Hypocritical company full of lies - Anonymous employee Refinery29 Employee Review

1.0
Jan 11, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people you work with are incredible. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Cons

Everything is a facade. We're talking about a women's media company that preaches women empowerment, diversity and inclusion, Ask For More, 67 Percent, sprinkles, rainbows, blah blah blah. What no one wants to talk about is the fact that this company is ran by TWO WHITE MEN who use all this sweet talk to lure women readers and take advantage of minorities by making money off of them. Employees are undervalued, overworked, and lied to on a daily. The pay rate is a joke. Let's not mention the fact that two people on the same team, with the same title can have a 20K gap difference. Nepotism. No one gets a chance here unless they have money or know someone with money. Then and only then are you supported. Otherwise, you can forget it, you're not safe. You will give your life away working day and night until you're sucked dry. Zero work life balance, with loads of stress.

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5.0
May 27, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Great culture, extremely nice employees, diverse workplace

Cons

Not very cutting edge with their approach to tech

4.0
Mar 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Refinery29 was training day, every day. The pace and creative expectations forced you to sharpen fast. I cut my teeth here over four years and came out a fundamentally better strategist. The work was culturally plugged in, the people were sharp, and you were trusted with real responsibility early. If you wanted to learn how brand, content, and audience intersect at speed, there was no better place.

Cons

The intensity that makes it a great training ground also means the environment runs hot. Not everyone thrives in that — and depending on your team, support structures varied. The company went through a lot of change during my time, which created some instability.

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