TINA’s Take: IM Mastery Academy Reinvents Itself as IYOVIA

WHAT’S UP

IM Mastery Academy (aka IMMA, and previously known as iMarketsLive or IML), an 11-year-old financial education MLM and the subject of an ongoing TINA.org investigation, is dead, according to its founder and CEO Christopher Terry. In its place Terry claims to have created a new network marketing company named IYOVIA (pronounced e-o-vee-uh). The announcement was made at the company’s Transform convention held earlier this month in Monterrey, Mexico.

Terry explained to the audience that he was not going to compete with brands that had “copied” IMMA – instead he was creating a new MLM that would be a “house of brands” because according to Terry, he doesn’t compete, he “creates new.”

Corporate informed those at the convention that IYOVIA would have four divisions.

• AI: Terry claims to have spent more than 14,000 hours over the past two years becoming an expert on AI and building two “brains” using ChatGPT. The company has introduced Terry’s two bots in beta, one focused on network marketing and the other on personal development.
• Learning: This is simply the bucket the company is putting all its old IMMA financial education products in and any that will be released in the future.
• Go: This division is marketed to provide travel opportunities to a little over a dozen places, which is also a repeat of an old IMMA offering.
• Life: IYOVA is entering the crowded health and wellness space with two products at present (one is an energy drink, which should have IYOVIA’s top leader, Alex Morton, reliving his days with alleged pyramid scheme Vemma.)

The company also announced a new compensation plan with new ranks such as Star Diamond, Presidential Titanium and Global Ambassador, and a variety of bonuses. (As of this writing, the compensation plan isn’t published on the IYOVIA website.)

But it was also clear over the two-day, bilingual convention that a lot hasn’t changed.

Corporate leadership remains the same; the same top distributors made appearances at the convention; many of the offerings for recruits remain the same; and the messaging to “never give up” and recruit, recruit, recruit persists (or as Nelly Leon, who introduced herself as the top recruiter in Latin America) put it, “people buy people” and “attention equals more money.”

HOW WE GOT HERE

Companies change their names for a variety of reasons but one common motivating factor for a rebranding (or a “rebirth” as Terry called it) is to escape a troubled past. And let’s be honest, the past few years have not been a bed of roses for IMMA despite its general assertions to the contrary. As an example, in one video shown at the convention, Terry makes the unfortunate claim when referring to IMMA that “I saw my baby that I created explode around the world.” However, in a rare moment of clarity, Terry pondered the following question on stage, “Have we had a rough road in the past year or so? So what, we’re here now. There’s no telling what we can do.” But to date, authorities in at least nine countries (listed below) have told IMMA exactly what it cannot do, which is a definite reason why the company may want to disappear its past with a rebranding.

• Belgium
• Canada
• Columbia
• France
• Great Britain
• Peru
• Poland
• Spain
• United States

And of course this isn’t the first time the company has changed its name (if not its business and marketing practices). In 2019, iMarketsLive became IM Mastery Academy. At the convention earlier this month, Terry said the company “renovated the brand” to become IMMA. Which begs the question with this latest rebranding: Did the company ever take the scaffolding down?

THE MARKETING PITCH IN QUESTION

Over the last six years, TINA.org has captured hundreds of deceptive and inappropriate income claims made by IMMA/iMarketsLive and its distributors. With the launch of IYOVIA, Terry made clear that using monetary incentives to promote the business opportunity is still a focus of the company:

Guys, my goal is to give you true multiple streams of opportunity by dealing with multiple types of industries. Something that’s never been done and I promise you, you’re not ready. This weekend is a rebirth of a company we love.

Morton echoed Terry’s pitch at the convention telling the audience that with IYOVIA, “You have the best products that give people a real way to financial independence.” Morton concluded by letting those in attendance know that he had five calls lined up that evening with six- and seven-figure earners. Others talked about the financial benefits they’ve achieved working with the company, including traveling around the world, freedom to spend their days with family, earning passive income leading to more freedom, and going from broke and having no freedom to transforming their life. Inspired by these stories, one attendee posted on Instagram about IYOVIA being “the path to financial freedom.” Tellingly, no mention appeared to be made at the convention that IYOVIA had also released a new income disclosure statement (though the new company name doesn’t appear anywhere on it), which indicates that the typical company distributor makes no money or loses money.

WHAT’S NEXT

IMMA’s name change will not protect it from further governmental scrutiny, insulate it from the loss of distributors or shield it from examination by TINA.org. If IMMA really does want a fresh start with IYOVIA, it can begin by ditching the inappropriate marketing claims and focus on selling its products rather than recruiting distributors who typically make nothing.

IYOVIA did not respond to TINA.org’s request for comment.

Find more of our coverage on IMMA here.