Josie and Kelton: They Have Employable Skills

[GeeGolly]

I wonder how the house hunting is going?

They're getting ready for a trip to Arizona and Josie is going through everyone's clothes. They have an obscene amount of clothes. The clothes alone will need their own room, a la the Duggars.

[RebeccatheWriter]

4 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

They're getting ready for a trip to Arizona and Josie is going through everyone's clothes. They have an obscene amount of clothes. The clothes alone will need their own room, a la the Duggars.

That's actually understandable when it comes to the way Josie was raised. The Bates had a community closet set up and everyone wore whatever they grabbed that fit. Josie may still feel the effects of that and is clinging to whatever she owns because nobody can take it from her now. 

[GeeGolly]

52 minutes ago, RebeccatheWriter said:

That's actually understandable when it comes to the way Josie was raised. The Bates had a community closet set up and everyone wore whatever they grabbed that fit. Josie may still feel the effects of that and is clinging to whatever she owns because nobody can take it from her now. 

When they rebuilt the house the kids' rooms all had closets and by the time Josie was a teen 3 or 4 of her sisters were married in just a couple of years. 

I think it has more to do with getting endless freebies and needing a certain look for influencing.

[Heathen]

I'd say both. It would take a lot of therapy -- which Josie almost certainly has not had -- to recover from the kind of shitty, poverty-stricken childhood her cult-member parents inflicted on her. But she's simultaneously a self-centered, image-obsessed fundie influencer, and she needs all the trappings that go along with it. 

[RebeccatheWriter]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:25 AM, GeeGolly said:

When they rebuilt the house the kids' rooms all had closets and by the time Josie was a teen 3 or 4 of her sisters were married in just a couple of years. 

I think it has more to do with getting endless freebies and needing a certain look for influencing.

They still used the community closet concept (even if smaller closets) for quite a while with the girls and boys. You can see shirts and clothes being worn by different sisters and brothers. There were some episodes where they found their favorites among the clothes a sibling was packing. In the episode with the fire, the majority of all the kids clothing, including the teens, was on hangers and folded in the laundry room.

[GeeGolly]

I'm guessing the influencer handbook includes reels about travelling with kids, as this must be the eleventy millionth time Josie has made one, and Carlin is up there too.

[BitterApple]

I don't know what it is about Josie, but this Girl Boss kick she's been on lately is annoying the crap out of me. Today's reel featured Josie telling her audience about how she's so stressed because she's so busy with work and has so much on her plate. She has to answer emails...and do stuff! It all has to get done before they leave on vacation (not to be confused with the vacation they just got back from last week). Honey, you sell foam hair dildos off your website, you're not the CEO of Sephora. Get over yourself. 

[Salacious Kitty]

Not to mention, she stopped selling the jewelry line. So she has LESS on her plate.

She chose to have all the kids.

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Not to mention, she stopped selling the jewelry line. So she has LESS on her plate.

She chose to have all the kids.

Lol, exactly. I think it's standard Influencer shtick. They have to portray themselves as successful and in-demand. I'm sure Josie makes money off of it, but it's not as time consuming as she makes it out to be. She basically posts the same GRWM reels and shots of Sad Beige Miles over and over. She could probably do it in her sleep at this point. 

She did mention she has exciting new stuff coming to EB! I'm wondering what the scam product line is this time? The Temu jewelry apparently didn't sell that well. 

Edited May 9 by BitterApple

[Dimi1]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I don't know what it is about Josie, but this Girl Boss kick she's been on lately is annoying the crap out of me. Today's reel featured Josie telling her audience about how she's so stressed because she's so busy with work and has so much on her plate. She has to answer emails...and do stuff! It all has to get done before they leave on vacation (not to be confused with the vacation they just got back from last week). Honey, you sell foam hair dildos off your website, you're not the CEO of Sephora. Get over yourself. 

and she is an odd shade of orange...

