It’s hard to say why Shan’ann’s portrait of herself, selling products from her kitchen, is so disturbing. With around three minutes remaining in the Live video, Josh Rosenberg, not unexpectedly as it turns out, breaks into the video.
Josh appears to be shopping, and tells Shan’ann he’s “lost his wife”. Shan’ann smiles and is at a loss for words for a few seconds. Then she seems to address someone else, Abbey Lund who’s just asked if the product can be used while pregnant.
Shan’ann tells Abbey: “I’ll message you.” And then tells Josh: “I’m eating a Pro-bar – on live…”
Shan’ann and Josh make small talk, but it’s not really small talk. It’s just two Thrive promotors chewing the fat about this product and that, flavors and favorites.
At one point there’s a genuine moment where Josh mentions getting up early and going to the hospital. The point is barely acknowledged as Shan’ann reaches for another box of product, and holds it to the camera. Cassandra Rosenberg, Josh’s wife can be seen moving in the background of the store. In the comments beside the broadcast, it appears she [also a Thrive promoter] has told Shan’ann she can’t go Live with her, ask Josh.
While he’s on Shan’ann holds up a box, tells him how excited she is, and how amazing these Pro-bars are “you have to have one”. The cinnamon roll is amazining…”
Josh answers: “I can’t wait for the lemon meringue or the cookies and cream…”
There’s just something anemic about the whole thing, isn’t there? Friends turning themselves and each other into online shopping malls. Shan’ann turning her kitchen into a venue for selling product, while Deeter scampers quietly in the background.
There’s a tragic emptiness in it somehow. The lights are on but nobody’s home. Although it’s hard to put one’s finger on it, in the same series of comments alongside the video, there’s this from Kallie Turner, posted two weeks ago today.
Kallie writes: “I wish you were still here [still alive] so I could claim a sample [of Thrive product] from you….”
Josh Rosenberg is also the guy who, on August 18th, five days after her murder, told the Thrive cult not to assume anything or speculate online.
That may seem completely reasonable, except what they’re doing online seemingly all day, everyday is “speculating” online. Speculating in the sense of engaging in business and trying to draw in consumers. But in matters of life and death, there should be no assumptions, no speculation, no afterthought, just an ongoing empty and cautious silence peppered with more product placements by the Thrivin’ survivors…
#SHAKEDOWN 
She said she was starving. I have to wonder if what that family was eating was all pro bars and thrive products. No wonder as soon as she leaves for 6 weeks Chris buys T bone steaks and shrimp.
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Do we know that about steak and shrimp though Pauline? I haven’t seen that in any posts or links – only the neighbour’s comments about the grill. Even if it were true I doubt it was happening that often. She had already posted that she had made 5 weeks of bulk cooked frozen portions for him. Based on her other bulk cooking posts I’m guessing that could also be interpreted as them being stretched financially. It would mean there was less risk of him splashing out on impulse buys at the market.
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I can’t even imagine what it’s like to live with a person selling MLM.
I had some friends try the candle parties and the almighty Amway.
It becomes where you cringe every time these friends call you because you know they’re going to try
to get you to come to a sales party.
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And I was that person! Ha. We called it “warm chatter booking.” In otherwords you strike up a conversation with a stranger, make it personal and “warm” – then move in with your card, get their name and phone number of course (the salesperson who simply presses a card into someone’s hand is not going to seal the deal) – then call them after an appropriate amount of time. Timing was key. Not too much time lest they forget you, but not too quickly lest you appear desperate. But there is something else in this video above. She was getting a $1600 a month car allowance. Why not take that amount and pay off the home owner’s association? Because I’m willing to bet the company won’t let you. It has to be spent on a car payment. Because the car will be your advertisement you are successful for marketing purposes. Believe me I’d love to be the whistle blower on these companies but it’s a multi-billion dollar industry, it would be David versus Goliath (which by the way premieres on Survivor tonight) and I don’t think I could do it alone. Others have tried, and failed. About all we can do is subscribe to websites that are dedicated to telling the truth about it. But I think her participation in Thrive drove him over the edge. Could be.
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My question is….who did they sell all this Thrive stuff too?
It seems most of them only conversed with other sellers of Thrive.
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Friends, family and when those options were exhausted, friends on Facebook, then strangers on Facebook.
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I think Josh talks about taking it to the gym. If he could set up a little display there he could probably get customers. Then customers lead to recruits or promoters. With my MLM company we would not have been allowed to record our sales presentations. That right was owned exclusively by the company, with training videos. You sign a contract when you recruit. Also only sales directors were allowed to put an ad in the paper or the county “pennysaver.” That’s all changed now, where you can BUY a webpage from the company and advertise that way. Another thing that’s changed is my former company offers credit cards – so that you can buy product from the company. It was difficult in the beginning, where you either had to use your own credit card or family savings or try and get a loan for product. And it’s outrageous the “packages” that are offered – $2,000 worth of wholesale product, $4,000 retail, and you will NEVER be able to sell all of it. That’s how the company makes money – you buy your product from them and you have to keep buying it as “sales” , actual individual sales, don’t matter – only buying the merchandise. And that’s what they call sales. I think eventually Sha’nann would have realized she wasn’t making anything. I suspect that $82,000 a year figure was the “potential”, not the actual. Then it’s a real wake-up call, when you’ve put your whole life into it to realize you really have nothing. For me it was years later before I realized I was never GOING to make anything. You can’t, from a pyramid. Your pyramid falls apart when people under you quit and they are constantly quitting. You can’t replace them fast enough. Some do, but later on their pyramid crashes too.
