I was honestly surprised to find out Lularoe *had* an art department. The patterns and colors were so garish (and numerous) I was positive all the fabric bought was leftovers or rejected lots obtained from China...cheap fabric bought even cheaper because nobody wanted it. (I don't get the appeal of Lularoe, I just don't)
@@lisajean228 Same. I saw a few pieces I thought were cute. My daughter had bought several pieces that were totally adorable. But I would say most of the fabric was not very attractive. My opinion for sure.
As soon as someone says they are ‘empowering’ you -just RUN. Only you and empower you. I’ve grown to hate this word because it has been so misused and it implies you never had any power to start with. Everybody does, they just need to see it within themselves.
I simply cannot believe that these clothes were something that anybody wanted to buy. They are absolutely HEINOUS looking. I see boatloads of this junk in thrift stores all the time.
Thats what I don't get. Just go to a thrift shop. They have the same things. When I went on the website I was like " There clothes are country child looking clothes."...." There aren't even trendy modern or chic...!!"
@@dashiajames1882 I mean u nailed it country looking there are a lot of small towns a lot of Christians and a lot of conservatives . So it makes sense it sells they cater to small town Chrchie middle age women. This style pos off in utah it’s very very popular still today.
For me, I am less interested in why LuLaRoe was a dysfunctional company; there are plenty of dysfunctional companies. What I find fascinating about MLMs, and LuLaRoe just happens to be an infamous one, is what they say about American society and this idea that women in particular are longing for a way to work while staying home with their kids. I think it is hinting at a problem in our society that MLMs are taking advantage of.
Many moms, myself included, want be home with their kids, but nowadays it's really difficult to raise a family on only one income. And if you're a single mom child care eats up a lot of your income. It's skyrocketing inflation when wages haven't increased to meet that inflation.
Lularoe really took the cake when it came to exploiting women's vulnerabilities. There are so many mlms out there that cater to majority of women but what LuLaRoe did was absolutely disgusting. They preached women empowerment but did not shy away from misogyny one bit. It's been in training seminars, live home office chats, fb groups, etc, all from Deanne and mark that the man holds the power over women. That we must please them to succeed. It goes so much more beyond that but my point is, aside from being a company who was successfully sued as a pyramid scheme in Washington, also preaches "to get on your knees".
Absolutely. I've heard that it's easier for LuLaRoe reps to recruit in the US than in Canada due to our lack of social safety nets. Many American women are desperate.
I found a huge selection of pants at a goodwill few months ago. There must have been about 50 dif pattens. I bought a couple for me daughter. It was hard to even figure out what wacky pattern she might wear. She told me they were comfy but she wouldnt leave house with them on.
I am stunned that people bought the “part time work for full time pay” line. That’s been floating around for decades and primarily associated with MLM’s, but always associated with “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
I used to work in a cutting room in a clothing factory. That’s how every factory cuts out garments! Even in our small factory we’d have up to 80 layers of fabric. What’s most likely is rushed cutting, as they’re cutting with the vertical knife they push on the fabric and it makes it slip. It’s nothing to with how many layers, unless they were doing way too many of course but that’s still just bad practice. If cutting rooms cut each garment individually you’d be paying hundreds per item. Even a lot more expensive garments are still cut in bulk. Cutting by piece is limited to couture.
Cutting garments takes ages! I made myself a beaded coat that took 2 hours to cut up and people say why don't you make and sell them? Um, because I'd have to sell them for $500+ to make it worth my time??
DeAnne and Mark have all the appeal of smarmy televangelists. How could "consultants" see and hear them and decide that they were credible people? I found them so horribly irritating -- not to mention ostentatious -- that I almost turned off the documentary in the first 20 minutes. I noticed that big mouth DeAnne had a completely different attitude when she was being deposed by an attorney. She wasn't shining like a 14000 watt light bulb anymore, lol. Secondly, are these hideous clothes considered fashionable in their particular religious community? This crap is truly repulsive, and I'm wondering why any woman would want to wear toddler patterns in public. May the entire company be bankrupted by the lawsuits being filed against them. These two owners are not good people.
I'm from a different particular religious group but I remember when out pastor's wife showed up in a lollipop baby a bottle print Lularoe skirt. She only wore it once!
I haven’t watched LuLaRich because my former “mentor” is in it and I don’t care to hear about how she was a “victim”. I’ve heard her tell her story before and she leaves a lot of information out of it. She was not as much of a “victim” as she claims to be. She made a lot of money with the company and treated those of us in her down line terribly. At first I wasn’t allowed in her Facebook group so by the time info got down to me, it wasn’t relevant or it was just wrong. When she finally let me into the group, I made a suggestion and she tore me apart. She didn’t even know me! After that, I kept to myself, worked hard to sell what I had, paid my loans back and then stopped selling. It wasn’t the best experience but I learned a lot and I’m glad it’s over.
Our local thrift shop sells massive bags (as tall as me!) of cotton clothing for rags for $5. It's mostly fast fashion and still wearable, but they're swamped. Lularoe isn't good enough for rags because the polyester isn't absorbent. The environmental damage of all this clothing is devastating
This may have been said already but in case it hasn’t , Roberta Bleviins currently has a series as part of her podcast ‘lulabitch’ and it’s basically all the other tea and stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor. It’s really good 👍.
Yes, I think they would have so much insight! The one who was answering questions on Facebook said they were responsible for "curating" the pattern selections (i.e. mixing up the prints among the picking lines) - this was just a guy who was hired as a temp warehouse worker, not a fashion expert 😆
I would love to know why anyone would want to be a consultant. In my opinion, the attire is less than desirable, expensive and more focused on making a consultant successful. I could never wear this attire in my career life, and I would never wear it in my private life because who wants to clean their house in clothing them spent a lot of money?! I would be better off getting maid instead of buying this clothing line.
@@anapaz8060 I can’t speak as a consultant but I can say that in the beginning the leggings and maxis were literally the most comfortable clothing items on the market. If they had stuck with maxis and leggings and spent more time on quality control and sourcing better patterns they would have done better by their consultants. I will still grab a Lularoe maxi if I see one in a thrift store and it isn’t hideous. I think the big draw initially for consultants was that 1) it was a unique product (as in not make up or bags or food related) so the market wasn’t saturated and 2) it was a cash and carry style so people could pay and leave with it, no waiting on a commission check to clear.
@@anapaz8060 I understand and agree. I had zero idea it became such a phenomenon. I thought the clothes were ummm "not my style" to put it very gently and did not find them to be appealing. I was told by others they were comfy but I made it clear other clothes were also comfy that looked appealing and fit my personal esthetic. I really found the patterns to be too obnoxious for me, but again this is my personal taste in clothing and others may like things I don't. I could not have worn them to work or would have felt self conscious even walking around the mall as a billboard for LulaRoe in such bright over the top patterns and styles that did not help give my body contrast or shape of any kind. I did see facebook friends selling and such but never an over abundance and I still sadly see facebook friends invite me to MLM parties that are not Lularoe so i just figured it was another MLM and went "meh".
In the doc Deanne mentioned that she would tell ladies who were doing the pop ups or home parties not to worry about having refreshments because "noone wants it they're always on a diet." Well that explains why their events never had enough food! 😂
I’m sorry but if someone invites me to a party, I expect food. I always provide food when I’m the hostess of a party. I wouldn’t have bought anything if I showed up all hungry to those events
@@jg5683 I guess to each their own but where I’m from, you feed your guests. I wonder if lula scam would have been more successful if the parties had food? 🧐
@@akdneisnfbdfjshdiejejdb3997 I agree. I never understood why it was so "chincy" cheap but then again, look what we were fighting for (cheap clothing at outrageous prices)
I’m surprised that so many ppl thought those clothes were “cute”, imo the fabric was cheap and the patterns were atrocious 😳. Luluroe is a pyramid scheme 100% , I feel sry for anyone involved with their scam🥺.
Excellent analysis of the documentary. I can't believe that this company is STILL in business after all that has come to light. I also can't believe how Jill Drehmer, who appeared in the documentary, is still a consultant for this scam company and how she defends the company and the owners! 🤦♀️
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed! I really wonder what LLR's sales force looks like now, and how many consultants left after watching the documentary...
Meri Brown from Sister Wives did a post on Instagram last week commemorating 6 years at LulaRoe. People asked her about the documentary and she said she wouldn’t watch because she chooses a different ‘mindset’, chooses to be positive, they have always been nothing but supportive (no shit, I bet she signed a lot of retailers). Her comment section was flooded with heart emojis from other consultants. It was pretty depressing. I just can’t fathom not watching it when the owners are actually in it and were given the opportunity to give their side. To give her credit she didn’t block people her calling her out and those comments had the most ❤️
@@blondesense1708 Meri actually deleted and blocked A LOT of people who spoke out about LuLaRoe. I got blocked for replying back to someone looking to join but said they were apprehensive bc of the documentary. I said to read all the legitimate sites about the countless lawsuits and Meri blocked me. So I don't know why you think she didn't 🤷
@@blondesense1708 meri brown is a master at deluding herself everything is alright! She brought sobbyn in her family then refuses to quit when kody is already way beyond gone!
