Haute Living Reviews

3.3

61% would recommend to a friend

(55 total reviews)

57% positive business outlook

Haute Living has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 55 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Haute Living employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

55 reviews
1.0
30 Apr 2015

Worst ever!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Owners work very close to their employees and, as far as watches and real estate goes, they are well positioned. The magazines looks very nice.

Cons

Seth Semilof is very disrespectful, extremely arrogant, a bad leader and hated by his employees and people in the industry like no other person I have ever seen. He is as shallow as a person can get, to him there are "millionaires and loosers". Although Kamal Hotchandani, the main owner, seems to be nicer; he turns a blind eye to the poor management performed by Mr. Semilof.

1.0
28 Jan 2015

The WORST job I've ever had. Atrocious owners.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There aren't many pros about the company. I can say that I truly enjoyed working with the sales and editorial teams—but we were all pretty miserable working for Seth Semilof. And why are there fake reviews on this thread? They're clearly planted by the owners: They all have the same "Advice to Management" section.

Cons

There are no benefits whatsoever. There's no 401k. There are no health, dental, or vision benefits. And there are no sick, personal, or vacation days. The bonus and raise structures are arbitrary at best. You're not given the means to reach your goals. This is the first place I've seen where new hires don't show up for their first day of work. Other new hires last two days, then decide it's not worth their time. Haute Living is truly a high-turnaround company. Nobody has a shred of respect for the owner. Seth Semilof tries to justify his stance on having no vacation days by saying that he lets his employees work remotely...but of course, you'll get berated by a 10-tantrum email if you say that you'd like to work from home. Both full-time and part-time employees are severely underpaid. Many have taken pay cuts because they have been promised either more creative freedom or a good work-life balance. These promises were never fulfilled. In terms of working, you're always given a directive...only for it to be changed once you've completed your work. This in itself would have been fine—but the manner in which the owner berates you is downright disrespectful. He won't take responsibility for his own directives and lay the blame on you. Another thing that's really bothersome is the company's business practices. The owners never give out accurate information. They are constantly lying to potential advertisers. They lie about circulation. They lie about traffic. There are fake ads in the print magazine. And the print magazines are supposed to be controlled-distribution issues featured in the best hotels and private jets. But they're not. (A potential advertiser did her research and alerted the sales team about this. This is how we found out about the sham.) The owner in charge of operations—in particular—is very crafty with his words, in that he spontaneously lies about everything. It's almost pathological. He would lie about very good and hardworking employees to get others to be loyal to him—but the staffers know better. He also lies to his partner, who is in the money man behind it all. Anyone who tries to expose his lies is booted out the door immediately—in part, because he wouldn't be able to fund his lifestyle. That same owner also comes in reeking of weed, which is just beyond unprofessional.

1.0
9 Jan 2014

Run by a profoundly ignorant entrepreneur

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Most reviews will likely over a similiar set of pros for this company. My co-workers were decent people and i enjoyed working with them.

Cons

Seth Semilof handles operations and firmly exercises ABBAB (always be berating and belittling). I quite literally have never encountered a co-worker with a shred of respect for the owners of the company. Seth's toxic attitude often even drives off potential/current clients.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 55 Reviews

Glassdoor has 86 Haute Living reviews submitted anonymously by Haute Living employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Haute Living is right for you.