Lifetouch is the parent company for JCP portraits and they have many rules that studio photographers have to follow when doing a session. They insist that sessions in the camera room only last 15 minutes and you are supposed to have your customers out of the studio and ready to view their photos by that time. The rest of the 45 minute appointment time is spent showing/selling the photos. JCP portraits works with newborns, unpredictable toddlers, surly teens, and grouchy adults. Trying to make special memories for these families is hard enough with plenty of time, let alone having to do it in 15 minutes....
Lifetouch also promotes employees pushing expensive products on customers. They want their employees to push their "media bundle" which is "normally $419, but now you can get it for just $259" on people and that can be frustrating to do when you, as the photographer, know the session wasn't a success. HOWEVER you do get a bonus if you manage to sell a media bundle to someone.
They also make the photographers act as the sales associates and vice versa which is a lot to ask of someone who has back to back appointments scheduled.
Management at our store was very poor. We had a young girl working with us, who wasn't the best photographer, but rather than take time to retrain her and work with her, the manager just stopped scheduling her, but didn't bother to tell her she was fired. That is completely unprofessional and just a terrible experience for a young person to have who was, most likely, working her first job.
I also ended up finding out, through just regular conversation with coworkers, that I was being paid $1 less than everyone else. Yet I was the one who was always scheduled to work/called to come back in under the guise of "being the best photographer" or the "best sales person," but in reality I was really just the cheapest labor.
