vida-divina-logoVida Divina are based out of California in the US and appear to operate in the weight loss MLM niche.

The CEO and Founder of Vida Divina is Armand Puyolt.

Puyolt was previously the master-distributor of Total Life Changes. A fluff-piece published by Ted Nuyten’s BusinessForHome claims Puyolt earnt $2 million in 2012 and $3 million in 2014.

Puyolt’s marketing shtick for Total Life Changes was that the company’s products cured his cancer.

armand-puyolt-cancer-cure-claims-total-life-changes

In a Total Life Changes marketing call from 2015, Puyolt recalls the launch of the company.

[2:01] We were about to launch, I collapsed and I went into the hospital.

When I went into the hospital, the doctors literally given me six more months of life left because they figured out I had cancer.

I had a cancer right next to my heart and it was like right between my heart and my lungs.

I had another cancer in my stomach and the beginnings of minor tumors in other places around my body.

[3:30] Six months later, utilizing the products that my wife had found that we’d put together for Total Life Changes … everything started fading. As in the problems that I had medically.

[8:39] Five years later, I was supposed to die five years ago, not only am I still alive but the last test I had I had a full body scan (and) I have no signs of cancer.

[9:03] And I can tell you 100% I didn’t use no medication. I didn’t use no pharmaceuticals. I used Iaso tea and I used the Iaso gano. I used the Iaso chaga.

Iaso is Total Life Changes’ flagship brand of products.

Puyolt’s MLM career began back in 1996 as an affiliate with ACN. In 2000 Puyolt left ACN to join Metabolife International.

In 2005 Metabolife was found guilty of filing fraudulent tax returns and was fined $600,000.

Metabolife owner William Bradley also pleaded guilty to evading millions of dollars in taxes and was sentenced to 6 months in federal prison and 2 years of probation.

In response to falling sales, and facing more than $1 billion in personal injury legal claims related to Metabolife 356, Metabolife filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005.

The company’s furnishings and property, including a large collection of artwork, were liquidated in late 2006 to compensate creditors and settle outstanding personal-injury claims. (Wikipedia)

In his LinkedIn profile, Puyolt claims to have left Metabolife International in 2004, a year before the company’s regulatory problems began.

In addition to launching an MLM coaching business in 2005, 2007 saw Puyolt join Kyani. In 2009 Puyolt left Kyani to join Total Life Changes as Master Distributor.

Puyolt claims he provided half the investment capital to launch Total Life Changes.

Puyolt left Total Life Changes in May, 2016. The launch of Vida Divina was announced shortly thereafter.

Read on for a full review of the Vida Divina MLM opportunity.

The Vida Divina Product Line

There is currently no details of products provided on the Vida Divina website.

We have many great products that are on the way. Check back soon for more details.

Vida Divina marketing presentations by affiliates confirm that the flagship product in Vida Divina will be a weight-loss tea, similar to Total Life Changes’ Iaso brand of tea.

The Vida Divina Compensation Plan

The Vida Divina compensation plan pays affiliates when they make retail sales and recruit new Vida Divina affiliates.

Residual commissions are paid out via a binary compensation structure, with matching commissions paid through a seven-level deep unilevel team.

Vida Divina Affiliate Ranks

There are fifteen affiliate ranks within the Vida Divina compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  • NoRank – generate and maintain 120 PV a month
  • NoRank2 – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 300 GV a month
  • NoRank3 – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 600 GV a month
  • Apprentice – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 1200 GV a month
  • Bronze – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 2500 GV a month
  • Silver – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 5000 GV a month
  • Gold – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 10,000 GV a month
  • Platinum – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 20,000 GV a month
  • Sapphire – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 40,000 GV a month
  • Ruby – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 60,000 GV a month
  • Emerald – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 80,000 GV a month
  • Diamond – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 100,000 GV a month
  • Blue Diamond – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 250,000 GV a month
  • Black Diamond – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 500,000 GV a month
  • Crown Diamond – maintain 120 PV a month and have a downline generated 1,000,000 GV a month

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is made up of generated retail sales volume and an affiliate’s own product orders.

GV stands for “Group Volume” and is PV generated by an affiliate’s downline.

Note that monthly affiliate rank PV requirements must be maintained in order to qualify for commissions.

Retail Commissions

Vida Divina pay their affiliates when sales are made to retail customers.

Retail commissions in the Vida Divina compensation plan are defined as the difference between wholesale and retail pricing of ordered products.

Recruitment Commissions

When Vida Divina affiliates sign up with a “Starter Pack”, the affiliate who recruited them is paid a percentage of generated commissionable volume.

How much commissionable volume is generated is determined by how much a newly recruited Vida Divina spends when they sign up.

Various affiliate marketing presentations claim Vida Divina Starter Pack will cost between $150 and $1200.

