Whoa - you girls should read this. This is from Alli, on Souix's board. Is she serious or it is really like this with this group?
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I had really hoped that I would not have to be posting this thread, but unfortunately the events over the last few months, especially since the 2008 Arnold have led up until this point and this thread is my official announcement that I will be the third girl to publicly sever ties with FigureRX.com. I follow Lindsey Cope and Erin Riley in my decision and I feel firmly it is a well founded choice that I am making for the good of not only my competitve career but at this point, my sanity as well.
I am no longer affliated in ANY way, nor do I wish to be associated with, FigureRX.com or Stephen Bierer. I will no longer be posting on their site, promoting their site or their endeavors, or speaking positively about an organization I feel anything BUT positive about. I have notified Stephen of my split from the team and he is aware. I will give him time to remove my name, photos, and any mention of my association with them from the site before consulting a lawyer if need be.
My decision to split from FigureRX has been a long time coming and is probably a choice I should have made months ago. While I am grateful for what FigureRX has done for me over the last year or so, I am in no way proud of the unprofessional behavior or lack of communication, and false financial promises that have seemed to become the foundation of FigureRX. I know I have the support of Erin in writing this, Sioux has already been notified of the situation so as to spring nothing on him, and I have several other friends in the industry, photographers, site owners, etc who have all been notified of this situation as it's progressed- and they can attest to the truthfulness in this posting.
I am furious right now- for more reasons then one, and am trying to remain as professional as possible about severing ties, however I do want to make certain things known publicly because I do NOT want other girls, or future competitors to get duped into a situation similar to the one Erin, Lindsey, and I fell into. I do not want any other competitor going through what I've went through, or having to adjust their competition schedule, not because of their own failings, but because of the failings of a false sponsor.
I am pulling out of the USAS. Unfortunately, due to the situation with FigureRX I will be unable to afford to compete. This not only has me stressed but angry and upset as well. As competitors, the time before a show is the most stressful, and let's face it, none of us operate rationally on tilapia and green beans, and this show has been months of preparation and training for me. My choice to pull out of the show unfortunately is not my own, and although I am trying to be as diplomatic as possible, I am not going to politely declare I'm seperating from FigureRX for personal reasons. They aren't personal reasons. And FigureRX is a site that makes claims and promises to not only its "sponsored athlete" but to all fitness and figure competitors and it's my concern for other competitors and athletes that is pushing me to publicly share some of (trust me NOT ALL) of what has been going on with FigureRX. As an athlete, I applaud all women who compete- who diet and train and bring themselves to the stage. I do not want to see or hear about other women unable to compete because of false promises or depending on someone/or something that did not come through for them.
I have been with FigureRX since 2007. I was contacted some time after the 2007 Arnold, where I worked for Muscular Development at their booth and gained some excellent exposure. The proposal sparked my interest- here was a site that was going to be specifically geared towards figure and fitness and supporting the athletes who competed in those areas. The site launch was something I was thrilled about, and, along with Beth Horn, Jamie Reed, and Ali Huston, I was excited to be among the first athletes chosen. And everything started off well. Stephen Bierer was in touch frequently. We discussed competition plans, he was organized and together and seemed to have clearcut ideas about what he wanted the site to achieve and where he wanted it to go. However, after my 2007 November overall figure win at the NPC Mountain Valley, things started to deteriorate for me. It wasn't unexpected- at the 2007 Jr Nationals, where I roomed with my friend Jamie Reed, we both realized that there were already cracks and flaws in the FigureRX front, which, out of respect for Stephen and Dani I will keep to myself. These "cracks" appeared to surface even more after November of 2007 but I was unaware as to just how much until the months surrounded the 2008 Arnold.
FigureRX had publicly declared they wanted to have a booth at the 2008 and that, if possible, they wanted all the girls to attend to help work to gather Arnold footage, stats, and interviews for site material. He stated this clearly, along with his 2008 sponroship plans, in the Team Handbook he sent out to each and every girl sometime in January. The handbook outlined site goals and plan as well as his plans in terms of athlete sponsorship. He had large goals for the Arnold booth and wanted to know asap which girls could attend. I emailed him to tell him I could. Since I live in PA and can easily drive to Ohio I told him I'd take care of my travel costs (since the other girls needed flights to the Arnold) if he wouldn't mind redistributing those funds to the hotel fees. He agreed. Then I hear nothing. Not a word. Not a peep. Nor did Jamie- hell she didn't even attend the Arnold, she sent me text after text asking what was going on and if I was going and that she hadn't heard from Stephen in ages. It wasn't until I go to the Arnold and met Erin and Lindsey for the first time that I realized I was not the only girl left in the dark- I was just one of many athletes he was lacking in communication with.
In short, I texted him when I got to the Arnold on Thursday. No response. Told him when I checked into the hotel. No response. I had to use my fiance's card to hold the hotel room- I text messaged him to tell him so and to make sure he would still compensate the room by the end of the weekend. I asked what was going on with the booth. No response.
