out as a scummy cash grab.
Awakend hope to flog 22,222 NFTs. This provides an instant cashflow range of $28.7 million to $77.6 million. Thrive products are bundled with Founder’s Packs, so we can knock a bit off – but we’re still talking tens of millions of dollars in profit.
Awakend could just as easily scrap the NFTs and price their Founder’s Packs accordingly but dId YoU hEaR? eVeRyOnE’s DoInG wEb3!
If making tens of millions on the sale of cartoon jpgs wasn’t scummy enough – the primary benefit of owning an Awakend founder NFT is “first access for future NFT launches”.
That’s right, the ten of millions Awakend hopes to generate in its prelaunch is for North America and Canada only. The company seeks to monetize each country it launches into, with a new set of NFTs
And by paying thousands now, Awakend’s founder distributors get the privilege of paying more money for more NFTs in each country Awakend migrates to.
I stand by my original sentiment. The NFT side of Awakend remains a scummy cash grab. And an odd one at that, given Meoli isn’t overtly a cryptocurrency advocate.
Supposedly, Meoli’s brother David
works at the NFT company which will likely create the NFTs… called Whisp.
I don’t know about Whisp. The only crypto related Whisp I found was a crypto payment company that launched in 2019 and has since collapsed (it’s website has been converted into a crypto spam blog).
What does fit is Danelle Meoli’s brother being a crypto bro (no pun intended). Awakend’s NFT offering is very much out of place.
Strong “Danelle, include your brother!” vibes.
In any event, whoever’s behind Awakend’s NFTs the company is extremely secretive about it. On just a visit to Awakend’s website you’d have no idea the NFTs exist, or that founders are buying financial advantages over rank-and-file distributors.
If you paid thousands for an Awakend NFT, thinking you’re going to get rich finding greater fools in other countries, hopefully the realization you’re already the greatest fool isn’t too big of a shock.
Toss in a pay-to-play autoship recruitment business model and the unresolved Zenith patent mess, and you’re left with an MLM opportunity best avoided.