My thoughts on LuLaRich (and MLMs as a whole)
Recently, Mr. FG and I, along with much of America (!) watched Amazon's LuLaRich documentary. And after I watched it, I got the itch to talk about it with other people, kind of like you would at a book club.
(I get that itch to discuss whenever I read a good book too. But I would need to have a super frequent book club to keep up with all the books I want to talk about!)
I mentioned all this in passing in another post, and a number of you said you wanted to talk about it too.
So, consider this a blog version of a video version of a book club!
I'm going to type out my random thoughts about LuLaRich and MLMs in general, and then I'd love to hear yours in the comments.
First, a small explainer: an MLM is a Multi-Level Marketing company that enlists representatives to sell products. Tupperware, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Young Living, and LuLaRoe are all MLMs. They are not technically pyramid schemes because they do sell products, but many of them are set up so that you mostly make money if you refer other people to become sales reps.
Also, it's common that to be a sales rep, you have to buy a certain amount of product from the company every month. So, yes, they are legal in the U.S., but they definitely share some features with actual pyramid schemes.
The "work part-time!" lie
Every time I see promotional material from an MLM (multi-level marketing company), there's a promise is that you can earn a full-time living from part-time hours.
But based on what I hear and observe from people in MLMs, part-time work almost always earns you a part-time living.
And that's in a best-case scenario; most people who put in part-time work earn almost no money, and a whole lot end up losing money.
Don't make full-time income? It's your fault!
This, to me, is one of the great ironies of MLM culture. The promise is always that you can work less and make more.
But if you don't make money, the criticism is always leveled at the sales reps, not at the company.
This is such a conflicting message:
"Work less! Spend more time with your family! Stay home with your kids!"
Aaaaand:
"You need to hustle more! You get out of this business what you put into it."
How can both of these messages be true at the same time?
The "be with your family more" message doesn't seem to pan out
Multiple women in the LuLaRich documentary (people who were successful at earning piles of money) talked about how the LuLaRoe business completely took over their lives.
I have a friend who has experienced this with another MLM; she was making good money, but it had eaten up all of her time. She was seeing her kids and husband way less than before she started!
Several of the successful LLR reps ended up getting divorced, and more than one said that LuLaRoe was partly to blame. It's not exactly the family-friendly business model it sets out to be.
I don't think there's ANY good reason to choose an MLM business model
Deanne (the founder) started out just making clothes and selling them, which was fine. That's a normal business.
And when she sold some wholesale to her first sales rep, that was fine too. Totally normal business dealings.
But once she and Mark started paying people to recruit other reps, that's where things seemed to go off the rails.
I've heard all sorts of reasons companies decide to go the MLM route. For instance, Deanne said it would be wonderful to have other people training new sales reps. I've heard Young Living reps say that Young Living uses an MLM model in order to make sure that the people who are selling the oils are also using the oils.
But none of the reasons I've heard make sense to me; they're saying the MLM model solves all these "problems" that other traditional businesses seem to handle without needing to resort to an MLM model.
If your clothes are so wonderful, sell them the regular way!
If your oils are so fantastic, why can't you sell them without levels and teams?
If your jewelry is awesome, open an online store.
If your health supplement works wonders, then word will spread without you needing to use an MLM to sell it.
I cannot think how the MLM model could have made practical sense for LuLaRoe if their goal was to make money selling products.
If the product was flying off the metaphorical shelves and that was the huge money-maker, then it would have made more sense for Mark and Deanne to warehouse it all and sell it themselves, hiring people to package and ship. That way they could make retail profit instead of wholesale.
But the huge money-maker for them was all these sales reps paying $5000-$10,000 to get started as a rep. And that's obviously why they chose to do an MLM model, regardless of what they say the reason was.
Basically, the only "problem" that the MLM model seems to solve is the founders' desire to make more money than they could possibly make by selling products.
The "It's just like other affiliate programs!" message
MLM marketers seem to be told to use this messaging, and it is just patently untrue.
And I would know because I work with lots of affiliate programs.
For instance, I have an affiliate relationship with Vitamix. I bought a Vitamix, wrote about it, and some years down the road, Vitamix invited me to join their affiliate program. If someone buys a Vitamix through one of my links, I get paid a commission on that purchase.
However!
- I do not ever have to buy another Vitamix product in order to keep earning money from Vitamix affiliate links
- There's not a minimum Vitamix spend I have to meet each month
- I don't ever have to recruit other people to be Vitamix affiliates
- People don't even have to buy a Vitamix in order to share a Vitamix affiliate link (although it would be a little weird to promote a product you haven't tried!)
Like any other legit retail company, Vitamix makes money by selling its products, and that's why its affiliate program is simple.
Requiring your "affiliates" and reps to spend a certain amount of money on company products each month is weird and not normal. It's a sketchy way of earning money by turning your "affiliates" into repeat customers.
I don't know what to think about Deanne
Obviously, she is a woman who has a lot of business savvy, and she's been entrepreneurial since way before LuLaRoe.
But in her interview and in her deposition recordings, she gives off an, "OMG, I'm so clueless!" impression. I kind of wonder if she feels a certain amount of pressure to display a persona that is not reflective of her actual self (a self that is apparently very capable, and also sometimes quite unkind.)
If she does think it's somehow not feminine to be smart and capable, that bums me out.
Whatever it is, it's odd...she didn't seem genuine.
It is impossible for lots of people to make lots of money in an MLM
There's no way to watch LuLaRich and conclude that people were making their millions from selling clothing. When pressed, one of the earliest retailers flat-out refused to answer the, "Was there ever a month where you made more selling product than referring people?" question.
Obvious conclusion: she did not want to admit that her income was always skewed in the direction of recruitment income.
Because of this setup, reps who join later are never going to be able to earn like the early reps; there's simply not enough population for them to be able to refer enough new reps to maintain high status in the company.
If the population numbers aren't there, then no amount of hard work will make you successful.
I wanted to cry at the wasted money
You know how sometimes you hear of professional sports players who have made over a million dollars for multiple years, and somehow, they spend it all and end up penniless?
That always hurts my heart a little bit because if you made a million dollars even for one year and you were wise with that money, you'd be set up for your entire life.
I had that same sort of feeling when watching LuLaRich; there were women on there who had been bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars per month, and they spent it all.
Courtney Harwood (who had to declare bankruptcy eventually) said there was major pressure within LuLaRoe to present a glamorous image, so she was spending the money as fast as it came in, living $300,000 paycheck to $300,000 paycheck.
GAHHHH!!
I suppose you could blame the reps for being unwise with their money, but when you are sucked into what is essentially a cult, it's pretty hard to think for yourself.
Still. I can't help but feel horrified at the wasted opportunity to save.
I don't really blame the reps
I think the responsibility for the suffering caused by LuLaRoe should stand squarely on Mark and Deanne Stidham's shoulders. They're the ones who sucked the reps in and manipulated them, and while people love to hate on "boss babes" and "MLM huns", I think the hate is misdirected.
