“If you have a belly, you disrespect yourself. If you don’t have money, you disrespect yourself.” This is the fundamental principle of the speech by Amadeo Llados, the pseudoguru of financial freedom who has become the prophet of thousands of young people around the world who follow his “teachings” and which will be broadcast on June 22 in Calahorra, in a festival that has sponsorship from the Calahorra City Council of 39,930 euros.
The festival also has the support of the Rioja Youth Institute through discounts on tickets for users of the Youth Card but, as explained by the Department of Culture and Youth, only for tickets to the concerts, not to this cycle of talks. The Government of La Rioja assures that at the time of presenting these discounts, which try to promote access to music in Rioja society, they did not even know of the existence of this series of talks.
The business of this influencer It is based on the thousands of young people who pay 50 euros a month to belong to its affiliate program and reproduce its messages on the networks. In exchange for this subscription, they also become part of a network of collectors. They create parallel accounts on social networks where they upload content about their idol. For each new subscriber who follows Llados through a link to these networks, the recruiter obtains a 30% commission through the PayPal payment platform, without an invoice. In a video Llados promises earnings of a thousand euros per month to his followers in exchange for 30 minutes of work a day. Several former Llados affiliates, such as youtuber Álvaro Rojo, have said they feel scammed by its mechanics.
Despite the controversy of these practices, the pseudoguru has been chosen by the Gran Reserva festival for its ‘Exclusive Networking in the VIP Room’ event of the festival in which it will feature, as announced on its website, “top-level artists, businessmen and influencers ”. The best known is Llados but the list is long with names like José Elías or Ángel Niño.
“Whenever they ask you how you are, say you’re winning.” This is what he conveys to his followers, promising them million-dollar profits while making them pay up to 12,000 euros for a mentorship or a thousand euros to enter one of his events last weekend in Madrid. Young people who put everything in with the promise of success and financial freedom and with real difficulties in making ends meet. Even kids who are still in high school.
“Gradual shaping”
Last April, in statements to elDiario.es, the psychologist Ramón Nogueras established parallels between the mechanisms that condition phenomena such as the fanaticism of a sect and the followers of this type of coaches charismatic: “The psychological processes in both cases are similar or identical. In both cases, a gradual molding occurs, which we see in different radicalization processes. In fact, there is an important reinforcement and social control by the group, efforts are made to separate from the outside (calling others failures in this case), and immersion in the group is carried out through successive approaches.”
Llados conveys that there is no need to study because it is of no use and his followers believe him. Adolescent followers who, as has been shown through various investigations, enter this group suffering serious consequences. They all use the same language calling those who are outside that circle ‘fucking commoners’ and in many cases they distance themselves from their friends and families because their guru recommends it.
Tickets for this “entrepreneur” event within the Gran Reserva de Calahorra festival have a price ranging from 100 euros for the most basic ticket that gives access to some of the talks to 585 euros for the VIP pass.
The event will be held at the Teatro Ideal de Calahorra, a municipal agency, within the framework of the Gran Reserva Festival and, as defined by the organization, “it redefines the festival experience by introducing an exclusive component of professional development and networking.” They point out that “it is an opportunity to grow personally and professionally” with a set of presentations and keynote talks “focused on entrepreneurs and all those who seek inspiration and success in different sectors and industries.”
