Vantaggi
I worked at She Bop up until 2 days ago. I loved this place with all my heart when I first started working here 2.5 years ago. I've made amazing memories with the staff and am so grateful for each of you. I loved working with customers, meeting them in such a vulnerable place, and easing their anxieties while helping them figure out what is best for them. It really makes me emotional.
Svantaggi
From here on out, when I refer to the "staff" I am referring to everyone but the owner/GM... Since Jeneen Doumitt took sole ownership of this company, I have slowly lost hope for the future of She Bop. It sounds dramatic I know, but without a proper HR department, management (read: the owner) is able to always operate within a grey area of muddled procedures and ever-changing policies that only ever benefit those at the top and allow them to micromanage our days. Before working at She Bop, I actually worked in Human Resources for 5 years. The problem here is there are no checks-and-balances. No witnesses to conversations had or advocates for staff who fear retaliation when speaking up. That's the danger in being a part of a "family" at work. The current owner has created an environment that rewards those who stay complicit with a smile and punishes those who verbalize any opinion other than her own. She can be condescending, unreasonable, and committed to her opinion and her opinion alone. Even when staff members speak up politely, they are labeled "disrespectful" and regularly overlooked for career advancement opportunities. The recent comments on the Instagram post were also upsetting to so many. For the last few days, it has shaken our staff and affected us all deeply. Still, management has yet to open a conversation with us about it. When asking the general manager whether they will speak to the staff about it, she said she didn't know. "Why? Do you think we should?" Yes. Yes I do. It is unfair for the staff to be pushed aside and spoken for. I was especially upset when the Instagram post was signed off as "Team Bop," making it sound like we all agreed with everything posted when this is not true. I personally have been advocating for better benefits and wages for a while now, in check ins, speaking directly with other staff members, and in a one-on-one with Jeneen earlier this year. It is clear to me that she is so far removed from the reality of living off a wage of $17-21/hour that she either does not understand or does not care. She certainly does not understand why more staff members don't take advantage of the IRA contribution match program. "It's basically free money," she said to me while laughing. I explained to her that many staff members do not even make enough to pay for groceries or health insurance- how would they have enough to contribute to an IRA account? But that does not matter to her. We can take pride in the work that is done here but we should also encourage it to be a more positive environment for staff members.