I have become incredibly tired of reading comments stating "Californians move to other states and ruin everything". I am not the first person, and certainly not the last who hopes to dispel some of these myths about those awful Californians. As with any group, nobody is all the same. I think it is popular to hate us, but it seems rather silly to me.
Myth 1: Californians make real estate prices go up. Real estate prices are going up everywhere. Also, I have noticed that some large tech companies have moved to Seattle. That increases the amount of people who move to Seattle to work there. Yes some are from California but not all. Then the housing prices go up. So people move farther away and commute. Then the housing goes up there, and so on and so forth. I agree that housing prices are too high pretty much everywhere in the U.S. So blame the tech companies. Blame the government or the banks, but blaming the Californians is giving us way more power than we have. Don't make our heads swell up now.
Myth 2: Californians pay cash for their houses. Surprise! We didn't make huge money selling our last house In fact, we were underwater for years. We did make a down payment with the proceeds, but we have an oppressive mortgage just like the rest of you. My medical bills actually throw us in the hole every month.
Myth 3: Californians are rich. See the paragraph above.
Myth 4: Californians drive fancy cars. My husband drives a Jeep that is older than two of our kids. I drive a 2005 Scion with over 100,000 miles on it. They are paid off and that is how I like it. We drive our cars until the wheels fall off. We always have.
Myth 5: All Californians drive fast. I can't speak for all Californians. I remember getting stuck behind some pretty slow ones when I lived there. However, the area we have chosen in Washington does seem to be notorious for people who drive 10 miles an hour below the speed limit. I do LIKE to drive the speed limit, and sometimes a bit over in uncrowded highway conditions. I hate when a 20 minute drive takes me 30 minutes because somebody drives below the speed limit. I don't tailgate, but I am grumbling at you behind the wheel. So I guess I am a fast driver. But for the love of all that is holy, what is wrong with driving the speed limit, assuming weather conditions are safe? Or what is the matter with using turn-outs? I have used them when somebody wants to go faster than me. It takes about three seconds.
Myth 6: Californians want to change wherever they live into California. I would have stayed in California if I liked California. I moved to a rural area with less people. That is exactly how I like it. I don't need a closer grocery store, gas station, or bank. Keep it rural please.
Myth 7: Californians vote for laws that raise taxes. If there is anything I have learned, it is that voting for higher taxes never works. We pay plenty in taxes and it will always be mismanaged by our government. Next!
Myth 8: Californians move here and complain about the weather. Doesn't everyone complain about the weather no matter where they live? I complained in California because it was too hot. I complain here because spring takes too long to arrive. I still love it here. Winter is the price we pay for an amazing summer, but the winters do stretch on. So maybe we do complain about the weather, but so do the natives. I forgot to sign the "no complaining about the weather" clause when I moved here.
Myth 9: Californians are food snobs. I do like to eat. Does that make me a food snob? It is really expensive to eat out, prohibitively expensive actually. If I have to pay a hundred dollars for a family of four to have BREAKFAST, (I'm talking to you, Port Townsend) damn right I am going to complain if it tastes crappy. Seriously, how can they mess up breakfast? Yes, we were incredibly spoiled as far as eating out goes in California. However, Washington has a lot of gluten-free and vegan options. I think that is great. Washington is way ahead of California on that. I can't help it if I pine for wonderful ethnic cuisine. I LOVE all the (well prepared) foods.
I am sure there are a few more things about Californians I could choose to touch on. However, these are some of the most prevalent comments I have seen about people from California. If you choose to hate me, do it because there is something you don't like about me as a person. Don't choose to hate me because I come from a different region in the country I am a citizen of.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Painted Walls
I finished the walls. Hooray!
The paint is more blue than I thought it would be, but I really love it. It was purchased at Miller Paints in Bremerton, WA, and I "think" it is from the Joanna Gaines line. The customer service at Miller Paints was excellent, and they also have a recycled paint line that is extremely reasonable in price. Did I mention the AMAZING customer service? But hey, here is the paint color. Check it out!
Yes I dripped paint on the toilet. So, if there are spots on my toilet, it is paint. The wall above the toilet looks very empty at the moment. The eventual plan is to put some white shelves above the toilet. Goodwill and garage sales will be my haunt until I find just the right one. Shelves are crazy expensive, in my opinion.
We have recessed lights in our bathroom. I didn't like the way they looked against the paint, and I painted them. I don't recommend painting recessed lights. There is probably a fire danger, and it looks kind of odd. Home Depot has silver replacements for the rings, so I will be purchasing a few of those eventually. They are about seven dollars each.
The paint is more blue than I thought it would be, but I really love it. It was purchased at Miller Paints in Bremerton, WA, and I "think" it is from the Joanna Gaines line. The customer service at Miller Paints was excellent, and they also have a recycled paint line that is extremely reasonable in price. Did I mention the AMAZING customer service? But hey, here is the paint color. Check it out!
We have recessed lights in our bathroom. I didn't like the way they looked against the paint, and I painted them. I don't recommend painting recessed lights. There is probably a fire danger, and it looks kind of odd. Home Depot has silver replacements for the rings, so I will be purchasing a few of those eventually. They are about seven dollars each.
If I am painting, I guarantee there will be paint spilled. It will be on me, the walls, the floor, the surrounding area. I used to try to be neater, but I gave up. My daughter asks how I do it. It is a talent I possess. That's all. Due to this mad skill, some paint made its way to the ceiling. I will be painting the ceiling later because we are in need of a tall stool. I using an old chair as a stool, and it cracked. Fortunately, it didn't send me tumbling. The last time I purchased the kind of stool I need for this project, it was 25.00. That means it will be marked at least 75.00 by now. I hope not, but sticker shock is alive and real here in the good old U.S. of A. Here is a view of the ceiling and my over painting.
In addition to my imperfect ceiling, I also managed to get paint on the rug, my butt, my arm, my leg, my foot, and in my hair. Mad skills! Since the rug is getting ripped out, and I am washable, none of it was a big deal.
This is the view out the window with the drapes gone. I have NO clue why the former homeowner put in clear windows. "Hi neighbor! Would you like to watch me pee?" Home Depot has a window film I might try. Even when the curtains are hanging up, having a window like that in the bathroom feels creepy.
These are the towel cupboards that had the gold hardware. These porcelain ones are temporary. The cupboard needs painted, and I also want different knobs. I am thinking about hand painting some knobs. Unfortunately, I am not as talented as I would like to be.
This is Minwax Gel Stain in Coffee. This will be going on the vanity. I really wanted the General Finishes Gel in Java. However, it was 35.00 for a quart, and this is 16.00 for a quart. As much as I love General Finishes, I can't imagine it is worth two times as much. Both can be ordered at Amazon. We live in the country so Amazon Prime is a must for us.
That is it for now. Hopefully those bathroom cupboards will be stained soon. Then I can get to the business of pulling up that nasty carpet and painting, yes painting, the floor.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Indoor Work on a Snowy Day
Today is one of my not favorite kind of days. We have snow. I am happy to sit inside and peek at it outside. When I was a kid, I loved snow. Now, not so much.
We have lived here just over two years, and I have done a few projects but not nearly enough. Both kid's rooms are painted. My daughter's room came out great. My son was in a tearing hurry to get his room back, so it needs a lot of touch up. That said, the most important thing was to make the kids feel ownership of where we lived. The rooms were important to do first.
One thing I absolutely hate in this house is the flooring in the master bathroom. It is carpet! Yuck, gag, gross. I am not a carpet fan and especially not when it is in the bathroom. There is no telling what kind of things are lurking down there in the yarn loops. Let's try not to think about it.
So here are the pictures of the bathroom at the moment. There has to be a before. The after will take a while. I am trying to do it on a budget. My parents gave me money for Christmas, so I have already purchased many of the supplies. Some supplies are new and full price. Some are discounted. Some were from the thrift store. Some have yet to be purchased. I will watch for sales, garage sales and thrift shop bargains.
Here goes with the pictures of what my bathroom looks like today, and let's hope for updates as it goes along.
This is looking in the door. Note the carpet, boring brown cabinets, and brown floor boards.