[3 is enough]

Willow is going to be 5  in the summer and there has been no mention of preschool or home schooling. I do wonder if she will be attending a private Christian school in the fall.

I think Josie is trying to be more relatable to a larger audience, including working moms. Her business partner is married and childless, and she drinks alcohol.  It seems she has more exposure to non-fundie people on a day-to-day basis. 

That said, the GRWM reels are getting stale. And no one forced her to have 3 kids before she turned 25…

[BitterApple]

Josie briefly mentioned doing preschool a while back, but we haven't heard anything about it since. I can't tell if it's because she's like Carlin and lost interest or she's being deliberately evasive. She's clearly trying to broaden her reach, and a lot of people associate homeschool with right-wing Christians. I'm assuming she's gonna need a few Liberals to buy those hair noodles if she wants to spend half the month vacationing. 

[GeeGolly]

Josie, Michaela and the kids are on there way to Janie and Papa B's.

[cereality]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Josie, Michaela and the kids are on there way to Janie and Papa B's.

Michael goes all the time + is also Josie's kids' babysitter so it makes sense that they'd combine trips and go together. It is interesting how little interest Kelton has in her family - that he can't even go when he's hearing that Bill is unwell. I mean I get it, no one cares THAT much about their inlaws let alone their grandparents inlaw but sometimes you play along for your spouse's sake. But then unlike the other sons in law, I guess he can hide behind the fact that he can't constantly take off bc he has a business to run. Yet it doesn't stop him from taking beach vacations, trips to Italy, camping trips with his side of the family, fishing in Alaska with his side, ski trip yearly, Cali and Arizona trips already this year. Wouldn't think taking the Friday before Memorial Day off when you have an entire staff of people doing the work + now he has mgmt who manages a lot of that staff would be THAT big of a deal.

But then I don't get the sense that Josie is so super close to Bill/Jane. This is the first time we're seeing her going to the farm since last Thanksgiving. I mean I'm sure she's sad about how they're doing, but I imagine she'll treat the trip like Carlin and Law do -- plenty of pics of her kids and waxing poetic about how her kids get to enjoy the farm blah blah. But not like Erin who baked up a storm to take treats to Bill/Jane and then cooked up a storm while there; Michael who has stayed with Bill at the hospital and visited many times often cooking; Alyssa who has cleaned their house top to bottom, taken Bill to drs appts; or Trace who has been shown doing all kinds of yard work, repair work, and very patiently helping Bill walk, tying his shoes etc.

[Lisa418722]

I think Michaela is there to help Bill and Jane.  Josie is there because she needs different content for Instagram.  She probably felt obligated to go after the other siblings and Michaela offered to go with her since she knew Josie wouldn't do much work around the house.  

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, Lisa418722 said:

Josie is there because she needs different content for Instagram.

Does anyone else feel this is utterly sickening?

[cereality]

9 hours ago, Lisa418722 said:

I think Michaela is there to help Bill and Jane.  Josie is there because she needs different content for Instagram.  She probably felt obligated to go after the other siblings and Michaela offered to go with her since she knew Josie wouldn't do much work around the house.  

Called it. Josie’s been there since yesterday and it’s been all about HER kids. HER kids watering the flowers, visiting the cows, swinging on the porch swing. Bill and Jane are just there as background props. I mean Jane is at least interacting - hugging the kids or making flower bracelets with the older one but you can tell that the interaction is very much for Josie to show HER kids, it’s not about Jane. And poor Bill looks just like window dressing. And predictably now there’s the reel of - I took my kids to visit their great grandparents and aww they’re reliving my childhood. Same approach that Carlin took.

Meanwhile night 1 we saw Michael who’d just arrived cooking dinner - while watching Josie’s girls. Not sure why Carlin, Josie bother going if they don’t care to help. Though lol we know - CONTENT.

 

[Heathen]

Josie's as much a self-centered con POS as her sister Carlin -- the only difference is that Josie's husband actually works (and Josie did too at one point), so their nice lifestyle wasn't exclusively built on the backs and dignity of their children. 

