LuLaRoe wasn't the first multi-level marketing company Roberta Blevins worked for. According to USC Story Space, Blevins was at one of the lowest points in her life after her father died, which made her an easy MLM target. After her loss, she signed up to sell for It Works, an MLM promising to make you skinny if you drink their special coffee. The wellness company also offers fitness wear, skincare, and energy supplements.
When It Works didn't work out, Blevins was introduced to LuLaRoe through a method described as "love bombing." This is a technique that occurs in MLM social media communities. Women are told that they were born to run a business, even with no business background, and how they are exceptional salespeople, even if they are not selling much. That praise draws you in.
"[They tell you anything] that you would want to hear when you're in the lowest part of your life," Blevins told USC Story Space. "Everything that you genuinely believe about yourself on a very deep level [and] ... hope that someone else sees it too."
Blevins admitted that love bombing has an endpoint. If you aren't successful, then you believe it must be your own fault. "I can't pay my bills this month, I'm a loser. It's not, hey thanks LuLaRoe, I can't pay my bills this month," she said. "You had two parties and you didn't make enough. Well, you should have had four parties then."