This is the window. The 80's called. They want their valances back. The reason I have not taken down these lovely dust collectors is because the valance is on a rod that is screwed to the wall. This is a heavy duty, most likely expensive rod. That said, I personally hate valances, as I consider them dust collectors. More power to those of you who decorate with them and take them down to wash. In my opinion, they are another chore and not worth it for me.
We have lived here just over two years, and I have done a few projects but not nearly enough. Both kid's rooms are painted. My daughter's room came out great. My son was in a tearing hurry to get his room back, so it needs a lot of touch up. That said, the most important thing was to make the kids feel ownership of where we lived. The rooms were important to do first.
One thing I absolutely hate in this house is the flooring in the master bathroom. It is carpet! Yuck, gag, gross. I am not a carpet fan and especially not when it is in the bathroom. There is no telling what kind of things are lurking down there in the yarn loops. Let's try not to think about it.
So here are the pictures of the bathroom at the moment. There has to be a before. The after will take a while. I am trying to do it on a budget. My parents gave me money for Christmas, so I have already purchased many of the supplies. Some supplies are new and full price. Some are discounted. Some were from the thrift store. Some have yet to be purchased. I will watch for sales, garage sales and thrift shop bargains.
Here goes with the pictures of what my bathroom looks like today, and let's hope for updates as it goes along.
This is the window. The 80's called. They want their valances back. The reason I have not taken down these lovely dust collectors is because the valance is on a rod that is screwed to the wall. This is a heavy duty, most likely expensive rod. That said, I personally hate valances, as I consider them dust collectors. More power to those of you who decorate with them and take them down to wash. In my opinion, they are another chore and not worth it for me.
We have a double sink and a standard (boring) mirror above it. I believe the countertop is formica. I feel meh about the pattern. The sink is okay, but the faucet is quite outdated. That is where one gets into spending a lot of money so I will most likely take my time on having those changed out. My husband gets to do that, plus the price of faucets gives me sticker shock.
Here is the space over the toilet. Beside the toilet is a towel rod that fell off the wall. I doubt I will rehang it. It did me a favor removing itself. My husband had to order new innards for the toilet. It is a commercial toilet. Odd, but whatever. I would have to flush a dog down it to clog it, not that I would.
This exciting beast is our shower with doors. There is one thing I love about this shower. The tub is super deep. I didn't even realize until I took my first bath that we finally had a tub deep enough for adults. The tub is metal, but it is also one big insert, so it is white all the way up. There is no sense in hiring out tile work. It would be impossible to separate it out, as far as I know, and I am not giving up my tub. That said, even though doors are in style right now, I want a shower curtain. Have you ever not lifted your foot high enough to get in a tub with doors and smacked your toes into the track? It hurts! Plus shower curtains can be changed out when your style changes. Shout out for a rod and shower curtain.
These are the cupboards across from the toilet. They are handy for storage, but they look boring. I despise the gold handles. Even if I made them another color, the style doesn't do it for me.
I am glad I waited two years so I could get an idea of what I wanted. However, it is past time to update the bathroom. The first step today is painting the walls.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
My Lularoe Experience
It was May of 2016. My friend, K, invited me to a Facebook party selling Lularoe. I had never heard of it. I logged in to watch the party, and saw some beautiful clothes. Not only were the clothes beautiful, the ladies seemed to love them. By this point, my wardrobe had become mostly work out pants and t-shirts, partly because I ran a lot, and partly because I was tired of looking for clothes for larger women only to end up disappointed. K was selling Lola skirts. I snatched up three. I couldn't believe I had paid twice what I usually pay for clothes, but I loved them. I was hooked.
When I checked out, there was a google form asking if I was interested in learning more about Lularoe. I checked the "heck yes" box. Honestly, it only said "yes", but I was that interested.
I received an email from K telling me about the start up costs. Five thousand dollars or more. Yikes! She explained that I could get a zero percent interest credit card, and if I put all profit on it, I could pay off my initial investment in time. Before I made the step, I talked with my husband, and scoured the internet for anything bad about Lularoe. There was nothing. Since it seemed to be a ground floor company, I went for it. I wanted to be at the beginning of the wave of ladies selling these clothes.
Before I go any farther, I love K. She is a dear friend. If she had not signed me up, my life would not be enriched by all the ladies I met through Lularoe. For that alone, I love her. I already loved her, but I am thankful she shared the opportunity with me. At that time, it was an opportunity. I have met so many lovely people.
As a side note, my family and I had recently moved. Right before the move, I found out I had breast cancer. What was originally thought to be stage 2, ended up being stage 4 and metastasized. I wanted to help pay medical bills. I wanted to help get my daughter through college. This seemed like the kind of job that would work around my tired days, and I could feel like less of a drain on the family's finances.
K told me Lularoe was adding people slowly and it would take three months to get "onboarded". That was fine with me. My family was visiting that summer and I wanted to focus on them. I told my family and friends about Lularoe. Here was this company with amazing clothes. The clothes were, at the time, mostly made in America. The ones made overseas were supposedly in ethical factories. I assumed that is why the prices were so high. The company encouraged us to support each other. I loved the clothes and the message of sister hood.
My onboard call actually came way too early. It was around the beginning of July. I told them I wasn't ready yet and needed a month. Less than a month later, they called me and I signed up. even though I still would have been happy to wait a bit longer I enthusiastically ordered the 6000 package, excited about this new opportunity I was starting. .
The onboarding kit arrived on August 15th. I excitedly opened it and started photographing. Some of the inventory was really cute. A lot of it was okay. A lot of it was also pretty ugly. One of my biggest issues was that all of my XXS Julias were fourth of July Julias. This was August. XXS is hard to sell anyway. Yes, I do have the majority of these Julias over a year later. There was also a ton of duplicate prints, and not cute ones!
The photographing was hard. I needed better light. I did my best and launched. The launch was very successful, despite my horrible photography. I secretly gave out discounts because it was my friends ordering, and because the prices seemed so very high to me. It was so exciting to be making money for the first time in years.
After my friends purchased, it was time to also add more customers. Life went on in a blur. Photograph, upload, sell, package, try to find more VIP's (customers), try to answer questions. Sales were good.
October came. On a Tuesday call, Mark and Deanne announced Halloween leggings. There was no notice or any pre-orders. There were also no limits. It was the Hunger games with ordering online. We were all in a pit fighting for the same scraps. If I could even get leggings in my cart, the server crashed. Finally, I scored 70 pairs of leggings. Nobody on my team had succeeded. We split the leggings among the five of us so everybody could get a part of the Halloween sales.
Halloween leggings sold like hot cakes. Everybody wanted those. It was the best sale in my entire Lularoe journey. Sadly, the sales mojo would not last.
Remember how I said I wanted to get in on the ground floor? None of my friends had heard of Lularoe besides me. Around the time, I set up my selling page, a whole bunch of other Lularoe selling pages popped up. It was official. Pretty much everyone had heard about Lularoe. We were assured on Tuesday calls that Lularoe was not oversaturating the market. They cited the amount of Avon consultants as an example. I was nervous. Cosmetics get used up and then you need to buy more. Clothes? Not so much. However, I naively thought they were the professionals and knew what they were doing. I should have listened to my instincts and left then.
There was also a tall and curvy legging shortage. If the leggings showed up in Build (the platform where we ordered), they were gone in less than three minutes. No joke. The company continued adding consultants while not having enough inventory for the consultants they already had. We were not allowed to say anything negative. It was all about unicorns crapping rainbows. No questioning or criticism was allowed. Mark said to focus on selling what we did have, and that Lularoe was not originally known for their leggings. Maybe not, but that was what customers wanted.
Around this time, I was starting to feel the effects of one of my estrogen blocking medications called Femara. Not only was I upset when I tried to order leggings, I was crying. I was sad and angry and completely distraught. One day a consultant who knew I was looking told me they were up. I went in and tried to order and nothing. I told her I was actually crying and explained why. She felt sorry for me and ordered some leggings to come to me under my account. I don't know her name anymore, but her compassion floors me to this day.
While this was going on, I was also buying from other consultants. We were supposed to wear Lula all the time so I thought that meant it was tax deductible. I would scour the sales trying to score my "unicorn" prints. It was not tax deductible. Oops. That is bad business on my part.