@@blondesense1708 all cult leaders warn their pupils to “ ignore the naysayers, people are negative and jealous, not everyone wants the best for you “ blah blah blah. MLMs and cult like religions and even plain old abusive people try their damndest to keep people I’ll-informed and in their bubble. I think most people too, our inherent human nature is to avoid the reality that we’ve been duped. MLMs, orthodox religions, conspiracy theory believers, abused people and even plain old voters come election time are deep into cognitive dissonance. Hurts too much to realize you might have been wrong or naïve.
Thrift stores can't even sell LuLaRoe!!! I see mountains of it donated and they just pass it off to a warehouse, probably to be recycled into something else.
Don't donate stuff like that, it ends up as landfill a lot of the time. If you can't use it yourself, give it to someone who wants material for upcycling
@@L767-b2zYou’re so right. Haven’t been to one in 15 years. They have Old Navy priced as a designer item. I used to buy paperback books. The clerk would then start to load them into a huge bag. I had to say “No - books go into small bags.” Not worth the hassle.
I feel like if you still have a group of people who worked for LuLaRoe from the warehouse, packers, designers, sellers, etc that could each film their own personal experience and how it really was screwed up you could make your own mini documentary called screwla roe, or instead of LuLa Rich call it Lula robbed..I'd totally be willing to use my detective skills to help find some people lol
Just a minor thing but the office building they show in the doc is actually an office that houses several non related businesses. I actually work in the same building for an engineering firm and didn’t know their HQ was in my building. Yes, as of 2022, they’re still here and they take up most of the first floor but not the whole building.
I really enjoyed this documentary, it’s from the same director as Fyre Fraud. I keep coming back to watch because there was so much left untold and the order that they told the story in is so captivating. I hope the make a second and third season!
A few years ago I was invited to open houses for LuLaRoe. I saw the prices and thought the clothing was 1000% UGLY. I didn’t care if I didn’t buy anything. Not my style. No thank you!!
I was blown away by the documentary. When you deal with these MLM things, you are constantly pushed to spend more, do more, go go go…… they keep you so busy that it takes a while to see that you are being screwed and leading others down the same dreadful path.
I think it'd be awesome to see a series on different MLMs and exposing the issues. Cause you know there's others with major problems! Maybe it would help cut down the number of people joining.
I think artists would be in danger if they came forward ditto warehouse workers. There is a thought in america that artists are lucky to do their job (and it lends to lower wages and less job security) wearhouse workers are under the same pressures. If they come out against any of their previous employers it could lead to them not getting new jobs or being fired.
I agree with all the comments about warehouse workers and their quotas. I did the math for the art department and 100 designs a day would be 1 design every 4ish minutes in an 8 hour day which is INSANE. I’m sure the quotas for warehouse were just as bad Also wish home office had discussed their salaries. I’m not implying they were paid too much. The opposite honestly I bet they were paid little compared to the sheer amount of work they were doing on top of being pressured to work through lunch
They were definitely paid very little, a few home office employees have shared their salaries or we've found job postings online and they are not good...
I wanted to know why they didn’t bother with finding another warehouse to keep the packages safe from rain 🌧️ why they were justifying sending out damaged smelly mouldy clothing and not listening 🙉 to the concerns. They didn’t want to take accountability. Rather fell into the denial and evasiveness about the horrible damages.
Interesting details. Thanks for sharing. One thing to note, the issue with how the fabric was cut (bigger on the top of the pile and smaller on the bottom) is the same across the whole garment industry, not just LuLaRoe. That's why you can try on 3 pairs of jeans that are the same size and they all fit a little differently.
Yep. Always try stuff on and don’t assume it will for sure fit just because of the size. Color can make a difference also, depending on when in the process it’s dyed - some stuff is dyed after the garment is sewn and the dye process can result in some shrinkage. Also the type of fabric makes a difference - some fabrics slip around in the stack more than others so you’ll get more distortion during cutting when the fabric isn’t nicely behaved. Better companies will check for extremes and not sell stuff that comes up much bigger or much smaller than the intended size, just as part of quality control, but companies that sell for cheaper price points just don’t bother.
Yup. I have a trans daughter who switched from living as a male to female this year. She has mentioned how much more difficult it is to find clothes that fit in women's clothing. "Men have it so much easier. a 30x30 is a 30 inch waste with 30 inch legs. Done."
@@em84c no, because the size in the jean is the size you buy. Although it being baggy does help a lot. Women's small or size 2 could mean whatever the manufacturer wants.
I remember one comment from the documentary, "The only people who profit from MLMs are those who got in on the ground floor" ( I assumed that also meant the founders). I would love it if the man who "sold" the first dresses to Deanne was found and what he had to say about it all.
I watched another criticism video that pointed out how if sellers were high profile enough to be so high in the company they were interviewed they were still part of the problem. Even if they got out later. They as people knowingly preyed on the weakness/desperation of people under them and were manipulative for selfish purposes and other than financial won't ever face the consequences or true criticism because they can call themselves victims. (I've never been involved in any of these selling schemes unless you include Girl Scout Cookies).
@@thezuse Great point. I noticed a lot of the top sellers in the documentary portraying themselves as victims and it sort of got on my nerves. But I will say that I don’t know that these people knowingly victimized others. I’m sure, especially early on, that they thought they were sharing a profitable venture with those under them. And a few did acknowledge that their early success came at the expense of preying on others financially.
My guess is those first dresses "fell off the truck". DeAnne said they were the same dresses that cost $100 in a store. She was either too naive to know or didn't care. After all, the guy kept getting more dresses for her dress parties. They just don't fall out of the sky. If it was high quality children's dresses they aren't going to turn up used in droves like that in such good condition.
First time coming across you and your channel and i must say that I loved this video. You have a wonderful presence and a casual/conversational way of speaking. It really helps draw the audience in.. I look forward to your other videos. Thank you for sharing this.
@@LolaGeek you're very welcome. I recently watched the documentary because I was following the lawsuits that have come from all of this. I find the whole thing sad and fascinating but for different reasons. Since watching the documentary I have spent way too much time watching YT and other people explain their POV from inside the company if you will. Thank you for taking time to reply.
I was able to finally get a refund, after sending the pants back, and continuing to assert that the pants were absolutely not sized correctly. I think the seller just got sick of me.
That's a hilarious thought really! Like, oh no, we don't have the inventory to fill this order, let me just grab something quick so the box will appear full!! That explains office supplies but not children's books unless it was premeditated. Like I'm gonna take this random stuff to work just in case I need to fill up a box today! Haha too funny!
They were probably hiring anybody and everybody to try to keep up with demand and some people were just being A-holes. I worked for a school supply warehouse as a temp one summer and there were a lot of issues with college kids goofing around and not caring about the job: everything from surfing down the conveyor belts to sleeping inside large boxes of stuffed animals to chucking random stuff inside boxes to meet their own quotas. It was super frustrating.
@@Brokenstarz55 That explains why when I order the “imperfect foods” I get random stuff in my boxes I didn’t order and sometimes most of my order isn’t even in the box
@@texasgina yup unfortunately, they want 110 percent out of people but only want to pay barely over minimum wage in most cases, you pay minimum wage you get minimum work. For example I'm running the backstock for my company currently, millions of dollar worth of product I keep inventory of by myself no team and I get paid 13 an hour and i live in a tourist/large city so not even enough to cover rent really.
I never attended a party nor bought any clothes. I was aware of the products but the clothing just never interested me. I got involved in too many MLM companies over the years. Mary Kay, Tupperware. Amway phone cards, isigenics (that was the worst). Went to too many parties too. Now i just tell my friends if they try to recruit me that I will happily be their customer but I won't sell and exploit my family or friends.
I am hoping for a part 2 and possibly part 3! I know nothing about LuLaroe and find this quite interesting….. Deanna sure does love to hear herself talk that is very apparent.
I was hooked on this stuff. I bought so much my husband told me he was going to divorce me. All the fabric was disgusting. All of it balled up so bad. I would spend hours with a fabric shaver to get them off. The only nice ones was the cotton ones and that didn't come very often. I would love to know what happened that all of a sudden most consultants just disappeared. I had three wonderful ladies I loved and they just were done. And I am talking about later. Like still selling in 2019 or even 2020. It truly makes me sad because I felt we had bonds with these consultants. I also know trying to resale all the stuff is crazy. No one wants this stuff. I had tons of stuff with tags still on it. Also they talked about the way Deanne coaxed them down to Mexico to get their stomachs altered. I know this one consultant. I watched her from the beginning go from a conservative dresser, humble to plastic surgery on her lips and other things. She was one of the consultants that actually spent the weekend at the owners house. The bonfires and all the expensive stuff Mark and Deanne have. It all became a shit show and feel so bad for any consultant. U were not in it long enough for all the weird changes. Oh how consultants got to go the warehouse (the ones who numbers were a certain range) to get to go for an hour and pick from these bends. Again nothing seemed fair.