People in a cult have been manipulated, and the blame should land on the people doing the manipulation.
LuLaRoe is no different than other MLMs
Jill Drehmer, the only still-active rep featured in LuLaRich, said, "LuLaRoe isn't doing anything different than other MLMs. If you criticize LuLaRoe, you have to criticize all the others too."
While she was saying this in defense of LuLaRoe, I took it the opposite way! LuLaRoe has done terrible things to its reps, and the business model sets them up to fail.
AND
other MLMs are doing the exact same thing to other vulnerable people; preying on people who want to believe the false promises.
_________
I'm at 1700 words now, so that's probably enough thoughts from me!
Alrighty, readers. I want to know your thoughts on LuLaRich. Talk to me!
P.S. I know I came down kind of hard on MLMs here, and I know that there are people in MLMs who make money. But the facts are the facts: somewhere around 99% of MLM participants fail to make a profit. These are not good odds! You're basically more likely to win the lottery. So, if you are wanting to make some extra money, it would be wise to choose something that is not an MLM.
P.P.S. On a related note, I wrote some very honest thoughts about why I decided not to become a Young Living rep.
The difference between MLM and a pyramid scheme still eludes me.
@WilliamB, it’s easy: the difference is that when a pyramid scheme collapses, you end up broke; when an MLM collapses, you end up broke with a garage full of worthless crap that nobody wants! 😛
@WilliamB, "It's not a pyramid scheme. It's a reverse funnel system"
I mean, technically an MLM is not a pyramid scheme, because products are sold. But when an MLM is set up like LuLaRoe where the money was most clearly made from recruiting a downline and getting your downline to recruit their downline and so on, then the dividing line becomes extremely slim.
@WilliamB, if LLR had structured their payments to the recruiter's to be a percentage of their downline's retail sales, and not of their downline's wholesale orders, they are much less of a pyramid scheme. Still the later to the game people won't be making as much, if any, money; but the upline only gets rich if the people they recruit do actually SELL, not just spend their own money.
MLM is an awful business model; but the "upline makes money off you" isn't quite so bad if you are actually making money yourself.
Huh. I had no idea what an MLM was (is), and I can't say that my life has been worse for not having that knowledge. Sometimes it's good to be so totally out of the loop.
Oh, that is a good point. I wrote this assuming everyone knew; I'll go back and add an explainer.
@kristin @ going country, I join you in being glad to be out of the loop. I had no idea that LLR was an MLM--and my opinion of the many LLR clothes I find in thrift stores is that the products are complete c**p. The LLR folks may have taken exploitative "fast fashion" to the next level.
Ohhh, that reminds me! This roundup of terrible fashion from a ThredUP box includes a LuLaRoe cardigan: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/the-thredup-rescue-box-review-the-fails/
@kristin @ going country, Yes!!!
I do not know this particular company, but I do know several people who started on an MLM for weight loss products. They seemed to want to recruit both customers and reps to finance their own use of the product, initially. And it became a way of living that quite affected their relationships with family, neighbours, and colleagues, eventually. To me it is a pyramid system in which the early adopters earn the money and later joiners end up making very little if anything at all. Put harshly: if you make money from a pyramid system you earn money at the expense of the less cunning. Apologies if I hurt people's feelings here.
@J, No apologies needed.. You said what we were thinking.
I have a good friend who got sucked into the LuLaRoe thing. She bought a ton of product and never sold a single item! She set up her basement as a 'store' and spent so much money getting set up, but never held a single party or closed a single sale. All of her LuLaRoe clothes just quietly disappeared after a while. Now she never wears any of it and was unable to return it to the company because they don't accept returns if anything has been removed from the original packaging. I know she lost at least $6,000. Last summer she was all about crypto currency. I haven't heard about that in a few months though, so I'm guessing she lost whatever profits she made there.
Oh no, that is so sad. I hate that people get sucked into these promises of success; it's so hard to watch!
@Kristen, It happens to smart people too. Mark Twain was always seeking a new "Get Rich Quick" scheme.
The first episode of the Netflix documentary "Unwell" also features the cult-like aspects of MLM, I drew the same conclusions as you. The series sets out to look at the good and the bad in the wellness industry, the first episode is called "Essential Oils".
I sat there with my mouth open at Deanne appearing to be a dumb blond in the disposition taping and then appearing to be genuine sitting next to her husband. They knew what they were doing. And the fact that it cost $5,000-$10,000 for start up would have me walking away immediately. Especially after telling people to put that money on a credit card or to sell breast milk.
I did learn more about MLM and was sad for all the people doing the work. Now I know how they really work.
Hearing about scams is a guilty pleasure of mine, so LuLaRich was right up my alley. I must admit I watched the whole thing in one evening.
I will disagree with you that the blame falls only on the 2 founders. Of course, they shoulder the lion share of the responsibility - they set up the system and benefitted from it more than anyone else. And sure, many of the reps were fooled, or didn't understand the math. But many of the "mentor" level retailers knew exactly what they were doing, for example Audrey and Courtney, who you mentioned above. They were willing to recruit and profit off of their friends. They also came across as lacking in self reflection about the hurt they caused after all was said and done.
I also don't have any sympathy for those pulling huge paycheques and spending them all, like Courtney blowing her $50k cheque on 2 (TWO!!!) new cars. I totally believe there was pressure to portray a certain lifestyle, but I don't think the reps can be completely absolved of the responsibility for their own spending. If you don't admit you made a mistake, you can't learn from it. I fall intro this trap sometimes when I spend more than I wanted to when dining with friends, and its easy to say "well, I did what they wanted and now I'm out money!". Its harder to admit I could have made an effort to plan a less costly outing. Maybe that just shows how much kinder you are than I, Kristen. 🙂
The biggest MLM in my native country is Tupperware, and I just don't understand how Tupperware is doing so much better than other MLMs. In my native language, we actually say "Tupper" instead of "storage container" (kind of like you would say "Kleenex" instead of tissue paper). Thats how popular it is! I have a great aunt who was a Tupper Rep and her entire in-law suite at her house is piled high with the stuff. She was selling from at least the 1980s until just a few years ago, when she became too old to keep up with it. I don't understand how Tupperware is standing the test of time, when other MLMs seem to collapse within a few years usually.
@a curious reader, Tupperware is the rare MLM where the products were first to market and were of a much higher quality than competing products for a long time. In 2021 I can head on down to my local Target or Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon and find a dozen different types of food storage containers. In the 60s and 70s they owned the market because there was no one else like them.
@a curious reader,
I also wondered about Tupperware. And is Avon a MLM?
Is Amway still around? The home decor and candle companies seem to have passed their prime.
Amway is indeed still around, as far as I know!
@Kristen, Amway is around. Their HQ is not far from me.
@Kristen, I hate to admit it, but their toothpaste and laundry detergent were faves of mine for at least 10 years after we left Amway. Excellent quality products and not terribly expensive back then. Guess that's how they still pay for the Amway Center in Orlando, home of the NBA Orlando Magic.
