Pros
I spent about 4 years at Streetsense and am honestly grateful for each of them. I met so many great people, traveled quite a bit and experienced new places, and developed skills that served me well as I prepared for my next chapter. Though no company is without its faults, I look back on my time at Streetsense as a place where I was able to safely fail more than a time or two, and to grow from someone who probably needed a lot of hand holding to someone who had a strong sense of autonomy and assertiveness in the way I communicate with others, creative collaboratively, and problem solve with curiosity. I had the true honor of working alongside Mike Smith in the consulting team, and though I do think my experience would have been different working with another group, I'm confident that I had a great experience at the company as a result of being under Mike's leadership. I will go the rest of my career genuinely feeling lucky to have learned from him and if you are in a position to learn from him too, know it's an opportunity worth taking advantage of. I always felt supported and heard by him, as well as always certain that he had my best interest at heart. I felt like I was given a lot of runway within our team to shape our deliverables and work effort, and as much opportunity to shine on the client facing side as I was comfortable with and eager for. Our team was small and mighty at the time I joined and grew quite a bit over the four years, and I felt like my contributions within the full on consulting group made a positive, long term impact. I'm proud of the efforts we created together and the challenges we worked through, and I feel like my resume is quite well rounded due to some of the clients we were able to work with. Also important to note: I personally had terrific work life balance. I think I only worked a saturday once or twice during my four years there, and could count on one hand the nights that I spent working late into the evenings. I felt my personal time was protected and honored.
Cons
I'm writing this having not read any of the other reviews for inspiration. If you are someone who thrives with crisp structure, certainty, and clear, concise pathways for career development and growth, I will be honest - Streetsense is not the place for you. There are plenty of big, big firms in consulting and design or otherwise, that will provide this to you, but having experience both types of design firms, I'd argue it comes at a cost. However, if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, a desire to completely carve your own path, and you enjoy having a lot of autonomy, Streetsense is a great place for you. It might sometimes feel like you are in a forest with nothing but a single matchstick, but soon enough someone will come along with what you need and you'll find your way through. Having worked at a big, corporate design firm and a smaller, more agile one, I see the benefit and drawbacks to both. I think it's important to be honest with yourself and what you are looking for out of your company – because no company is equipped to answer to every need, honestly. Streetsense is a place where you will need to speak up a bit more, and those who choose to have the opportunity to thrive!