[andromeda331]

6 hours ago, cereality said:

Called it. Josie’s been there since yesterday and it’s been all about HER kids. HER kids watering the flowers, visiting the cows, swinging on the porch swing. Bill and Jane are just there as background props. I mean Jane is at least interacting - hugging the kids or making flower bracelets with the older one but you can tell that the interaction is very much for Josie to show HER kids, it’s not about Jane. And poor Bill looks just like window dressing. And predictably now there’s the reel of - I took my kids to visit their great grandparents and aww they’re reliving my childhood. Same approach that Carlin took.

Meanwhile night 1 we saw Michael who’d just arrived cooking dinner - while watching Josie’s girls. Not sure why Carlin, Josie bother going if they don’t care to help. Though lol we know - CONTENT.

 

I feel bad for Bill and Jane, the only reason some of their grandchildren visit is for content and not to see them. They don't do anything to help with cooking or anything else. That's got to hurt. 

[GeeGolly]

5 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I feel bad for Bill and Jane, the only reason some of their grandchildren visit is for content and not to see them. They don't do anything to help with cooking or anything else. That's got to hurt. 

My hope is Janie (& Papa B) think the visits are legit. Janie certainly seems to enjoy the company.

[ozziemom]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

My hope is Janie (& Papa B) think the visits are legit. Janie certainly seems to enjoy the company.

Maybe Janie is happy for company and thinks Josie is just sharing photos for family. I’ve seen other people who post a lot using that explanation. Of course they could do that with private Instagram but Janie probably doesn’t know that. Michael is probably happy to drive to the farm with someone else instead of alone.

[GeeGolly]

4 hours ago, ozziemom said:

Maybe Janie is happy for company and thinks Josie is just sharing photos for family. I’ve seen other people who post a lot using that explanation. Of course they could do that with private Instagram but Janie probably doesn’t know that. Michael is probably happy to drive to the farm with someone else instead of alone.

Janie actually has an IG account and occasionally comments on her grandchildren's posts. She knows Josie and Carlin are influencers.

Not defending Josie (or Carlin) at all because they both will exploit anyone worth exploiting, but... they are there visiting and aren't constantly filming and I do think they have affection for their grandparents. 

[65mickey]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I feel bad for Bill and Jane, the only reason some of their grandchildren visit is for content and not to see them. They don't do anything to help with cooking or anything else. That's got to hurt. 

In all fairness we have no idea if Josie cooked or cleaned while she was there. We saw one picture of Michael cooking. I doubt seriously that Josie showed up and expected her grandmother to cook meals. We only see a small portion of what goes on when the grandchildren visit. 

Kelton also cooked  all of the turkeys for the last Thanksgiving meal at the farm. 

[Notabug]

On 5/24/2024 at 3:49 PM, AstridM said:

Does anyone else feel this is utterly sickening?

I think everyone else feels this is utterly sickening.

20 hours ago, cereality said:

Called it. Josie’s been there since yesterday and it’s been all about HER kids. HER kids watering the flowers, visiting the cows, swinging on the porch swing. Bill and Jane are just there as background props. I mean Jane is at least interacting - hugging the kids or making flower bracelets with the older one but you can tell that the interaction is very much for Josie to show HER kids, it’s not about Jane. And poor Bill looks just like window dressing. And predictably now there’s the reel of - I took my kids to visit their great grandparents and aww they’re reliving my childhood. Same approach that Carlin took.

Meanwhile night 1 we saw Michael who’d just arrived cooking dinner - while watching Josie’s girls. Not sure why Carlin, Josie bother going if they don’t care to help. Though lol we know - CONTENT.

 

I'd rather she used her kids for content rather than her elderly senile grandfather

[RebeccatheWriter]

Josie's posts about her grandparents have not set me off (yet). Josie and her siblings have not really had to deal with this part of aging and disease. They are going to each approach it somewhat differently and with varying degrees of comfort. It is hard in those moments to know what to do and/or or say. For Josie and Carlin (Alyssa, Trace, and Lawson too), it recording and currating content is what they do. It doesn't excuse it but it does explain it it a bit.

