my thoughts on erin condren
Faith & Family

6 MONTHS LATER: MY THOUGHTS ON ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER

Six months ago I posted An Honest Review of My 2020 Erin Condren Life Planner. I was in love. But how do I feel about it six months later? About the brand in general? Today’s post is dedicated to just that. Here are my thoughts on Erin Condren and my Life Planner.

First of all, it is a great planner and has exceeded all my expectations. I use it daily to track meal planning, blog posts, YouTube videos, and my daily to-dos. I also use it for appointments and birthdays.

It definitely gets a lot of mileage, as does my matching college-ruled notebook. I have had some success as an affiliate through Share A Sale as well.

In fact, it was through the affiliate program I was gifted both, as well as the Petite Budget Planner, which was used in a giveaway for Frugal Friends of the blog.

Related: Episode 109: Erin Condren Unboxing!

MY THOUGHTS ON ERIN CONDREN NOW

I was pretty shocked and disappointed when I logged into Twitter a couple of weeks ago and saw a post referring to the big graduation snafu if you will. As I wasn’t aware of the situation I Googled it and was quite taken aback.

If you are not aware, here is a BuzzFeed article detailing the Graduation March as well as the reaction/fallout from it.

At best this is a family that is very entitled, tone-deaf, and out of touch with the rest of the world. At worst this is what it was called out as – blatant racism.

The company itself has done an excellent job in responding to the news; I certainly give props to CEO Tonia Misvaer for this. The company namesake has gone on leave and affiliates have been invited to two virtual town hall meetings to raise our concerns and ask questions.

I have not personally attended either, but appreciated the swift condemnation of the owner’s actions as inexcusable by the CEO. The sincerity on her part appears to be genuine.

my thoughts on erin condren
just one of many well-used page

THE COMPANY’S RESPONSE

It didn’t take long for the affiliate team at EC to email affiliates the CEO’s response, which included an apology for losing our trust. It also entailed a list of actions the company is taking in order to assist “the healing” of “anger and disappointment” from brand ambassadors and customers.

In additon to the previously mentioned town hall meetings, the company has made a $25,000 donation to UNCF, the non-profit dedicated to minority education.

They have also shared a rather impressive diversity in EC employees. They have formed a Diversity & Inclusion council and mandated diversity training (to be honest I’m not sure what this really is).

The EC team has made a committment to include more diverse representation on all their promotional platforms as well as in the planners themselves, adding in more cultural holidays.

They now observe Juneteenth as an official company holiday and are looking to recruit Black artists to create a line of products that will pay a portion of proceeds to the artists and donate the rest to charity. If this last bit seems entirely reactionary and a bit opportunistic to you, I had the same impression.

MY THOUGHTS ON ERIN CONDREN NOW

I love using my Life Planner just as much today as I did six months ago. It is a very useful product. I also appreciate the quality and detail that goes into these planners.

As an affiliate, while I haven’t made much in the way of income I was very excited to personalize my very own planner and share my honest opinions of it with my frugal friends.

That said, will I choose another Erin Condren Life Planner for 2021? I’m not so sure. In the end it’s a great product, but I’m not so sure how I feel about the company now.

Time will tell what planners I choose to use and share in the future. It will also tell how sincere this company and its problematic owner will really are.

I’m wondering if she couldn’t just stay on “leave” and let the company change its name to her initials. It’s hard for a lot of people to separate the person from the brand. I’m trying to decide if I’m one of them.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ERIN CONDREN AND THE RECENT CONTROVERSY?

Are you able to separate the person from the brand or are you done with both? Do you think she and her company’s responses are sincere?

If you aren’t a fan let me know what planner brand you are currently using and loving! Is this a big deal and a long time coming or something you could care less about?

Also, if you are currently using and loving a different planner (bonus points if it’s woman or minority owned!) let me know! I just might be in the market for a new one for next year.

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14 Comments

  1. Charity

    This is such a great and honest review. I have never heard of that company or those planners before.

    1. I seemed to think the company was the huge fish in the planner market, but you’re not the first to say that! Thank you.

  2. That must have been quite the blow to find out what they did after being an affiliate for them. I know how hard it can be to choice a income stream over sticking to your morals, that’s why I don’t use Amazon on my site

  3. It’s difficult to separate a person from the brand unfortunately so this may not be too good for the company. It was interesting to read about though as I hadn’t heard anything about it.

    1. Unfortunately there are just too many controversies at the moment to keep up.

  4. It’s so difficult to separate a person from the brand, especially with something like this. It’s pretty expected to have doubts over purchasing again.

  5. I hadn’t heard about what happened, thanks for sharing. I have a condren planner and it is the best planner I’ve had, but I’ll still look at all the options for next year. There are a lot of good planners out there! Thanks for the post!

    1. Thank you for reading! I do still love my planner, but I’m not sure about supporting the brand next year just yet.

  6. It’s too bad when you love a product but are so so about the company. I hate that feeling! Hopefully they can restore your trust!

    1. Thank you! That would be nice, and not just for my part.

  7. It’s a shame to hear about the company. I discovered those planners about a year or so ago but never bought it. After seeing this idk if I ever will. The planners are cute though!

    1. Very cute! And they have a great affiliate program. I’ll see how they continue to handle the situation, but still not sure about next year. There are other women and minority-owned planner companies to choose from!

  8. This is an interesting post to read. It is really great that you loved the planner, but it’s a shame that people have to ruin a good thing for themselves. I don’t blame you for now being unsure about repurchasing, but it gives you room to try new things!

    Em | http://www.loveemblog.com

    1. Yes! That’s how I choose to try to see it!

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