Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears

[ginger90]

[SometimesBites]

Stumbled across an interesting short documentary on the LuLaRoe scam today. Anyone else seen it? 

[neh]

After watching the Luluroe video I think Meri must really be raking in the big bucks!

[BuddyMom2]

It makes sense why Kody keeps her in the fold. She’s the “cash cow” of the family. Clearly he has no other use for her.

Meri is obviously the one providing for Mariah’s “woke” lifestyle. But like the women in that video, it’s all going to come crashing down.

[ChristmasJones]

This podcast about MLMs did three episodes on Lularoe -  first two feature long interviews with women who were in it.  The name of the podcast is "Sounds like an MLM but OK" - you can listen to the episodes directly in the links below, or subscribe in a podcast app.

here are the episodes, in order.

http://soundslikemlm.libsyn.com/roberta-belvins-interview

http://soundslikemlm.libsyn.com/courtney-hardwood

http://soundslikemlm.libsyn.com/lularoes-bless-of-death-the-end-of-an-alleged-criminal-empire 

[tabloidlover]

On 5/25/2019 at 9:48 PM, SometimesBites said:

Stumbled across an interesting short documentary on the LuLaRoe scam today. Anyone else seen it? 

I just came here to post this same video!!   Saw it in a private fb group and as I watched it, it became crystal clear why Meri fell for it.   She must be at mentor level by now, right?   I don’t think she shares her money with the fambly, because if she did they wouldn’t still owe thousands in property taxes on land where the angels singk.

[LilWharveyGal]

53 minutes ago, tabloidlover said:

She must be at mentor level by now, right?   I don’t think she shares her money with the fambly, because if she did they wouldn’t still owe thousands in property taxes on land where the angels singk.

The video made me wonder just how much Meri is actually still making these days if things were already hitting the skids back in 2017.  I would imagine that many of her downline who don't have the benefit of z-list celeb status have had to call it quits, which means smaller bonuses.  

[MissT]

2 hours ago, tabloidlover said:

I just came here to post this same video!!   Saw it in a private fb group and as I watched it, it became crystal clear why Meri fell for it.   She must be at mentor level by now, right?   I don’t think she shares her money with the fambly, because if she did they wouldn’t still owe thousands in property taxes on land where the angels singk.

OMG -- I just watched this entire clip and it's just so sad for these women.  I have never bought a piece of LuLuRoe, but I can imagine how people get sucked into these pyramid schemes.  I believe they all had good intentions.

I can't imagine all that clothing sitting outside for days, how is that even legal they are reselling it.

Obviously, the stomach surgery was also a pyramid schemes.  They were getting kickbacks on everyone they took to Mexico for the surgery.

Edited May 28, 2019 by MissT

[deirdra]

11 minutes ago, MissT said:

Obviously, the stomach surgery was also a pyramid schemes.  They were getting kickbacks on everyone they took to Mexico for the surgery.

This part was especially sickening - shaming women into expensive invasive surgery, persuading them that if only they were thinner they could sell more rotting stinky product. 

[Kohola3]

10 minutes ago, deirdra said:

....shaming women into expensive invasive surgery, persuading them that if only they were thinner they could sell more rotting stinky product. 

The sad part is that there are so many women out there with low self esteem and no backbone that fall for it.  Just like the sheep wives, they feel like they need to be told what to do by someone in "authority" and are essentially bullied into doing things. 

I feel sorry for those unable to stand up for themselves and tell their "handlers" to go take a flying leap.  I fear that Aspyn will bend to the will of her Lord and Master Mitch and end up sharing him with sister wives because none of her weak-kneed mothers have ever had the backbone to say no to Kootie.

