Worst Experience of my Life - Waste of Precious Time! - General Manager Ulta Beauty Employee Review

1.0
Feb 26, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

My associates were the best people to work with - would bend over backwards to get the job done!1

Cons

Downside of working at Ulta -- How many words/letters am you allowed? It could go on and on but in a nutshell it was the worst experience of my life!! If you are considering working at Ulta - it really is as bad as everyone says on this site. Upper management is totally out of touch at store level - including the DM. GM's are a salaried position so do not expect to work less than 10 hours a day or even get 2 days off a week!! Communication is pitiful. Workload is unbelievable not just for the GM but for everyone! No matter how much you do or how hard you work the DM is will tell you that you are not doing enough. Had the best audit, inventory and customer service scores in the district - but still wasn't doing enough. Go figure. If your are seriously thinking about working for Ulta -- read the reviews - they are true. Unfortunately.

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5.0
Jun 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Indoor facilities, no extreme weathet

Cons

Micro managing was an issue at times

2.0
May 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

good benefits for full time employees from what I hear. hourly pay if commission goal isn't met which is nice for those building clientele

Cons

this could just be the case for my store, especially because it's a very high volume store, but as a stylist I don't feel valued at all. I expected this to some degree coming to a huge corporate salon, but the biggest issue is that they try to pretend they care about you. but at the end of the day, if you're not meeting the sales they want/growing quickly enough, they don't care about you as a stylist. if you don't already have an established clientele, business is highly unreliable as there is no late cancellation/no show policy. many services are underpriced in my opinion, making it hard to meet their sales goals as an entry level part-time stylist unless fully booked every day. all they care about is getting as many clients in and out and quickly and possible and they hire more stylists than there are chairs, making every day inconsistent and chaotic. the relative stability of hourly pay is commission threshold isn't met seems enticing for stylists still building a clientele, but the hourly pay is wildly inconsistent between stylists, even those of the same tier. as a stylist of over 3 years who moved and is starting over with no clientele, I make over $2 less per hour than a fellow stylist who just got her license a few months ago and started taking clients for the first time last week. you're better off working at a place like Great Clips or Hair Cuttery because at least they're honest about what they are.

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