I used to sell Tupperware (from about 2005 to 2008) and honestly, I did it for the same reason an old landlady* of mine started doing it: to be able to buy the stuff I wanted for myself at a discount.
I was admittedly one of the worst reps from the company's point of view there ever could be. I think I only actually did two or three parties during the whole time. I definitely pretended to do more parties than that, though, but was essentially just ordering for myself. The company structure where I lived at the time was pretty relaxed - no pressure by way of minimum targets to be reached each month or anything. Small country, small business - they were just happy to sell anything they could, I think and weren't too bothered about having to spend time chasing the less enthusiastic contributors like me.
* She used to invite me to make up numbers if she were having a party with less than the minimum needed - I still have the free gifts (basic small containers) I got at those parties in 1994 and they still work just as well.
I totally understand people who join just for the discount (although that is definitely not why anyone joined LuLaRoe; the $5000 upfront price tag to join was so, so high!* No one in their right mind would be doing that for a discount.)
And it sounds like your company setup was way less pressure-filled than LuLaRoe too.
*The new joining fee is much lower. But it was $5000-$10,000 initially.
@Heidi Louise, Avon has a thriving and needed business in many developing countries. Those Avon arms specialize in making small containers and packets so people with just a little extra money can have shampoo and store-bought soap.
As to why some of them work, my understanding is it has to do with the financial set-up. The characteristics of an honest, long-lasting system are lower up-front costs, lower payments for recruiting others, higher payment for selling things, and low or no requirement to buy an amount of goods yourself. Maybe also that the company takes returns.
@WilliamB, thank you (and others) for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense. I do really love Tupperware products - I have some that must be older than myself when I moved out of my parents house, and they are now with me living on another continent!
@a curious reader, I love Tupperware too! They really do last. I think all of their fun colors get me too. 🙂
My mom still has some of her Tupperware from my childhood! Those cups with the snap-on lids were indestructible.
Please excuse that I didn't see the program, so I don't know if it addressed this: MLMs target women, by their product choice, by how women think about work and family, and by how women are supposed to help each other out (just buy one thing from me), which hurts rather than strengthens relationships.
@Heidi Louise, you know that didn't jump out at me at first but yes, MLMs seem to almost exclusively target vulnerable women. I wonder if it is, as you said, the nature of how women act with regards to family and community.
I know I have zero issues with saying no or slamming the door in the face of a solar panel salesman (speaking from experience) but I do know that my wife has been snookered into doing things she didn't want to do because of her friends.
@Heidi Louise,
When I was younger in my 30s or 40s, I was invited to so many MLM parties. Most of these were held by mothers like myself who wanted to contribute financially to their families without working full-time. It seemed like everyone was selling Longaberger Baskets or Pampered Chef except me. These invitations always put me in a difficult position. I wanted to be supportive of these women’s efforts, but I didn’t want any of this stuff! I started to decline whenever asked which made me feel bad too. Thankfully now that I am in my 50s, I know very few people who are involved in this kind of thing. When I’m invited to a party, it’s nice to know my friends want my company, not my money.
This is one of the sad parts of MLMs, to me. Unless someone already has a big platform, they end up reaching out to friends and family to try to get them to be customers. And that can make relationships feel kind of awkward.
@Kristen,
That's the business model of Cutco. When they make a demonstration to you they specifically ask you for 3 or 4 of your friends they can reach out to.
@Bee, amen. I'm now in my 70s but went to many, many "buy something" parties in my day. And if you couldn't make it they brought you the catalogue. I always just wanted to help out the women involved. Now, I wish I had said no more often, because these people were almost never friends of mine.
@Heidi Louise, THIS!!!! MLMs are so dangerous because of how they prey on incredible vulnerable women. I didn't fully understand this until my husband and I looked into transitioning me to be a SAHM. As we reviewed our budget and realized how tight money would be, I thought "huh. I can totally see why MLMs are pushed so heavily to SAHMs." These SAHMs are so very vulnerable , needing to take care of their children and help out financially, and MLMs totally take advantage of that. They destroy female friendships. I absolutely hate it, and I won't support anyone who does MLMs.
@Heidi Louise,
Yes. There is an excellent article here: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/what-got-left-out-of-lularich that goes into great analysis of why MLMs not only target women but why they are validating to them as well: they acknowledge the value of work in the domestic sphere that is so often not recognized and monetized. This article also explores the relationship between MLMs and the prosperity gospel that is a cultural phenomenon in the United States. I found it illuminating and sad.
I didn't watch much of this (my wife binge watched the whole thing) but I remember something my father said when I was young (with regards to Avon.) "If the product is so great, Macy's would want to sell it."
My mom sold Avon back in the 80s-90s. We lived in a fairly small town and there was obviously no online shopping. There was no Sephora or Ulta and the closest department store was at least an hour's drive away. According to my mom, drug store makeup was a lot poorer than it is today (I obviously can't speak to that being a man.) So she had a steady stream of regular customers buying items like makeup and perfume and lotions and all that.
Over the years, little by little the sales just went down as people bought less and less. My mom was never a saleslady and thusu was never pushy or anything. She just delivered catalogs to people she knew who would submit orders (or not) and then they'd stop by the house and pick up their orders when they came in. Once in a great while we had to deliver something but that was rare.
In the end, she told me that the markup was decent in the 80s but that she still never made a huge amount of money. Apparently she just used most of the funds she earned to purchase Avon products for herself.
Apparently Mary Kay was the cult company and Avon was a bit more "normal."
But we live in 2021 and even my podunk town has an Ulta and there's a vast internet at our fingertips so there is zero reason to purchase anything via a MLM and even less than zero reason to join one.
@Battra92,
I agree with your memories of Avon; I used to buy a little of it myself, but the choices are so great out there now, that I haven't even looked at it in ages. I will say that my husband used to buy Skin-So-Soft all the time. He worked for years in a swampy area, and that's how he and his crew kept the sand gnats at bay. 🙂
@Battra92, This is also how I thought of the early days of Avon and Tupperware-- they were quality products, not available elsewhere, with opportunities for making money, but without the pressure on their agents.
@Battra92, @JD
Like JD's hubby I bought Avon's Skin-so-Soft when I heard of the gnat deflection so I could be in the garden. I had to go looking for a rep. It was a very good bug repellent! Macy's would need to put it in a different department!
@Heidi Louise, @Battra92, et al - That's good context - you reminded me of when my mom would buy Avon and go to the occasional Tupperware party (decades ago). She enjoyed it, occasionally bought something, and there was no real pressure (her friends who were sellers appeared to be content and low-key too). I haven't watched or read anything about MLMs, but it would be interesting to know if/how things changed over the decades.
And yes - the only thing my mom got from Avon was Skin-so-soft! Funny thing: I randomly thought of it the other day when I was sitting out in the evening getting bitten, but didn't want to spray up with bug spray. I wondered if it was still around, so I looked for it online - it was there, but the price was much steeper than other similar (dry oil) products. Interesting topic...