November came and sales were pretty slow. In December, the elegant collection was announced. The majority of it didn't sell. I ended up wholesaling it to other consultants. I still have three pieces nobody wanted The Stidhams exhorted us to get out there and sell, sell, sell. This was the best time of year for sales! I paid to go to an in person sale and did okay, but it didn't offset the 70.00 it cost to join. I had a box of Carly dresses come in the day before that sale. One sold at that sale. It was the unique one. The rest were meh.
Sometime in November or December, I missed a weekly call. That was when Christmas leggings were announced. I heard about it when I got home. Of course there were none left, as the company does not give timely announcements or limit ordering.
December was also the last month to send any unsold inventory back to Lularoe. It had to be in its original bags, and sent at our cost. We would receive 85% of what we paid. Consultants would no longer be able to sell back inventory unless they were going out of business.
January came. I assumed people weren't buying because they were broke from Christmas. Sales became harder and harder. I would get up in the morning and start taking pictures, posting, make outfits and think strategy. My son told me all I ever did was take pictures of clothing. My family missed me. Nothing was getting done around the house. I was obsessed with figuring out how to sell. What was I doing wrong? I kept taking new photographs thinking it was my bad photography. I couldn't fall asleep at night because my head swam with worry.
I believe it was around this point the Stidhams did their weekly call from Mexico. My husband joked they were going there to find a place to hide all the money they were stealing. He was probably more truthful than he realized.
I can't remember when the holey leggings started showing up. Lots of VIP's were getting holey leggings. I was pretty lucky that most of my ladies did not, but lots of consultants were losing money on them. Mark Stidham called the upset about the leggings, "A tempest in a teapot." He acted like 25.00 was nothing. Maybe he wipes his butt with twenties, but the rest of us don't.
"Think like a retailer," we were constantly told. "Everything sells." A retailer is allowed to have sales. A retailer gets to sell in the market they choose. We were not allowed to have any kind of discount sales unless we asked our VIP's to pm for prices. Newsflash - Nobody wants to pm for prices. We were not allowed to sell at ebay or swap meets or Mercari. How is one a retailer if they are not allowed to discount what isn't selling?
On one call, Mark told us that our inventory was not stale. We were stale. Our VIP's were stale. Find new markets! I am not sure where these new markets were, as Lularoe was definitely oversaturated.
In January, Valentine's Day leggings were announced. The Stidhams had FINALLY listened to us and put caps on ordering. Unfortunately, the leggings were pretty much a flop. I have tons of them left. If anybody wants them, I will offer buy one get one free. They are great for putting under your ski pants I have been told!
I spent the beginning of 2017 making outfits and paying money to be in multi-sales. Getting a sale was like pulling teeth. Meanwhile, all the (non-stale) inventory I had ordered was mocking me with its inability to move.
In April, the Stidhams announced a 100% buy back for those leaving the company. They would even pay for shipping. A Lula friend and I had reserved a local community center for the second Saturday of every month of 2017 in hopes it would boost sales so I wasn't ready to throw in the towel. yet. Yes, I sound stupid at this point, but I had so many beautiful items and I was trying to find the market for them. Actually, I probably sounded stupid several paragraphs back for not seeing the writing on the wall.
My last order was sometime in May. I though if I ordered the Lola summer skirts, sales might be better. I sold ONE Lola. It was black. The rest of them looked like discards from Grandma's attic. Even though the Stidhams claimed they were not sending back returned inventory, it was obvious they were. I gave up, and spent the summer with friends and family. It felt good to be done, but I needed to resign and send back the inventory I had. I assumed I would partially pay my credit card with what I received back. Then I would have to find a way to pay off the rest. This is really hard when you are a 48 year old stay at home mom with cancer, but I ran up the debt. I will pay off the debt. I might be a crappy businesswoman, but I am an honest person.
On August 5th, I opened a ticket and resigned. This is exactly the way my team mates had resigned. I heard nothing. Three weeks later they told me I had to email the contract cancellations department. So then I did that and heard nothing. They changed their resignation process several times, I have been told. But at least I had resigned when it was 100% back. In the meantime, I was finding stuff around the house to sell on ebay so I could pay on the card.
Then, with their usual lack of advance notice, the Stidhams announced they were changing their policy back to us paying shipping for returns and receiving 90% of value. They were also not taking capsule items. That means the 4-5 Julia dresses they sent in my onboard package, that I did not order, they will not take back. I had also already traded clothing with a very good friend consultant as I was done. I was tired. I didn't want to take any more pictures and chase people who didn't want to spend money. My friend is still in and I want her to be successful. I have zero regrets about doing this. She is an amazing and lovely lady. The stuff I have left is not the most sought after prints Are there even sought after prints anymore? I also don't trust the Stidhams at this point to even pay me if I sent it back. Tons of ladies have sent their stuff back and are waiting on their checks. I am scared for these ladies. |This company is unethical and they lie.
Recently, one last lula-baby has joined the team I was on. She was sent old, really old, prints that do not sell. |This company who said, they would "bless" their warehouse workers or donate the send backs to charity, out and out lied. They sent my friend tons of stuff that will not sell. They sent hideous inventory in an oversaturated market.
They only care about getting YOUR money. They do not care about you. If anybody ever gives you the chance to join this company, run away! I am older and smarter and have learned my lesson. Too bad it was a 20,000 lesson. Too bad it will be even harder to sell this stuff with all the other panicked consultants. Too bad the Stidhams will probably walk off rich, and the small people will pay.
When I checked out, there was a google form asking if I was interested in learning more about Lularoe. I checked the "heck yes" box. Honestly, it only said "yes", but I was that interested.
I received an email from K telling me about the start up costs. Five thousand dollars or more. Yikes! She explained that I could get a zero percent interest credit card, and if I put all profit on it, I could pay off my initial investment in time. Before I made the step, I talked with my husband, and scoured the internet for anything bad about Lularoe. There was nothing. Since it seemed to be a ground floor company, I went for it. I wanted to be at the beginning of the wave of ladies selling these clothes.
Before I go any farther, I love K. She is a dear friend. If she had not signed me up, my life would not be enriched by all the ladies I met through Lularoe. For that alone, I love her. I already loved her, but I am thankful she shared the opportunity with me. At that time, it was an opportunity. I have met so many lovely people.
As a side note, my family and I had recently moved. Right before the move, I found out I had breast cancer. What was originally thought to be stage 2, ended up being stage 4 and metastasized. I wanted to help pay medical bills. I wanted to help get my daughter through college. This seemed like the kind of job that would work around my tired days, and I could feel like less of a drain on the family's finances.
K told me Lularoe was adding people slowly and it would take three months to get "onboarded". That was fine with me. My family was visiting that summer and I wanted to focus on them. I told my family and friends about Lularoe. Here was this company with amazing clothes. The clothes were, at the time, mostly made in America. The ones made overseas were supposedly in ethical factories. I assumed that is why the prices were so high. The company encouraged us to support each other. I loved the clothes and the message of sister hood.
My onboard call actually came way too early. It was around the beginning of July. I told them I wasn't ready yet and needed a month. Less than a month later, they called me and I signed up. even though I still would have been happy to wait a bit longer I enthusiastically ordered the 6000 package, excited about this new opportunity I was starting. .
The onboarding kit arrived on August 15th. I excitedly opened it and started photographing. Some of the inventory was really cute. A lot of it was okay. A lot of it was also pretty ugly. One of my biggest issues was that all of my XXS Julias were fourth of July Julias. This was August. XXS is hard to sell anyway. Yes, I do have the majority of these Julias over a year later. There was also a ton of duplicate prints, and not cute ones!
The photographing was hard. I needed better light. I did my best and launched. The launch was very successful, despite my horrible photography. I secretly gave out discounts because it was my friends ordering, and because the prices seemed so very high to me. It was so exciting to be making money for the first time in years.
After my friends purchased, it was time to also add more customers. Life went on in a blur. Photograph, upload, sell, package, try to find more VIP's (customers), try to answer questions. Sales were good.
