Faint of heart need not apply!!! - Recensione dipendente - Program Specialist presso Live Your Message

I have had the pleasure and honor of working for Live Your Message (LYM) since December 2020 as it's fractional CFO. I've been treated with nothing but respect since I started and have enjoyed my tenure. I came on for a 3 month contract to clean up it's system and then stayed because I love the message and the people who work on the team. LYM provides so much powerful and useful content to its students. I've watched repeatedly how it OVER-DELIVERS on its promises and ensures the success of the people who do the work in our programs. I've read on Glassdoor on the challenges that some other team members have faced with Marisa, our CEO. I do not wish to diminish their experiences but offer my own experience. Marisa is a straight-shooter who works hard and sets a high standard for our team. I wish to achieve mastery in all aspects of my craft, and this level of excellence will allow me to work hard to meet this standard. It has not always been easy, my ego has been touched more than a few times, and I continue to appreciate the standard set by a powerful woman leader.

The leadership team requires a high level of workmanship, and for some who do not like demanding environments, this is not the right place.

I worked from home. Also a con when there is zero work/life balance.

I have never experienced a work environment as chaotic, emotionally volatile, and professionally damaging as this one. The CEO creates a culture driven by fear, unpredictability, and public humiliation. Many of the reviews describing narcissistic behavior felt painfully accurate during my experience there. Employees are routinely criticized in front of others, and mistakes, even minor ones, are amplified publicly rather than handled constructively or professionally. During the hiring process, I specifically asked what success would look like at 30/60/90 days because I value clear expectations and onboarding support. What I encountered instead was an expectation to operate at full capacity almost immediately, with minimal training, incomplete context, and constantly shifting priorities. Within days of starting, I was assigned a major high-pressure asset with an unrealistic turnaround timeline and almost no onboarding. Even when the project succeeded, it still was not enough. The biggest issue was the constant moving of goalposts. Expectations were vague, inconsistent, and frequently changed after work had already been completed. I was often told to execute something a specific way, only to later be criticized for following those exact instructions. Over time, this creates an environment where employees second-guess themselves constantly and become afraid to make decisions at all. The company operates in near-constant urgency mode. Everything is treated as an emergency, yet many deadlines are delayed by leadership bottlenecks, particularly around approvals. Critical feedback and approvals are often only available during narrow windows based entirely on the CEO’s availability or mood. When those delays inevitably impact timelines, blame is pushed downward onto employees. There is also little respect for work-life balance or realistic workload expectations. Employees are expected to be highly responsive at all times, including outside normal work hours. Part-time contractors are often treated as if they are full-time salaried employees without corresponding compensation, support, or boundaries. The lack of systems, training, documentation, and proactive communication makes it extremely difficult to succeed. Many mistakes happen not because employees are incapable, but because people are forced to execute under intense pressure without adequate process, context, or time to follow best practices. What made the experience especially difficult was the emotional environment. Marisa’s communication frequently felt reactive, intimidating, and emotionally dysregulated. Rather than fostering collaboration, growth, or psychological safety, the culture often felt rooted in control, blame, and criticism. I left this role questioning my own abilities in ways I never had before, despite having a successful professional background prior to joining the company. In hindsight, the environment itself was the problem. I would strongly caution anyone considering working here, especially those who value healthy leadership, mentorship, clear communication, professional development, or work-life balance.