@Erika JS, I heard long long ago that Avon did not wish to go through the FDA-whatever government agency approval process to prove that Skin so Soft repels insects. It is possible they don't even market it as an insect repellant, though it is (or was) sold in a convenient spray bottle.
@Battra92, Avon was an honest company and I must say that my mom sold it for years. She would sell it and then turnaround and donate all of her hard work to her church for the missionaries. My mom and the church got recognized for the biggest donation given to missionaries! People would buy from her like crazy as they knew their money for the product was going to a good cause Missionaries! Over my many years I have been involved in many companies, Amway, World Book Encyclopedia's, and Herbalife. I never made a whole bunch of money but what I did make came in handy as I was a stay at home mom, while my husband went to college. One thing about joining any MLM is to consider the amount of money to join the company. LLR should have sent red flags to people with the amount of money to start up the company, way too much so thankfully I never did do this company and so glad I passed it up.
After being diagnosed with and autoimmune disease I needed soft clothing and bought so much Lularoe inventory from people quick selling on Sunday night sales on FB. There are tons and tons of those groups! They sell below market value because they were/are getting out of the business. So instead of 25 dollars for leggings it was a 7 dollar flat rate with shipping included. Some even sell for less. I admit I wish I skipped that whole rabbit hole, because my collection is vast. The patterns are outrageous but super comfy, I will say that.
I do work for a company that is MLM-esk company, but there are right ways to do it. I'm not defending LuLaRoe -- I have not seen the documentary. Also, I have realistic expectations and our company sets those forth. You get out of it what you put in. And we do have one level of "recruits" but that is it -- the money I earn is commission on MY sales (and a miniscule margin of one level below me). I have no minimums, and I can be a rep to just get the discount on the products (that I love). So even though it fits under the broad MLM umbrella not all are created equally. There definitely are some that are unethical but not all are unethical. I did ALL my research before "joining".
I used to use Avon, a) I liked the products and b) I was keen to support my friend. I was never asked to sign up as an agent. I eventually stopped using when my friend stopped selling, and I decided to focus on cruelty free beauty products. Now Tupperware on the other hand... I still buy the odd item, because the quality is great, and they have always honoured the lifetime guarantee. I'm also happy to support my agent, and again, I have NEVER been asked to sign up as an agent. In SA, unemployment is a huge problem, and for some sales agents, it's their sole income. Now for a laugh (or cry, or a nightmare), readers, go and look for a website/blog called 'Pink Truth'. We don't have (any? much?) Mary Kay in this country, but.... yikes!
I didn't know anything about Lularoe, other than the name and that they made clothes, until you mentioned watching this, so I was eager to see your take on it. I'm aware that a lot of people have been or are in MLM's, and some really like it. For a while, I had about six friends in six different ones. They all ended up dropping out, though. Some regretted their experience, others didn't, but said they didn't have the time anymore.
I had a handful of extended family members who were distributors for a large MLM company that starts with an A. They recruited lots of others, and one couple in my family earned good money at it, earning a car more than once. Once, trying to find a way to make some extra money while home with a baby, I agreed to be a sales person under a family member, and quickly found out two things -- it was hard to sell the product in my area and I was not going to make any money unless I recruited others. As a family member, I had been gifted the start up kit, so I didn't lose money, but I made zero money, too, and I refused to recruit, so that experiment ended very quickly.
I came to the same conclusion as you, Kristen: if your products are that good, just sell them outright. Especially today, when anything can be sold and shipped on the internet, why is an MLM needed?
I have another family member who worked under a different MLM, selling financial products. After about 3 years, this person had still not made a dime - a hefty fee was required each year to belong, so basically, this person paid the company for the privilege of working for them and all of the slim profits made went to cover that fee. Said person finally dropped out of the company. They really can be almost cult-like, and some of these companies seem (in my opinion) to target church members by using a lot of references to faith. I think that might encourage uncritical acceptance of their policies. (I am NOT judging the sincerity or lack thereof concerning the faith of those company owners)
Thanks for your candid opinion, Kristen. I know this subject can be touchy, so I appreciate your honesty.
@JD, it's true that it's much easier to find sales channels now than it was before online shopping. What this change doesn't address is that you need money upfront to pay for the manufacturing long before you get income from selling anything. I don't know if MLMs started as a way to fund initial manufacturing or expansion, though.
Kickstarter is a (another?) attempt to solve this problem. People with an idea but no funding or only uncertain markets, post their idea/thing with a price. Anyone who likes it signs up for the Kickstarter and, if enough do so, they get the thing. If not, you (usually) lose the money.
Another example of upfront funding issues is vaccine research and manufacturing. It's enormously expensive with very uncertain outcome. The reason various governments (including, very generously, the US) and NGOs such as the Gates Foundation, *guaranteed* the pharma companies that they'd buy huge amounts, is so the pharma companies would risk multiple trillions of dollars.
You are a frugal blog. I do not like it when you go off in another direction. Why is it important for you to have others know how you feel about other things?
@LL Heaton, hello! I think she is a human person, not a blog, actually! Also, people who need money may want to try MLMs to bring income in, and they may think it's a good money creating position, but it isn't. So talking to people about how the money actually works with this type of company is a very frugality based thing to write about.
You decided to comment to tell everyone your feelings, which we didn't come to your blog to read. Why is it important for you to tell everyone what you think of her post?
@Rachel, thank you Rachel. You eloquently put what I was thinking.
@LL Heaton,
I think conversations such as this are interesting. The subject of MLM aka “a side hustle” is indirectly related to frugality and money management. I am sure there are some readers who have explored non-traditional money-making options over the years. Some have been successful, some have not. We can learn from each other.
Like I said in the intro to the blog post, I wanted to talk about LuLaRich with other people who had watched it, just as one does in a book club. For fun. 🙂 I heard from multiple readers that they'd like to discuss it too, so I went ahead and wrote the post.
If I'm going to write a post that's a little off-topic, I usually try to do a casual poll to gauge interest. But of course, not every post is going to be your cup of tea, and that's ok! I write a prolific number of blog posts by most blog standards, so there will be something new to read here the next day.
@Jeanne, Ditto, thank you Rachel for your comment.
@LL Heaton, losing money by joining an MLM isn't very frugal.
@LL Heaton, there is also the issue of the environmental waste created by LuLaRoe. All those people with $5k worth of leggings sitting around not being sold? Those end up, more often than not, as waste - in landfills, or in pallets of clothing that get sold in developing countries who don't necessarily want or need them (think of the recycling crisis, it's very similar). Preventing environmental waste is a regular topic of Kristen's on this blog so I think this post fits squarely in scope.
