Photo: Yobeat
The sender? “Snowboarding.”
The letter — sent to Yobeat with the return address listed as “Snowboarding” in Burlington, Vermont — doesn’t mince words and gets straight to the point:
Dear Jake and Donna,
There is a growing group of voices gaining volume and strength and it’s time to listen. We’re here to tell you what no one else will. There is a poison inside your company that has driven away countless amazing employees, derailed years of financial success and threatens the core structure and business you have spent an entire lifetime building. All you have to do is look at all the amazing people who have left your organization and what they have accomplished to see all the amazing talent you have lost.
It goes on to make a valid case for the current state of play, including a granular breakdown on how “two senior ‘leaders'” are undermining the Jake and Donna Burton Carpenter’s efforts with a personal agenda, citing specific examples as to more obvious ways in which these high-level employees are undermining the snowboard pioneers. But perhaps most poignant is the potential outcome of it all if Burton doesn’t right the ship:
What is at risk?
- Industry leadership: Jake and Donna, you created an entire movement and an industry. Not many people in the world can make that claim. Burton shrinking and/or imploding threatens the entire snowboarding industry.
- Employee Livelihood: As one of the largest employers and economic drivers in Vermont and Burlington, Burton is massively important. The ripple effct of losing your jobs in Vermont would be felt by many businesses and other industries.
- Your personal health: It is obvious that there has been a physical and psychological toll on both of you, and your family.
All in all it comes across as a genuine plea for the iconic brand to open its eyes to the toxic realities of their situation, and definitely invokes a sad sentiment here at The Inertia Mountain offices. We’re glad the crew at Yobeat decided to publish the note as it might be good for everyone (Burton-affiliated or not) to open their eyes to these toxic realities of OUR situation.
Read the entire letter over at Yobeat.com.
