Bittersweet memories, but at least I made excellent friends!
Pros
-The culture was incredible -- I ended up meeting some of my closest friends at Philz. Due to a unique and discerning hiring process, the whole team ended up being a collective of artists, fashion and costume designers, writers, musicians, actors, engineers, biologists, etc. I work in marketing now, and there's something to be said about the fact that I still feel closer to many of my former co-baristas. Maybe because we dealt with corporate BS, long hours, and being chronically broke together? -Community -- the customer friendships (and professional opportunities) I got at Philz were deep, personal, and special.
Cons
-Pay was NOT good when I was at Philz. No e-tips? This has since been resolved, but I've heard that hours have been cut as a result. I worked two jobs to support myself and was glad to have the security of the other job -- some of the people I worked with literally didn't have more than $10 in the bank for FOOD. And they weren't reckless spenders, either. Making minimum wage with barely anything to bloat it out from the tip-bag was hard.