Kate studied the comment. The anger was clear, but it was directed at Crawford—just like Lauren Mitchell. Grisham seemed to be defending Rachel's talent while criticizing the program. And yes, there seemed to be some jealousy there as well.
"Keep reading," Sloane said, scrolling further down the thread.
Several more users had chimed in, some agreeing with Grisham and others defending Crawford's approach to marketing. One woman had posted a long comment about how the program had genuinely helped her understand business fundamentals.
Jennifer Grisham:Oh please. You're delusional if you think Crawford's generic worksheets and motivational speeches are worth fifteen thousand dollars. He's a con artist who preys on desperate women, and anyone who defends him is either too embarrassed to admit they got scammed or too stupid to realize it.
"It seems Ms. Grisham is quite outspoken," Kate said.
"It gets worse," Sloane repeated. She opened another thread, this one from six months ago. Patricia Holmes had posted about a successful client meeting and thanked the Second Act Success program for giving her the confidence to pursue her consulting business.
Jennifer Grisham:Confidence doesn't come from a program. It comes from actually doing the work and gettingresults. But I guess some people need to believe they couldn't have succeeded without Crawford's help. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Another user had responded, pointing out that there was nothing wrong with acknowledging the program's role in someone's success.
Jennifer Grisham:There's everything wrong with giving credit to a charlatan who's getting rich off women's insecurities. Patricia is successful because she's smart and works hard, not because she sat through Crawford's useless seminars. Stop lying to yourselves ladies!
Kate straightened up, processing what she was reading. "She's aggressive."
"Very aggressive," Sloane agreed. "And look at this one."
She opened a third thread, this one from four months ago. Someone had posted a general discussion question asking whether people thought the program was worth the cost. Several users had shared positive experiences, citing specific ways the program had helped them.
Jennifer Grisham:The program is worth exactly nothing. Zero. Crawford is a fraud who packages common sense advice and sells it for thousands of dollars. Anyone defending him is either in denial about wasting their money or too proud to admit they could have learned everything he 'taught' from free YouTube videos.
"She's not just critical," Kate said. "She's actively trying to tear down anyone who credits the program."
"Right. And she keeps mentioning her bakery." Sloane pulled up Grisham's Facebook profile, which was public. The page was filled with photos of elaborate cakes and pastries, along with posts about her business's success. "Jennifer Grisham runs an artisanal bakery called Grisham's. It's been in operation for just over a year."
"What kind of success is she having?" Kate asked.
Sloane clicked through several posts. "By her own account, she's doing very well. Multiple posts about meeting sales goals, expanding her product line, hiring additional staff. There are a lot of great reviews from customers.”
"And she's angry that Crawford used Rachel Thornton's interior design business as the cover girl success story instead of her bakery," Kate said, piecing it together. “Which is odd. If her business is doing so well, you wouldn’t think she’d be complaining all that much.”
"Yeah, it looks that way." Sloane opened another thread. "This one is from two months ago, right after Second Act Success launched a new marketing campaign featuring Rachel's business prominently."
Kate read through Grisham's comments on the thread. The woman had gone on multiple rants about Crawford's choice to feature Rachel, claiming it was because interior design was more visually appealing than food in photographs. She had accused Crawford of playing favorites, of choosing businesses that made him look good rather than businesses that were genuinely successful.
And when other users had tried to calm her down or suggest she was being unreasonable, Grisham had turned her anger on them.
Jennifer Grisham:You people are pathetic. Defending a con artist and attacking someone who's trying to tell you the truth. Crawford doesn't care about any of us. He cares about his bank account and his reputation. Rachel's business is successful IN SPITE of his program, not because of it. And if you can't see that, you deserve to be taken advantage of.
"That's borderline slanderous," Kate said. “Though, let’s give her credit: most of it is well-written.”
"More than borderline," Sloane replied. "In several of these posts, she directly accuses Crawford of fraud and calls other participants stupid or delusional. The moderator eventually kicked her out of the group."
Kate stepped back from the computer, thinking. "What's your theory?"
"Grisham sees the other successful graduates as competition," Sloane said. "Not business competition exactly, but competition for recognition. And if that’s the case, then maybe she doesn’t want recognitionfromthe program. Maybe she wants to be the one who proves you can build something without Crawford's help. When other women get featured in marketing materials or share their success publicly, it undermines that narrative."
"So she eliminates them," Kate said slowly. "Makes it look like someone is targeting Second Act Success graduates, when really she's just removing the people who contradict her story about the program being worthless."
"It's a theory," Sloane said. "Could be completely wrong. But Grisham fits the profile better than anyone else we've looked at so far."
Kate pulled out her phone and searched for Grisham's bakery. The business had a professional website with an address in Richmond, less than eight miles from the field office. According to the homepage, the bakery was open until six on weekdays.
"It's only fifteen minutes," Kate said, showing Sloane the address. "We could go talk to her right now."