I’ve always hated that the fabric was NEVER consistent and it was sooo cheap . I’m soo glad i never bought many items . The only thing i actually liked was the Randy . But not the sizing , it was never consistent and again some of the fabric was sooo cheap and it wasn’t like anyone was staying on top of things . Everyone was uncertain about what they did to accommodate. Crazy . It’s soo interesting to see the fall out and the other shady side of the business. It seems like it was only a matter of time when all of these videos appeared exposing the trifling things that were going on . Wow what a complete circus instead of shit show . I never went to a single party or event & my purchase was from someone who had . But it just wasn’t my style and i think leggings aren’t for everyone.
I know this is going to sound mean, but tbh I always thought their clothing was ugly and tacky. And the way items were coordinated was awful. Stripped tshirts with floral skirts. Yikes!
Ooo good theory! I know the people who were interviewed said they discussed a lot more, but the producers had to edit everyone's contributions into a single cohesive story. There is probably a *lot* of juicy stuff on the cutting room floor!
By parading their top earners with big bonuses would give the impression any consultant could do the same. That was, in fact, NOT the case. Misrepresentation, false advertising could be added to the list of charges. No doubt this was a pyramid scheme. That the company is still in operation baffles me.
I agree. I was shocked they didn't get shut down. It kinda feels like they got slap on the wrist. I get they had to pay money but really they probably have a ton of money so I doubt it hurt them much.
Lol 😂 Listen if your not good at sales don’t sell! That’s in anything sweetheart go to a car dealership the one who is the best seller makes the most! And your right not everyone has that capability but that’s no one else’s fault but theirs! I sell roofs and make a great living as a woman and do I expect you to do what I do NO! Do I think you could sure but is it likely absolutely not! I work 8 months a year and make over $100k again it’s not false representation it’s skill and confidence and most do not have it! That’s facts of life! So a dealer ship does promote their top earners as any other business! Do u not understand business? That’s not false advertising the dumbasses who don’t understand sales and strategy should either learn or not assume they can just become like us! And anyone investing thousands before they even know they can sell is just plain stupid! I also did MLM w it works but again I wasn’t stupid I went w a MLM that gave me a site therefore I didn’t have to purchase products unless I already sold the product! People are so gullible and that’s their fault! Always blaming another and never blaming self has these people in the positions they are! And that’s truth! I hit my $10k bonus and left lol 😂
I always thought most of the prints on LulaRoe leggings were hideous looking. They are not flattering and are over priced! The only time I wear yoga pants or leggings is working out or walking my dog. I got a couple of butter soft capri leggings at Walmart for $3 on clearance when my mom was hospitalized because I needed something comfy. They were cuter than any LulaRoe prints Lol
You’ve got to remember that inflated prices for these products are because everyone in the upline has to get their cut. These prices are never a reflection of the actual quality of the product. All mlms are trash there are no exceptions.
When I heard the father was friends with the maker of the clothing I just sat back in my chair like "QUALITY ISSUES" because the friendship is what is always on the line when you do business with friends. In running a professional business you want to have a professional relationship so that you can hold a company accountable for quality issues and this was more of a bro-ship where one person is like "I need XYZ" and their friend looks over and says "No Way, I have a company that can do that". I mean I shop around for all goods and services because they are businesses and I'm sure some of the discussions were "I'll fix it and make it better next time" and the father would never take his business elsewhere or look for a proper manufacturing company with quality control because he may not be able to play toy cars with his friend anymore. It always blows up in the end, Always! My speculation is the business grew too fast for the friend and with the business growth he did not retain more manufacturing capabilities so what cutting procedure worked on 5 layers may not work on 50 layers.
I was under the impression that Mark and Dan became friends *after* they started working together professionally, but agree that when you do business with your "friends," it's easy to let things slide like that..
It’s who you know. It’s understandable that you would hire friends or family rather than say your worst enemy lol! Also many jobs employees become family in a way
You make a very good point about spreading and cutting of knit fabrics. It def takes effort to align them correct and let it rest for 24hrs for stretch relaxation between layers.
I found a pair of lularoe leggings at a thift store like 10 years ago, so they were probably from around when lularoe first started. I had no idea the brand at the time but I wanted a pair of soft leggings to hang around the house in. They werent super ugly. Not like super fashionable but nothing like the eye gouging patterns I see now. They are 80% solid black, with a not overpowering pattern of simple beige triangles scattered around. They are soft and very well made. They are still in really good shape. I still have them and even sometimes still wear them to work under an ankle length skirt (I wouldnt wear them under a shorter skirt to work, I wouldnt want them as a main focus under my outfit, but they are fine for a long skirt) for extra warmth in winter. They cost me $2. Once I learned what lularoe was, and saw what most of their patterns and quality looked like - I was surprised to find out my not hideous and well made thrifted leggings were the same brand.
I was just laughing so hard that Momma Donna and Kristen were in multiple segments of the documentary. I use to live down the road from them. They had all these plans to renovate the basement into a botique, buy a bus , they were buying up other sellers inventory to build their own. I helped in the shop until I went into partnership with someone. Then when she decided to sign up under another seller they convinced her to give me the boot.
I have been fascinated with cults and MLM programming for decades and they really are so similar. In fact, they all just copy each other’s tactics. If you watch Leah Remini’s Scientology series you can see so many similarities between cults and MLMs. Frightening and fascinating at the same time. Those chics from Sister Wives are ripe for getting sucked into MLMs so I wasn’t surprised to hear Meri was involved in LLR.
I only have 2 lularoe that I purchased from a consultant who was leaving lularoe. I must have been lucky because they were perfect winter in New England. But that documentary was mindblowing.
I watched several Facebook Lularoe sales and never once saw a piece I would’ve wanted….even though I was willing to buy to support the sales person. They were that hideous
Yeah, just listening to the bit about sizing, any sewist worth their salt knows that how stretchy a fabric is will affect sizing. Youre supposed to account for that when you make a pattern and change the sizes accordingly. Youre also supposed to account for the cutting of the fabric. Those arent excuses. If you just say "well everything cut with this size cutter is size a, regardless of stretch" youre gonna get reviews about inconsistent sizing. Esp because the average layperson doesnt know off the top of thier head what fabrics have what stretch
Totally agree, but the stretch and compression was what they told us to explain why the sizing was inconsistent. Someday I'll tell the story of why they said the leggings developed holes, you'll get a kick out of that 😆
@@LolaGeek I saw the stretch pitch from a LulaRoe vendor at a figure skating show. NO skater wants these leggings! Average ones get wrecked, the ice can cut. It was painfully awkward to watch.
Salvation army and thrift stores here in PA are full of LulaRoe clothing, both old and new but heard they have stopped taking the donations coz nobody buying them.
I know one. She spent 5K to get in and is was selling everything for like $2 a piece and was begging people to buy it. The bottom 80% really made no money, had to still buy clothes and did anything they could to offload them. Crossing boundaries with friends, old work acquaintances, and basically reaching out to anyone they knew to try and sell the items at a markdown and lost a great deal of money. Many, like my old coworker as a single mom, who could not afford to lose money. They saw great stories after working very stressful jobs and wanted a break or a light at the end of the tunnel and instead they got more debt, a bunch of clothes no one wanted, and some ruined relationships by reaching out to people they hadn't spoken to in years or pushing boundaries on relationships that were well established.
I swear they should have let you direct the documentary. what you're talking about here is SO much more interesting than the documentary. I had NO idea about the fundraisers.
LOL, thank you! Yeah, there is so much more to the story, but I think LuLaRich was a good intro for the general public - hopefully more stories will come out soon!
I’m from Missouri. I honestly never heard of LulaRoe until they had already collapsed. Maybe it was a regional thing? I have no idea. I’m glad that you came through this OK. And I’m truly sorry for people who lost a lot of money that they could not afford. I’ll also tell you that no one in my area was wearing this weird shit
8:28 Your bonus was based on the amount of items you purchased. If you are returning items, in essence, you haven't sold as many items now. Makes sense to me.
This is a great video! Very thorough, I would love to hear more about your experience. Also, if you haven't sent an email/insta to Roberta Blevins about being on her podcast (Life After MLM) to chat about some of this stuff, I think you'd be a super valuable voice to hear. Your analysis is great, and I'm sure she'd love to chat with you! This is all important information to get out to more people!
Thank you so much for the compliments! I *think* (??) Roberta knows who I am, lol 😆 I'm not super seeking out more publicity right now, but happy to share my story here!
@LolaGeek That definitely makes sense, considering how brutal current consultants can be to anyone outside of the company. I only suggest it because I'm a pretty avid consumer of anti-MLM stuff, and you've brought up some things here that I've actually never heard former consultants bring up, especially around clothing production and information dissemination. I appreciate getting to hear your thoughts here 😁
Love your hair❤️. I thought that the documentary had some good stuff. The interviews with mr. and Mrs. BS were interesting. Also interesting that they refused to come back to answer more questions. But the thing that struck me is what you are discussing. All of the former employees saying nobody knew the first thing about running a business. I feel that all of your Lularoe videos have been more helpful in determining, from a woman’s point of view, whether this is something to invest in, and declare bankruptcy a year. So props to you and all of your videos. So unless Lularoe hires an MBA from Harvard, the business just about has to tank. Also wondered why the Sister Wives were not interviewed. At this point, nothing may save this company. What are they going to with all of those moldy legging?
