A Theme Park Town of a Company - Graphic Artist Zan Associates Employee Review

1.0
Aug 3, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The office is in a great location, which is great, because you're not going home.

Cons

They really, really want to look like a Real Company. They have an office downtown, right by the Stone Arch Bridge. They have "perks" for their employees like a stocked kitchen or ball game tickets. Lots of language about equity on their website. You'd never know that the company has about...one third of the employees they need for the amount of work they take on. And are completely unwilling to pay for or use project management software. My time with Zan was a complete fugue. I worked nights. I worked weekends. I worked holidays. I basically didn't see my spouse for my entire tenure at the company. All because of, frankly, piss-poor project management. Projects would have ridiculously short deadlines. The project managers would request near-finished assets that would get scrapped because they were unwilling to show clients pre-production materials. Communication and project planning happened entirely via email, meaning things would get lost or overlooked easily. Any attempt to address these issues with management was shrugged off. The focus was on *appearing* like a legitimate company. Having things like ethic committees (which, in theory, I'm for, as a member of a marginalized community), and making sure people returned to the office during peak pandemic times so that they could seem like a bustling business to visiting clients. Listing the founder of the company prominently on the website with no indication that she doesn't work there anymore. Oh, and, after I quit, they sent a lawyer after me because I had included work I'd done for them on my personal portfolio website. Petty nonsense. It's the business version of a theme park town. These look like real storefronts and houses, but when you peek behind the scenes it's just painted plywood.

Explore other reviews about Zan Associates

5.0
Jan 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun environment with excellent staff members The work you do truly makes a difference Exposes you to all sorts of clients and projects Gain excellent real world experience

Cons

Busy season is definitely busy

2.0
Apr 20, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* Honestly, the people are the best part of Zan. Some of the most passionate, driven, and community-centered folks I’ve ever worked with. * The mission is real. People care deeply about the work and the communities we serve. * You get exposure to meaningful projects and a lot of responsibility early on, which helps you grow quickly. * Leadership is trying. There’s an openness to new ideas and a willingness to experiment, which I respect.

Cons

* This is the hardest part to say: the environment is unstable, and it’s mostly self-inflicted. * In a matter of 3 years, around 28 people have left (fired, laid off, quit, etc.), and that makes it really hard to build momentum or feel secure. * It often feels like leadership is throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. I get the intention, but it doesn’t build confidence for staff. * Onboarding is tough. Even strong hires and subject matter experts struggle for a long time because the work is so niche. It can take close to a year to feel comfortable, but expectations don’t always reflect that reality. * The expectations can feel unrealistic: hit 80% utilization, but also show up to happy hours, do professional development, be creative, help fix internal processes… often on your own time. That leads to burnout or people just clocking in and out. * Growth has historically been tough. It’s felt like new hires were valued more than the people who stayed through the inconsistency (though this seems to be improving slightly). * The culture sometimes feels stuck in that early 2010s “work hard, play hard” era, but the workforce has shifted. * DEI is talked about a lot, but at times it can feel performative, especially when clients don’t fully buy in or see the value. * There also seems to be a lack of real accountability at the leadership level. For example, adopting frameworks like Traction without building in something like an advisory board or external perspective can lead to decisions being made in an echo chamber. From the outside looking in, some decisions feel more like wishful thinking than grounded strategy, and at this stage of the company, that’s risky.

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