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Away

Added 4 years ago / Updated 4 years ago
20191113_away-suitcases_wsmith-15

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About

Away is a start-up luggage company specializing in hard-case travel bags. The company has grown very popular in its four years of existence, securing high-profile endorsements and celebrity marketing collaborations. In late 2019, a piece in the Verge brought its company culture, labeled "toxic" by the publication, into the public eye, leading to harsh criticism of the brand and start-up culture in general.

History

Away was founded on November 9th, 2015 by Stephanie Korey and Jennifer Rubio.[1] The company sells high-end carry-on luggage and was praised for keeping the price below $250 by Vogue. Buzzfeed[2] praised the product in 2018, noting it had a phone charger, a laundry bag, and a high amount of storage space. The company collaborated with actress Rashida Jones,[3] the NBA,[4] and Star Wars,[5] among others. By May of 2019, the company reached a value of $1.4 billion.

Criticism

On December 5th, 2019, The Verge[6] posted an article describing the culture inside of the company. The company was described as toxic by former employees, detailing a state in which CEO Korey would berate employees on public Slack channels and offer little vacation time. Upon discovering a Slack channel where employees vented their frustrations, she fired every staff member and called them racist (Korey is white). She also forbid paid time off requests from a management team under the guise of teaching the team "accountability."

After the piece ran, quotes from Korey stunned Twitter users. User @adventurered[7] tweeted her "accountability" quote, writing, "Can you IMAGINE working for luggage company @away and having the CEO write shit like this to her own customer service employees to 'teach them a lesson'? What in the actual fuck" (shown below, left). User @dylanmatt[8] wrote the situation was more ridiculous because Away is a luggage company (shown below, right).

Red @adventurared Can you IMAGINE working for luggage company @away and having the CEO write s--- like this to her own customer service employees to "teach them a lesson"? What in the actual f---. theverge.com/2019/12/5/2099.. A jrsk-cx - A jrsk-cx - Steph Korey 7:18 PM Ok, I want to be clear: If there is a risk that Steph Korey 8:59 AM Hi @cxmanagement I know this group is hungry for career development opportunities, and in an effort to support you in developing your skills, I am going to help you learn the career skill of accountability. What you are accountable for is solving the problem of customers struggling to reach us on live platforms. Please feel free to think about all of the not 100% of calls and livechats will be answered on any day, then the management (who are our leaders on the team setting the example for our Associates and Senior Associates on what it looks like to be customer obsessed) should not only not be on PTO (at all), they should be in the trenches answering calls and livechats so that the team is not leaving a customer waiting who we didn't need to leave waiting. business levers you have in solving that, and feel free to partner withị for support and feedback. To measure success, the ea team and I will be calling our cx number and reaching out via live chat at random times 3x per business If two managers take PTO on Monday, my expectation will be that this group feels 100% confident that all emails will be day. To hold you accountable-which is a very important business skill that is answered within 4 business hours, 100% of calls are answered and 100% of.
dylan matthews @dylanmatt The most ridiculous thing about this is they're ... a luggage company. They sell luggage. If they didn't sell luggage, other people would sell luggage. The task at hand could not possibly be less urgent. Emotional baggage: inside the toxic work environment at Away Away promised a company culture of travel and inclusion, but former emplovees sav CE O Steph Korey uses the company values to get people to

After the story ran, Korey released a statement apologizing for her words, writing that she was appalled by her conduct.[9]

Search Interest

External References

[1] Vogue – The Perfect Carry-On Bag Has Arrived--And It’s Under $250

[2] Buzzfeed – I Tried That Away Luggage All Over Instagram And Here's What Happened

[3] InStyle – Rashida Jones

[4] Stupid Dope – NBA

[5] Esquire – Star Wars

[6] The Verge – EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE

[7] Twitter – adventurared

[8] Twitter – dylanmatt

[9] The Verge – Away CEO Steph Korey is ‘appalled’ by how she spoke to employees

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Away

Away

Updated Dec 08, 2019 at 04:17AM EST by andcallmeshirley.

