Toxic environment – watch out for monster CEO
Pros
Decent pay and benefits, ability to work remotely, monthly Uber Eats stipend and working with a team that is primarily filled with females from all backgrounds. That's about it. The 'unlimited PTO' is a scam–Nicole will run you for everything you have and make you feel bad about taking time for yourself.
Cons
Clare is truly the worst company I've worked for. While the product is fantastic and the small team is great, the CEO, Nicole, is an egotistical micromanager who gets off on putting others down. During my tenure at Clare, Nicole (CEO) had four separate social media/content managers quit on her within a short period of time, multiple interns leave, and customer service support staff. She berated them and would talk down upon them all, as well as other team members who made the decision to leave this toxic workplace, in public forums once they were no longer there to stick up for themselves. Completely unprofessional and left others feeling like they had the ‘ick’ because it was so uncomfortable. She would also talk to internal team members as if they were stupid, and would talk badly about the contractors she hired quite often. In individual meetings, Nicole has a tendency to keep you in meetings for hours at a time, even if they run outside of your working hours, telling you how terrible of a worker you are. Nicole (CEO) was also quick to talk down on other brands and their marketing strategies often. It is one thing to have some friendly competition, but Nicole (CEO) acted as if she was a gift from the big man himself and that everyone else sucked. She told multiple team members that leadership was an issue for her in previous roles throughout her career and that she tried seeking help to resolve said issues–but she does not want to face the facts, because that would make her feel less than perfect and would destroy her self-worth. Nicole does not have a growth mindset–it is her way or the highway. It’s sad because Clare has a lot of potential, and with the right leadership in place, it would be a lovely place to work. Some people are meant to lead and others are not. Nicole (CEO) may be a phenomenal businesswoman, but she needs to recognize that she is a terrible leader and is single-handedly the only contributing factor to the toxic workplace at Clare, and should hire a partner who can do people management while she handles the rest.
