Sarah Akwisombe

[Breeeeaaaathhe!]

I totally agree- Sarah cant come on the group to apologise and explain, because she needs headspace at the moment. She cant watch the video of a lady in the group saying how she truly cant afford the course but made herself.....yet sarah can, in the last 48 hours: post on Instagram her workout, repost on insta people promoting her book, let us know she has the rights to publish her book in other languages now, show us her loooovely pink garden office renovations that cost more than £40k, show us what tv shes watching tonight about Gwen Stefani, post songs, post her driving the tesla....
common Sarah, its time to refund people for the Smashing It course that was never delivered and mis -sold!

 

[Hackysac]

Has anyone looked at TTS coaching “crew”? I needn’t say more, but grab a cuppa and go down a rabbit hole.

Their businesses seem to revolve around gyms and “property investment” and I bet they’ve dabbled with Bitcoin. The more I look back the more I wonder how Sarah played a part in it all - I know she dabbled with Bitcoin (she was quite open about it) and wanted to get into property investing. She just branded herself well, used more relatable experiences such as being a mum and rallied around a group of amazing women who looked up to her, trusted her, and well, she took advantage of that. In my eyes she’s on the same level as the guys in the video. She even uses the same tactics in her IG lives (“who here feels like this....” or “give me a like if...” or “comment yes if this applies to you...” Then we’d hear her story and how she went from broke to rich...)

This is the problem - that if we started getting targeted ads about mindset and motivation from the TT we’d be like oh eff off....but coming from Sarah, the cool Croydon mum with so much cred, we’d trust her.

I really hope all the other women still looking up to Llewy and Sarah see the light. I’m honestly baffled as to why she thinks she can ask people not to want refunds and protect her business? Does she honestly expect loyalty after she’s made money off the backs off women in a pandemic? Is that why she keeps reminding us of her gorgeous kids in her recent stories, to make her more relatable and she’s one of us? To guilt trip us as she’s in a bad place?

Refunds do not take 5-7 working days. As the previous poster showed you just hit refund. What’s she playing at?

 

[Sunflower832010]

My business has turned over £1.2m last year. I am NOT wearing Rolexes and driving Bentleys. I have staff and overheads to pay. A million really isn’t that impressive unless it’s profit!!

Also a Lamborghini is about £2k a month on hire purchase. So it’s easy to buy this lifestyle

 

[Antonina]

@Brook69 you can’t be a public figure and have a business and expect zero scrutiny if you fuck up. This thread has some judgment and speculation (true), but it’s mostly breaking down the facts and asking for accountability. Personally, the reason why I keep posting is because I hope more women who parted with their money without getting their moneys worth come here and read, and hopefully start questioning a few things. They can then make their own decisions. Also, this thread is a safe place for those who have signed up to her courses to express discontent as clearly the FB groups don’t offer that opportunity. Sarah doesn’t have to read.

Do I feel sorry for her? I do, but I mostly feel sorry for some of the women who have been influenced into buying her products through her clever misrepresentation.

 

[InstaCasualty]

Thanks for sharing the handles. Read the post of the ligaivanovska lady. She’s a hero here. Well done.
I can see why Llewy has moved into the female spaces. First of all, the contrepeneur space he operates in is totally saturated. There are 100s of Llewys there hawking the same shite about investments and bitcoin and forex and property and 10 x growth. It’s all very male. So a lot of people/men have wisened up to it. Conversely, the usual make up and wellness MLMs usually target women so an average woman knows the “hi hun, how are you? I have a business opportunity for you” approach from an old school friend and rolls eyes.

Llewy is hitting a new ground targeting women as his MO is not the usual MLM women are accustomed to, its so easier to pull wool over potential victim’s eyes. The ligaivanovska post is a clanger as she very clearly outlines his MO. He’s a gaslighting abuser. It is clear from his own posts that he’s a massive misogynist and that rant about online trolls showed how quickly the facade of happy-go-lucky mr motivator turns into rage when he’s called on his shit. Scary.



Women of Tattle - I salute you. We called it.

 

[BeamMeUp]

The thing is, is she can’t moan and say we’re all sad, poor feckers who don’t have a life. Some of us are her paying customers who are paying her mortgage!