Next morning Josh and I, along with Erin and her boyfriend Jeff met for breakfast where we all had NO clue what was going on. No one had heard anything. We were here to work a booth but had gotten no response from Stephen. Ali Huston said she had heard nothing either and had agreed to work for Eightball Nutrition instead. Erin and Jeff left to go check out some of the Arnold, and Josh and I agreed to work for Iron Asylum, since my friend Jer needed the help. STILL nothing from Stephen.
By chance I ran into Stephen walking around the Arnold. He was with Dani. He told me he wanted to have a team meeting at 7 am the next morning and could we be there. I agreed, although when I texted Erin and Ali later we were all skeptical. But I woke up super early on Saturday and lugged myself down there where I waited with Josh, Ali and Paul, and Erin and Jeff. No show. Ali called Stephen once and we phoned his room but no response. Ali and Paul left to go get breakfast, Erin and Jeff and Josh and I waited till nearly 8:00 a.m before leaving to do the same. He'd stood us up at the meeting HE schedueld and then to make matters worse around 10:00 am he sent out a text message asking why no one bothered to wake him?
? I was unaware it was my job to wake a grown man and remind him of an appointment HE made. If it was too early he should've not set it for that time, or called us all to reschedule.
The Arnold drama continued, with a mess of a photo shoot arrangement, botched promises, and finally, Josh and I get the bill for our hotel room under our door on Sunday, the day we're leaving saying Josh's card will be charged the balance of the room. I put my foot down. This was my fiance's card, NOT mine and I refused to bolster the bill for something that was promised. I had a photo shoot, then Josh and I were going to check out the expo and then drive home to PA so we were leaving fairly early in the a.m. I texted Stephen, called his cell, AND his room because I was not leaving until the bill was taken care of. Although he did take care of it, this was after several rude and unprofessional text messages calling me "selfish and demanding", even though we had agreed upon this PRIOR to the Arnold (and I have all saved correspondence).
After the Arnold- Lindsey and Erin and I were all skeptical. Erin and I talk frequently and we both decided to give FigureRX another shot, although several industry friends and higher ups had already recommended we sever ties with Stephen and FigureRX. As per Stephen's request I submitted a 2008 list of the shows I wanted to compete in and the costs I thought I'd incur for each show, down to what I could cover- and then I asked what he would cover. To my knowledge, Erin did the same. We both got responses saying our needs would be taken care of. And then the real drama begins...
I'll leave the specifics out because I'll probably get so angry I'll throw the laptop, but the bottom line is, from the end of March till about a month ago I heard NOTHING from Stephen. NOTHING. I had to send mutliple emails AND text messages just to see if I got a hotel room. He asked me to send possible flight times- I emailed him several times. No response. No booked flight, yet he said it would be taken care of and I listened. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and here I am, dieted, 3 weeks out from a show with no flight. I know he broke promises to Erin as well and unforutnately his financial failings have not only made him look unprofessional but have made me look unprofessional as well. He failed to respond to my suit designer. And Erin's. And those are two industry professionals who now have had negative experiences with FigureRX as well. I'll let Erin post to her FigureRX struggles should she chose to.... but the bottom line is we were both left to our own devices and hung out to dry when it had been assured us certain things would be covered.
It is because of this- among other reasons that I chose to leave FigureRX. I am extremly upset about not being able to compete at the USAS, but it is through no fault of my own. I accept responsibility for my actions and when I fail I can admit my mistakes and shortcomings. However this was not my fault. I was depending on the assistance of a sponsor who made financial promises he could not keep, and then, to make matters even worse, did not tell me UPFRONT that he could not hold to his financial promises, instead he just ignored emails AND text messages, and continued to push me off, until now, when I'm 3 weeks out from a show with no flight and no travel arrangements, no one piece suit and not enough time to pull it all off on my own.
None of this is news to Stephen- I told him in emails that although the lack of financial support and abundance of broken promises is upseting, what's even more upseting and even more unprofessional is the lack of communication and the prevelance in ignoring my inquiries and questions. If you cannot follow through on your promises and obligations then own up to that and accept the responsibility. And be sure to inform your athletes and the people depending on you so they can adjust accordingly. But he did none of that- and that's where I start to get really angry.
Lindsey notified me back in early June she was no longer with FigureRx. She was dieting for nationals and had heard nothing from Stephen. I should've known then. Erin left and told me why- and I should've known then. I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt and unfortunately now I'm stuck 3 weeks out with a dieted physique and no arrangements for this show.
My plans will be to regroup, take a week or so off my diet, then get back on and focus on the North Americans at the end of August and possibly Team Universe the following weekend. I will be making my OWN arrangements and doing my OWN travel and depending on myself to get there this time.
I'm extremly disappointed with FigureRX and Stephen. I'm extremly upset that what at first seemed like such a solid idea and plan turned out to be nothing but a fake, and
an unprofessional scam which caused me headaches and stress. I hope that this thread does not view me in an unprofessional light. I've kept the grusesome details to myself for my sanity, and out of respect for Stephen, but I did want to shed some light on the situation so that the fitness community is aware and can make informed decisions. As I said, we're all competitors or fans of competitors- and we need to be able to rely on the promises of our sponsors. If we can't I feel its our responsibility to ensure that other athletes don't find themselves in the same situation, or under the same kind of stress.