Added Dec 06, 2019 at 01:46PM EST by Adam.

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About

Away is a start-up luggage company specializing in hard-case travel bags. The company has grown very popular in its four years of existence, securing high-profile endorsements and celebrity marketing collaborations. In late 2019, a piece in the Verge brought its company culture, labeled "toxic" by the publication, into the public eye, leading to harsh criticism of the brand and start-up culture in general.

History

Away was founded on November 9th, 2015 by Stephanie Korey and Jennifer Rubio.[1] The company sells high-end carry-on luggage and was praised for keeping the price below $250 by Vogue. Buzzfeed[2] praised the product in 2018, noting it had a phone charger, a laundry bag, and a high amount of storage space. The company collaborated with actress Rashida Jones,[3] the NBA,[4] and Star Wars,[5] among others. By May of 2019, the company reached a value of $1.4 billion.

Criticism

On December 5th, 2019, The Verge[6] posted an article describing the culture inside of the company. The company was described as toxic by former employees, detailing a state in which CEO Korey would berate employees on public Slack channels and offer little vacation time. Upon discovering a Slack channel where employees vented their frustrations, she fired every staff member and called them racist (Korey is white). She also forbid paid time off requests from a management team under the guise of teaching the team "accountability."

After the piece ran, quotes from Korey stunned Twitter users. User @adventurered[7] tweeted her "accountability" quote, writing, "Can you IMAGINE working for luggage company @away and having the CEO write shit like this to her own customer service employees to 'teach them a lesson'? What in the actual fuck" (shown below, left). User @dylanmatt[8] wrote the situation was more ridiculous because Away is a luggage company (shown below, right).


Red @adventurared Can you IMAGINE working for luggage company @away and having the CEO write s--- like this to her own customer service employees to "teach them a lesson"? What in the actual f---. theverge.com/2019/12/5/2099.. A jrsk-cx - A jrsk-cx - Steph Korey 7:18 PM Ok, I want to be clear: If there is a risk that Steph Korey 8:59 AM Hi @cxmanagement I know this group is hungry for career development opportunities, and in an effort to support you in developing your skills, I am going to help you learn the career skill of accountability. What you are accountable for is solving the problem of customers struggling to reach us on live platforms. Please feel free to think about all of the not 100% of calls and livechats will be answered on any day, then the management (who are our leaders on the team setting the example for our Associates and Senior Associates on what it looks like to be customer obsessed) should not only not be on PTO (at all), they should be in the trenches answering calls and livechats so that the team is not leaving a customer waiting who we didn't need to leave waiting. business levers you have in solving that, and feel free to partner withị for support and feedback. To measure success, the ea team and I will be calling our cx number and reaching out via live chat at random times 3x per business If two managers take PTO on Monday, my expectation will be that this group feels 100% confident that all emails will be day. To hold you accountable-which is a very important business skill that is answered within 4 business hours, 100% of calls are answered and 100% of. dylan matthews @dylanmatt The most ridiculous thing about this is they're ... a luggage company. They sell luggage. If they didn't sell luggage, other people would sell luggage. The task at hand could not possibly be less urgent. Emotional baggage: inside the toxic work environment at Away Away promised a company culture of travel and inclusion, but former emplovees sav CE O Steph Korey uses the company values to get people to

After the story ran, Korey released a statement apologizing for her words, writing that she was appalled by her conduct.[9]

Search Interest

External References

[1] Vogue – The Perfect Carry-On Bag Has Arrived--And It’s Under $250

[2] Buzzfeed – I Tried That Away Luggage All Over Instagram And Here's What Happened

[3] InStyle – Rashida Jones

[4] Stupid Dope – NBA

[5] Esquire – Star Wars

[6] The Verge – EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE

[7] Twitter – adventurared

[8] Twitter – dylanmatt

[9] The Verge – Away CEO Steph Korey is ‘appalled’ by how she spoke to employees

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