This is a place where Kelly and even Gil (I'm sure and know it is harder with it being your own parent) should have helped prepare their children more. They used to visit nursing home and the elderly to preach. Maybe they should have taken time to learn to respect and learn from these people rather than tried to save their souls and convert them into extreme thinking. 

[cereality]

Didn’t end up mattering as it looks like Josie arrived Thursday and left Friday/Sat morning bc yesterday she was posting about a pool day with friends and how precious to have friends who love your babies. So It wasn’t a spent the long weekend with my precious grandparents thing so much as a - everyone has gone, I’m starting to look bad - let me just go down there for 36 hrs, grab some pics, to prove I care just as much as my siblings. Mission accomplished.

FWIW yes Trace grabs content while he’s there but he actually does help around the house and he’s actually incredibly patient with Bill. It’s obviously personality dependent but not every 27 yr old guy would be that patient with grandpa putting his shoes on, holding his cane, helping him walk. It’s not something you can feign for the cameras. He does it differently that Carlin, Law, Josie and what I assume of Katie when she visits.

Edited May 26 by cereality

[BitterApple]

Lol, so Josie drove down there to do a 'making memories' photoshoot, then turned around and came right back home? Nice.

And, yes, it's always precious to have friends who have a pool, whoops, I mean friends who love your babies. 🙄🙄

I guess since Carlin's pool never materialized, the Bates are scrambling to find other options. 

Edited May 26 by BitterApple

[AstridM]

2 hours ago, cereality said:

Didn’t end up mattering as it looks like Josie arrived Thursday and left Friday/Sat morning bc yesterday she was posting about a pool day with friends and how precious to have friends who love your babies. So It wasn’t a spent the long weekend with my precious grandparents thing so much as a - everyone has gone, I’m starting to look bad - let me just go down there for 36 hrs, grab some pics, to prove I care just as much as my siblings. Mission accomplished.

FWIW yes Trace grabs content while he’s there but he actually does help around the house and he’s actually incredibly patient with Bill. It’s obviously personality dependent but not every 27 yr old guy would be that patient with grandpa putting his shoes on, holding his cane, helping him walk. It’s not something you can feign for the cameras. He does it differently that Carlin, Law, Josie and what I assume of Katie when she visits.

Maybe elder care is Trace’s true calling? Seriously, it’s a gift and he should look into it. 

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, AstridM said:

Maybe elder care is Trace’s true calling? Seriously, it’s a gift and he should look into it. 

Too girly. A manly manliest man such as Trace couldn't be expected to make a living taking care of older people. 

[3 is enough]

On the surface it does look like Josie breezed in, used the trip for content, and left.  No argument from me on that point.  And I really dislike the photos of Bill looking lost and confused. No reason to post those.
However, it’s also worth noting that as Bill’s condition deteriorates shorter visits  may be better for everyone. Small children and babies create chaos and it might be getting too much for him to handle.

Dementia is brutal. I went through it with my mother. She was the sweetest, kindest lady you could ever meet, but near the end she was swearing at her caregivers and trying to hit them. You just can’t predict how things will progress. You also can’t predict how family members will react.
 

[cereality]

11 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Maybe elder care is Trace’s true calling? Seriously, it’s a gift and he should look into it. 

Chalk it up to the many many ways G&K held their kids back by giving them zero education + raising them with strict fundie gender guidelines + setting them up in a life where the best money they can make is playing to a camera.

