Too many to list but for the purpose of this post, I'll keep it short and sweet (not really, more raw and honest).
• Horrible leadership: This started at the very top and it showed. A lack of empathy, trust, and basic respect was not occasional, it was the norm. The Founder and CEO routinely tore down people’s skills, minimized contributions, and inserted herself into everything without the context to do so effectively. There were no clear lanes, just constant second-guessing and undermining. And for an agency grounded in communication, they sure did not know how to communicate. Mixed messages, unclear direction, and constant ambiguity made it nearly impossible to operate with confidence. Boundaries did not exist. Work-life balance was something people tried to protect quietly, not something leadership respected. When it came down to it, fear tactics were used to pressure people into dropping personal commitments in service of the firm’s priorities. It was not urgency, it was control.
• Piss-poor culture: This was a place where titles looked better than the experience behind them. Promotions were based on perception, not performance. People were elevated into leadership roles they were not ready for, managing teams they did not know how to support. Day to day, it felt less like a professional environment and more like a middle school lunchroom. People talked behind each other’s backs, defaulted to blame when things went wrong, and avoided accountability. There was little sense of shared ownership and even less of a true team mentality. Collaboration was something people said, not something they practiced.
• Lack of professional development, onboarding and training: Onboarding to the agency and to individual client accounts was disorganized and, at times, nonexistent. You were expected to deliver immediately with little context, no clear process, and minimal guidance. There was no real operational backbone. No consistent ways of working, no structured training, no investment in helping people grow. The lack of process and organization caught up quickly. Internally, it created confusion and inefficiency. Externally, clients felt it. Frustration built, trust eroded, and eventually, business was lost.
• Loss of identity: Finally, there is a clear identity issue. The agency has lost a strong sense of what it is and what it does best. In a shifting public health landscape, instead of sharpening its core expertise, it has tried to position itself as a broad, do-everything agency in line with larger industry players. This lack of focus has diluted its strengths and created ongoing confusion around its value and direction.