@LL Heaton, I actually knew nothing about Lularoe and only vaguely what an MLM scheme is, but I found this fascinating. And, as usual, the comments only expanded my understanding -- targeting vulnerable SAHMs, the somewhat misleading messaging, the HUGE upfront costs (yikes!), pressure to conform and appear successful, etc. The frugality aspect seems key and central to this blog. Scams (and not saying all MLMs are scams!) prey on the vulnerable and financially needy most of all -- it's a public service to explore these issues, and I am thankful for this info.
@Rachel, hadn't even thought of this aspect
I think MLM prey on people. The end. Especially stay at home parents just trying to stay afloat and with their children. It is sad to me and maddening.
Kristen, I have two questions about things mentioned that were not explained.
1. Something was said about LuLaRoe's quality plummeting. Did I understand that correctly? Why was that?
2. Also, apparently the company is still running, so what is going on? Were they charged with crimes?
I think they were having supplier issues and I definitely know they were having storage issues. At one point, they didn't have room for merchandise, so it was sitting out in the parking lot. Some pieces got sunbleached and some of them got wet and moldy.
LuLaRoe has survived quite a few lawsuits so far, and they have done some restructuring as a result. I believe the start-up cost is now closer to $500 than $5000, which is a huge improvement. I also know they changed the structure of their bonus checks so that there is now less emphasis on recruitment.
My daughter sold LuLaRoe. It was terrible. The items she got to sell were often terrible...and then she would get four of them all in the same size. UGH. Luckily she was able to get out when and recouped part of her money. I do blame part of their financial difficulties to this. She truly did not make money doing this but it's so deceiving as she would have a party, bring in amazing money but went right back around and had to put that money into more merchandise. It was never-ending. Then when shipments did come in there was such a pressure to get it out to be sold right away. I found myself at her house helping her. As a mother, I wanted to be supportive. I am so glad she got out when she did.
@Jo Kramer,
Jo I also read your blog and wondered how your daughter was doing with this business. I thought she had probably gotten out of it. As I hadn’t heard anything about it for a long time.
I must admit that I too watched this whole series in one sitting. I was just intrigued by the whole appearance that Deanne and her husband gave. She struck me as the quintessential woman who is taught from a young age to be feminine and pleasant and always have your makeup on. There was no reality coming from either of them even when they were under fire and being questioned at a deposition.
I agree that the reps that were at the top of the organization could not have been completely unknowing but I still feel that the responsibility lies with Deanne and her husband. I think that the Lularoe story is an example of how so many are sucked into schemes and cults ultimately wanting to belong, to contribute to our households and if you are a stay at home mom, pursue a venture of your own while still raising a family.
I like you Kristen was shocked at the amount of money these folks made and how they blew it all just to keep images alive instead of saving or investing it into their families. How many college educations could have been funded with those dollars, retirements realized, and mortgages paid off? Ugh I felt awful for them.
I feel even worse for those remaining with that company especially now that the documentary is out. Who is going to buy that product now??
I have run into many MLMs…pampered chef, Tupperware, Amway, jewelry, Young Living, herbal Life…they always seem to good to be true. Those running successful businesses in these areas are just like the rest of us working in corporate America…climbing that ladder comes at a price. I don’t know anyone that reaches those upper areas without sacrificing their family or themselves, working long hours, and making other concessions to further their career.
I also must say that I was astounded at the number of times they responded with ‘I don’t recall’ even after being shown video of them doing the exact thing they were asked about.
A very sad story for scores of ladies around the country.
I haven't watched Lularich yet, but I really want to. I just haven't had time.
I got sucked into two different MLMs in my younger years. At best, I broke even, and usually lost money. I've never had the personality to try to drag people into things, so it was always that I "didn't work hard enough, wasn't a good sales person", etc. I did keep my friends, though! And it seems like most people who are successful at MLMs don't have friends outside of them.
I signed up with a third one only to get several products I really wanted at a discount. I did the math and that was cheaper than buying them outright, which is probably more evidence for the fact that they're based on recruiting not selling. I got whatever their starter thing was that gave me most of the products I wanted, then never even tried to sell anything, and just let my membership lapse.
In addition to being based on recruiting more than selling, a lot of them seem to have products that people aren't going to buy over and over, even assuming you genuinely like and use the products. How many pairs of leggings do you need? Even if that's all you ever wear and you hate doing laundry, it's still a finite amount. How much makeup are you using on a daily basis? Unless you're a clown or a drag queen, I doubt you're buying products on a weekly or even monthly basis. Even more practical things like cookware are usually a one and done kind of thing. You're not buying a new set of pots and pans constantly. I guess that just feeds into making more money by recruiting when the products aren't something that's going to generate a regular customer base.
I think my biggest issue with MLMs is the pushiness and entitlement. It really irritates me when people won't take "no" for an answer. They keep asking you over and over again, and it gets irritating. I don't know if it's just my experience, but a lot of the people who have been really obnoxious have been people who want to be stay at home moms and they act like you owe it to them to help them be able to do that. I've had people tell me that because my husband and I both work and don't have kids, I should be able to spend money on whatever junk they're selling. That's a big fat NO from me!!! We all make our own choices and it is beyond wrong to expect someone else to help pay for whatever your choices are.
There are also quite a few that seem to have unqualified people giving questionable medical advice. It's terrifying to me that someone with absolutely no medical background goes around telling someone they need to take these supplements for this condition, drink these shakes for weight loss, or skip this medication or that vaccine for this oil/herb/whatever weird thing they're selling.
It's so interesting reading everyone's comments! And now I really, really want to watch the documentary.
I watched this the other day because of your note about it. To be honest, I was rolling my eyes the entire time I watched it. Everything that almost everyone on the documentary said made me cringe. Those who were higher up knew exactly what they were doing, and I even have a hard time finding sympathy even for those downline. Maybe I'm too cynical for my own good, but wow, when a company encourages you to sell breast milk just so you can have the privilege of giving them $5k, you might need to take a second look at the company.
I read an interesting article about LulaRoe yesterday. "What got left out of LulaRich" by Anne Helen Petersen. The article talks about the intersection of the family values of the LDS church and the draw of MLMs. I don't want to open a can of worms in regard to religion, but the connection here is undeniable. It even explains a lot of Deanna's deferring and seeming lack of leadership.
@Heather, I read this too and posted the link to the article farther up!
@Heather, just a joking comment, and no offense meant to anyone but I read online (by a member of LDS) that it’s said that MLMs are known to be “Mormons selling to other Mormons” in their community!
The funny thing is, I only learned about the documentary series AND Lularoe from scrolling through my Amazon Prime account. I had never heard of the clothing line and assumed it had something to do with Lululemon.
I think it's horrible that people would take advantage of others for greed, but I'm not surprised. Back in 1997, we got into Amway and even went to a few events. These people were masterful at making you believe YOU could achieve it all. Luckily, a few months in, we realized it wasn't for us. We lost maybe a few hundred dollars, so it was an expensive lesson at worst. My heart breaks for all these families and single women who were trying to provide for their children.
It seemed that if things were handled better with real business people at the top taking care of things that it could have turned out better. If the leggings were well made, didn't tear or stink, they would still sell.
