Pros
-Young energetic team that feels passionate about not just creating fun products but also doing good along the way -Young company means the opportunity to build programs and create your own path a bit -Lot of great ownership over your job and projects -They really do their best to try and treat employees with empathy. I experienced this in my first month there and it never changed. When I left, my exit interviews were nothing but incredibly thoughtful and it made me feel fortunate to have been a part of the story even though it no longer made sense for me to stay. -Open PTO with managers that don't micromanage -The Wild Time policy is really cool and I was able to take advantage of that to volunteer every week. Junior team members do feel pressure to not take this time but I frankly think that's just a matter of making a big push to help them understand that they ultimately need to take ownership of work/life balance. It is easy for companies to offer benefits like this but harder to actually make a concerted effort to push people to acknowledge it's okay and encouraged for them to take this time -Brand recognition that really holds more weight in the industry than some junior team members even believe -If you are massively passionate about the outdoor industry you will fit in swimmingly while also finding less of the BS from other outdoor companies -They exclusively hire for niceness which sounds bizarre and there are some cons to the way the policy is framed, but all in all, it creates a genuinely nice team -Opportunity to work on unique projects and insert your viewpoint -They manager I had when I left was not a fit for me but I worked with and under a few incredible managers while there that really took care to listen to my feedback and empower me to be creative with my projects
Cons
-Young company that at the time I was there didn't have HR which was desperately needed -Like most companies, communication between teams and managers could improve -A can do culture is great but can also be stressful and make employees resent the amount of work they're taking on -Career development outside of the office is limited which is also a general issue in the outdoor industry -Younger inexperienced team comes with it's own challenges -No 401K which was important to me -Growth and salary increases are tough with young companies but they take pride in encouraging employees to take advantage of shares that will hopefully pay out -Management training for newer managers could probably go a long way -Transparency and discussion for tough decisions, changes, and uncomfortable conversations needs some improvement. -Management team makes a lot of effort to promote mentorship to an unofficial degree but actually providing the resources and framework to make this happen would help -If you like structure, this company could be a tough fit which is ultimately what I found
