I had an interview Bill (Will) for a yet-to-be-determined marketing leadership role. He seemed in denial that his business if flailing and has no unique value or relevancy in today's market. They used to have 10 stores with the goal of opening two new ones every year. Now they have 3. Bill claims that they "know how to do retail really well".
He claimed to want help growing eCommerce sales but when asked about their eCommerce website, didn't want to talk about it because it is being rebuilt. I spoke to him about a variety of marketing topics and we agreed to 1-2 follow-up meetings.
I asked him why a brand with the words "Eugene, Ore" in the logo was marketing products with Italian leather. He talked about the quality of the materials and the prestige that they bring as part of the brand.
One follow-up question later, he accused me of trying to hustle him and said that "the more I talk, the stupider I sound".
I got the impression that verbal abuse is introduced early as a way to vet candidates to ensure that they tolerate verbal abuse on the job.