Thanks and glad you've enjoyed these videos! There is *so* much going on with LLR, and when making a documentary like this they kind of have to pick one "storyline" and edit to that, so I can see how they weren't able to touch on everything. Hopefully more comes to light in the future!
I come from the financial sector so I tend to think about things through that lens. With that in mind, a deeper explanation about how people in the down lines lose money would be helpful I think. Anyone not really thinking deeply about the financial aspect probably don't understand how exactly it is that someone can lose money in an MLM (any/all of them). Even showing the financial disclosure statements doesn't give the other side of the story. Those disclosure might show how much comes IN (even if it is just a few dollars! LOL) but it doesn't explain what money goes OUT. The MLM would never call it "expenses" but that's basically what they are. Whether it is inventory, postage, printer ink, merch displays, etc etc.
Did they really though? Or any of their "partnerships"? Disney only teamed up bc LuLaRoe consultants were hawking them right outside the park with "inspired looks", ie their rose leggings marketed as beauty and the beast or a floral pattern for Alice in wonderland, etc. The partnership was short lived. They recouped what LuLaRoe was stealing as is.
jill gold They made there money and then closed the door once negative publicity started most likely, Disney serially partners with many different MLMs.
jill gold And selling inspired patterns is not stealing copyright, they probably jumped on board for their profit nothing else. Oh, and disney did not invent Beauty and the Beast, or many, if any, of ‘their stories’ ie Alladin, The Jungle Book, and on and on.
@@DR-nh6oo correct, thing is, I don't know if you remember, but consultants before were using Disney in the photos which raised the red flags. Then when they got the partnership, they had to have specific folders and photos with certain jargon to sell.
I had the card my mom got from a coworker to give her, to give to me. I was so clueless cuz I never ever heard of this place/company at all. The clothes were sooooo ugly. Lula math really..!! Would really love to watch/hear about what other ppl/or a person went through. This company really got over on these ppl.
I feel so bad for the people that got sucked into this scam. I volunteer at a high end thrift store in receiving and we wondered why we were getting so many ugly leggings! LOL we would not put many of these out on the to sell floor. They would be faded or damaged 😮
The sizing is good marketing. It makes big people feel like they need a small. It's aimed at making people buy more to skew from the fact that they truly are just a pyramid scheme ran by master scammers.
In theory I agree with you about the sizing, but it also became a problem the other way - for example I had a petite friend who wanted to buy a skirt from me and they were all falling off of her, even the tightest XXSmall that I had..
I bought a pair back around 2016 and I still wear them. I was lucky my leggins held up. I always thought they were made here, it sure seems like they were made overseas somewhere. I feel so bad for people who got caught up in this. The gal I bought from even invested in a camper she converted into a mobile shop. She disappeared around the time you all did and she was no longer on FB either.
When I joined in 2015 everything was made in the US except the leggings, which were always made overseas. However, they later transitioned all production overseas and started making the leggings in additional countries, which led to some of the quality issues people started noticing...
The way you described how they cut the fabric is pretty standard. That's why you can buy jeans in the same size made by the same brand and they fit differently.
Am I the only one who thinks of "The Royal Tenenbaums" when people talk about non-blood related siblings marrying eachother? That movie basically normalized that whole concept, and that was back in 2001! Over 20 years ago!
Sizing got smaller over the years. I have quite a few perfect T shirts and they got smaller and shorter over the years. I can tell just by looking at them hanging in my closet if they were from the early years or more recent before they discontinued the style
The two people running the company talk like total con artists. DeAnne is described as being "exciting" to listen to but anyone who watches the documentary could see that this excitability was just quick, passionate doubletalk that was intended to confuse people. Confused people are very easy to take advantage of because while you're still trying to process the first bit of her bullshit, she's already on the next topic. This is typical rhetoric of a con artist. Her doubletalk is more obvious to people while she's being interviewed by prosecutors but that's only because the charming facade has fallen away and was replaced by irritability making it more discernable. I never got involved with it, just wasn't my style at all. It's sad how many people fell prey to these financial predators.
Wow. you made it sound even worse. One thing is having a disaster of a new company like product being left out in the rain, or needing to change the quality and prints of products, but they sound like such mess on the internal/financial/logistics infrastructure. Too bad.
The way you describe them cutting fabric is the norm for commercial garment manufacturing. I’m guessing they rushed it though and that their quality control was crap.
There are a lot I don’t feel bad for. A former friend if mine got involved because she was always looking for ways to make easy money without working, and it reached point where she knew exactly how it worked, but thought she could rope in enough people. And overall, there really is enough info that anyone who doesn’t do even a little research isn’t getting my sympathy anymore.
I hate when people say "WHY DID PEOPLE BUY THE CLOTHES? IT WAS UGLY" ugly only to you, since people that buy it obviously bought it because they thought otherwise. I never sold it or bought from them but I'm not going to critize someone else's clothing and their sense of style. Style is being individually yourself, not what a magazine tells you to buy.
The different sizing is more cheap manufacturing then it being piled up wrong because most fashion brands do that and it doesn’t let it come out that way and with quality checks they would never let that pass to sell
I was honestly surprised to find out Lularoe *had* an art department. The patterns and colors were so garish (and numerous) I was positive all the fabric bought was leftovers or rejected lots obtained from China...cheap fabric bought even cheaper because nobody wanted it. (I don't get the appeal of Lularoe, I just don't)
That kind of manufacturing creates so much fabric waste that goes straight into the landfills.
Lularoe is where artists go to die
The weren’t ALL that bad!
Found a few pieces on eBay after the crash….solids, mostly, because of course you’re right that nearly all the patterns are hideous
@@lisajean228 Same. I saw a few pieces I thought were cute. My daughter had bought several pieces that were totally adorable. But I would say most of the fabric was not very attractive. My opinion for sure.
As soon as someone says they are ‘empowering’ you -just RUN. Only you and empower you. I’ve grown to hate this word because it has been so misused and it implies you never had any power to start with. Everybody does, they just need to see it within themselves.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent Eleanor Roosevelt
I simply cannot believe that these clothes were something that anybody wanted to buy. They are absolutely HEINOUS looking. I see boatloads of this junk in thrift stores all the time.
Thats what I don't get. Just go to a thrift shop. They have the same things. When I went on the website I was like " There clothes are country child looking clothes."...." There aren't even trendy modern or chic...!!"
Very cheaply made clothing! I used to laugh at it!
Goodwill have better quality clothes, than those dust rags.🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@metsl1870 haha haha
@@dashiajames1882 I mean u nailed it country looking there are a lot of small towns a lot of Christians and a lot of conservatives . So it makes sense it sells they cater to small town Chrchie middle age women. This style pos off in utah it’s very very popular still today.
For me, I am less interested in why LuLaRoe was a dysfunctional company; there are plenty of dysfunctional companies. What I find fascinating about MLMs, and LuLaRoe just happens to be an infamous one, is what they say about American society and this idea that women in particular are longing for a way to work while staying home with their kids. I think it is hinting at a problem in our society that MLMs are taking advantage of.
Many moms, myself included, want be home with their kids, but nowadays it's really difficult to raise a family on only one income. And if you're a single mom child care eats up a lot of your income. It's skyrocketing inflation when wages haven't increased to meet that inflation.
There are many many creators making videos about the way MLMs use cult tactics to target low income women/SAHM’s
Excellent observation.
Lularoe really took the cake when it came to exploiting women's vulnerabilities. There are so many mlms out there that cater to majority of women but what LuLaRoe did was absolutely disgusting. They preached women empowerment but did not shy away from misogyny one bit. It's been in training seminars, live home office chats, fb groups, etc, all from Deanne and mark that the man holds the power over women. That we must please them to succeed. It goes so much more beyond that but my point is, aside from being a company who was successfully sued as a pyramid scheme in Washington, also preaches "to get on your knees".
Absolutely. I've heard that it's easier for LuLaRoe reps to recruit in the US than in Canada due to our lack of social safety nets. Many American women are desperate.
The vast majority of prints were flat out ugly.
Fugly!!!!
I found a huge selection of pants at a goodwill few months ago. There must have been about 50 dif pattens. I bought a couple for me daughter. It was hard to even figure out what wacky pattern she might wear. She told me they were comfy but she wouldnt leave house with them on.
They must have concluded that “quantity > quality” got their sellers to buy more stock
I am stunned that people bought the “part time work for full time pay” line. That’s been floating around for decades and primarily associated with MLM’s, but always associated with “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
And it's a lie for 99% of the people because they will work OVERTIME for less than part-time.
I used to work in a cutting room in a clothing factory. That’s how every factory cuts out garments! Even in our small factory we’d have up to 80 layers of fabric. What’s most likely is rushed cutting, as they’re cutting with the vertical knife they push on the fabric and it makes it slip. It’s nothing to with how many layers, unless they were doing way too many of course but that’s still just bad practice. If cutting rooms cut each garment individually you’d be paying hundreds per item. Even a lot more expensive garments are still cut in bulk. Cutting by piece is limited to couture.
