There was often a disconnect between leadership expectations and the realities of modern marketing and creative work. Strategy frequently shifted based on stakeholder pressure rather than channel performance or audience behavior, making it difficult to build long-term momentum.
Work-life balance could also be inconsistent. Non-urgent requests regularly became after-hours priorities, and expectations around flexibility and in-office attendance evolved over time compared to what had originally been discussed during hiring.
In some cases, concerns around marketing practices, platform strategy, or compliance-related risks did not feel like they were taken seriously enough when raised internally. This created an environment where employees could feel pressured to prioritize speed and stakeholder satisfaction over thoughtful execution, including situations involving copyright usage, sweepstakes processes, and other avoidable reputational risks.
Turnover appeared to continue increasing, while concerns around management practices often did not seem to result in meaningful organizational changes. There were also situations that, from my perspective, reflected poorly on how some employees were treated during periods of transition or separation from the company.
While the Carter culture as presented externally is strong, my experience was that certain management behaviors made it difficult to consistently foster collaboration, role clarity, and long-term team trust. In practice, relationship management and alignment with leadership personalities sometimes appeared to carry more weight than clearly defined responsibilities or measurable performance.
