Drummer Meg Learmonth, Direct selling and women, Anorexia in lockdown, The Other One

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.1 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2020

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

While the world has gone into lockdown and economies have crashed, one type of business has been seeing double-digit growth – direct selling. Independent consultants for big names such as Body Shop at Home, Forever Living, Avon, Usborne Books at Home and Arbonne have been reporting huge increases in sales and recruitment in response to regular shops closing their doors. But while proponents of ‘multi-level marketing’ or ‘direct to consumer’ selling say it provides an opportunity for women to earn money on their own terms, critics say that the business model sits precariously close to being a pyramid scheme. So what do women need to know? Jenni talks to Susannah Schofield, the DG of the Direct Selling Association; Hannah Martin of the Talented Ladies Club; and Clare from Hertfordshire, who talks about her experience of working in the industry.

Meg Learmonth was just 18 when she was appointed drummer for the Stormzy collaborator Mura Masa. She describes how drumming was “love at first hit”, the tale behind her broken foot, touring before lockdown and her part in a 21 day drumming marathon to raise money for the NHS. Meg's 12 hour drumming shift is being streamed this Thursday, 4th June.

What is it like coping with lockdown while living with an eating disorder? For today’s Woman’s Hour Corona Diaries, listener Jennie talks about her experience – including how being forced to stay at home has led to her making positive steps towards recovery.

The Other One is new comedy on BBC1. It’s all about a girl called Catherine Walcott. And another girl called Catherine Walcott. Half-sisters who had no idea the other existed until their father died. Jenni talks to its creator Holly Walsh and one of the stars taking on the role of Catherine - Ellie White.

Presented by Jenni Murray Produced by Jane Thurlow

Interviewed guest: Susannah Schofield Interviewed guest: Hannah Martin Interviewed guest: Meg Learmonth Interviewed guest: Holly Walsh Interviewed guest: Ellie White

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts
0:05.6	Hello, Jenny Murray, welcoming you to the Woman's R Podcast for Wednesday, the 3rd of June.
0:11.9	On Friday, a new comedy series starts on BBC One. The other one is about two young women,
0:18.0	both called Catherine Walcott, who only discovered their half-sisters after their father has died.
0:24.5	Holly Walsh and Ellie White join us writer and one of the gafferons respectively.
0:30.2	The next in our series of Woman's R corona diaries is Jenny. How hard is it to cope with an eating
0:36.6	disorder during lockdown? And 12 hours of non-stop drumming for charity,
0:43.7	Megli a month whose 19 describes her passion for her instrument as love at first hit.
0:51.2	Now, it feels like such a long time since you were able to pop into a shop and buy anything
0:57.2	that wasn't food, drink or medication. But whilst most businesses have been fearing total collapse,
1:04.9	one type of company has been growing at a phenomenal rate. It's known as direct selling,
1:11.6	big names such as Body Shop at Home, Forever Living, Juice Plus, Avon, Usborne Books at Home,
1:18.7	and Avon have been reporting increases in sales and recruitment in response to regular
1:24.9	shops closing their doors. Proponents of multi-level marketing or direct to consumer selling say,
1:33.0	it provides an opportunity for women to earn money on their own terms. Critics say,
1:38.8	the business model sits precariously close to being a pyramid scheme. So, what do you need to know
1:45.9	if you're tempted? What's his other scope field is the Director General of the Direct
1:50.7	Telling Association, Claire, who joins us from Hartfordshire, has experience of working in the
1:56.4	industry, and Hannah Martin set up the Talented Ladies Club. Hannah, how would you describe an
2:03.5	MLM, a multi-level marketing company? Hello. Well, I would describe it. Personally, I believe they're
2:13.1	very thinly disguised pyramid schemes. In effect, it's like a house of cards. It's a system whereby
2:19.9	women join it. You pay to join usually. You can join for free, but ultimately, all seem to have
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.