Thanks for the info
Thank you for the important information
You get what you pay for.
Cutting garments takes ages! I made myself a beaded coat that took 2 hours to cut up and people say why don't you make and sell them? Um, because I'd have to sell them for $500+ to make it worth my time??
@@YellowFreesias Oh it does. I'm a home sewer too and it can take ages.
DeAnne and Mark have all the appeal of smarmy televangelists. How could "consultants" see and hear them and decide that they were credible people? I found them so horribly irritating -- not to mention ostentatious -- that I almost turned off the documentary in the first 20 minutes. I noticed that big mouth DeAnne had a completely different attitude when she was being deposed by an attorney. She wasn't shining like a 14000 watt light bulb anymore, lol. Secondly, are these hideous clothes considered fashionable in their particular religious community? This crap is truly repulsive, and I'm wondering why any woman would want to wear toddler patterns in public. May the entire company be bankrupted by the lawsuits being filed against them. These two owners are not good people.
They pray on vulnerable women
I'm from a different particular religious group but I remember when out pastor's wife showed up in a lollipop baby a bottle print Lularoe skirt. She only wore it once!
I haven’t watched LuLaRich because my former “mentor” is in it and I don’t care to hear about how she was a “victim”. I’ve heard her tell her story before and she leaves a lot of information out of it. She was not as much of a “victim” as she claims to be. She made a lot of money with the company and treated those of us in her down line terribly. At first I wasn’t allowed in her Facebook group so by the time info got down to me, it wasn’t relevant or it was just wrong. When she finally let me into the group, I made a suggestion and she tore me apart. She didn’t even know me! After that, I kept to myself, worked hard to sell what I had, paid my loans back and then stopped selling. It wasn’t the best experience but I learned a lot and I’m glad it’s over.
Thanks for sharing, and sorry for your experience. There's definitely a lot more to the story, especially for the Mentors featured.
Name her
@@staceystrukel1917 doxxing is illegal...
@@mysanityizgone4576 she was literally in a documentary admitting what she did?? Its not doxxing
Uhm no. It's not doxxing. You're not giving personal information like location or otherwise . These are public figures now.
I often think of the environmental impact and destruction this has had. "Fast fashion" is in the top 5 list of damaging things our planet suffers.
Yes I watched the documentary how clothing industries pretty much destroying earth
People are destroying the earth. Consumption culture is just too easy
Our local thrift shop sells massive bags (as tall as me!) of cotton clothing for rags for $5. It's mostly fast fashion and still wearable, but they're swamped. Lularoe isn't good enough for rags because the polyester isn't absorbent. The environmental damage of all this clothing is devastating
This may have been said already but in case it hasn’t , Roberta Bleviins currently has a series as part of her podcast ‘lulabitch’ and it’s basically all the other tea and stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor. It’s really good 👍.
I would definitely love to hear interviews from more warehouse workers.
Yes, I think they would have so much insight! The one who was answering questions on Facebook said they were responsible for "curating" the pattern selections (i.e. mixing up the prints among the picking lines) - this was just a guy who was hired as a temp warehouse worker, not a fashion expert 😆
What warehouse? They stored half of it outside. LOL!
I would love to know why anyone would want to be a consultant. In my opinion, the attire is less than desirable, expensive and more focused on making a consultant successful. I could never wear this attire in my career life, and I would never wear it in my private life because who wants to clean their house in clothing them spent a lot of money?! I would be better off getting maid instead of buying this clothing line.
@@anapaz8060 I can’t speak as a consultant but I can say that in the beginning the leggings and maxis were literally the most comfortable clothing items on the market. If they had stuck with maxis and leggings and spent more time on quality control and sourcing better patterns they would have done better by their consultants. I will still grab a Lularoe maxi if I see one in a thrift store and it isn’t hideous. I think the big draw initially for consultants was that 1) it was a unique product (as in not make up or bags or food related) so the market wasn’t saturated and 2) it was a cash and carry style so people could pay and leave with it, no waiting on a commission check to clear.
@@anapaz8060 I understand and agree. I had zero idea it became such a phenomenon. I thought the clothes were ummm "not my style" to put it very gently and did not find them to be appealing. I was told by others they were comfy but I made it clear other clothes were also comfy that looked appealing and fit my personal esthetic. I really found the patterns to be too obnoxious for me, but again this is my personal taste in clothing and others may like things I don't. I could not have worn them to work or would have felt self conscious even walking around the mall as a billboard for LulaRoe in such bright over the top patterns and styles that did not help give my body contrast or shape of any kind. I did see facebook friends selling and such but never an over abundance and I still sadly see facebook friends invite me to MLM parties that are not Lularoe so i just figured it was another MLM and went "meh".
In the doc Deanne mentioned that she would tell ladies who were doing the pop ups or home parties not to worry about having refreshments because "noone wants it they're always on a diet." Well that explains why their events never had enough food! 😂
Hahaha, good point!😆
I’m sorry but if someone invites me to a party, I expect food. I always provide food when I’m the hostess of a party. I wouldn’t have bought anything if I showed up all hungry to those events
Hardly any parties I went to in 2016 at the main height of its peak had food. Some just put a bag of chips in a bowl and plastic cups for tap water.
@@jg5683 I guess to each their own but where I’m from, you feed your guests. I wonder if lula scam would have been more successful if the parties had food? 🧐
@@akdneisnfbdfjshdiejejdb3997 I agree. I never understood why it was so "chincy" cheap but then again, look what we were fighting for (cheap clothing at outrageous prices)
I’m surprised that so many ppl thought those clothes were “cute”, imo the fabric was cheap and the patterns were atrocious 😳. Luluroe is a pyramid scheme 100% , I feel sry for anyone involved with their scam🥺.
Walmart now has leggings made out of a similar fabric, and they’re sized, AND they’re $6. Lol.
They've had them for a while, I did a video on them! ua-cam.com/video/1BDtDyllMko/v-deo.html
Very ugly, cheap looking multicoloured clothes packed and packaged in a cheap manner. They looked poor quality
Excellent analysis of the documentary.
I can't believe that this company is STILL in business after all that has come to light. I also can't believe how Jill Drehmer, who appeared in the documentary, is still a consultant for this scam company and how she defends the company and the owners! 🤦♀️
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed! I really wonder what LLR's sales force looks like now, and how many consultants left after watching the documentary...
Meri Brown from Sister Wives did a post on Instagram last week commemorating 6 years at LulaRoe. People asked her about the documentary and she said she wouldn’t watch because she chooses a different ‘mindset’, chooses to be positive, they have always been nothing but supportive (no shit, I bet she signed a lot of retailers). Her comment section was flooded with heart emojis from other consultants. It was pretty depressing. I just can’t fathom not watching it when the owners are actually in it and were given the opportunity to give their side. To give her credit she didn’t block people her calling her out and those comments had the most ❤️
@@blondesense1708 Meri actually deleted and blocked A LOT of people who spoke out about LuLaRoe. I got blocked for replying back to someone looking to join but said they were apprehensive bc of the documentary. I said to read all the legitimate sites about the countless lawsuits and Meri blocked me. So I don't know why you think she didn't 🤷
@@blondesense1708 meri brown is a master at deluding herself everything is alright! She brought sobbyn in her family then refuses to quit when kody is already way beyond gone!
@@blondesense1708 all cult leaders warn their pupils to “ ignore the naysayers, people are negative and jealous, not everyone wants the best for you “ blah blah blah. MLMs and cult like religions and even plain old abusive people try their damndest to keep people I’ll-informed and in their bubble. I think most people too, our inherent human nature is to avoid the reality that we’ve been duped. MLMs, orthodox religions, conspiracy theory believers, abused people and even plain old voters come election time are deep into cognitive dissonance. Hurts too much to realize you might have been wrong or naïve.
I'm still waiting for the "MLMs and The Aftermath" season, but I love how everyone is catching on to these scams.
Thrift stores can't even sell LuLaRoe!!! I see mountains of it donated and they just pass it off to a warehouse, probably to be recycled into something else.
I donated mine to the Goodwill.
Lol they get thrown in the trash. I keep hearing about thrift stores and goodwills throwing out MLM products 😹
Don't donate stuff like that, it ends up as landfill a lot of the time. If you can't use it yourself, give it to someone who wants material for upcycling
It's crazy how much they ask for that crap at a thrift store. $25 for a skirt at Goodwill. Girl bye.
@@L767-b2zYou’re so right. Haven’t been to one in 15 years. They have Old Navy priced as a designer item. I used to buy paperback books. The clerk would then start to load them into a huge bag. I had to say “No - books go into small bags.” Not worth the hassle.
You are very articulate - this definitely highlights what the documentary should feature if they do a season 2!
Thank you so much! Would love to see another installment..!
I feel like if you still have a group of people who worked for LuLaRoe from the warehouse, packers, designers, sellers, etc that could each film their own personal experience and how it really was screwed up you could make your own mini documentary called screwla roe, or instead of LuLa Rich call it Lula robbed..I'd totally be willing to use my detective skills to help find some people lol
🤣 Love this! I don't think I'm the right person to do this, but I hope someone takes this idea!