She moans that there’s too much speculation on here, and her followers are saying that she doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, but at the end of the day, this is business. As someone previously said, if you’re paying £1200+ for a smashing it course and she hasn’t delivered, you should receive a refund. End of.

I felt for Jen in her live last night. She’s a good woman with a full heart. I respect her a lot. What I don’t like is the shutting down of any of the students who air concern, because it’s not just buying the manifesting course - so many students then go on to a course with Llewy or even the monthly manifesting membership (which Sarah was flogging in her live on Monday night!) You know, you’ve got to keep the vibes high and those pockets lined!

She teaches good money energy but this is far from it.

I agree with the previous poster that those who are sticking by her are doing it for their businesses and are in denial. It’s all so shady as fuck and goes to show how influencing works.

For obvious reasons we live in a be kind, protect your mental health society for those that genuinely need to be protected but I feel mental health has been hijacked as some kind of buzz word for some people and a shield to protect them from having to be EVER be accountable for their actions and behaviour. Some of her followers are unbelievable. Sarah DOES owe those people who paid an explanation. Multiple times a day EVERY DAY this woman posted and reposted, bragged, sold, upsold, pressured, and put down people who weren't doing it her way. While speaking on how she was going to help change lives, she told us day in day out about her goal and when she reached that goal it was burnt crusty millionaire breakfast and Balenciaga. When you're in people's faces begging them to buy your shit, like hard-core buy your shit then teef their money YOU BEST BELIEVE YOU OWE THEM A REFUND AND AN EXPLANATION.

 

[marmitesandwichesfortea]

you only have 24hrs to sign up, phrases such have been mentioned above on ‘investing in yourself’ ‘you can’t afford not to do or’ etc

@Lemonhead123 that’s exactly it, they use phrases like this to incite a bit of panic to make you sign up asap and also to make you feel like you absolutely must sign up otherwise you’re not taking yourself seriously etc.
I’ve got a lovely friend in PR who works with a lot of magazines, so very tempted to get to work on blowing the lid off all of it. It’s rife on instagram, i don’t want any more women, vulnerable women, single mums with f all money, falling for any more of it.

 

[Hackysac]

It’s such a shit show. The audacity to expect paying customers to “have her back” - these are people who have paid you money for a service, they owe you nothing! It sounds like manipulation, gaslighting and guilt tripping. I’m seeing it in the manifesting group too - if you’re not on Sarah’s side then you’re somehow not part of the sisterhood and basically a shit person.

 

[screamqueen]

Hello all,

I've been lurking on here since seeing SA post her IGTV the other day about losing the million and came here out of sheer curiosity really.

I've been a long term follower of Sarah's and did a couple of her courses back in the day and agree with another poster here (sorry, I can't remember who said it) that those courses were great. Really well put together, great resources to refer back to, and felt like I actually got good value for money.
Seeing how she has changed and was much more vocal about how much money she'd made felt a bit weird but I was like "Fair play to the girl", she's worked hard so deserves to reap the benefits.
When she announced she would be working with Llewy, like many others I was totally put off by him. His vibe just was not someone I'd want to associate with - too brash, and put me in mind of those Essex Instagram traders who can 'make you millions' and do nothing but pose in front of cars they likely don't own. I was actually very surprised to see her partnering with him, he didn't seem like someone who she'd gel with - but who am I to judge, I assumed there was obviously something in him she saw value in.

I didn't sign up to her course with Llewy as frankly it just seemed like an absurd amount of money and certainly not something I was in the position to pay for at the time, however, I did enjoy seeing her updates on Instagram and seeing her grow, but could definitely notice the change in her being much more aggressive in her tactics.

I signed up to her group coaching this year and received an automated email asking about my journey and what I'd like help with pre-the course, to which I replied and explained where I was at. I didn't receive a reply from Sarah which I was surprised about, but instead one of her team who glossed over what I'd said, to be honest.
When I received the email explaining what the 4 weeks would entail, I actually felt a little deflated. Perhaps I had misunderstood what the course would entail, but the 'modules' just didn't feel like we'd be getting much out of it, but I decided to put that to the back of my mind and go in with an open mind.