How much of a percentage on the generated commissionable volume is paid out is determined by the recruiting affiliate’s rank:

  • Gold or lower – 50%
  • Platinum – 55%
  • Sapphire – 60%
  • Ruby – 62%
  • Emerald – 64%
  • Diamond to Black Diamond – 68%
  • Crown Diamond – 70%

Commissionable volume is represented as 100% of funds paid for a Vida Divina Starter Pack.

Note that the above commission percentages appear to be coded at a max of 70% per affiliate recruited.

If the recruiting affiliate is at a rank lower than Crowd Diamond, the difference between their rank percentage and higher ranks is paid to their upline (until the total 70% max has been paid out).

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Vida Divina are paid out via a binary compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):

binary-MLM-compensation-plan

Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of new Vida Divina affiliates.

Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated as required, with each new level housing double the positions of the previous level.

The second level of the binary team is generated by splitting the two first level positions into another two positions each (4 positions).

The third level of the binary team has eight positions and so on and so forth.

Sales volume is generated on both sides of the binary via retail sales, new affiliate recruitment and existing Vida Divina affiliates purchasing products.

At the end of each month Vida Divina tally up sales volume on both sides of the binary team. Affiliates are then paid a percentage of sales volume generated by their weaker binary side.

How much of a percentage a Vida Divina affiliate is paid is determined by their rank:

  • NoRank – 5%
  • NoRank2 – 6%
  • NoRank3 – 8%
  • Apprentice – 10%
  • Bronze – 11%
  • Silver – 12%
  • Gold – 13%
  • Platinum – 14%
  • Sapphire – 15%
  • Ruby – 16%
  • Emerald – 17%
  • Diamond – 18%
  • Blue Diamond – 19%
  • Black  and Crown Diamond – 20%

If a Vida Divina affiliate generates their required rank monthly PV within a specified number of days each month, the following bonus percentages on binary volume are paid out:

  • generate required monthly PV within the first 21 days of the month = 1% bonus
  • generate required monthly PV within the first 14 days of the month = 3% bonus
  • generate required monthly PV within the first 7 days of the month = 5% bonus

Note that Vida Divina affiliate binary earnings are capped at $80,000 a month.

Additional Binary Positions

Vida Divina affiliates at the Diamond, Blue Diamond, Black Diamond and Crown Diamond rank earn an additional binary position per rank qualified for.

This binary position is placed on top of their existing binary position(s), effectively allowing an affiliate to double-up on commissions paid on binary sales volume.

Note that each additional binary position generated is also subject to the $80,000 cap on binary earnings.

Matching Binary Bonus

Vida Divina affiliates earn a 50% check match on binary commissions paid to personally recruited affiliates.

The Matching Binary Bonus also has a residual component, paid out via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

unilevel-commission-structure

If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

Vida Divina cap payable unilevel levels at seven, with commissions paid a percentage of binary commissions earned by affiliates in their unilevel team.

  • Silver – 50% on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates), 3% on level 2, 2% on level 3, 1% on level 4, 0.5% on level 5 and 0.25% on levels 6 and 7
  • Gold – 50% on level 1, 4% on level 2, 3% on level 3 ,2% on level 4, 1% on level 5, 0.5% on level 6 and 0.25% on level 7
  • Platinum – 50% on level 1, 5% on level 2, 4% on level 3, 3% on level 4, 2% on level 5, 1% on level 6 and 0.5% on level 7
  • Sapphire 50% on level 1, 10% on level 2, 5% on level 3, 4% on level 4, 3% on level 5, 2% on level 6 and 1% on level 7
  • Ruby – 50% on level 1, 10% on levels 2 and 3, 5% on level 4, 4% on level 5, 3% on level 6 and 2% on level 7
  • Emerald – 50% on level 1, 10% on levels 2 to 4, 5% on level 5, 4% on level 6 and 3% on level 7
  • Diamond – 50% on level 1, 10% on levels 2 to 5, 5% on level 6 and 4% on level 7
  • Blue and Black Diamond – 50% on level 1, 10% on level 2 to 5 and 5% on levels 6 and 6
  • Crown Diamond – 50% on level 1 and 10% on levels 2 to 7

Mortgage Bonus

Vida Divina affiliates at the Ruby or higher rank qualify for a monthly Mortgage Bonus:

  • Ruby – $500
  • Emerald – $1000
  • Diamond – $1500
  • Blue Diamond – $2000
  • Black Diamond – $2500
  • Crown Diamond – $3000

Only Vida Divina affiliates with a property mortgage in their name can qualify for the Mortgage Bonus.

Affiliates who don’t have a mortgage still earn the bonus, however it is not paid out unless the affiliate obtains a mortgage.

