Hustle culture that leads to burnout - Anonymous employee Jenni Kayne Employee Review

2.0
2 Nov 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Clothing allowance Incentives Unlimited PTO (to an extent) they will track how much PTO you take.

Cons

This company is incredibly small and keeps opening up new stores instead of pausing and nurturing their existing ones, fixing archaic POS systems and teaching corporate to train senior management efficiently. Store teams are outrageously small and leads to employees working alone if another team member calls out. This leads to employees not being able to take a lunch and having to perform all store operational tasks independently. This includes answering phones, processing shipment, backstock, clienteling, visuals, pristine customer service and immaculate store upkeep. This company does not know how to fall on its own sword. If an issue arises it'll somehow be a lower-level employees' fault. All communication is through zoom, phone calls and rare store visits. This creates a lack of connection, empathy and belonging. They do a very good job at making you feel like there is a community and but watch out if your store does not perform well one month, their loving tone turns into micro aggression. This company cares about one thing and one thing only...MONEY. Training is some of the worst I have seen at a company. You are given one week to digest the nearly impossible amount of information given to you and once training is complete and you have a question you are told "we've already been over this, look it up for yourself." Store operations, processes and product knowledge changes out of nowhere with no warning and you are supposed to just go with the flow of it all. This is where they get the terms "fast paced environment" and "entrepreneurial spirit" more like DISorganized chaos. The amount of gossip and judgement I heard from those who work at the very top is astounding. I heard things like..."how is it working with (blank) I know they can be a lot and too much to handle sometimes" or "Don't you think (blank) is boring on conference calls, sometimes I catch myself zoning out when they speak." or "Don't get advice from that manager they are a wildcard, and they never know what they are talking about." I was even told to hold on during a one-on-one meeting so the other attendee could answer a phone call and proceed to speak about a manager in front of me claiming "they weren't doing the work they were told to do and wondered why they were paying them." I thought the company was turning a new leaf when they made employees have a conference call with senior management and HR asking how we like working at the company and how they could best support us, unfortunately it was all for show. I came to an employee in corporate and warned them how I was feeling and became very vulnerable in the conversation only to be told "This is what you wanted, why are you complaining?" From that day forward I knew I had made a mistake working for Jenni Kayne. Human resources is ran by one person and let's just say they need training immensely! They either need an assistant, or they just don't know how to do the job. Paychecks were late, employee reviews were never done, you would ask a question and she would refer you to someone in corporate because "they weren't sure how to answer the question" just a mess.

Explore other reviews about Jenni Kayne

5.0
22 Jan 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun people to work with, lot's of opportunities

Cons

Disorganized and no work life balance

1.0
8 Apr 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Clothing allowance and incentive gifting is very generous.

Cons

Each store has one manager, although all team members have keys. This creates chaos when customer issues arise and there is no manager in store to deescalate or work through customer issues. The company sells you on work-life balance, but the store managers need to be accessible when not working and when sick or on PTO. District leaders are not qualified to be in their roles and have very little grasp on how to effectively lead teams. They prohibit direct communication to corporate partners and communicate on your behalf. Urgency and follow through are not priorities so many problems go left unsolved for months because store leaders are not permitted to address on their own. District leaders will ignore you and leave questions unanswered and claim attempts to address had never been made. Then will gaslight you when proven wrong. However- If you are a person with ZERO experience, opinions, questions, feedback on ways to improve, logic, or self-respect, and is comfortable being a blind follower, you WILL be promoted. Maintenance is not a priority, if you have a repair you will find yourself fixing it. Heating went out in the winter and the district leader's response was to wear a coat. They encourage you to take damages to the dry cleaner for repair to then sell. Continuous increases in clienteling outreach expectations and will opt customers back in once they have unsubscribed. Customers complained about harassment. In certain locations, associates are also known to take new items from stock and replace with their old worn items once pilling has started. They will repin the tags onto old items and put back into stock to sell worn items to customers. Initially, the company offered Unlimited PTO but would rarely approve PTO and strongly encouraged you to take less than 10 days time. Disciplinary conversations would come if your combined PTO and used sick time exceeded this. If you go on medical leave your HR department will tell your team you abandoned them. Employee discount became increasingly limited over time. The company then began to push you to sell to your friends and family but if any furniture item arrived damage they would not replace. Finally, the company was gifting the employees an "employee appreciation" gift along with a survey asking for sizing and preferences. When my garbage bag of gifts arrived, all of the items were damaged, either in store or customer returns. Each item had a note attached with what was wrong with the item from strange smells to stains. One item I received had a blood stain.

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