The weekly zoom calls were around 30 minutes - though they sometimes went up to around 40 minutes if one of us got chatting, but generally they were very short and whilst I took small nuggets of info out of the course, I don't feel it's information I couldn't have just found on the internet, unfortunately.
Like others, I did the homework and shared it on the Facebook group but there was little to no activity from Sarah on there. I fully understand she is a busy lady, but it felt like a lot was being offered and not a lot actually happening.
She was also a bit off at points, felt like she was rushing through the calls, and actually got a bit neggy with those of us who had decided not to do the homework for whatever reason (e.g. showing up on IG Lives), or if we asked a genuine business related question, we got a response like we were idiots for not knowing - I thought this was the point of the course, to get insights from someone running a successful business?
I don't feel the course was value for money, though I can say I met some interesting people from the back of it - it's also now a weird situation where I don't know whether to email about my disappointment as it's so far after the fact, and may look like I'm simply doing it after seeing everything crumble.

On another note, I was really surprised when she did that Insta Story a few months back basically announcing the Smashing It course (I think) and saying how she'd concocted it within an hour one evening and then posted about how much it was going to cost. I was so shocked that anyone would want to fork out that amount of money when she'd just told everyone she'd crafted the course in the space of an hour.

I wish her every success, of course, I think she has done a lot of good for a lot of people, but the speed with which she was trying to accelerate her business just wasn't feasible, and it's sad to see so many people feeling let down. I do hope she recovers from this and that her and her family can get back on track, but yeah - such a weird situation.

 

[Marmitecrumpet]

I just think there is an important difference: Sarah, whether she’s been conned or not, took her following with her for her own financial benefit. So she is not 100% victim. Otherwise why is she not speaking up?

she put her values aside (her own words) and went for the money, knowingly taking everyone along for her own gain

I don’t doubt that she feels bad now, but that’s the price she has to pay for following money in a way that doesn’t align with her own supposed values and “teachings”

The irony of the book landing at this time must be so bloody painful, I can only imagine what her publishers PR team are saying right now

She introduced thousands of women to this man and has taken zero responsibility for her actions other than saving as much money for herself as possible

It’s reprehensible, she’s as bad as him for not standing up and speaking out on a huge platform where she was trusted.

The lack of action shows where here real beliefs and values lie

 

[grace28]

No-one can really afford to be out of pocket at the moment, but I do trust that refunds will be made where applicable.
I don't want a refund for the first two months of the course, I thought it was mostly great content and have benefitted from it, in lots of ways.

Llewy is very good at motivating people. Whatever his background, or whether he's bought followers, I don't know about that. I know a lot of Instagram influencers who earn a lot of money who have done the same. Not saying it's right, saying it happens.
There are several people in the group happy to pay £50 per week to have him keep on motivating them and give them tailored content. I might even do it myself, I haven't decided. I don't think it was his decision to cease the course, but I am not party to all the details.
The way it's been handled hasn't been the best and that is a big part of the problem and probably what has caused all this to blow up, but none of us know the reality behind that. And maybe we never will.
So as long as people are not out of pocket, it was something that those who were part of it mostly enjoyed (and left if didn't) and are disappointed is over.

On the subject of Sarah's authenticity, I believe she is a good person. I do. Still. If she was inspiring people (women mostly) to take action, get new businesses going, collaborate together, share knowledge, grow in confidence and be better versions of themselves, then that's all good, imo. People were totally happy to pay for that content and that coaching. Everyone is always learning, all of the time. I have been in property all of the time yet fuck up on a regular basis and learn from it. Learnt a massive amount from Your Home Made Perfect for example, stuff I'd never done before. Doesn't mean I shouldn't already be teaching the skills I have, just cause I have more to learn.

As said it is my opinion that they grew it too fast (due to over-excitement & greed probably) too soon, and Sarah stepped t0oo far away from what she has always believed / taught / shared / stood by. The fact that it appears she realised that / knows this and stopped it, well, take from that what you will. She is obviously in a very bad place at the moment, in a far worse place mentally than anyone who was on the course and this Tattle thread is contributing to that in a terrible way.

It's not just gossip, it's someone's life, someone's family, someone's children. But that's the point of this site, methinks.