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

Is this why a lot of women with low self esteem work for MLM?  Do they not like working a 9-5 or being around other peers ? Is it greed ? I thought about doing a side gig with a company that sells wax warmers, but then I found out it was a MLM. I did not know much about them but I remember being sucked into buying herbalife from a co-worker in my early twenties and had to move heaven & hell to get them to quite auto billing me.  I did like the warmer product and scents they sold, but quickly realized they were selling the warmers and fragrance for about 1/3 the cost at Walmart 

[DakotaJustice]

3 hours ago, LilWharveyGal said:

The video made me wonder just how much Meri is actually still making these days if things were already hitting the skids back in 2017.  I would imagine that many of her downline who don't have the benefit of z-list celeb status have had to call it quits, which means smaller bonuses.  

When I was on FB and on her VIP page, I watched as she would hype one of her downline such as her sister or whomever - letting everyone know that so and so is doing a live sale right after hers and stay tuned.  Provided a link to the consultant's sale. 

I'd go there and see maybe 15 viewers and only one person commenting. I felt so bad I couldn't stay on for more than a couple minutes. 

She was probably making bank when she got kickbacks based on how much inventory her downline purchased, but once the rules changed to a sales-based commission model, I'm sure that went way way down and was probably the reason that Maddie blew up on her last year.

[BradandJanet]

Meri probably values the companionship the members provide as much as the money (if any) she makes. She doesn't seem to have much going on with the fambly.

MLM schemes work like cults. Almost all cults push members into constant recruiting. The organization makes money with new members coming in. Good recruiters work their way up the structure to an extent, rewarded by occasional contact with the divine leader and power (sometimes abusive) over newer members. Anyone who thinks of leaving gets a ton of pressure from the members, who now seem like best friends, not to desert them. I was touched by the woman on the video who thought she had close friends in LulaRoe until she left and the "friends" cut her off completely.   

Meri already belongs to the Cult of Planet Kody. Another oppressive hierarchy must seem normal. 

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

10 minutes ago, lma said:

Lol, I see what you did there. 😂

Ha - no I am a moron and it was a spelling error  

[DakotaJustice]

5 hours ago, Mahamid Frauded Me said:

Is this why a lot of women with low self esteem work for MLM?  Do they not like working a 9-5 or being around other peers ? Is it greed ? I thought about doing a side gig with a company that sells wax warmers, but then I found out it was a MLM. I did not know much about them but I remember being sucked into buying herbalife from a co-worker in my early twenties and had to move heaven & hell to get them to quite auto billing me.  I did like the warmer product and scents they sold, but quickly realized they were selling the warmers and fragrance for about 1/3 the cost at Walmart 

Same thing happened to me about 10 years ago when a colleague talked me into Isogenix. BTW, if subscription merchants continue to bill your card after you ask to cancel, you should dispute with your issuing bank.  The merchant is supposed to ask you for a different form of payment once you withdraw the right to bill the card on file.

[xwordfanatik]

That auto-billing thing really pisses me off.  Companies that use it also are hardly ever reachable by phone.  When one finally does get a person on the line, it's often someone whose turn to use a collective brain isn't for another week.  Maddening!

BTT, it also seems to me that the only "friends" Meri has are her downline and masochistic customers, who she often gets snippy with.  Her sister wives are only friendly on camera.  I suppose I'd be a bitch too, in that situation.  

"Cult of Planet Kody."  That describes it perfectly.  "Cult of LuLaHellNo" just adds to the misery that is Meri's world.

[DakotaJustice]

3 hours ago, xwordfanatik said:

That auto-billing thing really pisses me off.  Companies that use it also are hardly ever reachable by phone.  When one finally does get a person on the line, it's often someone whose turn to use a collective brain isn't for another week.  Maddening!

BTT, it also seems to me that the only "friends" Meri has are her downline and masochistic customers, who she often gets snippy with.  Her sister wives are only friendly on camera.  I suppose I'd be a bitch too, in that situation.  

"Cult of Planet Kody."  That describes it perfectly.  "Cult of LuLaHellNo" just adds to the misery that is Meri's world.

Yeah, if you think trying to cancel an autoship is tough, try finding the cancellation button at an online dating site - it's almost impossible.

