Stormy Wellington, once Coach Stormy founded Girl Hold My Hand Inc., a nonprofit foundation, movement, and organization that seeks to empower women who have faced misfortune and put them on a path to success. She is a billionaire lifestyle coach, entrepreneur, investor, reality TV star, and all of these things.
She is renowned for her aggressive coaching approach and fortune, which she attributes to multi-level marketing and direct sales.
Stormy Wellington gained attention and condemnation on TikTok in October 2022 after a video showing her referring to someone’s plate of food as a “low vibration plate” went viral. This prompted others to label Stormy Wellington a con artist, using the diversity of goods and services she offers as proof, and to charge her with operating a pyramid scheme.
History of Stormy Wellington
Wellington worked as an exotic dancer before becoming a millionaire. She made her debut on television in the one-season reality series Amateur Millionaires Club in 2011. Several Black women who have just become billionaires are followed in the series, which charts their ascent to wealth and how they must adapt to their newfound lifestyle. One of the women featured in Wellington. The “My Story” portion of Stormy Wellington’s website, stormywellington.com, states that Wellington made her money through “multi-level marketing and direct sales.”
In the years that followed, Wellington established Girl Hold My Hand Inc. and started providing her lifestyle coaching services to assist women, particularly women of color, to overcome hardship and achieve financial independence.
Through her website, Stormy Wellington offers a wide range of goods, including CBD products, a weight loss program, skincare items, and a USD 490 yearly membership to her “Girl Hold My Hand + I Am WOKE Community,” which gives members access to Wellington’s resources for life counseling. The Washington Note published an item in January 2022 that stated Wellington is worth USD 3 million.
Past the Pole
To help strippers find success outside of dancing, Wellington staged the show Beyond the Pole from 2018 to 2021 (see scene below). Two seasons of the show were produced.
Blackout Tuesday Disputation
A video showing Wellington alleging she lost $100,000 in product sales during the Blackout Tuesday campaign was posted by Twitter user @lmTheReasonWhy on June 3, 2020. She accuses Black women in the video of being followers and claims that by taking part in the campaign, they muted themselves. In two years, the post received over 38,000 likes and 1.5 million views.
Millionaire’s Gamble
Million Dollar Hustle, Wellington’s newest reality show, premiered on Lifetime in March 2022. The television show follows Wellington as she works with a group of female executives known as the Circle of Bosses. A series trailer was uploaded to YouTube in January of that year, and it had over 160,000 views in nine months.
Dispute regarding Vibration Plates
A video showing the inspirational speaker and life coach @tammyprice_ and two other women, including Stormy Wellington, eating barbeque off of paper plates was shared on TikTok on October 2nd, 2022. Price’s plate is overflowing with food, but Wellington’s is significantly lighter. As she says in the video, “You can’t pay me to do that to myself.” Wellington refuses to eat the food Price is holding.
“I don’t do what they do, I do what I do,” Wellington retorts when Price tells her that another person gave her the food. I could never imagine eating a dish like this. It vibrates gently. I have to be disciplined because I believe that even if I put something on my plate, I don’t have to eat it.
After the film, Price explains, “There are a lot of people who simply accept what other people give them. Coach Storm is instructing me to refuse the food that is served to me. In just two days, the video had over 500,000 views. In this context, the term “low vibrations” simply refers to “bad vibes” or unfavorable energy.
The video was published in October 2022 and quickly became popular, sparking videos in response to it and posts on Twitter using the term “low vibration plate” as slang for piled-high, sloppy platters of food. Furthermore, Wellington came under fire for making fun of the food on the other woman’s plate.
Claims of Stormy Wellington
Following the low-vibration plate video, individuals dug up earlier disputes about Wellington and shared probable proof that she was a con artist. “That ‘low vibrational plate’ statement had me interested in what was going on and it was a retreat with whoever this Stormy Wellington person is,” tweeted Twitter user @IYSKold on October 3, 2022, along with screenshots of the registration page for a retreat hosted by Wellington, which shows a total entry cost of close to $10,000 for the full experience. The post received over 7,100 likes in just four days.
That month, numerous films exposing Wellington as a potential con artist as well as those portraying her as unpleasant and self-centered were uploaded to TikTok. For instance, the TikToker @desdhabaddess posted a tape from the reality show Beyond the Pole on October 4th, and it received over 100,000 views in just three days. In the film, she talks down to another contestant. TikToker @hotweirdg0rl published a video on October 6th that went in-depth into Wellington’s different businesses and accused her of running a pyramid scheme. The video received over 247,000 views in one day.
Stormy Wellington’s Appearance on Tea-G-I-F on FOX Soul
Coach Stormy Wellington discussed the low vibration plate topic on the FOX Soul podcast Tea-G-I-F on October 12, 2022. Stormy claims that she and Price, whose plate she said had low vibrations, “have a history,” adding, “I have been a mentor, her coach, and her friend.”