In fairness, many of the comments on here have actually being fairly positive on some elements of her courses, particularly her early ones. She certainly wouldn’t have gained the initial traction if she was simply selling fresh air. I have followed her rise since her interior design days, and I found her considerably more likeable then. When she started getting into all this coaching and business school, I found it all a bit vulgar and hard sell so I stepped away, besides I doubt I’m her target audience anyway!

If she’d have wanted to keep things discreet she wouldn’t have done the twenty minute self pity video the other day, in my view she’s wanting her cake and eating it. This whole cryptic bollocks is all well and good if your a low level influencer who forgot to declare a couple of ads, but she’s not beyond reproach now she’s taken £60k off people for a service that just hasn’t materialised. I’m sorry she feels in a bad place, but I’m an awfully lot more sorry for the many vulnerable women who I fear have being misold something that just doesn’t exist, and who don’t have the luxury of going for a fast drive in a 50k Tesla or sitting in a glorified 40k garden shed when times get a bit tough.

 

[Person34]

Reading all of this is making me so sad. I signed up to the very first event they did, the £150 one. I was really excited about it (even though I couldn’t join live) And I definitely couldn’t afford it as my work basically disappeared overnight when lockdown was announced. But I wanted to do it because I felt like it’d give me the confidence to carry on and basically reinvent what I was doing.

When I got the recording though, it was just a bit flat. I learned a couple of things, nothing actionable. I kept thinking all the way through...oh they’ll get to the good stuff in a minute, and they never did.

Been following this thread and it’s made me feel better on the one hand as I know I’m not alone in this, but mostly I just feel sad and disappointed that I got sucked in by it (because I’d followed SA for so long and respected her).

I felt stupid for a long time for buying into it as that money could have been put to much better use during lockdown to pay our mortgage which was very difficult without my income. As others have said, I’ve been had and I always thought I was such a good judge of things.

Happy I’m not alone in this but I wonder how many more people are having uneasy feelings about all of this.

 

[Catladysupreme]

New here! Hi! I'm following closely as I'd been intending to do Smashing It when I had the time. I already have a successful business but social media and all is out of my realm. Ok my 2c. Both Sarah and Llewy are handling this terribly and Sarah is acting like a child. I once owned a business with my sister and her husband. Their marriage broke up because he slept with an employee. It was HORRENDOUS. The stress was unreal, their marriage ended but through the business 'restructure' (we closed the joint business, split everything and went our ways), the customers were never left hanging. In spite of literally hating each other, I worked with my ex-brother in law to get the existing jobs completed. We also issued a statement letting customers know our intentions in advance. It was hard, but business breakdowns happen and how you handle them makes our breaks your future business. Something beyond Sarah's burnout must be going on here. Why couldn't they just finish up the job? Why not say it was what's going on?

 

[Blancmange]

My last payment for the M&M course bounced (I changed banks and hadn't changed the payment over an oversight by me) I did chuckle in the email where she says it's a small business and missed payments can be costly and stop more amazing courses being created (I appreciate this is true for small businesses and I have sorted it and paid what I owe).

You weren't saying about your small business hardships when you were bragging about your million were you she's just left a nasty taste after all this going on.

 

[Squirrelfriend]

Anyone one else been hate following this girl ? she went from fairly stylish with gorgeous home and family to prize bellend forever bleating on about earning 100k and how much money she is going to make . She was boasting her family were buying a Tesla too the other day . Crass as fuck considering most people are struggling right now ( it’s ok though she says she never contributed to anyone else’s money troubles and it has nothing to do with her if people get made redundant so she can carry on with her smug boasting) .

I love seeing people earning money through business but it seems she’s a vulture charging desperate people for ‘ business advice’ , like some sort of Jordan Belfort type character .Shes become so arrogant and has a Kanye West sized head these days . She thinks it’s because she’s a woman no one likes her going on about her earnings . No love it’s because you are a cock . She appears to have no real job but thinks people can ‘manifest’ money .