[xwordfanatik]

I've been married for centuries, so I know nothing about how the dating sites work.  I sometimes get emails from a senior dating site, and I don't know why I ended up on their list.

I joined Fabletics a few years ago, to get some workout wear that looked nice.  I could not cancel online; had to call them, and the rep did everything she could to talk me into staying.  I just didn't like that auto billing stuff.  I'm shocked Meri's LLN doesn't work that way!  

[Joan of Argh]

On 5/28/2019 at 1:31 PM, Mahamid Frauded Me said:

 I did not know much about them but I remember being sucked into buying herbalife from a co-worker in my early twenties and had to move heaven & hell to get them to quite auto billing me.  

Omg I've been trying to remember that name, herbalife.

One of my sister-in-laws got sucked into that by a relative and spent thousands of dollars on all the various vitamins and dispensers etc, etc.

Everyone tried to avoid her because the deeper she got in the more she tried to push it on others... What a mess.

She also got into another MLM..... Artex fabric paint and all the paraphernalia, the home parties etc.

She's a sucker for pyramid schemes and always insists that it isn't a pyramid... It's a rectangle with a point on top or some other ridiculous explanation. 😂

[april sky]

I finally signed up here at the newly named site, and found the SW threads.  I am so intrigued by all the information on “LulaNo” (love that name) ... I had no idea of the scandal on this company! Very interesting podcasts above, as well as several articles.  Thanks so much to all who contributed ... I certainly learned way more than I imagined and it will be an interesting story to follow.  Does anyone know when Meri became a consultant? The income of some of the higher up consultants, coaches and mentors seems ridiculously high to me!!!! I know MLM jobs can be tempting, but once you realize if you’re not at the top of the chain, you’re probably not going to earn a lot, it’s not as tempting. The news on this “Lula” company really spells it out very clearly.  Hopefully the owners will have to pay up after taking advantage of so many vulnerable people. I’d love to know what Meri thinks now that more is being written by former consultants. 

[april sky]

I finally signed up here at the newly named site, and found the SW threads.  I am so intrigued by all the information on “LulaNo” (love that name) ... I had no idea of the scandal on this company! Very interesting podcasts above, as well as several articles.  Thanks so much to all who contributed ... I certainly learned way more than I imagined and it will be an interesting story to follow.  Does anyone know when Meri became a consultant? The income of some of the higher up consultants, coaches and mentors seems ridiculously high to me!!!! I know MLM jobs can be tempting, but once you realize if you’re not at the top of the chain, you’re probably not going to earn a lot, it’s not as tempting. The news on this “Lula” company really spells it out very clearly.  Hopefully the owners will have to pay up after taking advantage of so many vulnerable people. I’d love to know what Meri thinks now that more is being written by former consultants. 

ETA:  After learning the consultants are sent surprise (ugly) patterns or prints, rather than selecting their own choices, I now understand why so many of Meri’s outfits are so hideous!!! 

[ginger90]

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, april sky said:

 Hopefully the owners will have to pay up after taking advantage of so many vulnerable people.

Sadly, they probably won't.  The owners knew that this was going to come crashing down and have hidden their money in offshore accounts from what I understand.  So the sheeple that followed them are out of luck.

[laurakaye]

3 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Wait, do we think Meri painted these freehand?  Because if so, they're rilly good - but besides painting symbolic apology trees for her sister wives at the local Wine & Canvas, I don't think we've ever seen Meri paint anything except empty corn cans for Thanksgiving decor.

[kimaken]

10 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Wait, do we think Meri painted these freehand?  Because if so, they're rilly good - but besides painting symbolic apology trees for her sister wives at the local Wine & Canvas, I don't think we've ever seen Meri paint anything except empty corn cans for Thanksgiving decor.

Just because on the tv show we never saw Meri indulging in any sort of creative hobbies doesn't mean she didn't have them (ie, painting these portraits of the dogs)--it just means the producers and/or Kodie didn't want to show anything that didn't specifically promote the "sister wives as one big happy family" scenario.