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It is interesting looking around at all the Le-Vel people’s Facebook. They are exactly the same as Shanann’s. Daily videos and photos with the patches on, telling everyone who will listen how great the product is.
From a womans Facebook page (with a picture of Shanann’s the profile pic)
…….(12K Auto Bonus is literally around the corner) I AM so proud of you! Sarah & John make such an amazing team and truly SHINE TOGETHER! #couplesthatgrindtogethershinetogether They have been apart of the family for awhile and recently decided they were holding out on their friends and family by NOT spreading the THRIVE EXPERIENCE!
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Sick, isn’t it? And it’s a multi billion dollar industry. There are constantly new MLM companies springing up all of the time and they move into other countries when the USA market becomes saturated. Think about Travis Alexander, and Pre-Paid Legal. He had a big beautiful house but had to have roommates help him pay the mortgage. Once he had tapped all of his friends as recruits were there any friends outside of Pre-Paid Legal? Some of these companies weave God into it too. Sha’nann says in the video above when the new pro bars were delivered she texted Chris about it and he was thrilled. I’m guessing she texted him at work and I’m sure he was thrilled. You know, poor lady. I think she was convinced by someone that joining Thrive or Le-Vel,would help their poor financial situation and I think it could have escalated it.
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I attended the Jodi Arias trials and I remember Travis’ friends using their “fame” from the trial to recruit new people.
Towards the end, Travis was broke. His friend Chris Hughes even admitted that Travis was not doing so well financially because his relationship with Jodi changed him. He admitted to giving Travis $6,000 and then Travis was always borrowing money from his ex Deanna Reid. Even Jodi loaned him money to help him refinance his home.
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Jamie, intriguing links to PrePaid legal in the Jodi Arias trial again. Does anyone know what this MLM are doing behind the scenes? They are all over social media and as Nick has pointed out in an earlier blog post it seems that promoters and others are selling off the back of this tragedy. Clever for anyone who might be in the background to claim altruism. Keeping her account live. Is that also why her Facebook is till up?
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I had no idea! You had a ringside seat. So either it’s tough making sales or tough recruiting people to sell for them. I’ve been really mystified how the original national sales directors got to the tippy top of my MLM company when it first began. There were only a few. Maybe half a dozen. I often wondered if the company founder paid some of the originals a salary to pitch the products and the “opportunity” at the beginning. My company would say “there are no quotas”, but that was a lie. On the bottom rung, how you start out, you have to place a minimum wholesale order just to stay in. As you climb up the ladder your sales force has quotas, miss your minimum production level 3 months in a row and you are on probation. Miss it a 4th month and you are out. You lose all you built. You lose your commission on everyone you brought in. I always thought you could “win” the cars. If you made a certain production 3 months in a row you would get a car. Only now I know that you are given an allowance to make a car payment. In order to get the car you have to sign a lease – the dealer isn’t just going to give you a car if you can make one payment. But fail to maintain production and the company no longer subsidizes your car payment. Does the dealer forgive you? No. So you have to go on making high car payments. What did Sha’nann say? She was spending $800 a month on car payments on her Lexis. $800 of the $1600. That would still leave her $800 – but really? There’s car insurance on a new car, etc. So when it gets right down to it, these MLM companies are a SCAM. I feel for all victims of scams, because you don’t know you are in one, you become a true believer, and you go right on bringing others in so you are complicit in ruining their lives too.
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I did wonder if she had recruited someone into the scam who was desperate to make a fast buck, and found out the hard way that it led to more debt? Motive for murder right there.
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It’s creepy and as you say empty. Can’t help feeling it’s like a cult. Your whole social circle enmeshed into this MLM. I can’t gauge how much he bought into it and whether he really did promote Thrive but from her videos it feels as if she really, really believes in it and values it above almost anything. It’s not just Sales for her, it’s a new a family and gives her major validation. If it’s also true that she ran his downline and they were prized as a couple, for PR purposes ( those schmaltzy photos for the May magazine) any separation would have been bad for business. Also there’d be no way she could reach the 200k target. Why take his Facebook page down, when the company say that you must share on it, as a promoter. What would have been her reaction to that?
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Do you know when his Facebook page came down?
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Did she actually have any friends that weren’t selling the product? Old friends from before that MLM began? he only one I can see is Christina Meacham from Hawaii. Even Nickole Akinson, who professed to being her ‘best friend’ was just her hairdresser back in May 2017 – then she joined Thrive …
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She seems almost in a fugue state.
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FB page, probably knew something bad was going to happen.
Such a tragedy with these schemes. Both of them should have known, no money coming in to support the household…but she did all the banking…he might not have known.
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What is it with these Thrive people?! They are very demanding and controlling. I would have liked to ask that Josh who the fuck he thinks he is telling people what they can and cannot say.
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