First let me say, I’m thankful for Lularoe because without it, the past few weeks in my pregnancy, I would’ve had nothing comfortable to wear!  I wish nothing but the best to all the reps I’ve met and become friends with and there are some awesome ladies, doing amazing things with their businesses!  With that, I have to secondly say that I have I’m super confident about my decision and the direction that I’m taking now and I feel incredibly blessed by how the whole change has come about.  It’s undoubtedly a God thing and you all know, where He leads, I follow!

 

I want my fashionista sisters that were patiently awaiting my inventory arrival to know, I’m not leaving them hanging!  I am still going to be here to help you dress super cute, feel super awesome and confident and empower you to be the best you, you can be BUT with a different organization that after much research fits me, my personality and business sense much better.  You probably haven’t heard of it before, because I’d only heard of it once in passing from one of my good friends who’s a yoga teacher and swears by their leggings.  The name is AGNES & DORA and the company was started before Lularoe by the niece of the Lularoe founder. After I reviewed their clothes, business model, talked to their home office, visited with numerous consultants, bought the clothes myself, showed you all two of the dresses I purchased and let my heart do the talking, I decided that it was the best fit for me and I submitted my contract with them and here are all of my reasons.  Let me also share with you, I have a business degree so many of my decisions came from the business knowledge that I have.

 

• COST TO BEGIN.
  • With Agnes & Dora I was able to pick between three packages, $2,500, $3,500 or $5,000, so I could decide what fits my budget best to get my business going.  With LLR, when I submitted my paperwork I was looking at about $5,000 to start and that price DID NOT include leggings, their most popular piece, so I would’ve had to spend at least $6,000.  HOWEVER, as of last week LLR changed the packages and I would have been spending even more to get going, $5,500, $6,200 or upwards of $9,000!  I needed to make the best financial decision for our growing family!

 

 

• COMPANY SIZE.
  • If you’re looking to join a company, you want to look at the company size to see how saturated the market is with their reps.  I called A&D’s home office and learned that in the US and Canada there are currently around 700 reps! SEVEN HUNDRED! That’s nothing! LLR currently has 70k+ and thousands more waiting in the queue.  I was looking for a “ground floor” opportunity, 700 reps vs over 40k, A&D wins! Basically that means that I get to help bring this company to market!

 

 

• BUSINESS MODEL.
  • Currently A&D is NOT an MLM! I know many people are put off my MLM’s.  Personally I am not put off by them and those that choose to be network marketing professionals, not spammers, can do very well if they run their businesses with integrity! A&D is strictly direct sales right now. If you come to me interested in the business and I refer you, I only receive a credit towards my next inventory purchase BUT I will still help you with anything you need as you embark on your A&D adventure.  We have been told a compensation plan is in the works, so it’s possible in the next few months A&D could become and MLM.

 

 

• QUALITY/CUT/SOURCING.
  • Personally I have found the fabric to be superior to so many other brands, many pieces are modal fabric which is super soft, less likely to shrink and pilling is less likely and the stitching is super reinforced.  I was super pleased with the cuts of every piece I’ve tried on, they’ve all been super flattering. Oh and don’t let me forget, everything but the leggings are made in the USA and A&D is looking to create them in the USA as well!

 

 

• CUSTOMER PRICE.
  • On average prices are anywhere from $3-12 less expensive depending on what you’re purchasing.  For example, an A&D maxi skirt is $28, LLR is $42.

 

 

• INVENTORY CONTROL.
  • No mystery boxes with A&D.  With A&D I’m able to place orders for the exact print, color, pattern, size items I want so I can best serve my customers.  With LLR I could pick what styles (ex: Azure or Maxi skirt) but not the pattern or colors!  I like to know what I’m getting and I like to be able to stock what my customers want! Also with A&D each month I don’t have to have huge orders to stay an active consultant, granted I will be ordering because this is my business BUT should I have a month I need to back off, I only have to place a $100 order, vs a 33 piece order with LLR.

 

 

• INVOICING CONTROL.
  • With A&D I’m able to decide how my customers pay.  Paypal and Square are popular options that many people use vs a system implemented by the company. With LLR I would have to use “Audrey” which is their system and from my time in the queue it seemed like there were always issues with this system and it left many consultants frustrated with frustrated customers.

 

 

• FASHION FORWARD.
  • Personally I feel that the patterns, styles and prints are more adult.  They are still fun for sure, but they are pieces that you can integrate with the wardrobe you already have and if you’re a business professional you won’t have any trouble wearing these clothes to the office, or to church for that matter. You’ll see more florals, tribals, geometrics and paisley patterns along with stripes and solids. I couldn’t pull of wearing cake, pizza or cassette tape leggings, but plenty of people can!  The other awesome thing is the sizing! Leggings have actual sizes and I have found with the other pieces, they are true to size with other clothing that I wear, so there isn’t much need to size up and down.

 

 

• WHAT THE COMPANY STANDS FOR.
  • Created by Buffy Bandley, the name of the company, “Agnes & Dora” is taken from a book that Buffy’s grandmother wrote in the 1960’s to empower women. The book titled “The Secret Power of Femininity” by Maurine Startup, teaches how to recognize the two sides of a woman; the fun loving, playful side (DORA) VS. the best friend, confidant side (AGNES). The goal is to bring out both sides of these traits within ourselves and apply them to achieve a balanced, happy, and fulfilling life with lasting relationships. Agnes & Dora represents the yin & yang of a woman for complete balance. This business is all about ways to build and empower women to find balance and confidence in how they look, feel, work, and how they play!  
    PS: Every dress is named after influential, empowered women!  Heck yeah!

 

 

• ABILITY TO BRING SOMETHING NEW TO MY MARKET.
  • A&D is not in my area!!!  The closest A&D rep is 1.5 hours from where I live and currently there are less than 10 reps in my whole state!  I saw this as an opportunity to introduce a new, beautiful line to ladies in my community!

 
Honestly, at first the thought of switching made me nervous ONLY because I thought, “what if people don’t get it? What if they’re so committed to LLR that they don’t even want to check out what I’m doing?” But then I realized that me, as a consumer, would be TOTALLY open to awesome quality, amazing prints, patterns and styles for a lower price, and if I fell in love with A&D and their culture, my friends would be too!  I’ll still be doing LIVE online sales via FB live within my VIP group and on Periscope, as well as album sales online, online pop ups for people, in person pop ups and most likely I’ll have open shopping hours in my house! My inventory will be here around the same time my LLR inventory would have been here so I’m not even losing any time in being able to share awesome clothes with you all!

So come join the party over on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/agnesanddorabydorothybooth/

If you’d like more info on A&D feel free to email me at agnesanddorabydorothy@gmail.com and I’d be happy to chat with you!

xoxox,

Dorothy