October came. On a Tuesday call, Mark and Deanne announced Halloween leggings. There was no notice or any pre-orders. There were also no limits. It was the Hunger games with ordering online. We were all in a pit fighting for the same scraps. If I could even get leggings in my cart, the server crashed. Finally, I scored 70 pairs of leggings. Nobody on my team had succeeded. We split the leggings among the five of us so everybody could get a part of the Halloween sales.
Halloween leggings sold like hot cakes. Everybody wanted those. It was the best sale in my entire Lularoe journey. Sadly, the sales mojo would not last.
Remember how I said I wanted to get in on the ground floor? None of my friends had heard of Lularoe besides me. Around the time, I set up my selling page, a whole bunch of other Lularoe selling pages popped up. It was official. Pretty much everyone had heard about Lularoe. We were assured on Tuesday calls that Lularoe was not oversaturating the market. They cited the amount of Avon consultants as an example. I was nervous. Cosmetics get used up and then you need to buy more. Clothes? Not so much. However, I naively thought they were the professionals and knew what they were doing. I should have listened to my instincts and left then.
There was also a tall and curvy legging shortage. If the leggings showed up in Build (the platform where we ordered), they were gone in less than three minutes. No joke. The company continued adding consultants while not having enough inventory for the consultants they already had. We were not allowed to say anything negative. It was all about unicorns crapping rainbows. No questioning or criticism was allowed. Mark said to focus on selling what we did have, and that Lularoe was not originally known for their leggings. Maybe not, but that was what customers wanted.
Around this time, I was starting to feel the effects of one of my estrogen blocking medications called Femara. Not only was I upset when I tried to order leggings, I was crying. I was sad and angry and completely distraught. One day a consultant who knew I was looking told me they were up. I went in and tried to order and nothing. I told her I was actually crying and explained why. She felt sorry for me and ordered some leggings to come to me under my account. I don't know her name anymore, but her compassion floors me to this day.
While this was going on, I was also buying from other consultants. We were supposed to wear Lula all the time so I thought that meant it was tax deductible. I would scour the sales trying to score my "unicorn" prints. It was not tax deductible. Oops. That is bad business on my part.
November came and sales were pretty slow. In December, the elegant collection was announced. The majority of it didn't sell. I ended up wholesaling it to other consultants. I still have three pieces nobody wanted The Stidhams exhorted us to get out there and sell, sell, sell. This was the best time of year for sales! I paid to go to an in person sale and did okay, but it didn't offset the 70.00 it cost to join. I had a box of Carly dresses come in the day before that sale. One sold at that sale. It was the unique one. The rest were meh.
Sometime in November or December, I missed a weekly call. That was when Christmas leggings were announced. I heard about it when I got home. Of course there were none left, as the company does not give timely announcements or limit ordering.
December was also the last month to send any unsold inventory back to Lularoe. It had to be in its original bags, and sent at our cost. We would receive 85% of what we paid. Consultants would no longer be able to sell back inventory unless they were going out of business.
January came. I assumed people weren't buying because they were broke from Christmas. Sales became harder and harder. I would get up in the morning and start taking pictures, posting, make outfits and think strategy. My son told me all I ever did was take pictures of clothing. My family missed me. Nothing was getting done around the house. I was obsessed with figuring out how to sell. What was I doing wrong? I kept taking new photographs thinking it was my bad photography. I couldn't fall asleep at night because my head swam with worry.
I believe it was around this point the Stidhams did their weekly call from Mexico. My husband joked they were going there to find a place to hide all the money they were stealing. He was probably more truthful than he realized.
I can't remember when the holey leggings started showing up. Lots of VIP's were getting holey leggings. I was pretty lucky that most of my ladies did not, but lots of consultants were losing money on them. Mark Stidham called the upset about the leggings, "A tempest in a teapot." He acted like 25.00 was nothing. Maybe he wipes his butt with twenties, but the rest of us don't.
"Think like a retailer," we were constantly told. "Everything sells." A retailer is allowed to have sales. A retailer gets to sell in the market they choose. We were not allowed to have any kind of discount sales unless we asked our VIP's to pm for prices. Newsflash - Nobody wants to pm for prices. We were not allowed to sell at ebay or swap meets or Mercari. How is one a retailer if they are not allowed to discount what isn't selling?
On one call, Mark told us that our inventory was not stale. We were stale. Our VIP's were stale. Find new markets! I am not sure where these new markets were, as Lularoe was definitely oversaturated.
In January, Valentine's Day leggings were announced. The Stidhams had FINALLY listened to us and put caps on ordering. Unfortunately, the leggings were pretty much a flop. I have tons of them left. If anybody wants them, I will offer buy one get one free. They are great for putting under your ski pants I have been told!
I spent the beginning of 2017 making outfits and paying money to be in multi-sales. Getting a sale was like pulling teeth. Meanwhile, all the (non-stale) inventory I had ordered was mocking me with its inability to move.
In April, the Stidhams announced a 100% buy back for those leaving the company. They would even pay for shipping. A Lula friend and I had reserved a local community center for the second Saturday of every month of 2017 in hopes it would boost sales so I wasn't ready to throw in the towel. yet. Yes, I sound stupid at this point, but I had so many beautiful items and I was trying to find the market for them. Actually, I probably sounded stupid several paragraphs back for not seeing the writing on the wall.
My last order was sometime in May. I though if I ordered the Lola summer skirts, sales might be better. I sold ONE Lola. It was black. The rest of them looked like discards from Grandma's attic. Even though the Stidhams claimed they were not sending back returned inventory, it was obvious they were. I gave up, and spent the summer with friends and family. It felt good to be done, but I needed to resign and send back the inventory I had. I assumed I would partially pay my credit card with what I received back. Then I would have to find a way to pay off the rest. This is really hard when you are a 48 year old stay at home mom with cancer, but I ran up the debt. I will pay off the debt. I might be a crappy businesswoman, but I am an honest person.
On August 5th, I opened a ticket and resigned. This is exactly the way my team mates had resigned. I heard nothing. Three weeks later they told me I had to email the contract cancellations department. So then I did that and heard nothing. They changed their resignation process several times, I have been told. But at least I had resigned when it was 100% back. In the meantime, I was finding stuff around the house to sell on ebay so I could pay on the card.
Then, with their usual lack of advance notice, the Stidhams announced they were changing their policy back to us paying shipping for returns and receiving 90% of value. They were also not taking capsule items. That means the 4-5 Julia dresses they sent in my onboard package, that I did not order, they will not take back. I had also already traded clothing with a very good friend consultant as I was done. I was tired. I didn't want to take any more pictures and chase people who didn't want to spend money. My friend is still in and I want her to be successful. I have zero regrets about doing this. She is an amazing and lovely lady. The stuff I have left is not the most sought after prints Are there even sought after prints anymore? I also don't trust the Stidhams at this point to even pay me if I sent it back. Tons of ladies have sent their stuff back and are waiting on their checks. I am scared for these ladies. |This company is unethical and they lie.
Recently, one last lula-baby has joined the team I was on. She was sent old, really old, prints that do not sell. |This company who said, they would "bless" their warehouse workers or donate the send backs to charity, out and out lied. They sent my friend tons of stuff that will not sell. They sent hideous inventory in an oversaturated market.
They only care about getting YOUR money. They do not care about you. If anybody ever gives you the chance to join this company, run away! I am older and smarter and have learned my lesson. Too bad it was a 20,000 lesson. Too bad it will be even harder to sell this stuff with all the other panicked consultants. Too bad the Stidhams will probably walk off rich, and the small people will pay.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Updates
DeAnne: Good morning! Today is a fabulous day! I am excited about the great things happening with LuLaRoe. Many of you know there was excitement and thrill going on. There is just so many great things with this company. We are going to stay and we are strong. We want you to succeed the best way possible. You can count on us. We have this new launch that happened over the weekend, the new collection for Disney happened last weekend. We have been anticipating this for a good year or more. Mark can tell you more details if he feels it is necessary, but there are going to be so many amazing prints. I am wearing a classic T right now. We are the only company producing these prints from Patrick's team in things like Carly's and Irma's as well as leggings. You are going to see a lot of mickey and Minnie right now. We can't launch it all at the same time but amazing things are coming your way. They will start with the fabulous 5. But there is much more to come. This is a collaboration available for the next 2 years. So be a part of every conference call so you know when new things are being launched.
