Pros
The pro that sells many on the opportunity is the employee-ownership, and potential retirement funds contributed fully by the ESOP. There are a lot of really great and talented people who care a lot in the organization, and do their best to contribute. Fantastic all-company meetings that make you feel a part of the big picture. Selling photography is a fun thing to sell and something that you can feel proud of. Internal growth opportunity. Decent work life balance - better than I had at my last company, but its old school culture here. Working harder, not smarter gets rewarded and promoted.
Cons
The antiquated and overly conservative company culture and resources. All white male board of directors should tell you enough. Leadership is not visionary and the company innovation and resources are severely lagging where the industry has gone. Long term viability of the portrait division looks bleak in offerings. Many of the employees do not even want to buy the product. The company does not invest money to make money, and continually asks the field photographers and leaders to do more with less, and expects growth in results. When our offerings and quality to the customer are less and less, why would they spend more? Compensation and benefits in the portrait studio company is lower than market. Benefits are average to poor. Executive leadership makes decisions in a vacuum and does nothing to break down communication silos and the "us" and "them" mentality. The culture is poor, morale is poor. People do not have a good understanding of other roles and departments within the organization - leadership does a poor job of helping everyone understand their piece in the puzzle, and where their accountabilities lie.
