cashier

customer service representative

studio assistant

team member

assistant manager

COLOR ME MINE

It's a lot less artsy of a job than the owners make it sound - more like glorified retail with a side of customer service.  Customers are usually pretty nice, if a little impatient, but the occasional positive worker/guest experience elevates the whole experience.  Job consists of instructing guests on how the studio works, getting paint colors for them, manning the register, writing descriptions of the ceramic pieces they paint, and identifying and bagging their pieces after they've been glazed and fired by the glazer.  Each of these tasks is relatively simple, but mistakes made in one or more of these areas have a domino effect that disrupts everything.

I adored most of my coworkers and considered them the best part - we all looked out for each other.  However, I cannot say the same of the owners.  They were rarely in the store to provide assistance and refused to hire a manager to oversee the store, meaning certain coworkers had to take on extra responsibility without receiving a raise in order to keep the store running.  The owners often made up arbitrary rules that made the whole process more difficult, blamed employees for mistakes that weren't their fault, threatened to seize tips on one occasion, and behaved very passive-aggressively and even insulted their employees on more than one occasion.  Not to mention, the owners always gave out the schedule last minute and suggestions to give it out earlier or use a scheduling app went ignored.  

Another oddity was: they lied about minimum wage going up by pitching it a raise they did as a "favor" to their employees; not only that, but they delivered this news to each employee individually and weeks apart from each other - and MONTHS after the wage increased.  I believe this was to keep sharing of information among employees to a minimum, as they constantly kept video surveillance on the employees and discouraged us from talking to one another.  Don't trust them when they say they're "fighting for you" or "paying you is their top priority".  The job itself was easy, but the workplace became very toxic very fast.  Please, do yourself a favor and make minimum wage literally anywhere else.  You don't need the stress.  

A typical day at work consisted of turning on music and lights, turning off the kiln, counting cash and entering opening amounts, making sure to open the studio on time, cleaning and putting away items used th day before, greeting customers, assisting customers on instructions and ideas of what to paint if needed, booking parties, answering telephones, preparing pieces for bagging and glazing, restocking shelves, and cleaning tables and paint brushes.

I've learned leadership skills, by being left there to supervise a new co-worker or to manage the studio on my own. I learned how to multi task by having to attend to a customer while trying to write a description of their piece, while also answering the phone in between times, and greeting customers who just walked through the door.

My co-workers had unique and awesome personalities. No two people were too alike, so it was very helpful to see how they handled situations versus me. It gave me more perspectives on how to give customers great customer service.

The hardest part of the job was having to do certain things that didn't always come up for me to do. For example, when I first learned how to book parties, it was fresh in my mind what to do, but it was different when I had to put it into action. Once I got the opportunity to do it more and more, it was smooth sailing.

The most enjoyable parts of the job were the customers and seeing what they created, the look on the customers faces (especially kids) when one of the employees showed them their piece(s), and getting to create some artwork of my own there.

Color Me Mine was recently acquired by new owners and has become a more stressful workplace because of it. Originally, it was a wonderful place to work, but has sadly gone down hill under new the new management of its owners. The workplace now is full of stress, as the owners hover around employees constantly and scrutinize every word you say and move you make. The customers and coworkers were the most enjoyable part of this job. Coworkers supported each other, and customers were generally relaxed. The hardest part of the job was when a customer was disappointed in the way their pieces turned out. You want the customer to succeed in their projects just as much as they want to, and it's heartbreaking when something just doesn't turn out the way they wanted it. Though, now days the owners apply the clear glaze on our pieces, and they always apply it too thick which makes the pieces come out of the kiln cloudy and not as vibrant as they should be. It's quite disappointing. I learned to excel at customer service while I was here, simply because most of the customers I saw were regulars and I loved getting to know them and their painting habits. A typical day at Color Me Mine was filled with keeping the studio clean, refilling paints for customers, and admiring the finished products fresh out of the kiln. It was honestly one of the best jobs I ever had before the new owners came in. A shame that they've decided to micromanage everything. Not a job to look into if you want independence in the work place.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at this company is seeing all of the wonderful and fun creations that the customers made and talking with customers that are willing to share their thought process on the creation of their pieces. It's also nice to see their reactions when their pieces were done.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It's not worth it to have to deal with inconsistency with management. Also, the low pay. Not recommended for people seeking this as their long-term job; better suited for high school students and college students looking for a part-time job.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The synergy between co-workers is wonderful. The synergy between manager and employee varies from day to day.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The weekdays, except for Fridays, are very lax days with not a lot of people coming in; you can have lunch on these days. Unless it's a holiday, the store will be busier than normal. Fridays and the weekends are when the store is at its busiest, so expect a lot of people, and always be on your feet: good luck finding time to eat on these days.