We have all kinds of other amazing styles you get daily in your shipments. Be ordering every week, or 2-3 times a week. This is your business and your opportunity to be creative on getting the word out. Get out and talk to people in your communities and do fund raisers and talk to teachers. Now is a good time to reach out to teachers and think about what you can do to offer them some gratitude leggings and give them a card that gets them to come to your LuLaRoe room and shop your merchandise, and they get leggings when they do. Remember during the summer months you should be preparing for events out there in your community. Things like expos and gun expos and different things that create an atmosphere of people gathering where they can get to know what you are offering.
I want Mark to tell you about the new launch for Americana. How did that go and what does it look like? We are Americans and are excited!
Mark: The exciting thing is that the Americana launch was the 2nd highest sales day we have had in LuLaRoe. Last month we terminated the use of credit cards, so that means you bought the product from your proceeds and that creates a solid business for you. We want you as small business owners to be more efficient and focused and thriving. As we have done that I have heard some concerns, but I have thought about something the last few days. There is a single answer to every problem you think you have in LuLaRoe. Give me a problem. "I don't have money to order the new product." The answer? Get out and sell the product you have. Book parties and do pop ups. "My inventory is stale." Go book parties and do pop ups and sell product and use that money to order fresh product. Any problem that you can come up with I am going to tell you the answer to that problem in LuLaRoe is solved by booking parties and having sales. Use the discipline in your sales and organization to keep money in your business and keep money on your LuLaRoe card so when it is time to order you have that resource and when we come out with a new collection you have cash in your business ready to order. When we have new Disney you will be ready to buy them.
If you are fearful now about having the money for the Disney to come - get out there today and sell product and leave that money in your business! Continue to turn that money over and freshen your inventory.
DeAnne: Use the new Americana inventory to encourage people to come and your business will grow. Use this as a time to reach out to hostesses and ask them if they want free clothes. Use the hostess to reach out to her database of friends and family to invite them to your home and let that be a fun opportunity to get together and collaborate ideas on how to style an outfit and use that to meet new people. It is more fun and positive for you to do that together and show each other things.
The other thing we want to encourage, not as a requirement, but use the opportunity with the Disney collaboration to not just sell a single piece. The biggest thing that would be hard for you, but an asset, would be to use Disney to put an outfit together. Most women I know, me especially, like it when someone gives me an idea or a suggestion or how to put things together. I was happy when someone at the home office suggested I put my classic T with a Nicole. So I encourage you not to sell the Disney items singly, but as an opportunity to upsell. Then you will have more opportunity to turn over your merchandise in a good way.
Mark: One of the things is that Disney is one of the largest and most iconic brands in the world and they are fierce in defending their brand. There are some terms and conditions on how we can sell theirs brand. You will be required to read them and follow them and this is from Disney protecting their brand. I want you to understand that selling the Disney collection is a privilege and not a right. You don't have an absolute right to do that. You have an opportunity and you will have to buy into those terms and conditions. So be aware of that and become an active participant in this collaboration and then you will have more success and the brand will have more success. We are asking you as retailers to educate yourselves. It will all be posted in the back office.
Some other information to bring to your attention: we have some assets that will be released today for a full picture, but for those of you using the old Audrey system, we will be sunsetting it by the end of this month. The last day of May will be the last day you can process through that system. There are several reasons for that. Primarily is that that database has never been a solid platform for us. We have held it together with tape and chewing gum and made it work, but it creates a lot of extra work for IT to keep it working. So it is shutting off the end of the month. So that means you need to switch to another point of sale system. Let me be clear. There are times we have to make choices and decisions about the stability of this company and the obligations we have. If I don't take care of the company as a whole, none of you can leverage what we have here. So there are decisions made to stabilize the whole company. We are obligated to pay sales tax. We as the corporate office are obligated to pay them. I thought that we would have 50 tax rates, we have 50 states. But there are over 20,000 independent sales tax jurisdictions in this country. You have cities, counties, school districts, fire districts, all kinds of things attached to that. It is incredibly complex and so now in the new Bless system there is a geolocator that identifies where the party is held and charges the correct sales tax at that location. And if you ship a product it calculates based on the shipping address. So any system you use will need that component. And it will also need to identify retail sales so we can track them because we are going to a retail based compensation plan.
The new Bless system meets those criteria. If another system were to meet those criteria we can be willing to allow them to be used, but let me be clear - our IT and legal department are the determiner if your system meets those requirements. It has to geolocate, report, and identify sales and report to our system. I am going to encourage you, rather than looking for that system, move yourself to the new Bless. The Possum system. If you don't know how to do that, there is a website "retailsuccess.com" and they have a menu there that has all kinds of assets to teach about the new system and getting set up.
Let me be clear - this is a preparatory announcement. We will have the month of June to work through these systems. Come July 1st, if you aren't using a system that meets those requirements, we won't sell you product. We have corporate obligations and we have to have that information gathered and accurate so we can meet our obligations. If you can't help us meet that, we aren't willing to help you be in business with us. I hope that is clear and simple enough for all of you that are fearful. The bless system will take care of the issues we are concerned about and it gets you paid instantly. There is not reason not to use the system. So I heavily encourage you to use it and to understand that if you aren't using it or something that meets the requirements, we won't sell you product.
The other thing as we talked about a sales based compensation, I want you to understand that there are 5 different ways to get paid in this business. We don't care which you choose. We don't care how successful you want to be or relaxed you want to be, or the work you want to do. We want you to work to the level you are comfortable with. The first way you get paid in this business is retail sales. 70% of this company only does retail sales. So 70% of the sales force isn't interested in building a team. They just sell product and make money. That is a wonderful business.
The 2nd way you get paid is through sponsorship. You bring people in and build a team. 3rd way is through leadership and points in the leadership pool. And we have 2 new ways. 2 fast start programs and I won't go into the details, but if you sponsor someone into the business and they sell 175 pieces a month for the first 3 months, you as their sponsor get a 500 dollar cash bonus and the new recruit will get a free 50 piece order. So 175 pieces sold for 3 months in a row the first 90 days gets that bonus.
The next one is that if you sponsor someone that cruise qualifies the first 6 months they are in business, they will get a $2000 cash bonus and you as their sponsor, if you are also cruise qualified, will get a $1000 cash bonus. So these are aimed to direct your behavior at getting them up and going. If you sell product you will succeed. If you are organizing inventory and sharpening pencils you will be busy but maybe not succeed. You need to be handing out product and taking money.
The last thing I want you to know is that when we suspended credit cards we still had the 2nd highest day of sales in the history of this business. That says something about the decisions that we make here at corporate, maybe unpopular at first, but we are committed to being wise stewards and having programs to incentivize behavior for you to have a strong business, and that rising tide lifts all ships. We can't succeed with you and we need you to be successful. So our decisions are about how to make you more successful. Some things that might feel uncomfortable, instead of being fearful, be excited and embrace them and make the assumption it will work. Take that attitude and your business will grow. We love you and back to Deanne.
DeAnne: First, I am so excited about the new bonus thing. I am listening to this because I missed some of this. I am so excited about it. It inspires you as the sponsor to get out and work with your people. It isn't fair to sign up someone and not spend time with them and help them with success. People leave because of expectations that weren't met or they feel they aren't getting the right support. It is important that we take responsibility to help our new retailers that join LuLaRoe to feel comfortable and the excitement you are feeling. I am talking to the leaders here. That you are making sure they are succeeding. I am excited you came up with that idea. Mark, you are amazing in wanting to make sure that is who gets rewarded. That is the right thing to do. Helping your people succeed.
Now over to Kenny and Art here in my office at the new office building. It is so nice here.
