Stressful but co-workers make it worth it
Pros
It was easy to make lasting relationships with my co-workers at the Grand Rapids location. I have never had more fun at a job because of the people I worked with. I was able to exercise my interior design skills with many residential and commercial projects every day. It is a great was to get comfortable with talking to people, and becoming an expert on the subject. I do not consider myself a good "salesperson" and my sales numbers were still pretty good most months. I'm convinced the secret to selling is just being a person, relating to the customer and genuinely wanting to help them.
Cons
Money seems to be the only thing the company values. At the top of each day's To-Do list is "SELL SELL SELL" Management threw a fit every time we wanted time off. Even trying to switch the days you're working around, still maintaining 40 hours a week, felt like an ordeal. My manager was confused as to why I needed to take half a day off to attend my own college graduation ceremony. Your co-workers may be the reason you either maintain or lose your sanity. Almost all of my co-workers were fantastic and it was the best time I've ever had at a job. But because of the competitive nature of the job (competing for sales), one bad co-worker caused a lot of problems at our store in a matter of weeks. Fortunately, that person no longer works there. My biggest problem though, and the reason I left, was the fact that my pay was so unstable and unpredictable. It stressed me out more than it should have, and I had good sales numbers most months. The problem was that I could make triple a normal paycheck one month, and then be in subsidy the next month and it was as if those good months never happened in upper management's eyes. Eventually the stress of the job led to me not caring, which I imagine is what happens to a lot of other employees.