Quarterly Vault and Extended Access Tracking Gaps: Sue admitted that financial records for Vault and Extended Access sales were incomplete. Revenue numbers were available for 2022 Q3 and Q4 and 2023 Q1 and Q3. Records were missing entirely for all 2020, all 2021, 2022 Q1 and Q2, 2023 Q2 and Q4, and all 2024.
Misrepresentation Over Extended Access Payments: Sue initially stated that Extended Access revenue was paid out immediately after the conference. However, she later admitted that some Extended Access payments were held over and rolled into the next year's revenue. This was done without notifying instructors, meaning that instructors were unknowingly underpaid or had payments delayed.
Payments and Timing:
Sue claimed that most Extended Access revenue was included in the conference payouts. However, she later clarified that a portion of Extended Access sales occurred after the conference and was not paid out immediately.
Some instructors were unaware that their payments had been delayed or held over for future years, and while some instructors received additional separate payments beyond the conference payments, others whose classes were also being sold did not receive such payments.
Lack of Record-Keeping:
Sue acknowledged that no clear records exist for Extended Access sales from 2020 and 2021. Instead of tracking these payments separately, she stated that she consolidated and averaged revenue across multiple years, estimating amounts rather than providing exact figures.
In her words:
"I don't have access to those records because it was too long ago."
These “missing” records are basic accounting records that were required for the contractual payouts to all teachers in the International Bra Sewing Bee, and should be readily available.
Rolling Over Payments Without Notifying Instructors:
Sue admitted that, in some cases, Extended Access revenue was held and merged into the following year’s payments.
When asked whether this practice was communicated to instructors, she responded:
"No, because I was too busy."
"I think I did probably informally say that this was what was going on, and I certainly have said so since then."
Instructor Compensation for Pre-Recorded Videos: When asked about how pre-recorded class compensation was calculated, Sue stated that all class types—live, pre-recorded, or short-form—were paid at the same hourly rate for the agreed upon class time requested by the International Bra Sewing Bee. There were compensation gaps between how long the class was supposed to be and the final product (post-editing) which resulted in under-compensation. The International Bra Sewing Bee did not pay for the agreed upon class time and instead compensated the final edit.
The financial data Sue provided showed revenue and expense trends from 2020 to 2023, as 2024 records were stated to be fabricated. The data are based on available records and estimates provided by Sue, which she stated she reconstructed for the purpose of the inquiry. Without third-party financial validation, the accuracy of past payouts remains uncertain.
Financial Recap:
Based on the provided information, the International Bra Sewing Bee paid the instructors accurately for initial conference payments. However, there is no supporting evidence or outside validation of the provided information.
Regarding Vault and Extended Access payouts, the provided information was incomplete and lacking any substance to confirm payouts to the teachers.
Additionally, there were teachers' materials that were sold that did not receive compensation for Vault or Extended Access.
Overpayment and Retroactive Adjustments:
Sue claimed that in 2023, she failed to deduct the 20% organizer fee, leading to claimed overpayments that she wishes to reclaim from instructors. Insufficient financial documentation was provided to confirm which instructors were allegedly overpaid, and there was no clear methodology for how these overpayments were calculated. Dani confirmed that the net profitability calculations versus the teaching hours Sue initially presented matched the numbers provided to instructors on their payout correspondences. Within the data provided, no overpayments could be found.
She stated that she "ate the loss" for instructors who remained with the International Bra Sewing Bee but expected repayment from those who had left the platform.
Fabrication of 2024 Numbers
Sue explicitly admitted to "fabricating" the 2024 payout figures during the meeting:
“I fabricated numbers for 2024, but I did my best.”
When pressed about this statement, Sue argued that the lack of available financial data required her to make estimations. However, Dani pointed out that these estimations were not backed by source documents or reconciled accounting records:
“If these numbers have been fabricated or estimated, how can we verify that prior-year payouts were accurate?”
Sue responded with uncertainty about the validation process and admitted that she had not consulted an external accountant for reconciliation.
As the meeting was concluding, Sue was pressed to outline her next steps in validating financial data. The key takeaways were:
Sue Acknowledged the Need for External Validation – Sue initially believed that PayPal was issuing all necessary 1099s for instructor payments. Upon realizing this was incorrect, she admitted that she would need to work with her accountant to rectify past reporting issues, as she never issued the required 1099s.
Commitment to Reconciling Financial Records – Sue acknowledged that the event’s financials followed a different timeline than her standard accounting year. She stated that she would ask her accountant to rerun all revenue numbers to align them with the event cycle, acknowledging that this was essential for accurate reporting.
Lack of Clear Timeline for Completion – While Sue agreed to involve her accountant and suggested she would “rerun all revenue numbers,” she did not commit to a specific timeframe for when this would be completed or when reconciled data would be made available.
Hesitation on Independent Review – Sue expressed discomfort with sharing financial details beyond what was already presented. When asked if she was willing to provide bank deposit data to confirm revenue accuracy, she did not commit to doing so but instead asked Dani to relay to instructors that, based on what had been reviewed so far, there was no apparent underpayment. Dani could not, in good faith, validate and communicate this to the instructors.
Request for Instructor Reassurance – Sue requested that Dani communicate to the instructors that the numbers presented “made sense” from the information available, even though Dani explicitly stated that she could not verify accuracy without external reconciliation.
Overall, while Sue verbally agreed to take steps toward financial validation, her responses indicated reluctance to provide fully transparent data. The lack of a firm commitment to an external review, combined with the shifting justifications for financial discrepancies, reinforced instructor concerns over accountability and transparency.
This meeting reinforced the instructors' concerns that the International Bra Sewing Bee had failed to maintain transparent financial records, withheld payments, and altered compensation structures without consent. These findings, along with the history of delayed or incomplete payments, further justified the need for a formal public response.