Pros
As long as you advocate for yourself, work-life balance.
Cons
CandleScience was founded by two brothers who brought their friends and family in to fill all leadership and management positions. That's fine when a company is new, but as CS grew they refused to bring on competent leadership. This created a culture where if the nepo group liked you, you were safe in your job. People were rewarded for who they knew, not how well they performed in their role. Leadership also allowed abhorrent behavior from the "in" group, including but not limited to harassment, managers blocking employees from department transfers/promotions, and blatant discrimination. I personally reported a few offenses to management and nothing was addressed. HR is a mess and promises many benefits that aren't fulfilled. Shortly before I left, a new CEO was brought on. This CEO's history shows that he specialized in leading companies through layoffs/buyouts. CS promised that this wasn't the case with them, it was just ironic that this CEO recently led another Durham-based craft company through rounds of layoffs then selling out to a larger corporation. Not even half-a-year later, CS announces their first round of layoffs. During those layoffs, employees are told that they shouldn't expect a raise this year because money is so tight. Stay away from CS. Even before the layoffs and leadership change, this company was depraved. Outwardly they claim to support BLM and other social causes. Behind closed doors they promote an environment of discrimination, sweeping offenses (many that would result in legal consequences) under the rug, micromanaging and unfairly treating employees of color, and any time an employee does escalate something legally they hide it by using their LLC out of Delaware.