Trip Bonus

Sapphire or higher ranked Vida Divina affiliates can qualify for two trips annually.

Sapphire or higher rank qualification must be maintained for four out of the first six months of the year to qualify for the first trip.

Sapphire or higher rank qualification must then again be maintained for four out of the second six months of the year to qualify for the second trip.

Vida Divina marketing material suggests the company pays for flights and accommodation.

Joining Vida Divina

Vida Divina affiliate membership is tied to the purchase of a Starter Pack.

Unfortunately Vida Divina do not provide Starter Pack costs on their website.

Various affiliate marketing presentations claim the cost of Vida Divina Starter Packs will be between $150 and $1200.

Conclusion

Last year Armand Puyolt claimed he was “in love with what we’re doing” at Total Life Changes.

A year later he’s left the company and gone on to launch a clone of the company.

The primary problem with Total Life Changes is that retail within the company was always an afterthought to affiliate recruitment.

Total Life Changes automatically converted anyone who spent $40 on products into an affiliate, with direct recruitment commissions also available.

The weakness of a recruitment-dependent MLM opportunity is of course a decline in new affiliate recruitment.

Although not conclusive, Alexa traffic estimates reveal a steady decline in visits to the Total Life Changes website over the past year:

alexa-traffic-estimate-total-life-changes-website-2016

Realistically Total Life Changes will probably go under within the next 12-18 months. A bunch of former affiliates jumping ship with Puyolt to join Vida Divina certainly won’t help.

Case in point Kesha Murray, the uploader of the YouTube video Puyolt claims TLC products cured his cancer.

About a month ago Murray stopped promoting TLC and began uploading Vida Divina marketing videos to her channel.

With Puyolt the former Master Distributor of Total Life Changes, this probably reflective of a large percentage of the TLC affiliate-base.

On the subject of Puyolt’s Iaso tea cancer curing claims, the video description for Murray’s April 14, 2015 video reads as follows:

POWERFUL TESTIMONY from TLC’s President and Master Distributor, Armand Puyolt – A MUST LISTEN!!!

As a survivor… My only Mission is to help who wants to LIVE. No matter where you are in the world. I Can Help You! I know your pain.

People give up with life at the first sight of cancer. And that is wrong.

Cancer CAN BEAT YOU if you give up on LIFE FAITH & HOPE.

In 2010 I was given 6 months of life to live. Had Gastric Cancer and also a Malign Tumor between my heart and lungs.

Today 5 years later to the day I AM ALIVE!!! And what is best my latest body scan is clear of all traces of cancer.

Did it with no radiation. Or chemo. Just natural products.

Armand Puyolt
President & Master Distributor Of Total life Changes

I’m sure it wont be long before we start seeing similar cancer cure claims for Vida Divina products, if they haven’t started already.

This will naturally be a problem for Puyolt and Vida Divina if the FDA decide to launch an investigation into the company and its products.

On the compensation side of things, Vida Divina’s model is different to Total Life Changes, however the overall focus on affiliate recruitment is maintained.

Retail commissions are available in Vida Divina, however once again they are pushed into the background by generous affiliate recruitment commissions.

Why waste your time earning $20 on a retail product order when you can earn hundreds of dollars upfront per Vida Divina affiliate you recruit?

As for monthly PV, this can and will likely be fulfilled via an affiliate self-purchasing 120 PV or more of product each month.

Why?

Because Vida Divina pay a bonus 5% if 120 PV is reached within the first seven days of the month.

Signing up for 120 PV autoship is one of, if not the fastest way to hit this qualification each month.

From there all a Vida Divina affiliate needs to do is recruit other affiliates who also purchase 120 PV a month in product, and watch the commissions roll in.

Retail is entirely ignored, with this compensation model favoring chain-recruitment over retail customer sales.

The Starter Pack commissions meanwhile are straight up pyramid scheme territory.

Don’t think any of this is a problem?

Go and look up the countless pitches by Vida Divina affiliates, most of whom are/were Total Life Changes affiliates, pitching the opportunity based on “missing out” on TLC.

They’re using fear of loss, knowing full-well those who sign up at the top of recruitment schemes make the most money.

Everybody below them loses out, as most of the affiliates who joined TLC over the past few declining years will tell you.

Between the cancer curing claims of the founder of the company, recruitment-orientated compensation plan and obvious attempt to relive the Total Life Changes prime recruitment glory days, Vida Divina is probably going to experience a much faster decline than its predecessor.

Once all the ex-Total Life Changes affiliates have signed up and the launch hype dies down, the problem of trying to pitch a near identical opportunity to an uninterested audience will still be there.

By that stage it’ll be too late to pitch people on “get in on the ground floor”, which will trigger the same decline in Vida Divina as Total Life Changes is going through now.