Far be it for me to sing Trace's praises as we know he's a racist douchebag with minimal social skills who thinks women are beneath him. Yet seeing him with Papa Bill was a refreshing surprise. He answered the same questions over and over again without the slightest hint of impatience - explaining multiple times that they live in Tenn; the drive to SC takes 3 hrs; how much traffic they expect on the drive home; re-introducing himself and his wife continuously etc. But we've seen other grandkids do that too. Beyond that it was seeing this 27 yr old getting on the floor putting grandpas shoes on and tying them. Holding Bill's cane every 3 min when Bill wanted to put it down. Walking with him at Bill's slow pace, encouraging him to take big steps, while making mundane conversation to keep Bill interested in exercising. It's the type of patience that you either are born with or not. It's the type of skills which make people good at hospital nursing esp for the elderly and often also careers like physical therapy - where sometimes you deal with older populations and you often do the same exercises over and over again with them while chatting about mundane things to keep them happy.

But he grew up fundie. Nursing or physical therapy - he would've had to study real science in high school, not with Kelly, and then go to nursing school. Physical therapy - that's 4 years at an actual accredited university not Crown + 3 yrs in a physical therapy program. Not to mention fundies see these things as womens work bc they are "caretaking." Men are supposed to be out there doing "construction" - even if that means doing 2 flooring jobs a month from sweet church friends while making the rest of their money filming their wife and kid.

While G&K did each of their kids a disservice in how they raised them, you see it a lot in Trace. Mr. Loved Hanging out with the Guys in College, Desperate to Play College Basketball - would have done well in public school. He would've been one of the average guys in any high school class, making Bs and Cs, but there to socialize with his friends and play a sport every season - and would've found is way to a nursing degree or some such thing, met and married someone at school that he maybe actually liked when he was ready to marry - not just rushed down the aisle bc his brothers were doing so.

[andromeda331]

On 5/26/2024 at 3:56 AM, RebeccatheWriter said:

Josie's posts about her grandparents have not set me off (yet). Josie and her siblings have not really had to deal with this part of aging and disease. They are going to each approach it somewhat differently and with varying degrees of comfort. It is hard in those moments to know what to do and/or or say. For Josie and Carlin (Alyssa, Trace, and Lawson too), it recording and currating content is what they do. It doesn't excuse it but it does explain it it a bit.

This is a place where Kelly and even Gil (I'm sure and know it is harder with it being your own parent) should have helped prepare their children more. They used to visit nursing home and the elderly to preach. Maybe they should have taken time to learn to respect and learn from these people rather than tried to save their souls and convert them into extreme thinking. 

Kelly and Gil would have to learn to respect others first before they could teach their children that.

[Heathen]

22 hours ago, cereality said:

Chalk it up to the many many ways G&K held their kids back by giving them zero education + raising them with strict fundie gender guidelines + setting them up in a life where the best money they can make is playing to a camera.

Far be it for me to sing Trace's praises as we know he's a racist douchebag with minimal social skills who thinks women are beneath him. Yet seeing him with Papa Bill was a refreshing surprise. He answered the same questions over and over again without the slightest hint of impatience - explaining multiple times that they live in Tenn; the drive to SC takes 3 hrs; how much traffic they expect on the drive home; re-introducing himself and his wife continuously etc. But we've seen other grandkids do that too. Beyond that it was seeing this 27 yr old getting on the floor putting grandpas shoes on and tying them. Holding Bill's cane every 3 min when Bill wanted to put it down. Walking with him at Bill's slow pace, encouraging him to take big steps, while making mundane conversation to keep Bill interested in exercising. It's the type of patience that you either are born with or not. It's the type of skills which make people good at hospital nursing esp for the elderly and often also careers like physical therapy - where sometimes you deal with older populations and you often do the same exercises over and over again with them while chatting about mundane things to keep them happy.

But he grew up fundie. Nursing or physical therapy - he would've had to study real science in high school, not with Kelly, and then go to nursing school. Physical therapy - that's 4 years at an actual accredited university not Crown + 3 yrs in a physical therapy program. Not to mention fundies see these things as womens work bc they are "caretaking." Men are supposed to be out there doing "construction" - even if that means doing 2 flooring jobs a month from sweet church friends while making the rest of their money filming their wife and kid.