[Kohola3]

15 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Wait, do we think Meri painted these freehand?  Because if so, they're rilly good...

I was thinking the same thing.  Since when does she do paintings of this quality?  Not to throw shade on her talent but you can get this kind of thing done online by sending in a photograph.

[TurtlePower]

On 5/28/2019 at 4:52 PM, lma said:

Agreed. These LulaNo people and customers appear to worship the ground Meri walks on. That would be easy for most people to get swept up in, especially an attention starved polygamist wife with little to no self esteem.

Meri always talks like she’s so bold and she faces her fears and looks challenges straight in the eye, blah blah. But I think she protests too much. Compared to the other 3 that may be true, but outside of that circle I think not.

This line get me every time and is such BS. 

Meri doesn't look shit straight in the eye--she puts up walls and barricades when she doesn't feel "safe" (her words). She cries, laments and shifts blame. She has shown to be passive aggressive and balks at fears which threaten her feeling safe (which may be why she's gone so much). 

If she faced her fears and looked challenges straight in the eye, she wouldn't be afraid to tell the fambly how unhappy she is--and has been--for a long time. I'd love to see that, it'd be good tv (but the Browns continue to disappoint as this totally boring season demonstrated). 

[SongbirdHollow]

The paint and sip places do paint your pet nights. It's easier than you think and everyone's turn out at least this good. I've done two myself.

[Meowwww]

You can also order a custom paint by number kit based on your own photograph. 

https://www.easy123art.com/blog/now-trending-pet-by-number

[Dmarie019]

4 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Wait, do we think Meri painted these freehand?  Because if so, they're rilly good - but besides painting symbolic apology trees for her sister wives at the local Wine & Canvas, I don't think we've ever seen Meri paint anything except empty corn cans for Thanksgiving decor.

Color me shocked as well.. if she is this good at painting then she needs to quit the LLR stuff and get into the pet portraits business!  I'm a fairly decent painter but I'm not this good!

[Roslyn]

5 hours ago, Dmarie019 said:

Color me shocked as well.. if she is this good at painting then she needs to quit the LLR stuff and get into the pet portraits business!  I'm a fairly decent painter but I'm not this good!

Just think of all the magickal moments Meri could paint for Robyn!! The "moment" the four of them meet and become one big family...on the same day, wed on the same day...you know from Day One.

Robyn at the birth of Logan...right there with a front row seat.  Robyn pushing Meri out of the way when little tiny Maddie needed extra nourishment...

Just SO many moments!! It could fill the walls of Robyn's Castle Mansion

[ginger90]

This answers my question about the axe throwing:

lularoemeribrown

Just a little axe throwing, because hey, why not?? This may have to be a new little hobby, I quite enjoyed it....
@batlground
💪💪
#LivingMyWhy
#BecauseICan
#LifeFulfilled
#LifeIsAnAdventure
#AxeThrowing
#StrongWoman

[neh]

Kody and Robyn had better watch their backs.....Meri has come out of the closet, as a real battleaxe!

[LilWharveyGal]

It'd be a real shame if that axe accidentally took off some of that straw hair. 😏

[Rabbit Hutch]

3 hours ago, ginger90 said:

This answers my question about the axe throwing:

lularoemeribrown

Just a little axe throwing, because hey, why not?? This may have to be a new little hobby, I quite enjoyed it....
@batlground
💪💪
#LivingMyWhy
#BecauseICan
#LifeFulfilled
#LifeIsAnAdventure
#AxeThrowing
#StrongWoman

Little scary, folks. Can you just imagine the hashtags that's really going through her mind...🤔

#thinkingofKootieshair,  #thisonesforyouRobyn, #missmywetbar

[Sofa Sloth]

I’m going to be gracious here and admit her paintings are nice.

