I am typically not one to go on the internet and rate a previous employer, but my experience at Ideal Image was so overwhelmingly terrible that I wanted to give anyone considering this as a place of work some fair warning. The first month or two working there you have a naive positivity that gets knocked out of you by the end of month two. The culture within the centers and the people you work with day to day was great, but management was something along the line of toxic. Communication from upper management was often lacking, but when it did happen it was to announce a change about your job, often a major change. There were no discussions to be had because as soon as you started to speak you were interrupted. Slowly you start to wonder why you work there, but the staff in the center gives you some hope. Sometimes you would get free or discounted treatments but the rules around that changed as well. The regional management would choose favorites, intimidate people, talk over each other, and disregard that people have life outside of work. They would make changes and then when questioned about it would respond with "it is mandatory" and that was that. As a nurse you work extremely hard to get through your education, through your first job, and to find something you are passionate about. I was passionate about this industry, but I valued being treated with dignity over staying with a company that can't create a culture to keep people around for longer than a couple months. As a nurse I have never felt more disrespected and underutilized than I did at Ideal Image. They make you feel as if that degree you worked so hard for is nothing, and then treat you as if you are just some disposable retail employee that can so easily be replaced. Your opinion does not matter here, your outside life does not matter here, your hard work does not matter here, and at the end of the day you are a just a warm body that can be replaced. Overall you learn skills that can help you in an aesthetic career, but the draw backs to actually getting through the time it takes you to get there is not worth it at all. My decision to leave this company was definitely the right one.
