Kate Wahl, Kate Wahl and Progressive Marketing are full of LIES!!! Detroit Michigan

Kate Wahl now works in Irvine under the name Teal Management Inc. I worked for her for more than 6 months and after finally having enough of her bs I left. I have no problem working for commissions, but when she tells you in your first round interview that the pay is "salary" with opportunities for commissions and bonuses, you get a different idea. She tells interviews that her trainer that takes you out on your second round interview determines your pay, which is a COMPLETE LIE!!!! Everyone gets minimum wage or commission.

Not to mention with the Home Depot campaign you have a conversion (meaning because they are only appointments that some people may cancel), makes sense that you only get paid on appointments that don't cancel, but what about ones in which they don't cancel but the designer does! THEY JUST TAKE MONEY OUT OF YOUR POCKET!!! You don't get paid for all the hours you work, she will tell you that if you are a leader that you need to be in at 10:30 but to write 11 on your time sheet,

also when we have so called "leaders meetings" you have to stay til 11pm sometimes and your not paid. I worked hard, not for her or the BS opportunity that she over promotes and NEVER delivers on, but because I needed money and actually enjoyed the other poor saps there with me. She demands dedication from her employees (which is fine) but her idea of dedication is kissing her a*s 24/7, going out drinking with her and hooking up with her employees (never with me, THANK GOD!)

They make you drive to different stores everyday while not compensating for gas at all, all leads used to be $60 a piece if for a kitchen now she dropped then to $50 and states that the extra $10 is for gas. Sounds like just another Smart Circle Scam and a way to rip off more of her employees. She picks favorites all the time, but only the ones who buy into all her BS. It's hilarious to see her in action, throwing around promises of 200k plus salaries as a new manager yelling JUICE every second of the day. I'm glad I'm gone and will never be played so badly ever again.

I am commenting on this report because I am truly  concerned about others to be taken advantage of or used by Ms. Kate Wahl and her associates, now, active in Anaheim California, I believe,  under "Teal Management, Inc." Contact telephone number for the time being is 949-391-8158.  This number and the name of the company is not listed, and the same number appears under several different entities and individuals simultaneously in California and other states such as Texas.

To make a long story short, I saw their add on line for management positions/event coordinators claiming that they represents and promote known brands and companies in all sort of set ups and events, and they are looking for professional individual with strong sales and people skills.   I did submit my resume right away.

In a short time I had a response via email to let me know I am a candidate and I should call the number above to set up an appointment for a job interview; which I did.  However, I realized I did not know much about the position, the company, the pay, and so on and so forth.  The more I investigated Kate Wahl and her company, the more disappointing, or I should say concerning material showed up (including the first report dated 2009 on this page.)

When I tried to call back and asked to talk to Ms. Wahl,  her assistant, Steve, in the rudest way asked me why I needed to talk to her.  I told him I have questions regarding  the position, what might be the salary range, and if there is any benefit package.   With the most unprofessional and ignorant way he told me this is something that I could discuss during the interview.  I asked him to give me the courtesy to speak with Ms Wahl or her associate Ms. James (HR Rep) since they both had given the same number in their emails and mentioned if I had any questions I could call them directly at 909-391-8158.

Once more, with the rudest and angry tone, he told me:  "She would never talk to you and I do not have time for this" and he hung up.  I called few times no one answered.  Eventually, I sent an email to the address that was provided for Ms. Wahl and Ms. James, and explained what happened in the most respectable fashion possible.  With in an hour I received a one line response email sarcastically stating: "Good Luck with Your Search." with no name or identification on it!

Shady and shabby plus tacky is the right way to describe this company.  I regret providing and trusting my resume along with my personal information to a con artist such as Ms. Wahl.  Please pay attention when your are reading these reports.  If you feel something is too good to be true, or does not sound right or feel right, trust you intuition and do not go any further.  Most likely you avoided a shameless trap!