Buuuut she’s not that creative, if she has to steal Instagram material off Mariah. It’s literally the same photo she posted, I can just imagine Mariah now, arms crossed with her sullen face ‘Mum! as if you couldn’t have just taken the photo from at least another angle. This was MY special (hip & woke) activity and I spent ages perfecting that pose for Instagram so my tatt looks all cool and you’ve just gone and copied me and made it lame. I don’t forgive you! you broke my trust!’ 

[DakotaJustice]

I saw some sort of axe throwing competition on ESPN a couple months ago.

Maybe it's a regional thing? 

[Galloway Cave]

Is Mariah wearing a mic pack in her lower back? I guess they really ARE filming another season. Also explains why Mariah and Meri are throwing axes together (storyline time!)

[Misslindsey]

Axe throwing seems to be a trend, along the lines of the places that allow people to destroy random junk. I have seen them popping up all over. I believe some of the Real Housewives franchises have done it. Now that is a crossover I would love to see. 

[FreemefromTV]

1 hour ago, Galloway Cave said:

Is Mariah wearing a mic pack in her lower back? I guess they really ARE filming another season. Also explains why Mariah and Meri are throwing axes together (storyline time!)

Mariah posted something on Instagram about loving the cameraman and it was deleted almost immediately. Someone is filming them in Chicago for something.

[Rabbit Hutch]

10 hours ago, FreemefromTV said:

Mariah posted something on Instagram about loving the cameraman and it was deleted almost immediately. Someone is filming them in Chicago for something.

Must be for the bachelorette party! 😉

[TurtlePower]

13 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Is Mariah wearing a mic pack in her lower back? I guess they really ARE filming another season. Also explains why Mariah and Meri are throwing axes together (storyline time!)

If they are, my hope is that they don't wait until January to air it. 

[Galloway Cave]

2 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

If they are, my hope is that they don't wait until January to air it. 

January 2020 or 2021?? 😉

[ginger90]

[Sofa Sloth]

1 minute ago, ginger90 said:

Ugh there is not much redeeming about this photo as marketing or in general. Bad childish print on smock looking top with ugly unflattering neckline, goofy looking brown-tooth fake grin, too much black ageing eyeliner and clumpy mascara, uneven weird eyebrows, scraggly flat-on-top scarecrow hair and her head looks unnaturally turned on her neck like Reagan from the exorcist.

If I saw her at Disneyland I’d probably run the other way, definitely not approach. 

(Sorry I haven’t eaten today or slept last night and my snark is mean and unapologetic 😆)

[DakotaJustice]

1 hour ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Ugh there is not much redeeming about this photo as marketing or in general. Bad childish print on smock looking top with ugly unflattering neckline, goofy looking brown-tooth fake grin, too much black ageing eyeliner and clumpy mascara, uneven weird eyebrows, scraggly flat-on-top scarecrow hair and her head looks unnaturally turned on her neck like Reagan from the exorcist.

If I saw her at Disneyland I’d probably run the other way, definitely not approach. 

(Sorry I haven’t eaten today or slept last night and my snark is mean and unapologetic 😆)

I read on Reddit that LLR isn't doing Disney anymore. Hasn't since the lawsuit.

[Kohola3]

56 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

I read on Reddit that LLR isn't doing Disney anymore. Hasn't since the lawsuit.

I'm frankly surprised they ever got involved in the first place.  They are usually so picky.

[LilWharveyGal]

I have to admit my guilty secret - I'm always jealous of Meri's trips to Disneyland.  Of course she's there for the Galaxy's Edge opening, and of course she's spending a day shopping in the spendiest place on earth.  Meanwhile I haven't been able to take a trip there in years and it almost makes the LLR plyg life look worth it.  (Kiddingk!)

[ginger90]

Local to me on a Facebook yard sale page. A yard sale this weekend:

LuLaRoe Consultant Liquidation: Everything $5 or less!
 

[Nysha]

All that inventory! How do you make any money when you're pressured to order so much merchandise?

Edited June 2, 2019 by Nysha