Another MLM bites the dust, and this time it’s Modere. Modere was famous for its Liquid BioCell Collagen, but suddenly the whole company is gone, leaving its customers and representatives in the lurch.
So why did Modere close suddenly after 23 years in business? And what is going on with Modere’s Liquid Collagen now? Hint: some strange things are happening.
A lot of MLM/Direct Sales companies are going out of business days. It might be the economy, and it might be the structure of the MLM industry itself. Whatever the cause, it’s incredibly hard on distributors and customers. Very hard. LulaRoe, NYR Organic/Neal’s Yard Remedies, and more recently Beautycounter.
It’s so bad that Kristen Boss, a multi-million dollar MLM coach, is totally revamping her business, I guess because there aren’t as many MLM reps who want to pay for coaching anymore.
Here are some facts and some of my thoughts about what happened to Modere because there were more things going on than just financial woes and what’s happened since the closing is well, very odd indeed.
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Modere’s Closing
Modere closed suddenly on April 11, 2025, after 23 years in business. The company sent out the following notice to representatives and customers. What a shocker to get this in your inbox.
Sadly, I’ve experienced this “email of death” a number of times, with Ava Anderson, NYR Organic, and Beautycounter. And that, along with other things, has made me think a lot about this whole MLM/direct sales thing.
MLM representatives put a lot of time and money into recommending a company and their products, only to have them rip the rug out from under you. And when you spend hours and hours researching products like I do, it’s even more messy.
Modere’s Start
The history of Modere and the company that preceded it, Neways, is complicated. There are different versions of all of this in various places, so I might have some details wrong here. Happy to correct things if need be.
Modere was a “wellness”/personal care brand that started out selling “clean” personal and home products but later became famous for its Liquid Biocell collagen. The company was owned by Z Capital Partners, which is a private equity firm owned by Capital Group LLC.
Robert Conlee was originally the chairman/CEO of Neways. Neways dissolved amidst legal issues, including accusations of tax evasion, and was sold to Golden Gate Capital.
Modere was born out of that not-great situation.
Liquid Collagen and Asma Ishaq Come to Modere
In 2017, Modere bought Jusuru, a liquid collagen MLM that Asma Ishaq and her brother Suhail Ishaq owned. Jusuru was built on their family’s product, Liquid Biocell.
In 2019, Asma became the CEO of Modere and at the same time, Jusuru became the Modere Collagen Sciences division of the same company.
From that point on, most would say that the liquid collagen was the backbone of Modere’s product line.
Numerous Lawsuits
Another significant item in Modere’s history is lawsuits involving Justin Prince, one of their top distributors, and other direct sales companies.
Modere claimed that Prince sabotaged and crippled their company by sharing disparaging information about the company while planning to start another direct sales venture. Justin Serra (yes, another Justin) was also named as a co-conspirator in the lawsuit but wasn’t named as a defendant.
Since leaving Modere, Prince launched Make Wellness (you’ve likely seen this peptide company mentioned a lot as that MLM tries to suck people into their orbit) and Justin Serra is their CEO. Make Wellness apparently has a lot of former Modere reps involved with it. Spoiler alert: I’m not getting involved with that company.
Later, the sabotage accusations switched directions when Nerium accused Modere of doing the same to them by poaching their representatives. Poaching is when an MLM company or rep tries to take a rep from another team or company and get them to work with them instead.
Other lawsuits involved Modere suing Frequense and Isagenix suing Modere.
Nate Frazier Joins Modere
Eventually and quietly, Asma left Modere in 2023. Nate Frazier became their President, COO, and Executive Chairman in December 2023.
The reasons behind Asma leaving are confusing with some saying that Justin Prince was a big part of her departure.
Financial Woes
The whole situation is hard for anyone to know completely, but one thing that is clear is that Modere was not in good financial shape.
On August 28, 2023, the company laid off 30% of its staff and Justin Prince stated in his lawsuit against Modere that private equity “restructured its debt on the back of Modere, for the benefit of Z Capital and its partners.”
Note that private equity was apparently a big part of Beautycounter’s demise as well.
Going Out of Business Just After “Accelerated Growth”
Modere announced it was going out of business on April 12, 2025, and it was a shock to many. Part of the reason for the shock is the messaging that was going on close to the closure.
On February 27th, Modere announced their new Chief Revenue Officer hire with these forward-looking words:
So much for accelerated growth and expanding reach.