Kenny: Thank you so much mark and Deanne. If you can hear my voice and you weren't at leadership, you need to talk to your leaders and find out what they learned. They have a strengthened view and commitment to LuLaRoe. So talk to your leaders about these things and ask them to share their experiences with you. You will be in their seats soon. As you start selling the product and getting out and connecting people to product and other people, they gravitate to this business. So much about this business brings joys to peoples lives. It helps people achieve their dreams. We are thrilled and we are here and excited for the future with LuLaRoe and especially this collaboration with Disney. We have so much in store for you.
We are going to be on the road this week. The On Purpose tour. This Thursday in the morning we are in Provo, Utah. Then in the afternoon Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you have anyone in those areas make sure they register and get there. We want to sell out these events. Deanne and the home office will be there and ready to teach you ways to help your business succeed. Also, the end of June, on the 28th, we will be in San Diego and Los Angeles, California and on the 29th Las Vegas and Tucson, Arizona. These are places for you to get energy and to learn and to be rejuvenated and to be around like minded people for a whole day.
I know there are super Saturdays going on all around the US. See if there is something in your area. Look on the events app. Leaders are posting things there. Be a part of those things and participate. I do say a rising tide lifts all ships, but only if you are there and involved.
Art: If you are listening to this call and you are anxious to change your current pathway - you have leaders that have just left leadership training and they have new techniques ready. Reach out to them. They are assets to you and they have a desire for you to succeed. If you want a new set of results, connect to a retailer and a leader and they will help you succeed to help you change your life for what you want. What a wonderful time to be in this business. So much happening and wonderful product coming out.
Kenny: We want to turn the time back to Mark for a minute here.
Mark: I just wanted to add something. There is a piece to this process of moving to the new Bless system I may not have communicated clearly - I wanted to let you know the litigation with one of our former vendors that help up our movement to Bless has been settled amicably. Neither side admitted wrong doing, it was a misunderstanding and we negotiated a settlement there and we are going our separate ways. We are free to pursue fully our new BLess system. So incase there was any confusion, that litigation is settled and we are free to pursue Bless as we choose.
Justin: Hello everyone! Thank you everyone. What an amazing call so far today. I want to tell everyone what an amazing event leadership was. I wish every one of our retailers could have been there at Disney with us. What an amazing opportunities to work with this brand. I want to clarify a few things - some information is kind of getting scattered. So I have good news. We are creating a marketing toolkit for you for the Disney collection. We haven't released any products yet, and everyone will have the same opportunity to order. We have this toolkit that will have photos, phrases, assets, things you need to market the LuLaRoe Disney collection. We have amazing guidelines with the Disney company and we look forward to having some really fun times with this collection. This marketing toolkit, you will need to sign a terms and conditions and you can't create your own assets or phrases. It needs to be a collective and unified voice on this. This will all be coming your way shortly. Look for that. This will be available to you prior to the products releasing. We are getting it all prepared and ready. We will be sending out something with the information you need and the ways this will benefit you as a retailer. And look for more information about the movement to Bless. It is a cool tool and platform. Look for information on all those things from the marketing team through Build and Fashion Fun. We want you to have the information you need to stay informed. We have a fun social campaign that got all the retailers together and as Mark and Deanne mentioned, we launched the Americana capsule collection. You can wear it year round. My dad is a Vietnam vet, and I am grateful for all servicemen. So thank you everyone. We love this collection.
We are doing a photo shoot for this collection today and you will have it available to you. You will have information in your back office, more is coming. There are limited numbers of kits available, but it came in Carly, Irma, Randy, Scarlet, leggings, etc. I want to give a thank you to all of you for the magic you are making. If you are in the business to make a few hundred dollars or higher goals, this is an amazing opportunity for you to achieve what you are looking for. We are here for you and to provide you with the assets you need for success. If you are selling $1000-2000 a month, that is rad. You are all amazing parts of the LuLaRoe team. We are helping people grow and develop as individuals. The more we can be friendly and positive the better. Don't give people a reason to say anything bad about you. "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all" - Thumper, Bambi. So just keep making the magic happen!
Patrick: Alright thank you Justin. So excited to be here with you all. We had a great time at leadership this weekend. I am sure you all had photos and leaks about what we are cooking up. So happy this doesn't have to be a secret anymore. Over a year we have had to keep our mouths shut. So limited Disney prints and our Americana collection. Glad to be serving you with these styles and prints. There are some prints that we did very low volume to keep that limited edition look at feel.
A phrase I want to share with you is "the more you learn, the more you earn." My challenge is for you to be more knowledgeable about our mindset and why we do what we do. Such as limited edition prints. And not to see your business through the eyes of a consumer, but as a business owner and doing what is needed to be successful. You all looked awesome over the weekend with your styling. Justin and I are here at a special meeting for some upcoming goodness that you might see soon. We are going to get back to that and thank you for all you are doing. Back to Deanne.
DeAnne: Wow. So many exciting things happening. Just get ready. This is so good. As Mark said, if you are here to do a little bit, don't compare yourself and get down - you are in this business to do what you want to do. If you are here for an extra $1000 a month, then hooray for you! Embrace that and give yourself a pat on the back for doing it! It confuses me when people say they are thinking of changing and not doing it because they aren't succeeding like some other person. But you are succeeding! You got in here to bring in extra money and eliminate finance stress. And if that is what you are doing, then give yourself kudos and say "I am awesome!" If you later want to stretch, you can stretch. Maybe add an extra Facebook sale or Periscope if you want to, but be you, be genuine, be down to earth and embrace the good you are doing. THAT is what LuLaRoe is about. We created this business to give you an opportunity to find more friends, talk to people, and get to dressing yourself better and feeling better. The money is a perk. A huge blessing. And we will embrace the good we have and we are going to learn and earn. We love you and care about you and are excited about things to come. It will just get better. "If it is to be, it is up to Me." So get out there and challenge yourself. Maybe add one or two more items.
Use this Disney collaboration to instill an opportunity to get more things on the books especially if you are struggling. Post, tell people you have things you want to sell, and watch for how soon everything will be laid out to you with assets and advertising and things ready to be used. So get out there, have a great day, and make it happen. Spring is in the air. Get out there and hustle now and you can have a better, more relaxed summer. Start dreaming about building your business. Have a great day and thank you for doing what you do. It is appreciated. Talk to you later. Bye bye.
[End of webinar]
We have all kinds of other amazing styles you get daily in your shipments. Be ordering every week, or 2-3 times a week. This is your business and your opportunity to be creative on getting the word out. Get out and talk to people in your communities and do fund raisers and talk to teachers. Now is a good time to reach out to teachers and think about what you can do to offer them some gratitude leggings and give them a card that gets them to come to your LuLaRoe room and shop your merchandise, and they get leggings when they do. Remember during the summer months you should be preparing for events out there in your community. Things like expos and gun expos and different things that create an atmosphere of people gathering where they can get to know what you are offering.
I want Mark to tell you about the new launch for Americana. How did that go and what does it look like? We are Americans and are excited!
Mark: The exciting thing is that the Americana launch was the 2nd highest sales day we have had in LuLaRoe. Last month we terminated the use of credit cards, so that means you bought the product from your proceeds and that creates a solid business for you. We want you as small business owners to be more efficient and focused and thriving. As we have done that I have heard some concerns, but I have thought about something the last few days. There is a single answer to every problem you think you have in LuLaRoe. Give me a problem. "I don't have money to order the new product." The answer? Get out and sell the product you have. Book parties and do pop ups. "My inventory is stale." Go book parties and do pop ups and sell product and use that money to order fresh product. Any problem that you can come up with I am going to tell you the answer to that problem in LuLaRoe is solved by booking parties and having sales. Use the discipline in your sales and organization to keep money in your business and keep money on your LuLaRoe card so when it is time to order you have that resource and when we come out with a new collection you have cash in your business ready to order. When we have new Disney you will be ready to buy them.
If you are fearful now about having the money for the Disney to come - get out there today and sell product and leave that money in your business! Continue to turn that money over and freshen your inventory.
DeAnne: Use the new Americana inventory to encourage people to come and your business will grow. Use this as a time to reach out to hostesses and ask them if they want free clothes. Use the hostess to reach out to her database of friends and family to invite them to your home and let that be a fun opportunity to get together and collaborate ideas on how to style an outfit and use that to meet new people. It is more fun and positive for you to do that together and show each other things.
