retail assistant manager

associate manager

brand manager

manager

store manager

Kendo Brands, Inc

Work-life balance
Work-life balance at Kendo, a division of LVMH is non-existent.   While the company preaches that work-life balance is important ,  the senior leadership team does nothing to change this.  The expectation is to respond to after office hours calls, emails and texts.  Many times, I witnessed team members being called out for not replying to emails in the evening.   In these Covid times,  there truly is no delineation between work and life.

Pay & benefits
My pay and benefits at Kendo, a division of LVMH are OK at best.   They throw money at people to stay as soon they threaten to quit.   They underpay you,  then expect you to be thankful when they actually right-size your salary.

Job security and advancement
In terms of job security at Kendo, a division of LVMH, I think that you will only be successful if you bow down to the VPs.   The moment you raise a hint of a challenge,  your work will be questioned.  You will only advance in your career if you are a yes person.  Any hint of disbelief in what the GMs say and you are immediately put on their watch list to push out.

Management
In general, most of the VPs at Kendo, a division of LVMH, are not qualified to be in their position.  They have been quickly promoted to their roles merely by riding the coat-tails of the success of the brands they lead.   Prima donna behavior is rewarded and they are seldomly reprimanded for inappropriate behavior. Many times, I witnessed other cross functional team members being spoken to like a child and reprimanded in front of others.  I often felt bad about seeing this happen.  I even witnessed a GM accuse someone on her own team of sleeping with the GM's husband BEFORE they were even married. Talk about childish behavior.

Overall
My experience working at Kendo, a division of LVMH was horrific.  Most VPs walk around with an air of entitlement  and treat others with little to no respect.   This is especially apparent when an employee would have a different opinion than one of them.   They make people feel small and belittle them to the point that they force you to quit just to retain an ounce of dignity.  It's like high school!

I enjoy the actual job I do - but the people that supervise me are distant, moody and preoccupied. Took them over a month to train properly, no one had the focus or time for me to get to work like they needed. Little kudos or encouragement, you just have to set your mind on the job and leaving to go home with little engagement - it's not particularly friendly, though the fellow co-workers are nice -it's the leadership that is like a clique and is not consistent with their company promises to their remotely based employees about Half day Fridays and call for much overtime and weekend work - terrible work/life balance. No sense of trust and camaraderie. 

When they tear through over 35 temps in a year's time, and CEO and controller leave at once together, and many other higher positions have been vacated en masse at corporate side in the short 3 months I've been there - I think it says something about the company. Not a place I think I want to invest my future in, as they are not that invested back in you.

LVMH is a terrific parent company that does a lot to promote positive change in the world and in the workforce (over 135k employees worldwide); I was proud to be part of the LVMH family.

At Kendo, depending on the team, the hours can be REALLY long (as in literally all-nighters every week or every other week long hours).  Ultimately the super ridiculous hours, the crazy amount of work, and not having any backup support finally made me realize that I had to resign.

Kendo was the best possible choice for building my skill set and being a springboard to further my career, as I was able to build and create with nearly total autonomy, which was super exhilarating.  I’m grateful that I took a chance on Kendo when it was in it’s early stages and got to be part of the krazy ride that was Kendo!

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part was making lipsticks! It allowed me to showcase my knowledge on color theory and it was fun to make unique colors for different skin types. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Upselling multiple products, finding the time to make products within a certain time frame. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It was overall good. Sometimes it didn't feel like we had enough support from management. They were constantly short staffed. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
On the weekends it was very busy with back-to-back appointments. The week days were a lot less busy.

It was great while it lasted. For those that like to work and keep busy, this is definitely the place you would want to work. I worked in the satellite office in burbank that only consisted of the Accounting department. Because the company grew so fast, there were many details that slipped through the cracks and created more work than was necessary. But if you like forensic accounting and love a good challenge like I do, then this is a great place to expand your knowledge! The only complaint that I had was that it was very strainfull on my eyes. Due to the amount of work, I was starring at the computer screen for two whole hours at a time. But other than that, the company itself was great!

Onboard and training were a nightmare. Employees unfriendly and unwelcoming. It's a fun job but isn't worth the headache and in store drama. They are always hiring but always cutting hours. You may show up only to find out your shift was cut. The store manager is very unprofessional which is part of the high turnover. I do not recommend.

I was an intern at Kendo. My experience was wonderful in terms of the immediate team that I worked with. They were incredibly kind, patient, and willing to teach me new things that I have already carried with me to new jobs. However, there was no effort from senior management in terms of securing me a job at their company in the future despite telling me 10x over they loved having me, and I made their lives easier.

The enthusiasm about the job is way more valued than professionalism. You can get really far if you just stick around and put up with craziness. Overall, it's a decent place to work but keep in mind that majority of people there are women in their 20s. Not necessarily bad workers but sometimes lack training.

Great company, amazing brands and innovative products although sometimes difficult and indecisive executives. No training, but if you are scrappy and can handle working under no direction then you'll be great. Pays well and awesome teams.

Office environment is bright and energetic. Everyone is hard at work creating beautiful packaging for popular brands. Big plus is that there's so many talented individuals that are extremely kind to one another and just makes the whole experience enjoyable.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail assistant manager 4 salaries reported	$19.63 per hour
Associate manager 5 salaries reported	$88,700 per year
Brand manager 4 salaries reported	$109,500 per year
Manager 6 salaries reported	$104,667 per year
Store manager 2 salaries reported	$69,500 per year

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