Pros
After several jobs in different cities, I finally found a brand and a team that inspires me to get up each day.
When I set out to look for a job, I had a few things I was looking for:
- a culture which aligns to my personal values
- a product I actually use and the ability to build it up
- a manager whom I can call a mentor
Happy to say that Yours meets all of these! When I was looking for jobs, I knew I would have a hard time finding a company that met all of these, but I didn't want to compromise anymore. In the past I've always rationalized that xyz role was a good fit for me or that I could make it work. Yes I could've stayed, but I was learning the wrong things and I didn't like that.
Diving a little deeper on these 3 points in case you've read this far:
- Culture: It's so weird to say this but the culture at Yours is very human (which says a lot about office culture nowadays). You can feel that there's a genuine sense of care within the team and you can bring your whole self to work. If you need a break, take a break. If you have feedback, it is highly encouraged to say it directly and as soon as you can. If you make a mistake, it's alright as long as you fix it and learn from it. Experiments? Yes, let's do it! Everyone's very open and transparent, willing to help each other out in spite of our long to-do's every day because we're all working towards one goal and that is to build the best self-care brand. Huge plus that the founders also care about the environment and have kept this in mind when they were designing the products.
- Product: I was originally a customer of Yours and when I spoke to the founders about the road map, I knew I was in. I could see the potential of the brand to venture into soooo many different things. Health and beauty sector is worth billions and projected to grow in the next few years. Even in this time of uncertainty (covid), skincare continues to be a need for customers.
- Manager: I used to think that I needed to learn specific skills from my manager especially in my field, but after going thru several jobs in my life, I realized that it's more important is to have a manager who encourages you to try new things rather than fall in line, who can shape the way you think vs. learning the hard skills, who you can be open and honest with. Yes, I've found these at Yours :)
Everyone has different preferences and these are mine. Hope it was helpful for you!
Cons
As mentioned, people has different working styles and Yours will not be everyone's cup of tea.
- Lack of structure: The company is still in its early stages so many of the tools and processes have to be built from almost scratch. You won't do it alone, but it'll still take a lot of effort. Team is very open to new things though.
- Many moving parts: So many great ideas, but sometimes it can get overwhelming. Not everything has to be done now though, but the list will be never ending and you need to be able to prioritize.
- Doing things end to end: You have to be willing to do a little bit of everything when the occasion calls for it. I've done many tasks that were beyond my job scope and it has allowed me to learn new things, but some people are not comfortable with this (example: marketing helps out with ops and vice versa).