Miserable Cow Syndrome
You know... I think maybe my understanding of motivation is different than the powers that be in LLR. Like, when someone says to me- "Hey, way to go! That's awesome!" or "Holy cow, Christina, that was really great, keep up the excellent work!" That is motivational to me. The emails I get from the countless women that thank me for saying what they were thinking... wanting to say... trying to say... THAT is motivation. The messages from their husbands thanking me for helping their wives see that this is not healthy. Telling a consultant to take a loan against their retirement, a second mortgage, with the promise of a payoff if you "work hard" and "aren't lazy"... is not healthy. To the women that contact me, thank you for letting me know that I'm not talking to myself. To the husbands, thank you for letting me know that I reached your wives. To all of you- thank you for letting me know I've made you feel safe. My work here started with sharing my story. I was one of the first to speak up. My story isn't that remarkable. I questioned what I was told and then I was told to shut up and do it anyway. Now, LLR is still trying to tell me what I can and can't say- but I'm not really worried because as long as I am telling my truth- your truth- the only thing they can do is threaten me. I vowed to share stories given to me, and I meant it. If LLR thinks they are in the right, then they have nothing to be worried about from a mouthy, opinionated blogger like me, right? But they question my motivation for being here. I'm not here to "take down LLR". I'm here seeking truth. LuLaRoe lied to me. They told me that there was no credit check for a merchant account. Then they told me it was just a soft inquiry. I know better than that, I challenged it. Then they admitted there was a hard credit pull. At first, I wanted to say that maybe they just got the wrong advice. Maybe they were ignorant. "Assume innocence first", right? But then the whole- "You can't BE in a BST group" and I started to think- "What do they think this is, communism?" I don't authorize anyone that much control over my life but again, these are mentors and uplines acting on behalf of LuLaRoe. LuLaRoe would never allow this if they knew, right? You would THINK that LuLaRoe seeing videos of their highest in command telling people to kite checks and target old folks homes, let alone continue to fraudulently represent the "opportunity" by continuing to share bonus checks would send up red flags for them. Why aren't these mentors shut down? Don't these actions create concern for those that control LuLaRoe? I mean at some point, the government is only going to believe that they are acting of their own volition for so long. When they all start regurgitating the same bad information, the case file grows larger, and the argument that LLR didn't know this was happening becomes more and more moot. I am a whistleblower. I am here showing issues with the company. Falsehoods. Lies. Misrepresentations. My motivation is only exposure and accountability. If you want my motivational speech, this is the one you're going to get: "If you're successful in this company and you are operating in a way that is neither illegal or unethical... if you have never represented that a potential joiner can make 'sky's the limit' income based on effort alone, you advise your downline to seek the advice of an attorney when situations like the merchant agreement present itself, and you accept that the company has challenges, but never attempt to speak on their behalf- I would say you're a person of sound moral character with regard to this company. If you are successful by this means, then I applaud you and I hope for your continued success. If you have to lie, manipulate, and mislead to gain a downline, a sale, a group, etc, you are a part of the problem I have with this company. If you are entering this company, you do so with ALL the knowledge in your hands. I believe you can make money working for LuLaRoe, but you need to know the risks associated with joining ANY company- not just LuLaRoe. The company contractually restricts consultants from discussing anything negative publicly. How can you really know true risks if they aren't allowed to talk about them? If you are leaving this company- do so unafraid of consequence. Do so because you made the decision for yourself based on experience, education, and understanding of ALL information presented to you. Be informed- whichever direction you go. Customers- if you love the clothing, that is wonderful. I love the clothing too. No one is telling you not to buy it. But you do not need a brand to define you, your physical comfort in your own skin. You do not need a baggy dolman to define you. You do not need a shirt labeled a Medium size to lie to you about being a larger size. You do not need LuLaRoe's permission to celebrate yourself or be comfortable with who you are physically. You are allowed to love the clothing. You are also allowed to complain about a defect. You are allowed to express concerns over quality. You are allowed to congregate and gripe without fear of retaliation or intimidation. Consultants that are going out of business: You are allowed to do whatever you want with the merchandise you have purchased. You own it, you have the right to sell it. There is nothing in your contract that says you have to return the merchandise to