The other thing we want to encourage, not as a requirement, but use the opportunity with the Disney collaboration to not just sell a single piece. The biggest thing that would be hard for you, but an asset, would be to use Disney to put an outfit together. Most women I know, me especially, like it when someone gives me an idea or a suggestion or how to put things together. I was happy when someone at the home office suggested I put my classic T with a Nicole. So I encourage you not to sell the Disney items singly, but as an opportunity to upsell. Then you will have more opportunity to turn over your merchandise in a good way.
Mark: One of the things is that Disney is one of the largest and most iconic brands in the world and they are fierce in defending their brand. There are some terms and conditions on how we can sell theirs brand. You will be required to read them and follow them and this is from Disney protecting their brand. I want you to understand that selling the Disney collection is a privilege and not a right. You don't have an absolute right to do that. You have an opportunity and you will have to buy into those terms and conditions. So be aware of that and become an active participant in this collaboration and then you will have more success and the brand will have more success. We are asking you as retailers to educate yourselves. It will all be posted in the back office.
Some other information to bring to your attention: we have some assets that will be released today for a full picture, but for those of you using the old Audrey system, we will be sunsetting it by the end of this month. The last day of May will be the last day you can process through that system. There are several reasons for that. Primarily is that that database has never been a solid platform for us. We have held it together with tape and chewing gum and made it work, but it creates a lot of extra work for IT to keep it working. So it is shutting off the end of the month. So that means you need to switch to another point of sale system. Let me be clear. There are times we have to make choices and decisions about the stability of this company and the obligations we have. If I don't take care of the company as a whole, none of you can leverage what we have here. So there are decisions made to stabilize the whole company. We are obligated to pay sales tax. We as the corporate office are obligated to pay them. I thought that we would have 50 tax rates, we have 50 states. But there are over 20,000 independent sales tax jurisdictions in this country. You have cities, counties, school districts, fire districts, all kinds of things attached to that. It is incredibly complex and so now in the new Bless system there is a geolocator that identifies where the party is held and charges the correct sales tax at that location. And if you ship a product it calculates based on the shipping address. So any system you use will need that component. And it will also need to identify retail sales so we can track them because we are going to a retail based compensation plan.
The new Bless system meets those criteria. If another system were to meet those criteria we can be willing to allow them to be used, but let me be clear - our IT and legal department are the determiner if your system meets those requirements. It has to geolocate, report, and identify sales and report to our system. I am going to encourage you, rather than looking for that system, move yourself to the new Bless. The Possum system. If you don't know how to do that, there is a website "retailsuccess.com" and they have a menu there that has all kinds of assets to teach about the new system and getting set up.
Let me be clear - this is a preparatory announcement. We will have the month of June to work through these systems. Come July 1st, if you aren't using a system that meets those requirements, we won't sell you product. We have corporate obligations and we have to have that information gathered and accurate so we can meet our obligations. If you can't help us meet that, we aren't willing to help you be in business with us. I hope that is clear and simple enough for all of you that are fearful. The bless system will take care of the issues we are concerned about and it gets you paid instantly. There is not reason not to use the system. So I heavily encourage you to use it and to understand that if you aren't using it or something that meets the requirements, we won't sell you product.
The other thing as we talked about a sales based compensation, I want you to understand that there are 5 different ways to get paid in this business. We don't care which you choose. We don't care how successful you want to be or relaxed you want to be, or the work you want to do. We want you to work to the level you are comfortable with. The first way you get paid in this business is retail sales. 70% of this company only does retail sales. So 70% of the sales force isn't interested in building a team. They just sell product and make money. That is a wonderful business.
The 2nd way you get paid is through sponsorship. You bring people in and build a team. 3rd way is through leadership and points in the leadership pool. And we have 2 new ways. 2 fast start programs and I won't go into the details, but if you sponsor someone into the business and they sell 175 pieces a month for the first 3 months, you as their sponsor get a 500 dollar cash bonus and the new recruit will get a free 50 piece order. So 175 pieces sold for 3 months in a row the first 90 days gets that bonus.
The next one is that if you sponsor someone that cruise qualifies the first 6 months they are in business, they will get a $2000 cash bonus and you as their sponsor, if you are also cruise qualified, will get a $1000 cash bonus. So these are aimed to direct your behavior at getting them up and going. If you sell product you will succeed. If you are organizing inventory and sharpening pencils you will be busy but maybe not succeed. You need to be handing out product and taking money.
The last thing I want you to know is that when we suspended credit cards we still had the 2nd highest day of sales in the history of this business. That says something about the decisions that we make here at corporate, maybe unpopular at first, but we are committed to being wise stewards and having programs to incentivize behavior for you to have a strong business, and that rising tide lifts all ships. We can't succeed with you and we need you to be successful. So our decisions are about how to make you more successful. Some things that might feel uncomfortable, instead of being fearful, be excited and embrace them and make the assumption it will work. Take that attitude and your business will grow. We love you and back to Deanne.
DeAnne: First, I am so excited about the new bonus thing. I am listening to this because I missed some of this. I am so excited about it. It inspires you as the sponsor to get out and work with your people. It isn't fair to sign up someone and not spend time with them and help them with success. People leave because of expectations that weren't met or they feel they aren't getting the right support. It is important that we take responsibility to help our new retailers that join LuLaRoe to feel comfortable and the excitement you are feeling. I am talking to the leaders here. That you are making sure they are succeeding. I am excited you came up with that idea. Mark, you are amazing in wanting to make sure that is who gets rewarded. That is the right thing to do. Helping your people succeed.
Now over to Kenny and Art here in my office at the new office building. It is so nice here.
Kenny: Thank you so much mark and Deanne. If you can hear my voice and you weren't at leadership, you need to talk to your leaders and find out what they learned. They have a strengthened view and commitment to LuLaRoe. So talk to your leaders about these things and ask them to share their experiences with you. You will be in their seats soon. As you start selling the product and getting out and connecting people to product and other people, they gravitate to this business. So much about this business brings joys to peoples lives. It helps people achieve their dreams. We are thrilled and we are here and excited for the future with LuLaRoe and especially this collaboration with Disney. We have so much in store for you.
We are going to be on the road this week. The On Purpose tour. This Thursday in the morning we are in Provo, Utah. Then in the afternoon Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you have anyone in those areas make sure they register and get there. We want to sell out these events. Deanne and the home office will be there and ready to teach you ways to help your business succeed. Also, the end of June, on the 28th, we will be in San Diego and Los Angeles, California and on the 29th Las Vegas and Tucson, Arizona. These are places for you to get energy and to learn and to be rejuvenated and to be around like minded people for a whole day.
I know there are super Saturdays going on all around the US. See if there is something in your area. Look on the events app. Leaders are posting things there. Be a part of those things and participate. I do say a rising tide lifts all ships, but only if you are there and involved.
Art: If you are listening to this call and you are anxious to change your current pathway - you have leaders that have just left leadership training and they have new techniques ready. Reach out to them. They are assets to you and they have a desire for you to succeed. If you want a new set of results, connect to a retailer and a leader and they will help you succeed to help you change your life for what you want. What a wonderful time to be in this business. So much happening and wonderful product coming out.
Kenny: We want to turn the time back to Mark for a minute here.
Mark: I just wanted to add something. There is a piece to this process of moving to the new Bless system I may not have communicated clearly - I wanted to let you know the litigation with one of our former vendors that help up our movement to Bless has been settled amicably. Neither side admitted wrong doing, it was a misunderstanding and we negotiated a settlement there and we are going our separate ways. We are free to pursue fully our new BLess system. So incase there was any confusion, that litigation is settled and we are free to pursue Bless as we choose.
