A message to Ken Meares (CEO)
A large part of my disappointment came from the fact that I was fired without leave, opportunity to collect unemployment and I wasn’t paid a single dollar for the hard earned 130-hour PTO balance I had when I left. I actually had a conversation over the phone with Andrew LaBarbera (CFO) a few weeks after my departure and he said “I might be able to do something for you.” I followed up a few times and his response was, “I have been meaning to get back to you.” I realize now that the whole situation was a terrible way to separate with a tenured employee that worked for the company for over 5 years. I moved to south Florida for the job and I felt like I was left with nothing but a lease in a city I didn’t want to be in and barely the shirt on my back. I felt inclined to tell you how terrible my experience was with your company and how embarrassed I was to be a part of it at the end. --------
The culture and employee development was strong and welcoming the first few years I was with the company and I believe that was in large part because of the involvement of Ken Meares (CEO) . The leadership takeover of Vanessa Walker (CMO) combined with Andrew LaBarbera (CFO) left employee morale absolutely dismantled. Once Andrew LaBarbera (CFO) was able to bring his wife, Vanessa Walker (CMO) as a consultant, I was surprised she was promoted to CMO because she had little involvement with any profitable campaign that Great HealthWorks ran and she has little experience with response driven marketing. Andrew LaBarbera (CFO) may have been spread too thin or biased by the fact it was his wife, but Vanessa Walker (CMO) made many mistakes. Those mistakes included the dismantlement of the Media Team that drive all revenue for the company. The concept of a lavish beauty award party (That did not have any plan to actually generate revenue). Bringing in her friends from a previous company, who’s lack of experience hindering growth and development beyond repair. Most importantly there has not been a successful campaign launched since she joined GHW, every dollar generated can be tied back to TV Media and the development of digital has taken a step backwards under her direction. Even the creatives run on TV today were created before she was involved in production. --------
The last bad experience was with Tim Barker (CIO). Similar to Andrew LaBarbera (CFO), Tim Barker (CIO) was very uninvolved and did not have any experience with marketing analytics. I was with the company for 5 years and the first time I walked into his office, I was literally 2 mins late because I was a work from home employee and didn't know where his office was . Tim Barker (CIO) said to me, "My time is very valuable and it is unacceptable to be late." I actually laughed because I reached out about the vague meeting invitation and thought he was joking at first. He has zero interest in the development of a team and I am surprised he got as far as he has without any respect for tenured employees.