Just a minor thing but the office building they show in the doc is actually an office that houses several non related businesses. I actually work in the same building for an engineering firm and didn’t know their HQ was in my building. Yes, as of 2022, they’re still here and they take up most of the first floor but not the whole building.
I really enjoyed this documentary, it’s from the same director as Fyre Fraud. I keep coming back to watch because there was so much left untold and the order that they told the story in is so captivating. I hope the make a second and third season!
Cutting stacked fabric is normal, but it's usually die cut. If the fabric isn't lain properly or if the dies are dull the pieces get distorted.
A few years ago I was invited to open houses for LuLaRoe. I saw the prices and thought the clothing was 1000% UGLY. I didn’t care if I didn’t buy anything. Not my style. No thank you!!
I was blown away by the documentary. When you deal with these MLM things, you are constantly pushed to spend more, do more, go go go…… they keep you so busy that it takes a while to see that you are being screwed and leading others down the same dreadful path.
I think it'd be awesome to see a series on different MLMs and exposing the issues. Cause you know there's others with major problems! Maybe it would help cut down the number of people joining.
illuminaughtii does a series called multi level Mondays that goes into a different mlm every Monday.
@@nicoledoubleyou came here to say this too!
@@nicoledoubleyou oooo thank you I will go check it out !
NOT THE GOOD GIRL has a lot of content on this topic
Kiki channel also has a lot about MLMs
Someone got a laser printer?! 😳 LuLaRoe: "Ma'am, is your order correct?" Rep: "Oh, yes! Everything's good here." 😏😏
I wanted to hear from wearhouse workers and the artists that they stole from.
Same!!!
I think artists would be in danger if they came forward ditto warehouse workers. There is a thought in america that artists are lucky to do their job (and it lends to lower wages and less job security) wearhouse workers are under the same pressures. If they come out against any of their previous employers it could lead to them not getting new jobs or being fired.
I agree with all the comments about warehouse workers and their quotas. I did the math for the art department and 100 designs a day would be 1 design every 4ish minutes in an 8 hour day which is INSANE. I’m sure the quotas for warehouse were just as bad
Also wish home office had discussed their salaries. I’m not implying they were paid too much. The opposite honestly I bet they were paid little compared to the sheer amount of work they were doing on top of being pressured to work through lunch
They were definitely paid very little, a few home office employees have shared their salaries or we've found job postings online and they are not good...
I wanted to know why they didn’t bother with finding another warehouse to keep the packages safe from rain 🌧️ why they were justifying sending out damaged smelly mouldy clothing and not listening 🙉 to the concerns. They didn’t want to take accountability. Rather fell into the denial and evasiveness about the horrible damages.
Interesting details. Thanks for sharing. One thing to note, the issue with how the fabric was cut (bigger on the top of the pile and smaller on the bottom) is the same across the whole garment industry, not just LuLaRoe. That's why you can try on 3 pairs of jeans that are the same size and they all fit a little differently.
Thank you for sharing. Did not know as when we sew at home we cut one piece at a time and don't normally make 50 of the same item.
Yep. Always try stuff on and don’t assume it will for sure fit just because of the size. Color can make a difference also, depending on when in the process it’s dyed - some stuff is dyed after the garment is sewn and the dye process can result in some shrinkage. Also the type of fabric makes a difference - some fabrics slip around in the stack more than others so you’ll get more distortion during cutting when the fabric isn’t nicely behaved. Better companies will check for extremes and not sell stuff that comes up much bigger or much smaller than the intended size, just as part of quality control, but companies that sell for cheaper price points just don’t bother.
Yup. I have a trans daughter who switched from living as a male to female this year. She has mentioned how much more difficult it is to find clothes that fit in women's clothing. "Men have it so much easier. a 30x30 is a 30 inch waste with 30 inch legs. Done."
@@derickrae maybe that's because men usually wear baggier jeans while women's hug the body more
@@em84c no, because the size in the jean is the size you buy. Although it being baggy does help a lot. Women's small or size 2 could mean whatever the manufacturer wants.
I remember one comment from the documentary, "The only people who profit from MLMs are those who got in on the ground floor" ( I assumed that also meant the founders). I would love it if the man who "sold" the first dresses to Deanne was found and what he had to say about it all.
Good point, I wonder what the flea market dress guy thinks of all this!
I watched another criticism video that pointed out how if sellers were high profile enough to be so high in the company they were interviewed they were still part of the problem. Even if they got out later. They as people knowingly preyed on the weakness/desperation of people under them and were manipulative for selfish purposes and other than financial won't ever face the consequences or true criticism because they can call themselves victims.
(I've never been involved in any of these selling schemes unless you include Girl Scout Cookies).
@@thezuse Great point. I noticed a lot of the top sellers in the documentary portraying themselves as victims and it sort of got on my nerves. But I will say that I don’t know that these people knowingly victimized others. I’m sure, especially early on, that they thought they were sharing a profitable venture with those under them. And a few did acknowledge that their early success came at the expense of preying on others financially.
@@gwenjackson8583 I actually do feel bad for some of them, especially the lady that almost died because of the balloon.
My guess is those first dresses "fell off the truck". DeAnne said they were the same dresses that cost $100 in a store. She was either too naive to know or didn't care. After all, the guy kept getting more dresses for her dress parties. They just don't fall out of the sky. If it was high quality children's dresses they aren't going to turn up used in droves like that in such good condition.
My concerns for the women involved was that instead of empowering women, the goal was to make them submissive… so everything was a lie…
Honestly, everything is about making the masses submissive while few get rich off of them
LuLa Math….I see. That’s why it doesn’t come out the same as the math that’s been around since the ancient Sumerians.
First time coming across you and your channel and i must say that I loved this video.
You have a wonderful presence and a casual/conversational way of speaking. It really helps draw the audience in.. I look forward to your other videos. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed!
@@LolaGeek you're very welcome. I recently watched the documentary because I was following the lawsuits that have come from all of this. I find the whole thing sad and fascinating but for different reasons.
Since watching the documentary I have spent way too much time watching YT and other people explain their POV from inside the company if you will. Thank you for taking time to reply.
Same here.
I was able to finally get a refund, after sending the pants back, and continuing to assert that the pants were absolutely not sized correctly. I think the seller just got sick of me.
I like to think there were fed up warehouse workers just putting random items in the boxes lol
That's a hilarious thought really! Like, oh no, we don't have the inventory to fill this order, let me just grab something quick so the box will appear full!! That explains office supplies but not children's books unless it was premeditated. Like I'm gonna take this random stuff to work just in case I need to fill up a box today! Haha too funny!
They were probably hiring anybody and everybody to try to keep up with demand and some people were just being A-holes. I worked for a school supply warehouse as a temp one summer and there were a lot of issues with college kids goofing around and not caring about the job: everything from surfing down the conveyor belts to sleeping inside large boxes of stuffed animals to chucking random stuff inside boxes to meet their own quotas. It was super frustrating.
@@sassafrasrantypants2026 I'm a warehouse worker for a retail company and this is how it is in most warehouses unfortunately.
@@Brokenstarz55 That explains why when I order the “imperfect foods” I get random stuff in my boxes I didn’t order and sometimes most of my order isn’t even in the box
@@texasgina yup unfortunately, they want 110 percent out of people but only want to pay barely over minimum wage in most cases, you pay minimum wage you get minimum work. For example I'm running the backstock for my company currently, millions of dollar worth of product I keep inventory of by myself no team and I get paid 13 an hour and i live in a tourist/large city so not even enough to cover rent really.
I never attended a party nor bought any clothes. I was aware of the products but the clothing just never interested me. I got involved in too many MLM companies over the years. Mary Kay, Tupperware. Amway phone cards, isigenics (that was the worst). Went to too many parties too. Now i just tell my friends if they try to recruit me that I will happily be their customer but I won't sell and exploit my family or friends.
Wow, LuLuRo was even worse than I thought. Can’t wait for them to topple.
I am hoping for a part 2 and possibly part 3! I know nothing about LuLaroe and find this quite interesting….. Deanna sure does love to hear herself talk that is very apparent.
🤞🤞 Oh yeah they were happy to talk about themselves 😆
I was hooked on this stuff. I bought so much my husband told me he was going to divorce me. All the fabric was disgusting. All of it balled up so bad. I would spend hours with a fabric shaver to get them off. The only nice ones was the cotton ones and that didn't come very often. I would love to know what happened that all of a sudden most consultants just disappeared. I had three wonderful ladies I loved and they just were done. And I am talking about later. Like still selling in 2019 or even 2020. It truly makes me sad because I felt we had bonds with these consultants. I also know trying to resale all the stuff is crazy. No one wants this stuff. I had tons of stuff with tags still on it. Also they talked about the way Deanne coaxed them down to Mexico to get their stomachs altered. I know this one consultant. I watched her from the beginning go from a conservative dresser, humble to plastic surgery on her lips and other things. She was one of the consultants that actually spent the weekend at the owners house. The bonfires and all the expensive stuff Mark and Deanne have. It all became a shit show and feel so bad for any consultant. U were not in it long enough for all the weird changes. Oh how consultants got to go the warehouse (the ones who numbers were a certain range) to get to go for an hour and pick from these bends. Again nothing seemed fair.