 

[Tallmirror123]

@marmitesandwichesfortea I just want to say please don’t be too hard on yourself and I feel the same way as you. Someone said on here earlier that the course members mental health hasn’t been effected as much as SA. But you don’t know what starting point people were at with their MH when they joined. Covid has made people isolated, low and financially vulnerable. Promoting an antidote course with the promise of a better life and a supportive girl gang is unethical in times of crisis, especially when the caveat is that if you fail it’s your fault for not trying.

I signed up for the M&M course which I fully invested in and really enjoyed. (I would have joined SI & BA but I couldn’t afford it & I don’t have a credit card) But I’m now questioning everything, putting trust in and believing a complete stranger was exactly how they appeared online was naive. It’s left me very low & not sure how influenced I’ve been and which beliefs are genuine, so low that I’ve signed up for therapy. Of course, SA is not to blame for this. But targeting people who are already likely low selfesteem and emotionally vulnerable, add in a global pandemic & economic uncertainty, even if you were selling a good product you would have to consider the ethical implications.

if it wasn’t SA it would have been someone else, I think this has highlighted a larger problem with Social Media and the coaching industry. I deleted my Instagram shortly after starting the course as I was concerned how it was influencing me. I’ve since watched the social dilemma on Netflix which I’d recommend to everyone as it highlights how we are influenced without realising every day.

After Caroline flack it’s really important that we be kind, even if someone is in the wrong. Whether SA did this intentionally or was swept up is not relevant IMO. The important thing is that it doesn’t happen again, we have all made mistakes. I hope people receive refunds where relevant and that we can all learn a lesson both as consumers and sellers.

 

[butwhyamihere]

She is obviously in a very bad place at the moment, in a far worse place mentally than anyone who was on the course and this Tattle thread is contributing to that in a terrible way.

It's not just gossip, it's someone's life, someone's family, someone's children. But that's the point of this site, methinks.

Couple of thoughts.
- people have spoken up about how stupid and upset they feel who have taken the courses. They are also valid and equal in their mental wellness. Please remember that. It’s not one or the other, we all want everyone in the group and her to come out of it feeling as if they haven’t lost anything.
- you are contributing to this also. A lot of the stuff isn’t personal on this thread, it’s about in terms of business what’s morally appropriate. Many clearly haven’t been able to feel heard.
- I’m very sure she’ll do the right thing. She is a good person.
- I am curious as to why you haven’t mentioned the other women who perhaps have had a really tough time with the toxicity they have experienced. Surely they’re valid too?

 

[Factsnottrash]

I would genuinely do one of her courses without HIM. I won’t in this climate but I would again. Why? Because I believe in supporting women in business.

The reason why it was so successful is because those who have done her courses before know they’ve been value for money, just like she said.

I think her video explaining stuff was real. I don’t agree with people on here saying she’s fake, she’s very publicly had a massive wake up call and called BS on this “mentor”

I think she realised he was taking her into a direction she morally didn’t want to go in.

I think she’s been diddled by him and any woman on here standing up for him needs to look in the mirror. He is a master gaslighter.

I think if she had done the right thing most of us would feel the same and continue to support her. It isn't so much the course ending and the beef between them, I'm in business myself and shit happens, it's the handling of it. If she had gone completely silent on social media, I would understand, but posting cryptic stories and quotes and songs on Instagram when she had 230 people waiting for an explanation in the group is not OK. Neither is then arguing over refunds.

 

[Squirrelfriend]

I’ve read this a few times and can’t quite work out the angle of attack here.

Fat and jealous — okay, base insult that really went out of fashion about 10 years ago
peter Andre — again, 10 years out of date reference
Ugly husband moans for his dinner — trying to say we are unfeminist stay at home wives?

I am stumped

Definitely someone who had their formative years in the 90s id say

 

[InstaCasualty]

His stories today He's touting for the scraps of left over business from the fallout and indirectly slagging her off. This is a guy who bought himself 30K followers to build a 'brand' and recycles shite content on repeat claiming that he will be creating brands to succeed in 2021. For real. WTF. He is baaaaad news. I also love how he ended up inviting people to the Business Accelerator course, quoted the price and in the next story he was like 'oh yeah, dates - next few weeks'. He did this walking down a fucking road and talking into his phone. Does this scream a successful business coach who coached people into six seven figure incomes?

We are watching a live of industrial scale spill of snake oil here.