Open Letter to LuLaRoe
Mark and DeAnne, Hello, Hello! I have received an email from your attorney this evening. Really nice, sharp fellow. I will respond to him this evening in proper fashion, but I wanted to take this moment to reiterate some points I discussed with him on the phone when I called upon receipt of the email. First and foremost, I am not your issue. I am not your enemy- never was, never will be. I know it may seem like that because I don't have a lot of nice things to say about you a lot of the time. I want you to know there are reasons for that. Let me start by discussing how I come about the information in my blogs and my statements about this company. 1. I get hundreds of messages a day. It happens. A lot of it is redundant- the same screen shots, links, messages, over and over. 2. I never collected anything on my own. I never needed to. As a journalist, I am protected from liability because the information is GIVEN to me. How a source comes by that information, I do not know- nor is it my duty to ask that of them. 3. My sources are confidential. I have offered to provide redacted information to your attorneys to prove outside source, but protect those informing. 4. I am not participating in any sort of slander or defamation or libel. I report on information I am provided. I source and fact check. There is a lot that I do not report on because- it's just a lot. I don't care about Katie's house or car. I don't care about what shoes you wear, DeAnne. What I care about are the consultants. 5. The videos I get are given to me. I have not recorded or published any video of my own other than a video of myself speaking on the topic. 6. Internal documents are provided to me- outside of my own contract that is not protected by any non-disclosure. Next, my WHY. Why am I here? Why am I doing this? I have reached out to you to try and get your ear. I have the unique responsibility of all of this information. I reached out to try and help you. A lot of what you are doing could be deemed illegal by a court. A lot of what your mentors are doing is hurting your reputation. But you're worried about me. Let me help you even more. You have Meagan Parker talking about gag orders that don't exist. She spoke out of turn. Easy mistake to make, right? She's human. As a company, you need to wrangle the misstatements made by your independent agents and employees. You HAVE TO. These women are giving advice and direction to other women in the name of your sacred, precious company that is unethical, immoral, and illegal. "Buy more to sell more" Kite checks Take loans against your retirement. You can pay it back in 6 months. Go all in. You will succeed if you work hard. I PROMISE you these statements are not figments of my imagination. These happened. Repeatedly. Take a second mortgage. PUT YOUR CHILDREN TO WORK IN YOUR BUSINESS This is America. Children do not get fair wages to work because it is illegal to put them to work. What in the actual fuck are you people allowing these mentors to tell people? I personally liked the "If you don't sign up for the merchant agreement by 3/31, you will be fired." A. How do you fire me? B. Fuck you, none of that is in my contract. But yet Mark testified in open court that we had the freedom to choose any merchant provider. Don't worry, I'll publish that public record. Along with snippets of the same section of several contracts that EXPRESSLY provide that Audrey is the only way to accept payment and be compliant- and if I ask for them, mainly because I'm too lazy to search through the scores of emails I get right at this moment- I will have at least 5 examples of mentors telling people that they MUST switch to the new Bless WHILE YOU HAD AN ACTIVE INJUNCTION PREVENTING THIS FROM TAKING PLACE. Tell me again about the free choice of merchant provider. I have been writing this in hopes that you are listening. NOW you're reading, but are you LISTENING...? The government is coming. And you're having emails sent to me about my blog and my book. Let me spell this for you: My blog is dedicated to helping women. Crafts, kids, whateverthefuck a woman is interested in. Women really like your leggings. A lot. And they should- because they are cute and comfortable. I fucking LOVED them. Loved. Hearts and smileys allllllll day. Holes? Meh. I don't say a lot about holes because I think you have a hole issue and you know it. I told your attorney- and I'll tell you and the rest of the world that I'm not interested in the defective leggings cases. If my leggings blow out- I have 46 more that I can wear. I don't really care. Do I think you have a quality control issue? Yes. Do I think it should be resolved before a consumer protection agency owns your bejeweled behinds? Yes. But I won't be participating in a defective lawsuit because I don't feel that I am really a candidate. I will participate, however, with any governing agency that would like access to the same information you are requesting I provide to you. Because I've offered it to you first- so that you might change what you're doing wrong. So before ole FTC, FBI, DEA or whatever combination of lettered agency asks for my cooperation, I'm offering it to you. I never intended to HURT you. I have always been trying to HELP you. I've reached to tell you that there are things happening that are wrong. Instead of wrangling the bullying, the pressure sales, the micromanagement of how a product is sold, how much it's sold for, and where- I can show you what your consultants that are leaving are saying. I can help you FIX this. And I've been trying to get you there. You would THINK if a viral blogger posts a bunch of screen shots of things like mentors publishing directions that could not only hurt a consultant, but subject the mentor and potentially LuLaRoe to liability because a direction by an agent of the company (whether in fact or implied by role) the company would issue a statement condemning the behavior and immediately have PR clean it up. Use it as a coaching moment for the mentors as a thing NOT to do. Instead, you coddle and support the offender. Do you think you're above repercussion? And do you think I'm afraid of attorneys for asking? You want these lawsuits to go away? Be responsible. Fix the issues. And REALLY fix them. Do not just slap some shit that sounds good in theory on a piece of paper and announce it to every media outlet available BEFORE you train your consultants on how to handle it- and provide them ample time to opt out. But, let's spend more consultant enrollment money paying this attorney's billable hours listening to me rattle off about how fucked up this whole situation is. I'll say it again, I'm trying to help. You don't want it? Fine. But I'm very good at putting puzzles together, and I am even better at testifying. Court does not scare me. But this was never about me or court. I care about the consultant stories I hear every day. I care about the husbands that message me about their wives being deeper and deeper. Mothers emailing about daughters that aren't speaking to them because they asked them if they were sure they wanted to join a company like this. YOU HAVE SUCH A GOOD THING. You had it right- and you fucked it up. I've been here trying to light a blinking sign at what you need to fix. You want to listen? Your attorney has my phone number and express directions to provide you with the means to contact me to discuss this. But a 5 page letter scares me about as much as me telling you to kiss my ass scares you. You want my info? You can have it- but you better use it to fix your issues. Next- my book. I explained to your attorney that my book is not what you allege. Nothing egregious is published in its contents. The book is exactly as the name indicates. A tale of the creation, rise, and challenges LuLaRoe has faced over the last few years. It is without my opinion, without commentary. It is a story of how- because it's fascinating. The "How this whole thing happened" tale is one worth sharing. I am entitled to write a book, and I believe I am in a unique position to write it without perspective- or both pro and con perspectives shown. I can assure you no information that I have been provided from confidential sources is used in the contents. Only items that are searchable and in public record are used. Without this drama, the story of LuLaRoe is a harrowing one. A fairytale- and it deserves to be heard- no matter how much I wish you'd fix your flaws for the betterment of the WHOLE company. Your company will change history for MLM- and that's worth writing about. It is up to you how your story ends. Do you want to be Herbalife- or do you truly want to bless lives? I think the answer lies somewhere in your ego. I know Goddamned well every word I write is documented. Your scribes must be very aware by this time that I am extremely middle ground. I express my opinion when it's called for. I maintain that my issues with the company are not of personal or libelous nature- they are formed from experience with evidence and the resounding and redundant stories that are provided to me by current and former consultants. Much information I have is published elsewhere. Screen shots rule the internet. Screen shots will be the death of this company. I've been trying to show you how you look from here. That's not illegal, that's not egregious, and that's more than the government will do for you when they get involved. And they are coming. Choose your own destiny. -Christina