Karsh/Hagan Reviews

Pros

At Karsh Hagan, I was privileged to be a member of the new business team, where I had the unique opportunity to collaborate closely with top-tier leadership and various departments across the agency. This dynamic environment allowed me to gain invaluable insights into different disciplines and processes while fostering meaningful professional relationships. Renowned as a trusted name in the market, Karsh Hagan's brand carries an exceptional reputation that resonates throughout the industry. It was truly a pleasure to be part of a diverse range of projects, each offering its own set of exciting challenges and opportunities for growth. The agency's commitment to excellence and innovation permeates every aspect of its work. From strategic planning to creative execution, Karsh Hagan consistently delivers outstanding results that exceed client expectations. The supportive and collaborative atmosphere within the agency fosters an environment conducive to personal and professional development. Working alongside Denver's finest advertising minds at Karsh Hagan was an inspiring experience. Their depth of expertise and creative prowess continuously pushed me to elevate my skills and contribute at my best. The agency's dedication to staying at the forefront of industry trends ensures that employees are always equipped with the latest tools and knowledge to excel in their roles. Karsh Hagan truly stands out as a top-notch full-service marketing agency, where passion, talent, and innovation converge. I am grateful for the enriching experiences, the incredible projects, and the invaluable skills I acquired during my time with the agency.

Cons

I occasionally encountered late nights and weekend work to support new business opportunities. However, these occurrences were not constant and extra hours can be typical in general agency culture, especially under hot deadlines. Karsh Hagan has taken substantial measures to enhance its internal culture, actively striving to create an environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, and mutual respect. The agency encourages the exchange of ideas and welcomes innovative thinking from all team members, valuing the contributions made by each individual.

Pros

In my time at Karsh Hagan, I was able to grow my professional career exponentially. The exposure to top tier, high caliber clients and the opportunities to add to the success of the company were tangible within the first few weeks -- an opportunity that is hard to come by when first starting out in your career. The employees hired at Karsh Hagan are some of the most hard working, talented, and dedicated people I have met. I have made-life long friends, and I know that I can speak for many that their experiences are similar. Personally, it was the people that I surrounded myself with at work that made the job enjoyable.

Cons

The industry stereotype rings true of agencies that work consists of long hours and tight turnaround times. Although this comes with the the territory of working in agencies, the high stress environment is not for everyone. The first couple of weeks on the job proved to be the most challenging and difficult that I have encountered starting out at a new company. Excluding HR, there are no formal training and policies in place for new hires -- even within the first couple of weeks. Many roles are learned by doing, accompanied with a sink or swim mentality. I would suggest anyone that starts at Karsh Hagan come prepared for this kind of environment.

Pros

Karsh Hagan is a top-notch agency. Their client roaster is the best in the state of Colorado and the work is award-winning. As a creative, you will have great mentors with national experience. At this agency, it's not just about "the best idea winning" it's about the purpose behind the idea and how it will solve the clients' problems. The creative directors are leaders in the industry and will lift up your work, their goal is to always make the idea/ strategy as strong as it can be. The most valuable thing I learned at Karsh Hagan is that they will not pin you into one specific role. If you have a passion for motion graphics, photography, 3D modeling, or even voice acting they will encourage you to explore it and use it as a tool in your arsenal to elevate what is possible for the work and your career.

Cons

One con is that Karsh Hagan needs to stay competitive with salaries, the industry standard for pay across all departments has gone up. KH needs to make sure they follow suit to attract top talent and create a culture that is inclusive and fair.

Pros

There’s some extremely talented and passionate people here. The second star is for them.

Cons

This is not a place where you can grow your career and here’s why: Employees are severely underpaid but leadership constantly groans about inflation - tell that to your employees who make $45-65k and live in Denver where rent is increasing by 15% YoY. Not to mention those who now have to commute two days a week when gas is $5/gallon. There’s a real lack in reviews, compensation reviews, and professional development. There has to be constant self advocacy on the employees part and neither management or HR follow up. You will state your needs, and you will be ignored. Lack of transparency from management across the board as to business levels and advancement of the agency. New positioning isn’t impressive if you don’t practice what you preach. It’s truly a facade of culture, when there is zero. Prospective new hires - ask about this!!! There’s a select few who are actively working to change the agency, but it is still gatekeeped by leadership and kept behind closed doors. Overall efforts fee highly performative and disingenuous - that we’re ticking a box for current/ prospective clients. It’s very cliquey - if you’re not in the inner circle, good luck. Update: Apparently these reviews are not believed by leadership? Laughable. Also laughable that a company that is primarily made up of women-identifying people sent an agency wide email about the Stanley Cup but hasn't recognized the overturn of Roe or that we have clients in states with trigger laws but supposedly are going after "values aligned" partnerships.

Pros

There are some truly good folks here that were either lured from out of state or simply didn’t know. If you want a shop to run out your advertising days with small time, small minded work, this is it! (I imagined that was a pro for those looking for it).

Cons

Take a look at the tenure of employees outside leadership. And don’t say “COVID” because the toxic writing has been on the wall for years. People left because they can’t stand to be stifled by an inept leadership group. There’s no such thing as “digital”, especially when it’s being led by an IT OPS employee. And then there’s the CO-CEOs (it’s already funny). As you can see from the numerous other people, one of them is non-existent and rarely around other than to show up for events named after him or to have employees forcibly fawn over him. What’s worse though, is the namesake who probably has the largest ego I’ve ever encountered in advertising. Nothing goes out the door without her blessing and I’ve seen her lose business over and over again. That includes new business and current. Her approaches are from 1977 and there’ll never be anything groundbreaking because she simply doesn’t have it in her to make anything better. She’s the queen of advertising buzzwords with no understanding of what they mean. The days of rubbing shoulders at political parties and local “balls” are over. Or rather, will net you the clients or work that’s just “good enough” to keep the lights on. That is the key, if you’re looking for “good enough”, dive in. If you want to do anything worthwhile in your career, run for your life as every other agency in Denver is head and shoulders about Karsh Hagan.

Pros

- Certain employees are going above and beyond to overhaul leadership and make necessary changes to the agency

Cons

- below average pay - overworked - understaffed - poor leadership with inability to evolve - mandatory in person work - agency is not competitive to other modern advertising shops

Pros

Some decent-sounding clients if you're able to work on them.

Cons

There are a lot of downsides here. First of all they are notorious for underpaying employees. Creative leadership is terrible. They treat their team with complete disrespect and say the most inappropriate things. They are only concerned with their image in the community, not actually making sure they value their employees and treating them as such. Definitely don't work here.

Pros

the people are very chill for the most part.

Cons

the favorites are the favorites and will get the praise. and kathy.

Pros

Market leaders. Fun culture. Good benefits.

Cons

Expected to work weekends, expect long hours.

Pros

They have fun clients to work with and a lot of nice people to work with and collaborate with

Cons

They blind side you and make you feel like you are a bad at your job when all you do is try your hardest. They don’t help you with what you need improved they just use it against you.