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Romanek Design Studio

Is this your company?

Stay Away! - Designer Romanek Design Studio Employee Review

1.0
25 Feb 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

High end projects, cool office

Cons

The company is all smoke and mirrors. Brigette is manipulative and treats everyone terribly—employees, vendors, movers—literally everyone except her clients (to their faces at least). She never shows up to work and is completely unreachable by phone, but micromanages every little detail, making it nearly impossible to get work done. This results in massive setbacks on projects, and design presentations are always rushed and thrown together in the eleventh hour, right before client meetings. She cancels so many client meetings because she is "sick" aka unprepared. Many client are very frustrated with the level of service provided and fully aware they're being bamboozled but by the time they realize this they've already invested so much money into their projects that they have no choice but to finish the project. She tries to sweet talk and gaslight clients but they see through it and then complain about her to her employees. It's awkward. She doesn't know how to read a floor plan. Her management style is erratic—she's hot and cold, making the work environment toxic. She doesn't want any of her employees to be friends with each other yet most of us trauma bonded and became friends. The place is a revolving door. It's not collaborative which is ironic for a design studio. You're always walking on eggshells. The mental health impact of this job was horrendous. Everyone is so unhappy. When she doesn't like an employee, she goes out of her way to be cruel to them while being especially warm and friendly to other employees right in front of them. It's like a sick game to make people feel bad for no reason when meanwhile, everyone is trying their absolute hardest to do the best job possible. She presents herself on social media as kind, outgoing, generous, etc. but behind the scenes she couldn't be further from that projection. Like I said, it's all smoke and mirrors. It's actually really sad because I've seen glimpses of kindness from her, but her narcissism and need for control and manipulation always takes over. It's the worst job I've ever had. I could write so much more, this review doesn't even skim the surface but I'd be here for days. Oh and for the record, I know for a fact that the only two positive reviews on this page were written by her old assistant at her request.

Explore other reviews about Romanek Design Studio

5.0
2 Mar 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The CEO is kind and cares about the staff. That's what I've seen. I do think in the beginning they hired people people that weren't good at their jobs and that caused issues, but I've been there since the beginning and the team is getting better and better.I've seen the CEO buy team members phones and always allows for personal days. I don't think it's fair or correct for former employees to write negative reviews just because they didn't do a good job.

Cons

If hard work, challenging and supportive work environment are cons then sign me up!

1.0
10 Sept 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only upside was the chance to work with high-profile clients with massive budgets that could absorb her costly mistakes, but this came at a steep personal and ethical cost

Cons

Working for the Principal Designer was nothing short of a nightmare. Her management style (if any) was not just poor, it was abusive, bordering on tyrannical. The entire office was constantly on edge, terrified of her explosive temper. Client meetings were traumatizing. She expected us to lie to clients to cover up her incompetence, and if we didn’t lie exactly how she wanted, she would scowl and ignore you for the rest of the day, sometimes days. She frequently deceived clients by adding extra charges to cover her own errors. It was as if she thrived on chaos and misery, eagerly pointing fingers at others to cover for her glaring lack of leadership. The turnover was shockingly fast. In just one year, some colleagues saw an entire new team of roughly 10 people come in and out. The toll on mental health was immense, with many employees suffering from stress and burnout, feeling trapped in an environment where their only options were to endure or leave. Working under her left all of us stressed and anxious, and ended up quitting to escape the constant abuse. It’s terrifying how successful she’s become, given her monstrous behavior eek!

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