Deanne was fake and the husband was even worse.
I know Mary Kay is an MLM, but it seems potentially legit to me. I need a consultant to match my foundation to my skin tone, talk about skin care and teach me (over and over) how to apply makeup. In exchange for those services I buy exclusively from one person. I do hope she is making enough money.
I have friends who sell vitamins and oils, but I don't want health advice from peers.
I haven't watched this because we don't have Amazon Prime but if MLMs fascinate you, the first season of The Dream podcast is all about MLMs and I highly recommend it.
Oh my word, I love, love, loved that podcast. I binged the whole season and I also listened to the whole second season. I'm bummed they haven't done any new seasons lately!
DeAnne's dumb blonde act is a front! She's acting like an innocent Mormon wife who isn't smart enough to do anything scandalous and just follows her husband's lead. She's doing this so when the feds close in she's in position to throw him under the bus. She's setting him up to take the fall because she's no fool.
I have been fascinated by the luleroe story for the past several years ever since I first heard about the lawsuits so I was looking forward to the documentary. I thought it was actually a little soft on Mark and Deanne although I do think their true colors showed through.
I would encourage anyone thinking about joining an MLM to look at the income disclosure statements for the company they are thinking about joining. Most companies will provide these and they are easily found with a quick internet search. The vast majority of people (upwards of 95%) lose money or break even on these ventures.
Having said that, I have known a few people who made a living working for MLMs (though not with "part-time" hours.) I know a few more who work for the discount or even take a small loss because they like the product so much. I used to try to be supportive of my friends in MLMs-- attend the parties, buy something small. But I can't support them anymore. I do feel like they prey on vulnerable people, women mostly who have family obligations. But some target college students, immigrants, military families, folks with health concerns, etc. And I think they can be damaging to relationships when friends and family don't play along.
There is a lot of anti-MLM content on youtube. I am fascinated by the videos of former high-ranking MLMers who saw the light and got out, even though they were making good money.
@Lorraine,
To clarify, when I say I can't support "them" anymore, I mean the MLM not my friends!
I appreciated the one rep who made it her mission to help other women get out; she said something like that she wanted to get as many women out as she had recruited in. She's doing a lot of work online to get the word out about the problems with MLMs and I love that she is trying to undo any harm she did.
@Kristen, - Was that Roberta? She has a TikTok and she's all about bringing awareness to what LulaRue and other MLM's are all about. She's awesome!
Yes! Roberta Blevins, I believe. I love that she is actively working to help women avoid MLMs.
@Kristen, Me too! And she takes abuse for it but she's determined.
I am in a demographic that is targeted heavily by MLMs (military spouse) and I completely agree with your analysis. I would also add that MLMs are by and large misogynistic, as they traditionally prey on women by feeding into the message that women should stay home with their families but of course should also be contributing financially, so naturally and MLM is the solution! I think they are massively harmful and that most low-level participants are victims, but higher-level representatives are preying on people. I think the interviews with the reps indicate that on some level they were aware of that, even though some were more upfront about admitting it than others.
What was really misleading was the promise to buy back the product that would not sell... My daughter in law only went into it with knowing if she did not sell product she was not out the money.. They changed the agreement half way through and stopped this.. I am sure they were not making the money they thought they would.. It was just to good to be true.. I also wonder if this was not a failure to honor the contract on LLR's part. All of the rules and over saturation is what caused this to take a nose dive.
I had a "friend" who lost her job because of the pandemic. She went on to do several MLMs. I supported at the holidays (even thought I dislike MLMs) buying over 100.00 worth of exercise clothes for a present for my daughter. Her next MLM I didn't need anything (not that I really needed expensive exercise clothes either). I didn't buy anything so she unfriended me on Facebook. I asked her about it and she told me "she was unfriended those who didn't support her." I was so done. I had made food for her family when her mother was ill. I had bought her giftcards for groceries when her husband was out of work and when she lost her job. This is what MLMs do. I have people from high school friend me to only ask me to buy crap. I really dislike them.
@Daffney, this is so awful! These programs seem to brainwash people into missing their true friends. So sad.
@Daffney, I had a close childhood friend (our families used to live next to each other and our moms were friends too), but we just naturally grew apart as my family moved to a different neighborhood in middle school. We’d somewhat stay in touch by hearing through our moms about our adult lives. I was so thrilled when she called me up out of the blue and we talked for over an hour about old times! And then...she invited my husband and I over because she “wanted to tell us about a great business opportunity”. Yep, Amway. I politely declined (we’d been to one of these social events by an acquaintance before), but said I’d love to keep in contact. I never heard from her again, it hurt quite a bit that she would do this and made me very sad.
A couple comments: One of the things I don’t recall from the show was The mathematical impossibility of recruiting enough people to support the people above them. One woman did mention that there were a half a dozen people in her small town all selling Lularoe. The second thing is while I feel badly for these people and absolutely feel that they were exploited, they in turn were exploiting the people below them. All those women who were buying two cars in making $1 million we’re making that on someone else’s back. That part really bothered me. And finally, there is this business of exploiting your friends & colleagues. I am going to freely admit that I spent a boatload of money on a supplement that I never took, because I felt I had to because it was my boss’s wife selling it. She came to the office, did her pitch, and we were all expected to sign up. I have so much admiration for those brave souls who resisted.
Thanks for this Kristen, it was really interesting to read people’s comments. I can see how these sound like such sweet deals, you can be home with your kids and still make money etc. etc.
I have a friend who financed an adoption of a child from China with speicial needs through her Premier Jewerly business. I like the necklaces I bought. I had FUN at the party.
Her downline person lived in a college town and sold MANY necklaces to college kids who WANTED them. I suspect they had fun at the parties too. And adult kids with disposable income are going to spend it.
I know someone who doesn't sell to friends; she only sells essential oils on her website. She gets traffic from Pinterest. People are looking to buy. It's not a creepy salepitch. I have no idea what her website name is because she can talk to me like a friend and not a potential client.
Just thought I'd throw those examples out there because it doesn't have to be 100% negative as your post portrayted to *me.*
@April, I don't think anyone is trying to say you shouldn't enjoy an MLM party. They can be fun, and it's ok to support the sellers if you want. I've bought Pampered Chef stuff - their quality is great. (I go into it knowing I'm paying a bit more than retail, but that's ok.)
The problem here is that LulaRoe was extremely exploitative of its sellers. They created a cult-like environment and charged at $5000-$10,000 for the privilege of joining their cult. They knowingly flooded the market with their sellers who would never be able to find enough buyers given the number of sellers around.
I just finished watching this today, after I saw you mention it. I was fascinated by it. I have a lot of thoughts but it's hard to type them all out in a comment section.
Any time I see LuLaRoe products in the thrift store, they either look like they were donated new (poor retailer!) or the material is all pilled up, but they don't look like they were worn that much (if that even makes sense...LOL). I haven't seen any LLR that I'd actually want to wear, but I never wear leggings, so there's that.
