ST. LOUIS – “The magazine came onto my radar when I received an email from Stacy Oliver of Mind Body Soul media, offering an opportunity to join her publication with a cover feature,” life coach and author Jaki Sabourin said.
A proposition Sabourin says she was excited to explore.
“The demographics really are in alignment with my ideal clients. And I thought it’d be a great way to kind of introduce more locally my life coaching, etc.,” Sabourin said.
In March, the La Jolla, California, resident says she signed an agreement with Mind Body Soul Magazine founder Stacy Oliver. According to the contract and bank statements Sabourin shared with us, she paid Oliver $9,000.
“It wasn’t just to be on the cover of a magazine; this was a whole year-long marketing strategy that I kind of wrapped my business around, going, ‘Okay, I’m going to invest this money; I’m going to use this magazine the five times I’m in it. I’m going to do appearances. So, this was not just a one and done,” Sabourin said.
If her story sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
“It just kind of made sense,” Emilia Rizzuto, owner of St. Louis-based company All Things Elderberry, said.
“Seemed like it made sense,” April Berkovich, owner of April Berkovich Wellness Studio in St. Louis, said.
In a report we aired in early May, Rizzuto and Berkovich told us they also signed contracts and paid thousands of dollars to be prominently featured in Stacy Oliver’s publication. They say the magazines were never published. They detailed those breach of contract allegations in complaints they’ve filed with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
“I certainly don’t want any other female business owners to fall for this, like I did,” Berkovich said.
In fact, Berkovich contacted Sabourin to warn her about doing business with Oliver.
“She was very, very great in sending me correspondence, emails, documentation, so I wasn’t just taking her word for it,” Sabourin said.
Sabourin says the information she received prompted her to confront Stacy Oliver. In an email she shared with us, Sabourin details the ways Oliver allegedly breached their contract. She also told Oliver she’s contacted law enforcement and filed a fraud report with her credit card company. She even told Oliver she was communicating with Contact 2’s Mike Colombo for this story. She asked Oliver to cease use of her name, image or likeness; to confirm the cancelation of her feature and all related content or promotional materials; and to refrain from contacting her regarding future financial transactions.
“She agreed in a reply email, saying, ‘I agree,’ and that’s it,” Sabourin said.
Oliver never denied any of the allegations while corresponding with Sabourin.
“She just said, ‘Oh, dear.’ Like, ‘Oh, I’m caught.’ And then I said, I need you to agree to this email. And she emailed me back and said, ‘I agree,’ and I haven’t contacted her further. I did file the report with the Attorney General of California and also with the district attorney,” Sabourin said.
Sabourin, Rizzuto, and Berkovich are among a group of nearly a dozen women around the country who allege Oliver owes them hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some tell FOX 2 they bought marketing and media packages that included magazine appearances that were never published; others say they’re owed money for work they did with the magazine.
“It’s really reprehensible that there’s another small business owner—as a woman—taking advantage of other small businesswomen,” Sabourin said.
FOX 2 reached out to Oliver for comment on numerous occasions. As of the date of this story’s publication, she hasn’t responded.
Berkovich said Oliver sent her an email after our first report aired. According to Berkovich, Oliver committed to send her, “‘something this month in good faith – $2,000 if not the entire $6,000’ owed.”
To date, Berkovich said she’s received just $200 from Oliver.
On a positive note, Sabourin’s credit card company refunded the $9,000 she paid Oliver.
FOX 2 will continue to follow this story and share any updates we get.