I am in complete agreement to the original post.  Kate is extremely unprofessional in every aspect of the word.  After my first interview she said they were looking at dozens of candidates but can only invite a couple back for second interviews and she would contact between 6 and 7 pm to let me know.  I got a phone call from her at 10 pm saying I was chosen for a second interview.  Upon going back, I was hired immediately.  She wanted to give me her number if I had any further questions.  She had no business card -- she didn't even have a Post-It to put her number on.  I felt a little uneasy but because of the economy I felt I couldn't be choosy.  I was moved to a new campaign after a few days.  Kate expects you to kiss her bottom, work at least ten days without a day off, each of those days being 12 hour days.  You aren't even doing real, life impacting work.  You are either harassing customers at the Home Depot or shoving make-up at people at a Sam's Club.  After three weeks, your first paycheck will come.  If you are on the Home Depot "campaign" you may get generally right around what you earned.  On the cosmetic campaign, good luck getting paid what you were owed, if at all.  I had to call Kate daily for my paychecks from the cosmetics campaign.  They were not given to me on payday, and each time I would get my check at least four days later.  Then, once I finally tracked her and my check down, she hands me a HAND-WRITTEN check.  There is no pay stub, no earnings report, no evidence of taxes being taken out.  But when she hands you that hand written check, she says "This is what you made after taxes were taken out.  You'll see it all on your W-2 this year, taxes are a b***h".  Yet you will never know for sure if taxes were taken out.  I calculated on a daily basis what I should have earned for the cosmetics campaign, yet each paycheck for that campaign with those supposed taxes taken out, was around 600.00 less than it should have been.  Calculating how much gets taken out for state and federal taxes, I knew I was being ripped off.  This company is very shady and makes big promises that they cannot ever live up to.  Kate was witnessed multiple times yelling at her employees and crossed the line many times making it uncomfortable working beneath her.  She is now out in California scamming on others.  Her company has been renamed so many times it's hard to keep track.  It's part of the Smart Circle Pyramid Scam.  I know the economy is awful, and people are scrambling for any kind of employment, but if you have your college degree, don't waste your time with this company or anyone affiliated with it.  We didn't work ourselves to the bone in college to work for people and companies like this one.  There are reputable companies out there that are still hiring.  Sure it may take a few months longer, but it is well worth it in the end.

To be sure, you are in the wrong sir. If you are so good at running a company why don't you go out and start your own. It seems to me that Kate is doing a solid job in a town with 15 percent unemployment. What did you imagine? This job will be easy. I will be able to make money without making a sacrifice? If you are not willing to make a sacrifice it is no wonder how you came up with your notion of being ripped off. In reality you were unwilling to work as hard as it takes to get what you need. My father has worked as a lawyer for the past 35 years. The only way he has got where he is is through austerity and sacrifice. The same is true for the sales business. Sales professionals are the hardest working people in the wold and First Circle Associates is in my professional opinion is one of the best opportunities availale in the shrinking economy. GROW up and eat what you kill man.

James Misuraca
Sales Manager
First Circle Associates.

Progressive Marketing is now known as First Circle Associates, Inc. It is part of the Smart Circle pyramid scam. Stay away!!!

You are totally right! She is full of lies! First off, she changed the name from Progressive Marketing to First Circle Associates, Inc. due to countless complaints from former employees. She is also horrible to work for because she always mis leads the workers there. It starts from the 1st interview with stats and numbers thrown out to make her "company" seem legit. There is also the fact that this is on the job postings.... (Please Note: We are NOT a Door-to-Door, Business-to-Business, telemarketing, Graphic Design, or Cold Calling business - EVER!!)... This is BS!! They do business-to-business and the cold calling is in person as well as the telemarketing. It is laughable she claims to be a legit "business person". This is a scam and stay away!!!

You are totally right! She is full of lies! First off, she changed the name from Progressive Marketing to First Circle Associates, Inc. due to countless complaints from former employees. She is also horrible to work for because she always mis leads the workers there. It starts from the 1st interview with stats and numbers thrown out to make her "company" seem legit. There is also the fact that this is on the job postings.... (Please Note: We are NOT a Door-to-Door, Business-to-Business, telemarketing, Graphic Design, or Cold Calling business - EVER!!)... This is BS!! They do business-to-business and the cold calling is in person as well as the telemarketing. It is laughable she claims to be a legit "business person". This is a scam and stay away!!!

You are totally right! She is full of lies! First off, she changed the name from Progressive Marketing to First Circle Associates, Inc. due to countless complaints from former employees. She is also horrible to work for because she always mis leads the workers there. It starts from the 1st interview with stats and numbers thrown out to make her "company" seem legit. There is also the fact that this is on the job postings.... (Please Note: We are NOT a Door-to-Door, Business-to-Business, telemarketing, Graphic Design, or Cold Calling business - EVER!!)... This is BS!! They do business-to-business and the cold calling is in person as well as the telemarketing. It is laughable she claims to be a legit "business person". This is a scam and stay away!!!

You are totally right! She is full of lies! First off, she changed the name from Progressive Marketing to First Circle Associates, Inc. due to countless complaints from former employees. She is also horrible to work for because she always mis leads the workers there. It starts from the 1st interview with stats and numbers thrown out to make her "company" seem legit. There is also the fact that this is on the job postings.... (Please Note: We are NOT a Door-to-Door, Business-to-Business, telemarketing, Graphic Design, or Cold Calling business - EVER!!)... This is BS!! They do business-to-business and the cold calling is in person as well as the telemarketing. It is laughable she claims to be a legit "business person". This is a scam and stay away!!!