I've always been skeptical of the products of MLM's. If they're so wonderful, why not direct sales on a website? or in stores? I greatly dislike it when a friend is involved in an MLM, it makes for some awkward moments.
After reading the 70 some comments, I agree with most of you about how this preys on women. I used to hate that for a while the only way to visit with my friends was at their “parties”. The only thing I haven’t seen covered that I think the documentary is missing is how it fails to talk about the people that are making this clothing. MLM talk all about empowering women to make money, but what about the poor women who make the clothes and whatever other products are being sold? I hate that this cheap clothing ends up in landfills, but I also hate that someone being paid pennies a day is in a sweat shop making these ugly and cheap products.
I’m thankful for Kristen pointing out that it is frugal to focus on quality and not just the cheap price of clothing! I know a friend of a friend that runs a cheap fashion blog and I cringe every time she posts a new outfit (daily) from Walmart or Amazon. Since the clothing is so cheap she keeps buying and buying and encouraging others to do the same. So I’m grateful for Kristen’s voice of reason in the vast world of consumerism. Thanks for being so positive and caring about quality!
Did you notice one of the reward jewelry pieces was a golden triangle pendant? Like, could you be MORE obvious that you're rewarding the ones at the top of the pyramid?
I had friends that sold LuLaRoe and I have purchased my fair share in the past. The saddest part for me is I had another dear Friend that got caught up in the Facebook live auctions of the LuLaRoe items and she went significantly into debt buying things she obviously didn't need. It gave her some sort of thrill to "win" the item by bidding first. It was crazy. I talked to her several times about her spending (we attended a Dave Ramsey course together) and she just wouldn't have it. She is retired now and spending her monthly income to pay down credit card debt. Very sad.
Right on, Kristen! I agree completely. If something sounds to good to be true, it probably is. They definitely took advantage of people. Just like other cults. If you spend more money, you will be more successful/enlightened.
Many many years ago I sold Sarah Coventry jewelry - they had the home party approach. It was nice jewelry, they gave you a large kit of jewelry samples, and the parties were fun - I would show how jewelry could change the look of an outfit, there were games, prizes. It was a low pressure social event that people enjoyed, and I made a little side income as a stay at home mom. But then they started having quotas and the whole unrelenting multi-level marketing pressure of reeling in others. As soon as they started that I turned in my sample box and quit. I now understand why someone tried for 2 years to get me into Amway - I didn't realize how very bad this MLM model was until I watched this documentary.
I watched it as well and all I kept thinking was, do these people believe their own lies to this extreme? All comes down to one thing..greed. Both sides. When I say both sides, I mean from the top down to the ones making insane amounts of money for selling leggings and blowing that kind of money every month. I still laugh at the I think it was her nephew, that tried to get one of the reps to join in his nonexistent pot farm...I would love to see one on the essential oil MLM. I cannot believe they aren't shut down. They are having non medically trained people encourage the INGESTION of them. My dr (a naturopath functional MD btw) wants to ring their necks. She said there is a tremendous uptick in liver damage and transplant needs esp in women. They are NOT meant to be ingested. They encourage it and have zero medical training or validation.
@Michelle, I totally agree on this! I worked in the medical field for years, and the homeopathic/ essential oil hype is a disgrace. I like essential oils— as a natural fragrance I use in natural room sprays, diffusers, and mix with mild soap to use in my foaming hand soap pumps, but it isn’t some sort of medicine!
I appreciate your thoughts on this and the research you have done.
I am a consultant for a company that isn't an MLM, but is often thought of as one because it has a business model that appears very similarly to the consumer. However, the points you made in your article made me realize just how different it is.
I really enjoy what I do as a consultant, because I am able to help my clients, spend 3hrs/wk on my business, make a little extra $, and still be home with my kids.
I do agree that if you aren't careful, even with my business, you end up spending more than you make, but I am thankful for my team that helps me spend my $$ wisely and doesn't pressure me to spend more than I'm making.
I guess I must have found the exception to the rule with my business and team, and your article made me see how unique that is. ♥️♥️
First time comment for me, but long time lurker here...it's been literally YEARS now that I've been reading every post and comment on this blog...but anyway, I loathe MLMs enough to come out of the woodwork on this one. Ha!
I think one of the worst parts of MLMs is the effect it has on people's relationship with family and friends if they aren't super careful. Because those are the people they end up hitting up over and over again to buy product...and family and friends want to help at first and do so. But then it just never stops...
My BEST friend of over 21 years got heavily involved in Rodan & Fields skincare about a year ago...I should also mention that she's been involved in a few other MLMs prior to that. But anyway, she is perhaps the kindest and loveliest person I know. Like a true sister to me; and yet her involvement in this company almost ruined our friendship.
The constant social media posts, group text messages, in-person gathering invites, online "parties," and product launch announcements (all of which are provided and heavily pushed by the company) became the crux of all of our conversations. And perhaps it was because I had always purchased products from her earlier MLM forays over the years that she kept coming back to the well, so to speak.
Regardless, I finally had to sit her down and tell her that her constant "hustle" to get me to buy her product was severely affecting our friendship. Although it took me a while to do so. I am very...assertive and unafraid of confrontation; however, I also didn't want to crush her excitement or seem unsupportive, especially since I knew she and her husband were financially struggling at the time and that she was selling out of desperation.
In fact, I think it's awful how these MLMs do truly seem to target vulnerable working women who are in dire financial straits, stay at home mothers trying to supplement the family's income, or various combinations of both. It's truly shameful and exploitative.
Anyway, I apologize for the long-winded info dump...but since I'm here: I love your blog and this community you've created here, Kristen. Thank you!
Yes, I think your attitude is admirable; it's easy to be mad at people who are pushy about their products, but the frustration is better directed at the people who are behind all the pushing: the people who have made false promises to MLM reps.
So glad you delurked to comment!
@Kristen, thank you!
I really enjoyed this blog post and all of the comments. I watched the documentary LuLaRich, and my heart broke for all of those women who lost so much money.
I have had many experiences with friends who sold/still sell MLM products. My best experience was buying Tupperware at various friends' parties before I got married. I have been married 47 years and STILL have the colander I got at one of those parties. Tupperware products were always high quality. The parties were fun with games and prizes, however, there was a lot of pressure to order products and book parties of your own. (I never booked any parties).
Other personal experiences (all through friends) included Avon, Mary Kay, Premier Jewelry, Thirty-One, Home Interior, and Herbal Life. One friend sold the items in her full-time workplace, constantly pressuring her co-workers to buy Premier Jewelry so she could get the items she wanted for free. I used to feel obligated to order "something" so as to not hurt my friend's feelings. I finally learned to say "no," and I never lost any friendships as a result.
I think the topic of MLM's fits in well with the topic of frugality. These MLM opportunities are profitable only for approximately 1% of those involved (according to the documentary). Thanks Kristen for this very interesting post!
