Losing weight is hard work. You have to eat healthily, exercise, and avoid tempting foods. Whether it’s counting calories, carbs or points-there are countless diets and weight loss programs for you to choose from. And it’s no different for our plush-sized celebrities looking to shed a few pounds. Indeed they have the extra cash flow to splurge on a personal trainer and chef, but they have to put in the work as well. Whether dropping the pounds for a diet endorsement deal or just to be more marketable, celebs are cashing in (cha-ching) on their weight loss.

“WENN”

Jennifer Hudson is the face of Weight Watchers, belting out inspirational, skinny girl songs to match her trim physique. Hudson lost over 80 pounds after signing on with Weight Watchers  in 2010 and went from a size 16 to a size 4.

via Weight Watchers’ Facebook page

Jennifer Hudson got millions. Jessica Simpson is reportedly earning $4 million. Weight Watchers shells out mega bucks to it celebrity spokespersons, despite a 15.6 percent decline in earnings last year. But according to a New York Times article, women who actually work for the weight loss company are complaining about incredibly low pay.

“Some employees at Weight Watchers expressed irritation at being paid the minimum wage while the company lavishes millions of dollars on celebrities like Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Hudson to advertise its weight-loss program,” writes the newspaper.

Weight Watchers meeting leaders, who go out into the community to encourage followers to continue with their regimen, have an $18 base rate, and it has not increased in more than a decade. And the workers say they are not reimbursed for mileage on the first 40 miles driven each day. An added insult, some complain, is that the overwhelming majority of its employees are women.

“We are not working for a charity or a nonprofit corp,” one Weight Watchers leader posted on the Web site. “This is a multimillion-dollar company with enough cash to advertise relentlessly on TV, and pay celebrities tons of money to lose weight.”

According to the article, Weight Watchers executives have hinted they will increase compensation for their low-wage earners in order to address the frustration.

This isn’t the first time Weight Watchers employees have been upset over low wages. Two years ago Weight Watchers reached a $6.2-million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit in California in which employees complained about minimum wage violations, off-the-clock work and receiving paychecks that did not explain how wages were calculated.

It is not just Weight Watchers short-changing their largely female workers. There seems to be a trend of low pay complaints and companies that are primarily staffed by and targeted to women. “The restlessness over low pay extends across the weight-loss industry to Weight Watchers’ rivals, including Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem,” reports The Times.

The is  lawsuit pending aging Jenny Craig in which employees in New York State claim they typically work through their lunch hour, but are not paid for that time. The company denies this.

Mary Kay, too, came under scrutiny last year. According to Forbes, the company has several legal actions against the concerning earnings by its sales representatives. We even reported this morning that nursing, an area that has always been heavily female, pays its female nurses less than the men.

As if we needed it, here’s more proof that women need to be more vocal about pay and getting what they deserve. If we aren’t we’ll get shortchanged.

It seems like you can’t watch television for more than five minutes without Jennifer Hudson singing the praises of Weight Watchers or Janet Jackson cooing over Nutrisystem. Give it another five minutes, and Mariah Carey will be partying for Jenny Craig and Charles Barkley will tell you the finer points of how to lose weight like a man. Celebrity weight loss endorsements used to be reserved for the drastic weight changes of obese celebrities looking to make a comeback. But, now it seems everyone is jumping on the weight loss bandwagon, whether they are losing baby weight or slimming down to a healthier size.

It could just be the time of year. Weight loss programs like to take advantage of New Year’s resolutions and the public’s renewed dedication to getting in shape. Beyond that, American obesity has become a hot button issue in the past year. Even the First Lady is championing the values of a healthy lifestyle through her “Let’s Move!” campaign. Programs like Weight Watchers would be wise to increase advertising dollars to take advantage of the dialogue happening around maintaining a healthy weight.

Of course, celebrities are always looking for a way to diversify their revenue. But, their willingness to endorse weight loss programs reflects a newfound understanding of branding. The concept of branding has expanded beyond a product’s packaging. Branding is now where the personal and professional meet, allowing a person to use their personality and life experiences to differentiate them professionally.

Charles Barkley caused a fuss earlier this month when a hot microphone picked up his comments that that his Weight Watchers deal was a scam. After all, he is getting paid to live healthier, something he should be doing anyway. Charles’ logic doesn’t take into account this expanded view of branding and business. Not only should personal experiences be used to promote yourself professionally, it would be silly not to.

