LuLaRich Episode 1: My Takeaway

I finally broke down tonight, found a ratty pair of October-themed period pants (aka LuLaRoe leggings) a bottle of cheap wine, a pen and paper, and all of the strength I could muster to hold my dinner down. I then settled in with hubby to watch the first episode of Cult Life With Mark and DeAnne... er... I mean LuLaRich. I'm just going to say "trigger warning" for all the things ahead of time, because 2021 requires it. (shrugs) Here's my takeaway (Spoiler alert, I'm talking about the episode and I'm probably going to ruin it for you if you haven't seen it.) Already, in this first episode, it's pretty apparent that Mark and DeAnne feel like someone is *finally* going to celebrate their amazing rise to the top. This documentary wants to tell the whole story, and Mark and DeAnne believe right from the get go- that it's a documentary to celebrate how absolutely amazing this "power couple" is. Now, we all know that's not really what's happening here. In the first episode, DeAnne takes a humble approach to the success, while Mark takes a more steadfast- "we're here because we worked to accomplish this" type attitude. And in a lot of ways, I don't think they're acting. My opinion is that DeAnne wasn't acting. She may very well have absolutely no idea how in the land of LuLaLunacy she got to where she is in relation to this brand. She's wide-eyed and sort of dumbfounded throughout the entire episode. She defers to Mark quite often, at a few notable points, says some pretty telling things about their relationship: 1. She said that she often hates Mark, and kind of looks down and away from him whilst he turns and gives her an "oh really?" type of look. 2. She was on a video in her car and said something about an incentive- then commented that Mark didn't like when she "did that". He then corrected her and told the viewers that the incentive was they would have a successful business. To me, from this vantage point, it was always apparent that Mark was pulling the strings on the business, and DeAnne was sort of the bubbly, witless "dame" meant to entice others into their schtick that could relate to her story. (A story that has morphed over the years- and this documentary is no exception) DeAnne also indicates that she feels like she's pretending to be someone she's not and during a snippet of the Washington State Pyramid Scheme lawsuit, she was asked if she were in charge of LuLaRoe, and she said something to the tune of "they say I am..." once again indicating that she might feel more like a puppet than a player in this game. If that's genuine, who knows? Perhaps she's starting to position herself not as a predator, but a helpless victim in some other more nefarious character's ideal plot to take over the world, one pair of holy leggings at a time. I think it's also interesting to note that Mark is dressed to the nines in a perfectly tailored suit, while she looks like Madame Zelda, the fortune teller in the corner booth of your local traveling family circus. How come he can't wear the frockery in a documentary about the brand? Throughout this episode, I chuckled at the graphic of the LuLaLogo being morphed into a pyramid, and then broken down into the various levels of the scheme for illustration purposes. Expertly done, and effective in blatantly portraying the pyramidic nature of the brand DOWN TO THE LOGO being an aerial vantage of a pyramid.

They touched on several heated points in LuLaHistory: -selling the opportunity -selling breastmilk -stale inventory and salespeople "whining" about it The documentary was effective at outlining the Mark and DeAnne family tree, leaving out, of course that the pair reportedly began "hooking up" while Mark was still married to his ex-wife, and one family member had even reported to me (adding insult to injury ) regarding the alleged affair- that the two were getting busy in Mark's marital bed while then wifey was out of town. Eek. No wonder they didn't get too much into that. Not a good, wholesome look for Mr. Suit and Tie. They giggle about how two of their adopted children fell in love and got married- stipulating that there was no blood relationship between them, and that it was truly a "beautiful story". We'll agree to disagree on that...

Sam Schultz pops in and straight up tells us all that he was not qualified to run a marketing department of any company, let alone a billion dollar baby. He talks about how he was learning the demographic of women that were signing up, and essentially how to work them and get them pumped by playing music from their teens- and hiring Mario Lopez to make an appearance at one of their first big events. (I lost all respect for Mario after learning that. We'll just call him Mario No-pez going forward) The story of how DeAnne got started morphed yet again to include a swap meet dress vendor, having parties to sell his dresses, then her daughter asking for a skirt to be made, and making these dresses herself... (contradictory to her sister's claims that DeAnne can't sew, and claims from various nieces that it was actually Dianne who made the skirts) giving birth to what DeAnne describes as a wholesale business opportunity. To this moment- DeAnne continues to describe the business "opportunity" in such simple terms. Is it possible that she STILL does not understand the complications of what this wholesale business morphed into- and the conflict that manifests when you're paying people to get other people to pay their way in, buy products, and essentially reward people up the chain for the purchases of the

people below them? Is it possible she really doesn't know that sending out materials telling people that they "can earn $1400/mo. for hosting one party a week" is an income representation and claim- and that in and of itself is neither simple, nor an innocuous statement? Yes. Yes, I think it's possible that she might just be that dumb. Both Mark and DeAnne have a history in multi-level marketing. Mark claims his parents were a part of AmWay in the 60's and DeAnne herself represents that she "tried to sell AmWay". That specific choice of words tickles me in sick ways- because she indicates that she wasn't successful with AmWay- or she would have chosen a different way to say she had been involved. Instead, "tried to sell". Maybe, just maybe DeAnne should know better having come from an unsuccessful romp with MLM herself. Because AmWay will also tell you that you get out of it what you put in. AmWay also encourages you to buy and use the products, and AmWay has been repeatedly dragged into litigation for allegations of being a pyramid scheme. It would appear to me that after watching this first episode, that Mark and DeAnne position themselves as ignorant to any of the allegations that have been made against them and their brand. "We didn't know" and "we're a young brand, we're going to make mistakes" were a very popular fall back for them when LuLaRoe was at its peak- and I'm not sure they're deviating much from that defense even now.

To say I had feelings during this episode is an understatement. I caught myself correcting the narration for errors and omissions throughout. I was happy to see Roberta Blevins front and center, and not surprised to see Courtney Harwood tag along for the ride. Having had multiple interactions with both women, I find Roberta's presence to be endearing- as she never took an obnoxious, vitriol laden position with me whenever we spoke. But Courtney Harwood made me chuckle. She was at the forefront of the parasitic mentorship in the company- and I'm steeling my nerves to prepare myself to hear her position herself as a victim in any of this. As for the other "successful" reps featured in this episode, I

have limited interaction with them, so I reserve statement. Of course- until we reach Kim Roylance. No doubt lies in my mind that she felt she was being featured in the LuLaCheering section of this docuseries. I think Kim, having come from being nearly bankrupt (if not actually bankrupt- memory fails me on the subject) after her own sterling silver charm hawking MLM went belly up- LuLaRoe literally saved her and her lifestyle. It doesn't surprise me to see Kim holding the flag high from the crow's nest on this sinking pirate ship of terrible designs.

Seems to me the proverbial LuLaBoat has just as many holes as the storytelling... and the infamous leggings. Perhaps well finally see a light shed on the "unsinkable" LuLaRoe for what it really is. More after I view the next episode...