LuLaRoe, and there is nothing that says that they are entitled to keep it should they decide not to issue a credit upon a return. You are allowed to file a police report for theft. You are allowed to voice your opinions and concerns- publicly, privately, and otherwise. You are allowed to share your experiences with your friends, family, media, and humble bloggers committed to sharing your stories. You are allowed to exit the business with your head high, unafraid of consequence such as harassment, threats, belittling, and legal backlash. You control your own life. LuLaRoe represented a section of time in your life and they do not control your decisions after you decide to leave. You are NOT a failure. You are NOT lazy. You are NOT letting anyone down. Speak up if you have a voice. The more that do, the more come forward. I would not be here right now if it weren't for the hundreds of people that message me, comment on my posts, and proclaim that something that was published was something they experienced. If this blog makes you feel safe, then know I'm here for you- to support you in either your choice to stay or to leave. If you stay, then I'm here fighting for your right to have transparency and ethical dealings with this organization. If you leave, then know I'm here to help you with resources to assist you in your exit plan. Any other company just lets you go... I have never seen a company threaten and harass people like this one does once someone decides to leave. If you're unhappy, what is their motivation to keep you there? Stay or go- but find your why- just as they tell you to do. Once you do, own it- and don't let anything but the truth change your mind." Now speaking of motivation, and the WHY I'm here, I'd like to show you all a snippet of a presentation from the LuLaRoe tour today. I believe this image was shared from Omaha, Nebraska. Miserable Cow Syndrome, as outlined on this slide- is "a person who is negative, unhappy, has self pity, and is hopeless, usually causing the people around her to feel uncomfortable..." This is the second reference I've seen to being a Miserable Cow with relation to LuLaRoe. The first time I saw it mentioned was on a screenshot of one of Katie Mooney's posts. (included here) Again, maybe my understanding of motivation is different than these people, but I don't think the implication that if you are unhappy with LuLaRoe, or feel hopeless or defeated for your efforts to make it work should subject you to the "mentors" and "motivators" in LuLaRoe to create a syndrome to define you. Needless to say- calling a person that is unhappy in the organization a miserable cow is just abusive- the very farthest possible position from motivational. When Mark had made his comments about the inventory not being stale, but consultants instead were stale- as were their customers; and when he used a poorly timed quote about wrestling with pigs in the same speech- a spokesperson for LLR stated that this was done as a part of a "motivational video" for the consultants. Merriam Webster has the following definition of motivate: transitive verb: to provide with a motive Motive: something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act So when we use abusive language in motivational speech, are we motivating people to perform an act in effort to be successful and happy, or to prevent the "motivator" from continuing to use abusive or manipulative speech to compel an expected response? Because the way I feel about this is: When I joined LLR, my motivation was to have a little fun and maybe make some spending money while I was recovering from childbirth. When agents of LLR overstepped their roles and made me feel uncomfortable, it motivated me to leave. When other women began contacting me and thanking me for speaking up, it motivated me to continue. Why is it that LuLaRoe can use hateful and negative terms to motivate their consultants to change, but when the consultant or blogger does the very same thing, people get phone calls and emails from lawyers? It seems to me that LuLaRoe likes to try and intimidate people right out of the gates: -if you speak against us, we will pull your contract. -if you discount, you will be reported -if you advertise, you will be reported -if you complain to an upline publicly, you'll be removed from a group and orphaned -if you don't sign this merchant agreement we will no longer sell you product -if you GOOB, we will harass you into sending your merchandise back to home office -if you publicly share information that agents of our company have published already and criticize it, our attorneys will get involved Again, maybe it's just me, but I'm kind of sick of the threats, the veiled ultimatums, and the word "attorney" coming up in every other conversation regarding this company. They are so concerned about image, yet they damage it themselves with misinformation, false information, half truths, hype, and threats. Why not spend half the money spent on attorneys on experts instead- to revamp and streamline this business? I've said this so many times, I think it may be my next tattoo- They have such a good thing, why not invest the money in fixing it so that it lasts? What better motivation is there? Seems to me those pointing the fingers at the herd might in fact be the bull to the Miserable Cows. P.S. LLR- way to insult the larger woman who shops you religiously- URBAN DICTIONARY
