Pros
The people. Many talented, hardworking employees genuinely cared about helping customers and supporting one another. I gained valuable experience in customer service, website consulting, digital marketing, project management, and cross-functional collaboration. My coworkers consistently went above and beyond despite increasing demands and shrinking resources.
Cons
High turnover, declining morale, and a culture that increasingly asked employees to do more with less. Over the years, benefits and employee perks were gradually reduced while workloads and expectations continued to grow. Many employees took on responsibilities well beyond their job descriptions, including training, coaching, mentoring, quality review, side-by-sides, and leadership functions without corresponding compensation, title changes, or advancement opportunities. Career growth often felt unclear and inconsistent, leaving many employees feeling that hard work and additional responsibility were not rewarded. Leadership frequently emphasized that employees were replaceable rather than investing in retention, development, and institutional knowledge. This created an environment where many experienced and highly capable employees felt undervalued, disengaged, and ultimately chose to leave. Many female employees expressed frustration with what they perceived as inconsistent promotion practices. It was common to see highly capable women taking on additional responsibilities such as training, mentoring, coaching, quality review, and leadership functions without formal advancement, while others appeared to move into leadership roles more quickly. Whether intentional or not, this created a perception that advancement opportunities were not always based on contribution, performance, or demonstrated leadership. The company often spoke about valuing employees while simultaneously reducing benefits, eliminating perks, increasing workloads, and expecting employees to absorb additional responsibilities. Over time, the gap between leadership messaging and employee experience became increasingly difficult to ignore.