My husband and I watched it and horrified by so much of it. I can't imagine blowing through the amount some of the sellers did each month. It made my brain hurt. The funny thing is my 18 year old son came home from work and caught maybe 10 minutes of it. His two observations were 1) that's a cult and 2) she (Deanne) is crazy. He said, and I agreed, she had the "crazy" eyes. She tried to come off innocent and air-headed but she's shrewd and calculating. I also imagine she isn't a nice person at heart. Her comments on what women needed to do to pay for the start up fees is just one of many examples. I never knew anyone selling it but I did know several ladies that owned their leggings. Where I am Rodan & Fields is big. I suspect they are also an MLM that barely meets the qualifications. It seems the women I know doing it are always trying to recruit more women. And that makes me suspicious.
I have bought a couple of YL oils and the lady that I bought from just gave birth in June. She was literally doing IG stories talking about her giveaways and specials, etc. FROM HER HOSPITAL BED! Then a few weeks later she went on vacation and did the same. She's always talking about how she 'can literally do my job from anywhere! In the hospital or on vacation' - Like that's a good thing? I go on vacation to get AWAY from my job. And on the day I gave birth, I was a little busy tending to a newborn or resting from...giving birth. Why would I want to brag that I was working? Doesn't sound like freedom to me. It sounds like you are hustling ALL THE TIME so you don't miss out on that dollar. And yes, I say dollar because if you read these MLM Income Statements, you realize like 98% of the 'business owners' make very little money. Certainly not enough to make me give up precious time with my baby or being present with the fam while on vaca.
Hello, I have been selling Avon as a "side gig" since 2004. I love it! It's really starting to pay off now that my name has gotten out there more and more in my town. I am not involved in recruiting. I only sell products to others. I have been selling a ton of the Skin So Soft original body oil and Skin So Soft Bug Guard products because we are having a rare mosquito event in Arizona. We have had so much rain this summer that they are rampant. The cool thing about Avon is you don't have to maintain inventory. I pay for the catalogs, which I hand out to customers, and I have my own online store.
Your thoughts are spot on!!!
I haven't watched it yet but I'm sure I will. My aunt used to sell Premier Jewelry. My SIL is on at least her 3rd MLM kick. First one was the "Passion" party shtick but didn't last long before moving on to Pampered Chef. She's been at the "nail wrap" crap for about a year. She's always inviting me to her parties, or parties she's having for her "friends" schilling their MLM crap. I just delete and occasionally send her some Hun meme's in response.
I work about 10 hours a week this month and earned $2768 in commission with my direct sell biz. I don’t have team earnings, that is strictly what I sold… I’ll take it!
Deanne and Mark came across as scam artists. For more on MLMs, including the fascinating history, check out Season 1 of The Dream podcast.
While I think Mark and Deanne are the most responsible for the damage caused by the MLM company they own, I don't think that absolves the reps of the part they played in luring others to join under them.
Yes, they were victims themselves and eventually lost all the money they made and then some but not before convincing other vulnerable women to sign up under them so they could make money off of them.
MUMS wouldn't be so destructive if people weren't so avaricious that they would encourage someone to borrow money they don't have, Max out credit cards etc to join under them just so they can make a quick buck. If you have to trample someone to get what you want then it doesn't belong to you.
I will start by saying that this thought is based on traditional gender norms...but I have always wondered why MLMs are almost always targeted at women. Imagine if there was an MLM that sold fishing lures or tools, with men of the neighborhood gathering to eat appetizers and hear about why this handsaw is better than the ones at the hardware store. Is it the cultural norms that count on women having a hard time saying no to each other that seems to make us targets?
I wonder if it is that women tend to be the stay at home parent, so they're the ones looking for a way to bring in some side income.
I have zero sympathy for those reps that made sooooo much money and are now broke that is their own fault and the knew that they were setting others down the line up for failure by seeing that all their real profits were coming from signing up new reps! They are as much at fault as the owners! Disgusting! And even those later reps had to realize that the market was flooded when everyone they knew were reps too! Come on people stop making excuses for your own bad choices
I had never heard of LuLaRoe until your post! I had to look them up to see what their products were.
The people who made all that money and still ended up bankrupt just left me flabbergasted!!
I know...it's such a bummer because that was a huge missed opportunity. And I'm sure they look back and see that now!
-Kristen (the blogger one)
I joined Lularoe as a consultant around 5 years ago. I spent over 20K on clothes, desperate to make money and keep up. There was so much pressure and desperation to make it work. I felt like a failure because I couldn't sell Lularoe. It was supposed to be easy, right?
I finally wised up and left. Years later and I am still struggling to financially recover. And I still have Lularoe leftovers hanging in my closet.
Ugh, I am so sorry that you went through that. I was listening to Roberta Blevins' Life After MLM podcast last night and one thing she kept saying is that YOU are not a failure. The MLM structure is designed to make you fail; it is almost impossible, mathematically, to earn any serious kind of money, and it is so manipulative to blame it on reps.
I was fascinated by the series, and enjoyed reading the other comments. My interactions with MLMs is minimal. Beachbody - but I feel like *MOST* people I know who were doing that finally quit - I mean, once you can get everything streaming, you just don't need to buy other things. The MLM probably worked when you had to buy DVDs. I have one skincare item from Rodan and Fields. A few things from Pampered Chef.
Mostly, friends know that I'm not into that. But for $100 a year I still subscribe to Beachbody's streaming videos. We use them a lot, thanks Pandemic!
When I get invited to any other kind of party - athletic wear, etc., I always know to pass.
What really struck me is that they pretty clearly targeted women with fragile self esteem who would be susceptible to the mean-girl, compete-to-be-good-enough-for-the-in-group culture, which is gross. A lot of the footage shows they targeted women with financial insecurity about being off the career track in order to raise young children and often on the heavier side, whom they then pressured into wasting money on lavish personal appearance items and weight loss surgery instead of using their income rationally and saving it. They wanted them to spend it all because people with savings aren't as vulnerable and dependent on you. Should those women have recognized this was clearly not a normal or appropriate business practice? Yes, it obviously makes no sense for your boss to pressure you to waste money on designer bags like that before you have fully funded college for the kids and paid off the mortgage, etc, but I believe they deliberately set out to target naive people who would be less confident setting clear personal boundaries. In comparison, the experienced professional women I work with would have immediately told LuluLeadership that they can pound sand and started looking for a new job if their supervisors seriously suggested that they need to spend beyond their comfort level or get cosmetic surgery.
You are 100% right that Deanne's playing dumb is transparently manipulative, I just can't tell if it's to appease some weird ditzy blonde damsel-in-distress fetish for her husband or if they are both deliberately playing up her "who, lil 'ole me?" role to try to cover up fraud and gaslight the people they manipulate. All of their interviews feel very performative. The clips from her depositions are laughable. After a few of them you expect her to just ask "What's a company? I don't know what that is, you'd have to ask my husband"
Yup. The deposition videos were just nuts!
The Pink Truth Mary Kay
What an epic response
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO4iUx2juvw