I’ve always hated that the fabric was NEVER consistent and it was sooo cheap . I’m soo glad i never bought many items . The only thing i actually liked was the Randy . But not the sizing , it was never consistent and again some of the fabric was sooo cheap and it wasn’t like anyone was staying on top of things . Everyone was uncertain about what they did to accommodate. Crazy . It’s soo interesting to see the fall out and the other shady side of the business. It seems like it was only a matter of time when all of these videos appeared exposing the trifling things that were going on . Wow what a complete circus instead of shit show . I never went to a single party or event & my purchase was from someone who had . But it just wasn’t my style and i think leggings aren’t for everyone.
I feel exactly the same way..I’m a bit overweight and I would NEVER wear those in public! Can see everything…I just won’t do it
I know this is going to sound mean, but tbh I always thought their clothing was ugly and tacky. And the way items were coordinated was awful. Stripped tshirts with floral skirts. Yikes!
I agree!
Excellent video, they could have another doc. Of what we want to expand on… LuLaMore.
Thanks so much for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
I wonder how many the things in your video couldn’t be discussed yet because of potential litigation?
I’d love a season 2!
Ooo good theory! I know the people who were interviewed said they discussed a lot more, but the producers had to edit everyone's contributions into a single cohesive story. There is probably a *lot* of juicy stuff on the cutting room floor!
@@LolaGeek they, the producers, should release the unedited version
By parading their top earners with big bonuses would give the impression any consultant could do the same. That was, in fact, NOT the case. Misrepresentation, false advertising could be added to the list of charges. No doubt this was a pyramid scheme. That the company is still in operation baffles me.
I agree. I was shocked they didn't get shut down. It kinda feels like they got slap on the wrist. I get they had to pay money but really they probably have a ton of money so I doubt it hurt them much.
Lol 😂 Listen if your not good at sales don’t sell! That’s in anything sweetheart go to a car dealership the one who is the best seller makes the most! And your right not everyone has that capability but that’s no one else’s fault but theirs! I sell roofs and make a great living as a woman and do I expect you to do what I do NO! Do I think you could sure but is it likely absolutely not! I work 8 months a year and make over $100k again it’s not false representation it’s skill and confidence and most do not have it! That’s facts of life! So a dealer ship does promote their top earners as any other business! Do u not understand business? That’s not false advertising the dumbasses who don’t understand sales and strategy should either learn or not assume they can just become like us! And anyone investing thousands before they even know they can sell is just plain stupid!
I also did MLM w it works but again I wasn’t stupid I went w a MLM that gave me a site therefore I didn’t have to purchase products unless I already sold the product! People are so gullible and that’s their fault! Always blaming another and never blaming self has these people in the positions they are! And that’s truth! I hit my $10k bonus and left lol 😂
I thought that they went out of business?
The clothes are so ugly, how can anyone even consider buying it even worse making a business out of it?
I always thought most of the prints on LulaRoe leggings were hideous looking. They are not flattering and are over priced! The only time I wear yoga pants or leggings is working out or walking my dog. I got a couple of butter soft capri leggings at Walmart for $3 on clearance when my mom was hospitalized because I needed something comfy. They were cuter than any LulaRoe prints Lol
You’ve got to remember that inflated prices for these products are because everyone in the upline has to get their cut. These prices are never a reflection of the actual quality of the product. All mlms are trash there are no exceptions.
And if you were missing pieces they would fulfill them with any size they had on hand…I got many XXLs when I ordered and needed smalls and mediums…
When I heard the father was friends with the maker of the clothing I just sat back in my chair like "QUALITY ISSUES" because the friendship is what is always on the line when you do business with friends. In running a professional business you want to have a professional relationship so that you can hold a company accountable for quality issues and this was more of a bro-ship where one person is like "I need XYZ" and their friend looks over and says "No Way, I have a company that can do that". I mean I shop around for all goods and services because they are businesses and I'm sure some of the discussions were "I'll fix it and make it better next time" and the father would never take his business elsewhere or look for a proper manufacturing company with quality control because he may not be able to play toy cars with his friend anymore. It always blows up in the end, Always! My speculation is the business grew too fast for the friend and with the business growth he did not retain more manufacturing capabilities so what cutting procedure worked on 5 layers may not work on 50 layers.
I was under the impression that Mark and Dan became friends *after* they started working together professionally, but agree that when you do business with your "friends," it's easy to let things slide like that..
It’s who you know. It’s understandable that you would hire friends or family rather than say your worst enemy lol! Also many jobs employees become family in a way
MLM= the CONSULTANT IS the CUSTOMER💵💸
💯
You make a very good point about spreading and cutting of knit fabrics. It def takes effort to align them correct and let it rest for 24hrs for stretch relaxation between layers.
I found a pair of lularoe leggings at a thift store like 10 years ago, so they were probably from around when lularoe first started. I had no idea the brand at the time but I wanted a pair of soft leggings to hang around the house in.
They werent super ugly. Not like super fashionable but nothing like the eye gouging patterns I see now.
They are 80% solid black, with a not overpowering pattern of simple beige triangles scattered around. They are soft and very well made. They are still in really good shape.
I still have them and even sometimes still wear them to work under an ankle length skirt (I wouldnt wear them under a shorter skirt to work, I wouldnt want them as a main focus under my outfit, but they are fine for a long skirt) for extra warmth in winter. They cost me $2.
Once I learned what lularoe was, and saw what most of their patterns and quality looked like - I was surprised to find out my not hideous and well made thrifted leggings were the same brand.
Yeah I mean they weren't always so awful - otherwise they never would have taken off the way they initially did
I watched all of lularich in one day!!!
It sucks you in, doesn't it?!
So did I!!
You are very tactful. You speak very well and use very good word choice, no profanity. Thank you.
Haha thank you! I never curse, lol!
@@LolaGeek You have my respect.
@@LolaGeek I also appreciate your demeanor!
I was just laughing so hard that Momma Donna and Kristen were in multiple segments of the documentary. I use to live down the road from them. They had all these plans to renovate the basement into a botique, buy a bus , they were buying up other sellers inventory to build their own. I helped in the shop until I went into partnership with someone. Then when she decided to sign up under another seller they convinced her to give me the boot.
Thank You for All that you are doing for World Peace and for our Planet...
Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. La Paz.. Namaste ..
🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮️ ❤️ 💐 🕊
I have been fascinated with cults and MLM programming for decades and they really are so similar. In fact, they all just copy each other’s tactics. If you watch Leah Remini’s Scientology series you can see so many similarities between cults and MLMs. Frightening and fascinating at the same time. Those chics from Sister Wives are ripe for getting sucked into MLMs so I wasn’t surprised to hear Meri was involved in LLR.
They are in a couple of MLM. Religions, Cults and MLM are all the same with each other. I've been obsessed with learning about all of them.
I hated the fabric but I bought a couple of pieces to support my daughter-in-law. It was that sweaty polyester stuff.
you guys need to watch Emily D Bakers Lula breakdowns too! she amazing
She is!!
I only have 2 lularoe that I purchased from a consultant who was leaving lularoe. I must have been lucky because they were perfect winter in New England. But that documentary was mindblowing.
I watched several Facebook Lularoe sales and never once saw a piece I would’ve wanted….even though I was willing to buy to support the sales person. They were that hideous
Good video. Very watchable. You have a great presence and nice speaking voice.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed :)
Thank you for taking the time to talk about your experience.
This is all just SO fascinating.
Yeah, just listening to the bit about sizing, any sewist worth their salt knows that how stretchy a fabric is will affect sizing. Youre supposed to account for that when you make a pattern and change the sizes accordingly. Youre also supposed to account for the cutting of the fabric. Those arent excuses. If you just say "well everything cut with this size cutter is size a, regardless of stretch" youre gonna get reviews about inconsistent sizing. Esp because the average layperson doesnt know off the top of thier head what fabrics have what stretch
Totally agree, but the stretch and compression was what they told us to explain why the sizing was inconsistent. Someday I'll tell the story of why they said the leggings developed holes, you'll get a kick out of that 😆
@@LolaGeek since they're actively admitting they cant size clothes i shudder to imagine 😆
@@LolaGeek I saw the stretch pitch from a LulaRoe vendor at a figure skating show. NO skater wants these leggings! Average ones get wrecked, the ice can cut. It was painfully awkward to watch.
Omg thank you for mentioning the sizing!! I have an xxs Carly and I’ve never worn it. I’m typically a small and didn’t know it was so big on me
Yeah I have no clue why they couldn't just size things in a standard way, lol!
Salvation army and thrift stores here in PA are full of LulaRoe clothing, both old and new but heard they have stopped taking the donations coz nobody buying them.
Same here in New England!
I would like to hear more from sellers further down on the pyramid.
And about the people who made the clothes.