I love(d) working at Color Me Mine. From start to finish i worked hands on with ages ranging from infants to seniors, helping them and guiding them through painting techniques on their chosen pottery. I learned how to be patient with some less pleased customers when pottery would need to be re-fired or re-done. Also, i broadened my artistically creative abilities day by day. The owners of the Pittford and Webster locations in Rochester were quite unhelpful and inconsiderate of their employees time and effort in the workplace, they were seen about twice a month only to scold or critique hard working and loyal employees. Also, paychecks were frequently bouncing and many workers were young students in high school or undergrad college needing their payment. The most enjoyable part of this job however was the Managers ability to keep the workers positive and in line, they were always understand and considerate of our efforts. Also, the customers were often very loyal, and birthday/anniversary/bachelorette parties for all ages were fun and easy-going to plan and host.

- A typical day at work consists of greeting customers, telling them the paint prices and location of the ceramic prices, explaining how the under-glaze (paint) works, pouring paint for customers, giving them design ideas if asked, cleaning dishes, describing customer pieces on a small sheet of paper, unloading kilns, wrapping and bagging items, retrieving customer pick-up items, using the register, writing skus on the bottom of ceramic pieces that are to be displayed, assisting and leading birthday parties at the store, opening and/or closing the studio and register.
*I know it seems like A LOT, but it's really easy to do and the days are usually slow*

- I learned how to unload a kiln and think critically to help the customers to the best of my ability

- The people working there were nice, but were somewhat lazy. They would slack off on most days and I would pick up their slack. If anything went wrong the rule followers would get in trouble for things that the other people did. 

- The hardest part of the job was having to explain the same thing differently so all customers could understand. 

- The most enjoyable part was leading birthday parties.

Even though the one I worked for is run by a mother and daughter, they bring more personal life into work they almost constantly try to pry into your personal life, yes it is structured. But telling your employees to do one task one way and then you end up doing it another way isn't proficient. Everyone worked part time, I had to work almost full time from 11 am to 9 pm only getting paid from like 3 to 9. sometimes 3 days in a row and I was the only one who had to come in on their day off and I did not get paid. And I only was paid 8.00 hourly. Worked more than the rest of the employees there.yes we got tips, that was when we had tips, and we would have to split them it is not like a bar where you have big tips either.I get cleaning up at the end of the day is second nature to any job for the people in the morning,but expecting employees to clean after an extremely busy night which I mean busy is nonsense because there is no extra pay if you stay an hour cleaning, or two you do not get paid for it. overall I say find another job paying 8.00 because the people are stressful. Job is easy, but in my eyes not worth it. You can do better.

This was my first job. 
A typical day at work consisted of opening the studio, counting the drawer. setting up any needed materials for customers or classes. We would then instruct customers on how to paint their pottery, as well as instruct classes, children's camps, and birthday parties. 
  We would also do off-site events at schools and other venues.
  As far a back-room work; we would glaze and fire the pottery. Unload and package the pottery after it was done firing. We would process inventory, and re-stock.
  I also had the responsibility of updating the website, the monthly newsletter and the printable literature. I would purchase supplies for the studio as well as record and process any phone, voice mail, or email inquiries. 
The owner of the studio was wonderful and generous! It's too bad she had to sell it!
  The hardest part of the job was juggling my many responsibilities, but they were also the best part of my job! I loved always having something to do and for it to always be different. It also required lots of problem solving, of which I am a natural!

I only worked at CMM for 3 months but during that short amount of time I would become so stressed from work I would come down with fevers and ulcers. From the scheduling of one employee to run the studio for the entire day ( leading to not being able to take breaks), to having the small studio and the hot kilns make dehydration a common occurrence. The water in the sink ( the only source of water in the studio) is not drinkable and has made employees sick so any water you bring is all the water you unless you somehow find time to run out and buy water at another store within the mall. 


Unless you can juggle the many specific and unreasonable instructions you are given do not work here. The only positive was being able to mingle with kids and socialize. The manager is rarely in the store herself and she is very strict about instruction. If you make a mistake over a small task the boss is very rude and unprofessional about it and gets very personal and offensive. It almost felt like I was ridiculed for my overall intelligence when I misunderstood something or made a choice that was fair. They do not praise you for things you've done correctly. I was given unproductive and unconstructive criticism. It is very superficial, unprofessional and not worth the stress by how they treat their employees. They put all the blame on you when you weren't trained properly and use every tactic they can to gain money from their customers. Very understaffed and no breaks were given. They had a worker underage close the store past legal hours. If you want a successful company then treat your workers respectfully!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cashier 11 salaries reported	$10.45 per hour
Customer service representative 5 salaries reported	$17.82 per hour
Studio assistant 4 salaries reported	$19.84 per hour
Team member 2 salaries reported	$19.44 per hour
Assistant manager 3 salaries reported	$18.60 per hour

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