Everyone has a brand to attend to. Just as these celebrities are using personal experiences like losing baby weight or slimming down for a healthier lifestyle to cash in, you too can monetize the milestones in your life. Celebrities may rely on endorsements, but there are plenty of ways the average businesswoman can use personal experiences to expand her brand and business.

Make life events a part of your brand and analyze how your personal interests can enrich your business. Does your business benefit new mothers in a way that you didn’t realize until you were expecting? Explore the possibilities of marketing to this new audience. If you pick up a new hobby, notice the needs of the individuals who share that interest and think of ways your business can address them. It can be as big as creating a new product offering or as simple as shifting your marketing strategy.

The beauty of expanding your brand in this way is that it is inherently genuine. Your audience will feel a personal and professional connection with you, making them all the more willing to support you professionally.

Cortney Cleveland is a public relations practitioner and freelance writer working in New York City. You can follow her on Twitter @CleveInTheCity.

With the scrutiny of the world on their shoulders, it’s no wonder that a celebrity’s weight gain and weight loss can make the cover of every magazine.  Whether too skinny or too large, their weight is constantly talked about. Although some fluctuations are minor, several celebs choose to get healthy and lose a significant amount of weight, and some are lucky enough and focused enough to keep it off!  Check out these eight celebs who, with healthy eating and strict exercise regimes, lost the pounds in a healthy way and are keeping them off too!

It’s a new day, and alas, it is time to celebrate or skewer the style moves of our favorite celebs. So let’s not waste any time!

Mariah Carey

Well, well, well…someone may have lost a crazy amount of weight in a short time, but I see the momma of #dembabies hasn’t lost her penchant for spandex everything. Carey showed up at a Jenny Craig event today, touting her new role as the brand’s ambassador, in this long spaghetti-strapped number in a strawberry red. No belt, no necklace on top of it, no flash…She wore the dress with strappy platform heels in a red that I must admit is a bit darker than her dress, and finished the look with some bright bling on her fingers and some hoop earrings. The hair stayed down with a good ‘ol middle part and some soft curls near her ends, and the makeup was chill. So uh…doesn’t Mariah have money? Sorry if I sound like a jack butt, but ever since she decided to start dressing more risque as her age has increased, her style has been all spandex, all the time. I know this chick’s body is smoking right now, so why not do better than this? We know it’s just a Jenny Craig event, but damn…Sorry boo, congrats on the weight loss, but I’m going to have to give this a girl, stop.

Tamar Braxton

In NYC yesterday for the premiere of season two of Braxton Family Values, little sis Tamar had all eyes on her (probably because Toni didn’t show up…) in this fanciful blue number. It’s a different look, I’ll give her that. I see that she’s trying to go for an edgy look, and she seems pretty satisfied and confident in it. But there is A LOT going on right now. The dress seems to be a light blue flirty cocktail number that’s ruffled at the bottom and comes in at the waist. The shirt underneath it (which could be attached) is a royal blue sheer top with a tie at the neck. She has on some ornate black tights underneath her blueberry look, and kicks it in white and black booties that have a zipper detail and show off a little toenail. She finishes it all off with beaded bangles, a big ‘ol watch and some straight hair with choppy bangs. Whew! Real talk, everything might work if the pieces for this ‘fit were worn SEPARATELY. Until that happens, this chick gets a girl, stop for trying her hardest to look like an A-list celeb in a Rainbow outfit.

Nicki Minaj

COLOR! That’s what I think when I look at this get-up. Last night, Minaj hit up the Versace for H&M show in NYC, where she also performed to help launch the fashion house’s partnership with the popular retailer. She showed up in true Nicki form: as always, big, BIG hair, and big ‘ol heels. This time though, the ‘fit wasn’t as horrid as you would think. Rocking what looked to be a Versace combination, she wore a long sleeve rhinestone embellished top with open slits around the shoulders. The bottoms to the outfit were similar: fitted, colorful, adorned with flowery details and of course, there were more rhinestones. She kicked up her heels in sky-high color-block stilettos, wore big baubles on her fingers, a large cat choker around her neck, and some more jewels atop her bangs. You will be shocked, but I give this a style to steal. While I wouldn’t wear something like this the way she did, this is definitely one of Minaj’s better looks. Instead of putting any ‘ol thing together per the usual, this actually matches in some way. I don’t know the way, but you can figure that out. I say just ditch that big a** wig (we couldn’t get the cute bob?), the tacky choker and we’ve got a winner…

Which looks do you like? Which do you loathe?

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