While G&K did each of their kids a disservice in how they raised them, you see it a lot in Trace. Mr. Loved Hanging out with the Guys in College, Desperate to Play College Basketball - would have done well in public school. He would've been one of the average guys in any high school class, making Bs and Cs, but there to socialize with his friends and play a sport every season - and would've found is way to a nursing degree or some such thing, met and married someone at school that he maybe actually liked when he was ready to marry - not just rushed down the aisle bc his brothers were doing so.

Physical therapy requires a doctorate now -- it used to be a bachelor's degree plus master's. No way in hell would a Bates ever do that, even if they could, with Kelly's shitty "homeschooling." 

I think you're right about Trace's alternate reality as a non-fundie normal guy, although maybe generous when giving him B grades. 

[GeeGolly]

22 hours ago, Heathen said:

Physical therapy requires a doctorate now -- it used to be a bachelor's degree plus master's. No way in hell would a Bates ever do that, even if they could, with Kelly's shitty "homeschooling." 

I think you're right about Trace's alternate reality as a non-fundie normal guy, although maybe generous when giving him B grades. 

Not that a Bates could or would ever do it, the doctorate degree is in place of the master's, not in addition to.

[Heathen]

9 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Not that a Bates could or would ever do it, the doctorate degree is in place of the master's, not in addition to.

Which is what I said. 

[RebeccatheWriter]

He could become a physical therapist assistant. It's not a glamorous title, but he would work directly with patients and it takes about two years of education. The pay is very good for an associate's degree. In a college where I worked the 18 people in the program all graduated with job offers of $80,000 or more a year.

Not that he would do it, but the PTA programs are taught at community and technical colleges. They aren't easy to get into (competition is tough), but it is one of the highest paying and most hands on paths for students who want a career in healthcare.   

[BitterApple]

Lulz! Per Josie's Insta, she's going to be selling scalp massagers starting June 25th. I'm dying to see how much she's charging because I got the exact same one off Amazon for $7. 

[Salacious Kitty]

19 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Lulz! Per Josie's Insta, she's going to be selling scalp massagers starting June 25th. I'm dying to see how much she's charging because I got the exact same one off Amazon for $7. 

You made me look! And bought the Amazon one lol. At 6.99, a steal! 👍

[AstridM]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Lulz! Per Josie's Insta, she's going to be selling scalp massagers starting June 25th. I'm dying to see how much she's charging because I got the exact same one off Amazon for $7. 

I think I paid even less for mine. Anyone who pays her more than $10 is a fucking fool.

[GeeGolly]

How is this going to work? Now Josie will sit at her toddler sized vanity every day massaging her scalp before she wraps her hair in her silky snake?

[65mickey]

According to posts on Reddit Josie is no longer working with Effortless Beauty. She will be running The Effortless Shop selling hair products. Grace will be running Effortless Beauty. Josie is no longer listed as part of the Effortless Beauty team on the website. I guess there is money to be made in selling the same hair care  products that one can buy cheaper elsewhere. Who knew?

Edited June 22 by 65mickey

[BitterApple]

7 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

How is this going to work? Now Josie will sit at her toddler sized vanity every day massaging her scalp before she wraps her hair in her silky snake?

She's already done it as part of her hair care tutorials, lol. I'll concede that this sort of product is more on-brand for her than the jewelry was, I just don't understand why anyone would pay a premium (plus shipping) for something that can be found at any big box store/online retailer for much less money. 

Also, fun tip about the scalp massager, they're awesome for pets. I ordered one for my dog as well and he loves it.

[Kiss my mutt]

When I first read this, I thought SHE was selling massages from herself! 

[65mickey]

20 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I just don't understand why anyone would pay a premium (plus shipping) for something that can be found at any big box store/online retailer for much less money. 

She is playing to a captive audience of almost 1/2 million followers. My guess is that they are mostly young women in their 20's and early 30's. They watch Josie while she talks about her hair and makeup and demonstrates products and hawks clothes etc. and they think wow I want to look like that. So maybe her products are better than what is sold cheaper on other sites.  That's the only thing that I can figure. It will eventually play out when and if her followers mature and move on to other concerns and interests. 

