Lifetouch Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Lifetouch full-time for more than a year

Pros – Friendly bosses, good commission's on sales full time work work almost year round

Cons – you have to make sales because you are 100 percent commision, no salary, and hours our random. business slows down January through march

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Lifetouch full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Overall company treats employees great and appreciates them. Seasonal employment so a great job for a mom or dad that wants to be home for when kids get home from school and Christmas and summer breaks. Provides training for job so if you want to break into a photography field it a great place to start.

Cons – Individual territories vary so much. The larger the territory the more impersonal upper management within the territory becomes. Pay rate varies from territory to territory. No compensation for the amount of driving you do in a larger vehicle to accommodate the equipment you must carry for the job

Advice to Senior Management – Be more consistent throughout company. Show appreciation for employees that remain with company. Company senior management needs to visit individual territories and listen to employees, then follow up with actions of improvement to ensure all territories are following policy.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Lifetouch full-time for more than a year

Pros – One of the best things about Lifetouch is employee-ownership in the form of ESOP. While this provides an amazing retirement benefit, it is really about having a vested stake in a business that you truly care about. Everybody has the ability to impact both the short AND long term success of the organization and, being privately held, we don't live and die by our quarterly results. It is also an organization filled with some of the nicest, most genuine people you will ever meet who are truly passionate about our industry and product. It's easy to fall in love with a photography company whose core focus is capturing invaluable memories. The amount of philanthropic work and money the company donates to the communities it serves is truly remarkable (think Target, they just don't advertise it).

Cons – The industry is complex and changes rapidly, but this is offset by the fact that you are working for a highly respected leader in the photography space. Lifetouch's corporate structure can be challenging to navigate as a newbie. It takes awhile to learn the ropes, but once the light bulb turns on you realize what an amazing place it truly is. The company is also fiscally conservative, which means you don't always have the newest and the best of everything. That being said, they do invest where it makes sense (and, to be honest, this strategy has helped the company stay in a very strong financial position compared to competitors).

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Lifetouch full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great Employee Stock Ownership Program for retirement, Company contributes 100% of stock. Company continues to grow through acquisitions. Lifetouch is a company with heart, organizes mission trips through World Servants, provides smile safe cards to grade school kids, is a partner with the center for missing and exploited children.

Cons – Because it is an ESOP company, benefits and perks are very small as the company watches the bottom line closely to keep profits going into ESOP. Various divisions in Lifetouch communicate very little.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Lifetouch as an intern for less than a year

Pros – - Involved in meetings
- Learned about many different functions of the company through meetings with directors and senior leadership
- Excellent mentorship with supervisors
- Great pay for an internship

Cons – - Little project management
- Felt like my work didn't contribute to the company

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Lifetouch full-time for more than a year

Pros – Flexible schedule, but when work calls you must make time for it.

Cons – No feedback from upper management

Former Employee – worked at Lifetouch for more than 3 years

Pros – I've worked in the studios, schools, and a district office. Very stable company, bought out Olan Mills and Heriff Jones in 2012. Stock ownership. If you ever travel to corporate for training/meetings, they put you up in a very nice hotel and take good care of you. Just hope you don't go when it's snowing! Also, they were very flexible with transferring to different divisions.

Studios: Easy work when it's slow. Store discount.
Schools: Fun working with kids, solo work, fun meetings twice a year, photo contests, M-F.
District: Great coworkers, steady 40hrs/wk, relaxed office environment, can wear jeans to work, M-F.

Cons – I've spoken directly with a regional manager who admitted that Lifetouch pays just enough to keep employees on board for a couple seasons before they get fed-up and quit.

Studios: Very low pay and unpredictable hours. Must work weekends. Can't ask off around holidays.
Schools: Long distance travel (2 of my coworkers got into accidents from falling asleep at the wheel) sick frequently, part-time seasonal work.
District: Extremely overworked and underpaid for so many responsibilities.

Advice to Senior Management – Studios: Watch out for Portrait Innovations. They've got the right idea.
Schools: Make sure you have enough photographers hired Before the season starts.
District: Create a call center for call cycles and CRs.
Across the board: Better Pay. Create opportunities for your best/most experienced photographers where they can look forward to pay increases.

– I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Lifetouch full-time for less than a year

Pros – It will depend on the office you report to but overall I really enjoyed the people I worked with. That is what made this job so great. You get to meet new people everyday and at this point in my life I loved to drive to all the different locations. I got to travel around the state.

Cons – Pay is not great, especially considering they do not meet IRS mileage reimbursement rates.

The reason I would refer a friend to this job is because while there are downsides it is a seasonal position, so not having all the benefits is not a big deal in the long run.

Advice to Senior Management – Better pay would ensure better employees and better competition. There were multiple individuals who quit by not showing up for a job and people were forced to make up for them.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Lifetouch full-time for more than a year

Pros – -Good management
-Co Workers
-Family environment
-ESOP, excellent retirement plan
-Decent Pay
-Flexibility
-Hours
-Good business model
-Sales reps were very knowledgeable

Cons – -Pay is decent, not great
-Layoffs
-Lack of training

Advice to Senior Management – Pay your employees a little more. It will go a long way.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Lifetouch full-time for more than a year

Pros – There is a great deal of happiness when dealing with the portrait studios as most of the clients are children. The managers and other DMs are a close and supportive team to work with

Cons – They change the hierarchy frequently so even if you manage to get a promotion the following year you may lose it. Also the office has a strong disconnect from what the field actually does and they create too much job justifying redundant work for the field that does not add to the bottom line.

Advice to Senior Management – get feedback from field personnel before you role out new programs and do not role them out in the middle of a holiday

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company