For another example, see this Facebook post from March 16, 2025, by John Melton. John is an MLM coach, who here is claiming that Modere is “only getting stronger,” is the “best income opportunity on the planet” and is headed “for this next real chapter.”
You can get a feel for John’s persona by perusing his Facebook profile. Repeatedly talking about opportunity, money, and in my opinion, over-the-top devotion to Modere and other MLMs.
Either he was ignorant or simply parroting what he was told to say by the head of the dying Modere.
Of note is that only FOUR DAYS after Modere announced its closing, John seems to have already “found that spark again” with others who have now found yet another MLM to build.
This sadly sounds familiar to me and the rest of the consultants who went through Gregg Renfrew’s return to Beautycounter with her saying “let’s f*cking go” repeatedly in basically every talk she had with reps after her return to the company along with the launch of their groundbreaking “safer fragrance” line just before they shut down.
To be fair, the writing did seem to be on Modere’s wall when Asma left, seeing as her own product had been the backbone of Modere since 2017.
Liquid BioCell and Collagen Strangeness
While I was working on this post, Amare (where Asma Ishaq is now the CEO) announced that it would be selling Liquid BioCell and Modere’s Trim (which contains Liquid BioCell). In retrospect, since Asma owned Jusuru/Liquid BioCell, I guess this was a logical move, but there’s a lot of liquid collagen strangeness going on.
First of all, Dr. Shawn Talbott (PhD), who was the much-loved scientific advisor for Amare, wasn’t a fan of taking collagen but thought it was best to encourage the body to make its own.
Amare had brought HL5 collagen from Kyani (a company that Amare bought in 2022) to market in 2023, but I was with Amare at the time and heard nothing about it, so collagen was not their focus at all.
Now Asma is moving her family’s Liquid BioCell products to Amare and “Doc Talbott” has moved to Bella Grace, a COLLAGEN-based MLM.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Liquid BioCell/Collagen Timeline of Events
Here’s the timeline of events:
- 2017: Jusuru becomes part of Modere.
- 2019: Asma Ishaq becomes CEO of Modere.
- Late 2023: This date is hard to determine exactly, but Asma Ishaq, whose family owns BioCell Collagen (the key ingredient in Modere’s Liquid Collagen), leaves Modere.
- January 18, 2024: I’ve heard some not-good rumors about what led to this, but David C. Chung, a Korean entrepreneur, purchased Amare from the now apparently uninvolved founder, Hiep Tran.
- June 2024: Asma Ishaq joins Amare as their new CEO.
- Nov 23, 2024: Shawn Talbott announces that he’s leaving Amare and NOT jumping to another MLM, but is going to stay in the mental wellness arena. He stated in that video that “mental wellness is the place to be.”
- February 20, 2025: Amare starts marketing The Rootist haircare products for “hair wellness.” The Rootist is owned by Amare’s new owner, David C. Chung. Side note: two-thirds of The Rootist’s products have artificial fragrance in them.
- April 11, 2025: Only four and a half months after stating that he’s not jumping to another MLM and is staying in the mental wellness arena, Talbott announces that he’s joining Bella Grace, which is an MLM built around COLLAGEN, stating, “I am excited to join Bella Grace at such a pivotal moment in its growth. I look forward to driving innovation and delivering science-backed solutions that enhance human potential“. Sounds familiar.
Outstanding Questions
I get it. People can change their minds, but I have questions.
- Did Asma see the writing on the wall with the financial woes, so she figured she’d better find another MLM where she could (hopefully) eventually take her collagen after Modere went under?
- Was she booted out from Modere and thankfully Modere’s demise made it easier for her to start her liquid collagen sales back up again?
- Why did Talbott leave Amare?
I’ve seen Asma say that she didn’t expect Modere to close. I’ve also seen her make suggestive comments about terrible leadership at Modere.
I don’t know what’s really going on, and I likely never will, but this whole MLM merry-go-round thing is making my head dizzy.
What I will say, however, is that it’s very convenient that just a few days after Modere shut down many previously panicking Liquid BioCell sellers are already building their teams and planning to sell Amare and The Rootist’s artificial fragrance-filled hair products.
Call me a skeptic, but it’s not just the artificial fragrances that smell bad to me.
However, perhaps this is all just things working their way out so that everyone who wants their Liquid BioCell can get it without much interruption.
As an important side note, this doesn’t mean that I’m 100% anti-MLM, but I am against toxicity, whether it’s toxic fragrances, or toxic manipulation of people, money, and the truth.