[cereality]

I mean the internet is littered with cheap beauty products, so yeah Josie will be just another seller in that space. But this is what she and Kelton are choosing.

Writing has been on the wall since day 1 that there was no way Kelton was going to let Josie do the wedding hair biz forever. He "allowed" it when they first married bc he had goals of launching his own biz and while I'm sure it hurt his pride, he needed a second income coming in - just in case his biz didn't take off. Before she birthed Willow, sure she was gone on Saturdays at weddings but didn't matter to him. After she birthed Willow, he swallowed his pride and watched Willow on Saturdays bc they needed the income.

After kid #2 however you could see that he was unhappy about having to watch both kids. Josie would effusively thank him over and over for watching the kids so she could work a wedding. Her family certainly wasn't running to the rescue, but nor were his sisters/aunts/grandma. As time went by Josie started doing fewer and fewer weddings total and the ones she was doing would often be Thursday/Friday weddings - i.e. Lord Kelton didn't have to be bothered with his own children bc the "sitter" (Michael) could deal with them as she normally does on weekdays. 

I had said years ago that as she is less visible in that business, her role will get subsumed by others - whether her partner or employees. It's a networking type of business. You do the hair for the bride and her 7 bridesmaids, you learn that 2 of the bridesmaids are engaged with weddings planned in 6 months, and they're happy with your hair/makeup job - great slip them a business card, 2 more weddings booked. At those 2 weddings, you book 4 more etc. Josie has been out of this for like 3+ yrs now - since kid #2 was born. So of course her partner and employees are getting those gigs and the partner may be feeling like - it's HER work that is getting these new bookings, not Josie's so why should Josie share in the profit here.

Frankly I imagine Kelton just wants Josie to be a full time stay home mom - his biz can support the whole family now + there is a SON to raise. But Josie doesn't want to give up her #girlboss status + "working" allows her the excuse of "needing" a sitter - i.e. a few days a week, she can dump her kids on Michael and escape to her office suite. Pretty sure Kelton wouldn't be allowing all that on the regular if she was doing nothing - he'd be like why are we paying Michael and renting an office suite!? Though mark my words, the office suite is about to go whenever they get a bigger house -- Kelton will just put up a shed or section of the basement or whatever and make that for Josie's "business."

[AstridM]

9 hours ago, 65mickey said:

She is playing to a captive audience of almost 1/2 million followers. My guess is that they are mostly young women in their 20's and early 30's. They watch Josie while she talks about her hair and makeup and demonstrates products and hawks clothes etc. and they think wow I want to look like that. So maybe her products are better than what is sold cheaper on other sites.  That's the only thing that I can figure. It will eventually play out when and if her followers mature and move on to other concerns and interests. 

A captive audience? How many are hate followers?

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, AstridM said:

A captive audience? How many are hate followers?

Judging from Reddit, quite a few. 

[65mickey]

5 hours ago, AstridM said:

A captive audience? How many are hate followers?

Well there must be enough to bring in money. I doubt that she is doing this for kicks. 

[AstridM]

9 hours ago, 65mickey said:

Well there must be enough to bring in money. I doubt that she is doing this for kicks. 

I think she’s a narcissist who needs the attention and accolades.

[GeeGolly]

I believe not only does Josie make money from selling 'her own' products, but also by shilling other stuff and I think she benefits from freebies too.

I mean, she's not stupid by cutting out the middle man, although there is more of a risk if she over buys and is stuck with a bunch of product, a la BSB.

But... I do think her time is limited as far as benefitting by name recognition, however she already has a half million followers.

Also, I'm not sure if she's on TikTok, but it is very popular and starts a lot of trends and sells lots of products.

TL;DR - I think Josie is making money now, but I believe her time is running out and all the Bates sisters will soon be very old news.