I know one. She spent 5K to get in and is was selling everything for like $2 a piece and was begging people to buy it. The bottom 80% really made no money, had to still buy clothes and did anything they could to offload them. Crossing boundaries with friends, old work acquaintances, and basically reaching out to anyone they knew to try and sell the items at a markdown and lost a great deal of money. Many, like my old coworker as a single mom, who could not afford to lose money. They saw great stories after working very stressful jobs and wanted a break or a light at the end of the tunnel and instead they got more debt, a bunch of clothes no one wanted, and some ruined relationships by reaching out to people they hadn't spoken to in years or pushing boundaries on relationships that were well established.
I swear they should have let you direct the documentary. what you're talking about here is SO much more interesting than the documentary. I had NO idea about the fundraisers.
LOL, thank you! Yeah, there is so much more to the story, but I think LuLaRich was a good intro for the general public - hopefully more stories will come out soon!
I’m from Missouri. I honestly never heard of LulaRoe until they had already collapsed. Maybe it was a regional thing? I have no idea. I’m glad that you came through this OK. And I’m truly sorry for people who lost a lot of money that they could not afford. I’ll also tell you that no one in my area was wearing this weird shit
8:28 Your bonus was based on the amount of items you purchased. If you are returning items, in essence, you haven't sold as many items now. Makes sense to me.
What was with the extra items? A printer? Books? That's insane.
This sounds like an absolute horror! You’re lucky to have gotten out!!
This is a great video! Very thorough, I would love to hear more about your experience.
Also, if you haven't sent an email/insta to Roberta Blevins about being on her podcast (Life After MLM) to chat about some of this stuff, I think you'd be a super valuable voice to hear. Your analysis is great, and I'm sure she'd love to chat with you! This is all important information to get out to more people!
Thank you so much for the compliments! I *think* (??) Roberta knows who I am, lol 😆 I'm not super seeking out more publicity right now, but happy to share my story here!
@LolaGeek That definitely makes sense, considering how brutal current consultants can be to anyone outside of the company. I only suggest it because I'm a pretty avid consumer of anti-MLM stuff, and you've brought up some things here that I've actually never heard former consultants bring up, especially around clothing production and information dissemination. I appreciate getting to hear your thoughts here 😁
I never heard of Lularoe. But I was impressed with the ability to make money from absolutely nothing.
We just watched Lula Rich and love your video as additional info. Great presentation. You're a good speaker.
Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed!
Love your hair❤️. I thought that the documentary had some good stuff. The interviews with mr. and Mrs. BS were interesting. Also interesting that they refused to come back to answer more questions. But the thing that struck me is what you are discussing. All of the former employees saying nobody knew the first thing about running a business. I feel that all of your Lularoe videos have been more helpful in determining, from a woman’s point of view, whether this is something to invest in, and declare bankruptcy a year. So props to you and all of your videos. So unless Lularoe hires an MBA from Harvard, the business just about has to tank. Also wondered why the Sister Wives were not interviewed. At this point, nothing may save this company. What are they going to with all of those moldy legging?
Thanks and glad you've enjoyed these videos! There is *so* much going on with LLR, and when making a documentary like this they kind of have to pick one "storyline" and edit to that, so I can see how they weren't able to touch on everything. Hopefully more comes to light in the future!
Yes, what I'd like to know is why items would arrive wet, and what happened with quality that some would tear so easily.
Because stock was outside during all kinds of weather which meant soaked fabric which got moldy. Also the fabric got cheaper and tore right away.
I come from the financial sector so I tend to think about things through that lens. With that in mind, a deeper explanation about how people in the down lines lose money would be helpful I think. Anyone not really thinking deeply about the financial aspect probably don't understand how exactly it is that someone can lose money in an MLM (any/all of them). Even showing the financial disclosure statements doesn't give the other side of the story. Those disclosure might show how much comes IN (even if it is just a few dollars! LOL) but it doesn't explain what money goes OUT. The MLM would never call it "expenses" but that's basically what they are. Whether it is inventory, postage, printer ink, merch displays, etc etc.
This viewpoint/information increases the credibility of the documentary. What a frustrating organization to have dealt with.
Oh my gosh. So basically they scammed and ruined everything they touched.
Don’t forget Disney also profited nicely from this scheme.
Did they really though? Or any of their "partnerships"? Disney only teamed up bc LuLaRoe consultants were hawking them right outside the park with "inspired looks", ie their rose leggings marketed as beauty and the beast or a floral pattern for Alice in wonderland, etc. The partnership was short lived. They recouped what LuLaRoe was stealing as is.
jill gold They made there money and then closed the door once negative publicity started most likely, Disney serially partners with many different MLMs.
jill gold And selling inspired patterns is not stealing copyright, they probably jumped on board for their profit nothing else. Oh, and disney did not invent Beauty and the Beast, or many, if any, of ‘their stories’ ie Alladin, The Jungle Book, and on and on.
@@DR-nh6oo yup! They dipped when shit hit the fan but got their money.
@@DR-nh6oo correct, thing is, I don't know if you remember, but consultants before were using Disney in the photos which raised the red flags. Then when they got the partnership, they had to have specific folders and photos with certain jargon to sell.
4 or 5 years ago I was seriously considering joining. Thank God my then boyfriend,
now husband, talked me out of it. So many people got screwed!!
Sounds like a nightmare, feel bad for those thousands of women who got ripped off, in SO MANY WAYS
I had the card my mom got from a coworker to give her, to give to me. I was so clueless cuz I never ever heard of this place/company at all. The clothes were sooooo ugly. Lula math really..!! Would really love to watch/hear about what other ppl/or a person went through. This company really got over on these ppl.
I feel so bad for the people that got sucked into this scam. I volunteer at a high end thrift store in receiving and we wondered why we were getting so many ugly leggings! LOL we would not put many of these out on the to sell floor. They would be faded or damaged 😮
The sizing is good marketing. It makes big people feel like they need a small. It's aimed at making people buy more to skew from the fact that they truly are just a pyramid scheme ran by master scammers.
In theory I agree with you about the sizing, but it also became a problem the other way - for example I had a petite friend who wanted to buy a skirt from me and they were all falling off of her, even the tightest XXSmall that I had..
I bought a pair back around 2016 and I still wear them. I was lucky my leggins held up. I always thought they were made here, it sure seems like they were made overseas somewhere. I feel so bad for people who got caught up in this. The gal I bought from even invested in a camper she converted into a mobile shop. She disappeared around the time you all did and she was no longer on FB either.
When I joined in 2015 everything was made in the US except the leggings, which were always made overseas. However, they later transitioned all production overseas and started making the leggings in additional countries, which led to some of the quality issues people started noticing...
The way you described how they cut the fabric is pretty standard. That's why you can buy jeans in the same size made by the same brand and they fit differently.
Am I the only one who thinks of "The Royal Tenenbaums" when people talk about non-blood related siblings marrying eachother? That movie basically normalized that whole concept, and that was back in 2001! Over 20 years ago!
Haha love that movie!
LuLaRoe is not a family filled with child prodigies though lmao
Loved that 🍿 movie ! Lols!
Sizing got smaller over the years. I have quite a few perfect T shirts and they got smaller and shorter over the years. I can tell just by looking at them hanging in my closet if they were from the early years or more recent before they discontinued the style
The clothes were patently ugly.
I see Lularoe CONSTANTLY at thrift stores around the Bay Area.
Here too in PA
@@LillysConner Very unfortunate and sad stuff
The two people running the company talk like total con artists. DeAnne is described as being "exciting" to listen to but anyone who watches the documentary could see that this excitability was just quick, passionate doubletalk that was intended to confuse people. Confused people are very easy to take advantage of because while you're still trying to process the first bit of her bullshit, she's already on the next topic. This is typical rhetoric of a con artist. Her doubletalk is more obvious to people while she's being interviewed by prosecutors but that's only because the charming facade has fallen away and was replaced by irritability making it more discernable. I never got involved with it, just wasn't my style at all. It's sad how many people fell prey to these financial predators.
Wow. you made it sound even worse. One thing is having a disaster of a new company like product being left out in the rain, or needing to change the quality and prints of products, but they sound like such mess on the internal/financial/logistics infrastructure. Too bad.
The way you describe them cutting fabric is the norm for commercial garment manufacturing. I’m guessing they rushed it though and that their quality control was crap.
Your comments were objective and fair
Great video. I feel bad for anyone that got involved in this scam company 😫
There are a lot I don’t feel bad for. A former friend if mine got involved because she was always looking for ways to make easy money without working, and it reached point where she knew exactly how it worked, but thought she could rope in enough people. And overall, there really is enough info that anyone who doesn’t do even a little research isn’t getting my sympathy anymore.
I hate when people say "WHY DID PEOPLE BUY THE CLOTHES? IT WAS UGLY" ugly only to you, since people that buy it obviously bought it because they thought otherwise. I never sold it or bought from them but I'm not going to critize someone else's clothing and their sense of style. Style is being individually yourself, not what a magazine tells you to buy.
I think also knowing what we know now about the company taints people's opinion of the products.
The different sizing is more cheap manufacturing then it being piled up wrong because most fashion brands do that and it doesn’t let it come out that way and with quality checks they would never let that pass to sell