Unfortunate - Anonymous employee Leota Employee Review

1.0
13 June 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Small company so you learn the inner workings the business first hand, unlimited polyester dresses.

Cons

When I began working at Leota it was a dream opportunity to work for a woman owned company with feminist values that aligned with my own. When I left Leota it was a culture of cattiness, bullying, and never ending stress over cheap dresses. The company is not in a place anyone seeking employment wants to be in. In debt to factories, photographers, models, developers, print designers, etc. Some of which began to come after me on my personal social media accounts when they weren't getting answers from management about payments they likely still have not received. Reckless spending and poorly planned sales strategies have led this company to a place I don't feel confident it can recover. This did not help the unnecessary stress level. A stress level that sent one coworker to the emergency room 3 times as described in a 3 page, single spaced, letter circulated to everyone in the Leota office as well as all factories and vendors months after he suddenly left the company without notice. It also mentions the enormous debt the company is in (not that the vendors needed to be reminded). Management tried to play it off but the office consensus was "tell us something we don't already know." Constant juggling and trying to appease the CEO (which you won't accomplish). You will feel bullied, belittled, and personally insulted if you dare try to say no to the most absurd requests. The manner in which the CEO conducts themselves in the office vs. the outside world is jarring. They market themselves as a feminist leader wanting to mentor and support you but you'll only ever feel put down and dreading the next encounter you'll have with them. My job description changed constantly as others were always leaving or being let go and I would absorb their responsibilities with no compensation or assistance. When I left the company I had taken the responsibilities of 4 other people in addition to my own. When some areas began to suffer due to this my suggestions for help were often ignored and I was met with criticism rather than the assistance and resources needed to execute my job correctly. While at the company we were asked to write positive reviews of the company on this very website due to an influx of negative reviews past employees, I myself had an intern write one. This was often a point made in the daily morning meetings. Something to keep in mind as you scroll. When I finally left Leota it was due to the company's inability to pay me. They attempted to rob me of some of my final compensation I worked way to hard to earn. When confronted via email the matter was ignored for weeks. At one point they forgot to remove me from an email discussing the matter and it was revealed the derogatory manner in which I was being discussed. It wasn't until that ugly misstep was I finally paid. Unless you're a masochist, I'm going to suggest you skip it.

Explore other reviews about Leota

5.0
25 May 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I spent a little less than a year at Leota and will be leaving with nothing but respect and admiration for this company and the team behind it. Working in a small company, you really get firsthand experience of all the hard work that goes into a brand’s success. I was able to grow so much within a short amount of time and felt rewarded in my role and the work I got to do daily. Another aspect that I enjoyed was that I got to form close relationships with my team, being in an intimate environment. I was able to learn about brand operations outside of my role from our designer, head of sales, CEO, etc. Overall, my time spent with Leota was extremely rewarding and I left with so much knowledge that'll help me in future endeavors. Thank you to the wonderful team at Leota for such a memorable experience!

Cons

Since things can move so quickly we experienced the normal ups and downs that any business does & always worked together as a team to find a solution in the end. I wouldn't say there were any real cons within my time spent at Leota.

1.0
17 Dec 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fellow coworkers were amazing, and made the experience better.

Cons

Owner of the company never paid their factories on time so most of the job was convincing factories to basically keep working for free. Money was mainly focused on PR. Owner of the company cycled through several production managers due to unrealistic time line which she promised to buyers. Due to poor management we lost our biggest customer at the time before blaming the rest of the staff. Most of the people working at her company were new people and they were gaslit into working long hours for little pay. Some were let go for asking for a raise and were asked to lie about them being let go saying it was for other reasons.

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