Great People but Hard to Climb the Ladder - Guru Field Representative Brooks Running Employee Review

4.0
Apr 30, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Brooks has some incredible people, that is my biggest takeaway in my two years with the company so far. Great culture, energy, and intentions within the brand. Especially from the higher-ups, it is a fun-loving, caring group that shows real interest in people's lives.

Cons

Very hard to "move up", especially in the Sales Department. They certainly make efforts to help employees advance their career skills, but just by virtue of the business, this does not always translate to new titles or bigger paychecks. Brooks has a relatively small team for a Billion Dollar brand. Many in Sales are well compensated, thus, people don't leave very often! Jobs open very rarely, and attaining them is extremely difficult and competitive - in my view, tenure is the #1 thing that can help you move up, so extreme patience and optimism would be required to do so. Outside of the sales teams, remote jobs (beyond the Tech Rep role) are few and far between. If you're willing to work in a department outside of sales/customer experience, you must also be willing to live in Seattle, which is a dealbreaker for many.

Explore other reviews about Brooks Running

5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- excellent employee perks - gorgeous HQ office buildings with amenities - free lunch - supportive and passionate team members

Cons

- parking is not free for employees, but there are commuter benefits to offset that

2.0
Jun 7, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

PTO and benefits are good. There is free lunch and an onsite gym. Employees are encouraged to run and stay active, with office next to the Burke-Gilman running trail.

Cons

The culture is presented as fun and healthy but in reality it is fairly toxic within specific departments and feels very “high school”. It is also very hierarchical with lots of corporate bureaucracy. The company caters more to middle and upper level management, so expect limited growth and development opportunities. Unclear, constantly changing expectations and overlapping job roles are a common theme. Leadership is not held accountable within the organization. People who play the game and assimilate to the culture are rewarded and perpetuate the status quo way of doing things. This leads to a lack of diversity in thought but also diversity in general especially at the leadership level. There is an added complexity to everything that makes even the most simple work difficult. Everyone is overwhelmed by too many meetings and yet there is not a lot of cross-functional collaboration, as all of the teams work in silos and compete for resources. The company is trying to become a more global, but there are a lot of growing pains associated with this. For a growing company with headquarters in a location like Seattle, the pay is low and not competitive enough to attract and retain top talent. The office buildings also face local area constraints like expensive parking which is passed on to the employee. The company incentivizes alternative transportation but it can be difficult to figure out the best way to get to work. There has been reduced flexibility to work from home with more emphasis put on being in the office.

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