Uneven but Evolving - Anonymous employee Kendo Employee Review

3.0
Jul 17, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

At Kendo there has always been an opportunity to create and execute strategy with significant freedom to operate. There is an enthusiasm for the products that leads to people giving a little extra to get things done. Although many fundamentals are not in place, the environment is improving as infrastructure is added regularly to help accommodate the extreme growth that the company has experienced. Further, there are usually ample opportunities to travel to interesting places on behalf of the company - Paris, New York and Milan are frequent traveler destinations at Kendo. Finally there are smaller perks with snacks, drinks, parties and happy hours being rather abundant in the office.

Cons

If you are a subject matter expert in an operations field it is possible to excel but have your work ultimately underappreciated or not understood - Kendo is an incubator of cosmetic brands, not a company striving for operational excellence. In many areas there are gaps in leadership that lead to less than a full understanding of the magnitude of some of the projects and resulting accomplishments. This creates significant ambiguity in terms of career path opportunities past certain leadership levels in the company. Additionally, basic fundamental set ups that are long standing at many companies are missing from Kendo - this leads to a significant amount of ambiguity at a day to day level.

Explore other reviews about Kendo

5.0
May 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Ez work flow that everyone will like

Cons

No cons I currently think of

2.0
Apr 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are some really amazing people to work with depending on the team you're on. Good exposure to what it's like to work on a celebrity brand and for a larger corporation (though it's also a con). They have a good selection of snacks, coffee, amenities.

Cons

There are some really awful people to work with. Lots of "mean girls" which will stay this way unless they swap out some people at the top. Huge lack of accountability, lots of blaming and pointing fingers. They have a beautiful set of principles that they don't follow. Processes are terrible - no one will take ownership and put proper ways of working in place. Kendo is best for younger folks just out of college so they can train you to believe this is the best way of working, and it's just not.

5
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