Justin: Hello everyone! Thank you everyone. What an amazing call so far today. I want to tell everyone what an amazing event leadership was. I wish every one of our retailers could have been there at Disney with us. What an amazing opportunities to work with this brand. I want to clarify a few things - some information is kind of getting scattered. So I have good news. We are creating a marketing toolkit for you for the Disney collection. We haven't released any products yet, and everyone will have the same opportunity to order. We have this toolkit that will have photos, phrases, assets, things you need to market the LuLaRoe Disney collection. We have amazing guidelines with the Disney company and we look forward to having some really fun times with this collection. This marketing toolkit, you will need to sign a terms and conditions and you can't create your own assets or phrases. It needs to be a collective and unified voice on this. This will all be coming your way shortly. Look for that. This will be available to you prior to the products releasing. We are getting it all prepared and ready. We will be sending out something with the information you need and the ways this will benefit you as a retailer. And look for more information about the movement to Bless. It is a cool tool and platform. Look for information on all those things from the marketing team through Build and Fashion Fun. We want you to have the information you need to stay informed. We have a fun social campaign that got all the retailers together and as Mark and Deanne mentioned, we launched the Americana capsule collection. You can wear it year round. My dad is a Vietnam vet, and I am grateful for all servicemen. So thank you everyone. We love this collection.
We are doing a photo shoot for this collection today and you will have it available to you. You will have information in your back office, more is coming. There are limited numbers of kits available, but it came in Carly, Irma, Randy, Scarlet, leggings, etc. I want to give a thank you to all of you for the magic you are making. If you are in the business to make a few hundred dollars or higher goals, this is an amazing opportunity for you to achieve what you are looking for. We are here for you and to provide you with the assets you need for success. If you are selling $1000-2000 a month, that is rad. You are all amazing parts of the LuLaRoe team. We are helping people grow and develop as individuals. The more we can be friendly and positive the better. Don't give people a reason to say anything bad about you. "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all" - Thumper, Bambi. So just keep making the magic happen!
Patrick: Alright thank you Justin. So excited to be here with you all. We had a great time at leadership this weekend. I am sure you all had photos and leaks about what we are cooking up. So happy this doesn't have to be a secret anymore. Over a year we have had to keep our mouths shut. So limited Disney prints and our Americana collection. Glad to be serving you with these styles and prints. There are some prints that we did very low volume to keep that limited edition look at feel.
A phrase I want to share with you is "the more you learn, the more you earn." My challenge is for you to be more knowledgeable about our mindset and why we do what we do. Such as limited edition prints. And not to see your business through the eyes of a consumer, but as a business owner and doing what is needed to be successful. You all looked awesome over the weekend with your styling. Justin and I are here at a special meeting for some upcoming goodness that you might see soon. We are going to get back to that and thank you for all you are doing. Back to Deanne.
DeAnne: Wow. So many exciting things happening. Just get ready. This is so good. As Mark said, if you are here to do a little bit, don't compare yourself and get down - you are in this business to do what you want to do. If you are here for an extra $1000 a month, then hooray for you! Embrace that and give yourself a pat on the back for doing it! It confuses me when people say they are thinking of changing and not doing it because they aren't succeeding like some other person. But you are succeeding! You got in here to bring in extra money and eliminate finance stress. And if that is what you are doing, then give yourself kudos and say "I am awesome!" If you later want to stretch, you can stretch. Maybe add an extra Facebook sale or Periscope if you want to, but be you, be genuine, be down to earth and embrace the good you are doing. THAT is what LuLaRoe is about. We created this business to give you an opportunity to find more friends, talk to people, and get to dressing yourself better and feeling better. The money is a perk. A huge blessing. And we will embrace the good we have and we are going to learn and earn. We love you and care about you and are excited about things to come. It will just get better. "If it is to be, it is up to Me." So get out there and challenge yourself. Maybe add one or two more items.
Use this Disney collaboration to instill an opportunity to get more things on the books especially if you are struggling. Post, tell people you have things you want to sell, and watch for how soon everything will be laid out to you with assets and advertising and things ready to be used. So get out there, have a great day, and make it happen. Spring is in the air. Get out there and hustle now and you can have a better, more relaxed summer. Start dreaming about building your business. Have a great day and thank you for doing what you do. It is appreciated. Talk to you later. Bye bye.
[End of webinar]
Monday, January 23, 2017
Thai Coconut Soup
I was enjoying the Sunday paper yesterday when I stumbled upon a recipe for Thai Coconut Soup. The beautiful thing about soup is that you can use a recipe as a guideline and add what you have around the house. I won't lie and say I haven't made some really awful soups in over twenty years of making dinners, but this one came out really well.
Don't mind the chip in the bowl. It is what is left of a set my Mom purchased me some twenty odd years ago. We all get a few chips and dings once we have been around the block a few times.
This recipe is originally from Parade and I have modified it to suit us. I had two bowls and am craving a third. It might be dinner tonight.
First I heated a tablespoon of coconut oil in my soup pot. Then I added a diced onion, a tablespoon of minced garlic, 1/4 tsp powdered ginger, and about a tablespoon of lemon grass paste. The lemon grass gives it that nice zing my husband likes.
I sauteed it for about five minutes while also slicing sweet bell peppers. My husband tested out our Veggetti for the first time and made a large zucchini into "zoodles."
I sauteed it for about five minutes while also slicing sweet bell peppers. My husband tested out our Veggetti for the first time and made a large zucchini into "zoodles."
Next, I added 6 cups of vegetable broth. We both love the Better than Bouillon brand of vegetable paste, so that is what I make my broth with. I also added 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of gluten-free soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of chile-garlic sauce, and a teaspoon of sugar. I threw in the peppers, brought it to a boil,, covered the pan, and simmered it for five minutes.
After the five minutes were up, I added 2 cans coconut milk, and the zucchini noodles. Then I let it come back to a boil and simmered it five more minutes. Then I added one tablespoon of lime juice.
It was time to taste it. I added some sea salt and proclaimed it good to go. It was delicious over a bowl of basmati rice.
That was it. Making it was actually pretty easy and we were lucky enough to have all the ingredients I needed in the house. Cilantro would have been great for the top, but it was great the way it was. The recipe needed to be written down because I need to stop lying to myself and think I will remember how I made something. Even if it seems to be in my brain, I think my poor brain resets when I sleep at night. Now my tummy is happy and it is time to do some housework.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Beautiful Clothes Looking for a Good Home
Sometimes I receive a piece of clothing that I think will be snatched up right away. Then it isn't. When it is my size, it often ends up in my closet. However, my closet is getting a bit full, plus I can't afford to keep everything I love. I would need something bigger than a closet to hold it all too!
Here are two items I can't believe haven't moved. The first one is this 3X Nicole dress. This is seriously cute and comfortable with some retro flair. I paired it with a red cardigan from my own closet, and some tall and curvy leggings.
Isn't this dress fun?. I especially love it with these leggings. Enjoy playing with those patterns!
Another clothing item I fell in love with was a patchwork style Irma. It is mocking me with its cuteness. "Add me to your closet. You know you want me!" it says. It is great and could match so many things. It is a size large, and the arms are a bit snug, but it still fit over my bingo wings. The Cassie I am wearing is also a large. It is not as stretchy as the typical Cassie, but I pulled it over my XL belly for this outfit. Isn't this shirt cute?
Also, that model is stunning, huh? Well she feels stunning when she wears LuLaRoe. That is for sure.
I am going to add these outfits to Pinterest and see if anybody out there wants to buy these beauties. I am willing to keep them until they sell, out of pure self interest, I confess. They want me to own them. Or maybe they want YOU to own them.
Here are two items I can't believe haven't moved. The first one is this 3X Nicole dress. This is seriously cute and comfortable with some retro flair. I paired it with a red cardigan from my own closet, and some tall and curvy leggings.
Isn't this dress fun?. I especially love it with these leggings. Enjoy playing with those patterns!
Another clothing item I fell in love with was a patchwork style Irma. It is mocking me with its cuteness. "Add me to your closet. You know you want me!" it says. It is great and could match so many things. It is a size large, and the arms are a bit snug, but it still fit over my bingo wings. The Cassie I am wearing is also a large. It is not as stretchy as the typical Cassie, but I pulled it over my XL belly for this outfit. Isn't this shirt cute?
Also, that model is stunning, huh? Well she feels stunning when she wears LuLaRoe. That is for sure.
I am going to add these outfits to Pinterest and see if anybody out there wants to buy these beauties. I am willing to keep them until they sell, out of pure self interest, I confess. They want me to own them. Or maybe they want YOU to own them.
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