Pros
I worked at Twoseven for 6.5 years and was lucky enough to work closely with almost everyone at the company. With the projects following the rapid timelines of the fashion industry, you work on a lot of projects within a year, usually from start to finish, which allowed me to learn a lot in a short amount of time, especially because most of the projects were so unique. The people there are really what made me stay as long as I did. There were so many talented artists and carpenters to learn from who always made time to teach me something new or help me with a project. I knew I could rely on a lot of people there, and that made all the difference. (Also, the access to a workshop with an abundance of tools to borrow and experts to learn from was something that was really hard to walk away from!) I also worked closely with Franco & Martina (CEO & Creative Director) who were always kind to me and gave me all the opportunities I needed to grow at the company. There were some extremely challenging days/weeks/months, but I generally loved my time there and am forever grateful for the experience Twoseven gave me.
Cons
Hours were sometimes really long, and were both mentally and physically demanding. My longest week there was over 100 hours, and although this was by choice/necessity for the project I was managing, it wasn't uncommon for a number of the employees. I also felt that it was occasionally part of the culture to be guilted into working overtime, but maybe that's just me. Mental health matters, and I hope the culture changes a bit, to not only include, but also encourage more time off -- I feel strongly that employees would be happier and work more efficiently this way. This would likely be helped by better strategic planning on projects. There was always something just slightly off about the process of how a project moved through the company, but they were almost always saved by a few key players. I think something that would greatly help the company would be regular, scheduled, annual reviews. There never seemed to be enough time, but I think that it is absolutely essential for reviews to be prioritized for the general morale of the company. Some employees felt that they had no way to grow at the company if they wanted to, and didn't know where or how to improve. Reviews would have also been important in letting go of employees who weren't a good fit earlier. I've written a lot for Cons, but as I said, I cherish my time at Twoseven, and feel that all these issues that I've mentioned are capable of being fixed.