Annette English + Associates Reviews

I worked at AEA for a little more than a year as a Senior Designer. I had a difficult time feeling inspired during my time there. Annette lacks creativity and imagination and got most of her ideas from other big name designers (Stephen Gambrel and Joan Behnke) and even copied their work to the tee. I found Annette to be timid, cold, and extremely passive aggressive. Annette is a bully. She’s fake. She’s unprofessional and emotionally unstable. She treats her staff like they’re replaceable but expects them to work their butts off. Vacation hours accrue monthly but if you request time off, she holds it against you and gives you a cold shoulder. If you do something Annette doesn’t like, expect a snippy email from the part time accountant (a heavy set woman in her 70’s and a very unhappy person). All of her employees are miserable and the office is a depressing place where no one greets each other and people work quietly with their heads down. Annette didn’t seem to care too much about the company morale or the well being of her employees for that matter. Her lack of leadership, insincerity and condescending attitude created a toxic work environment and I was happy to rid myself of this place. Also, the office has very poor ventilation and the summer was brutal but staff wasn’t allowed to turn the air conditioner on because of how cheap Annette is. Tip: If you do decide to take a job here, make sure you verify employee benefits during your interview and get it in writing. If you don’t, Annette may not offer it to you later. It depends on whether she likes you and wants to invest in you. Very shady person.

Annette can be passive aggressive when stressed or annoyed. She'll 9 out of 10 apologize if it's obvious she was unprofessional. There were unpaid interns at the firm when it was no longer legal. She was not aware. She does not have the patience to educate herself on labor codes or HR topics but also doesn't have an HR person (and no, your accountant doesn't count). Gets off on cheap labor with high-quality product/work ethic, vendors and employees alike. For someone who isn't NCIDQ certified and didn't finish college, it's ironic that she prefers graduated interns with experience. Overall lots of ego. Responds emotionally. Gaslights you when you speak up. If that doesn’t get her point across, she likes to share what her husband thinks as if that’s supposed to change your mind. Certainly a place you can learn from if you're starting off but not a place to stay unless you can handle boundaries being crossed because, you know...we're family. Speaking up about issues or asking for what's legally required is frowned upon unless it's coming from someone she values and doesn't want to look bad in front of them. Statistically has underpaid women of color. Quiet firing - or tactics used to push you to leave without them having to fire you. Discrimination in Violation of FEHA, and Failure to Indemnify was the basis of the lawsuit that was put together by my attorney. I decided not to go through with the process. At the time, I didn't have the mental bandwidth or the energy to go through a lawsuit with someone like Annette English.