She refers to me as her angel, literally. After that, Stormy claims Price “dishonored and disrespected” her with the plate, despite Price’s claim that it was only a low vibration. It was hastily put together. It was extremely tasteless and tacky. She informs Price that the plate has low vibrations because if she eats it all, it will appear that Stormy’s CBD tea is ineffective since she will gain weight, says Funky Dineva, a gossip pundit and co-host of the show. Afterward, he remarks, “Stormy, you give more hoodrat daily than that woman’s plate did.”
As per Twitter
Wait, Is ‘Million Dollar Hustle’ About One Big Pyramid Scheme?
After watching the ‘Million Dollar Hustle series premiere, some fans believe the actors are running a pyramid scheme. What is genuinely happening?
What is a pyramid scheme, and why is it prohibited?
A pyramid scheme is a dishonest method of making money that relies on enlisting a rising number of “investors.” Investors are attracted by the original promoters, who then bring in other investors, and so on. The system is known as a “pyramid” because more investors are added at each level.
Viewers who watched the ads for Million Dollar Hustle on Lifetime were persuaded that the larger plot involves a pyramid scheme even before the show’s launch. You can imagine why a lot of viewers flocked to Twitter to speculate about what’s going on with the reality series since some of the show’s stars, including self-made millionaire Stormy Wellington, made their money from a multi-level marketing organization.
But is the main plot of Million Dollar Hustle a pyramid scheme? Total Life Changes, a health and wellness business that provides smoothie and detox tea products, is one of the businesses Stormy collaborates with.
Since she is also an inspirational speaker, she also promises life improvements for her customers who are prepared to work hard, whether they are internal or physical through weight loss. However, viewers had already formed skepticism about Stormy’s claims before getting a closer look at her enterprise.
Is ‘Million Dollar Hustle’ a pyramid scheme?
Promotional content for Stormy’s speaking engagements, product partnerships, and events is abundant on her Instagram account. But Stormy’s involvement with the multi-level marketing firm Total Life Changes is the main lesson for Million Dollar Hustle viewers. However, many people view it as a straightforward pyramid scheme.
Detox teas, smoothies, and other goods that clients can purchase from Total Life Changes help to promote better health. Therefore, the business technically does not fit the description of a pyramid scheme, in which there are typically no real goods that customers receive in exchange for their money. Total Life Changes has nevertheless received a great deal of criticism.
On the anti-MLM subreddit, there are several conversations about Total Life Changes. One client said that the business’s “customer service is deplorable and their guarantee is trash.” The same topic received a comment from another user that stated: “Multi-level marketing is a flawed method where the 1 percent of successful people scam the other 99 percent.”
Several tweets also question whether Million Dollar Hustle is merely a giant pyramid scheme disguised as a reality show. Someone tweeted that people “deserve to be scammed” if they put their trust in Stormy.
“So is this ‘how to build a pyramid scheme’ or a life coaching show or what?” another user tweeted. There are already strong feelings regarding the show.
‘Million Dollar Hustle’: What do Stormy Wellington and the Circle of Bosses sell?
Stormy Wellington receives money from her network marketing workshop in addition to promoting Total Life Changes’ products. Through Stormy Wellington’s website, she and the other women in her Circle of Bosses sell memberships for $99 each. Individuals who purchase those subscriptions get access to the resources Stormy offers to help them achieve, including printable worksheets, 35 video courses, and an undefined “insane bonus.”
In 2017, Stormy Wellington told Ebony that she is not operating a pyramid scam and that she had faith in the instruments she had been able to make money with.
People who claim that it is a pyramid system are merely repeating what they have already heard, according to Stormy. “Product exchange is not possible in pyramids. Pay is nonexistent. Dollars are exchanged in direct sales.
Since we are the billboards and advertisements, my business has no advertising budget and no middleman. You receive a check for each sale you make. However, talent scouts, managers, and agents receive referral fees in addition to income for referrals.
Sadly, it hasn’t prevented people from talking.
People like Stormy Wellington are the reason, why most of the people were part of the fraudulent schemes, with the help of the people’s money they can maintain their wealthy lifestyle.
When people put their money into these kinds of pyramid schemes, they often lose it all. Finally, they don’t get anything. Before moving forward, it’s beneficial to know more about the product and the services.
If she was prompting the pyramid schemes, then why the government and regulatory authority is not taking any action against it?
The services and stuff that they were providing were a complete waste of time. The product that they are offering to the customers.
It’s people’s opinion regarding the product, as Million Dollar Hustle seems to be excellent in some circumstances and bad in others.
I absolutely agree with Stormy, that there are people who are saying it’s a pyramid scheme by seeing the people what other people are saying.