Kristi Coulter’s Exit Interview: the Life and death of my ambitious career was a book so captivating that I could hardly wait to read on. Kristi Coulter’s workplace memoir describes over a decade of work at Amazon, starting in 2006 and ending 2018. Coulter’s previous work had capped on her potential and she found herself bored and looking for a challenge. Little did she know, Amazon was a challenge more than most can comprehend.

Coulter’s memoir speaks in such a candid but fair way of the office environment at Amazon and how it evolved over her tenure there. A culture where people being asked to do the impossible was the norm, such as doubling or tripling their workloads with no warning or suggestion for how to achieve this feat. While at the same time, she describes the passion and excitement she had in the beginning for the work she was doing and how engaging it was to mold herself into the roles she was cast in. She talks of an intensely stressfully workplace full of harried insecure employees, constantly being asked to stretch what they can do in reorganizations of the company. However, she also adds that this kind of lunacy was addicting for her people pleasing nature. Fascinatingly, Coulter describes a workplace so embedded and yet disconnected from the actual work that when articles come out about poor warehouse conditions, she is reminded of how things are actually done for one of the first time in five years.

Coulter’s memoir also examines sexism in the workforce, something that could be of interest to anyone with this kind of experience. She gives prime examples of both large transgressions and micro aggressions she experienced, while also highlighting the often antagonistic advice given to women in the workforce. For instance, make sure to finish a thought if a man interrupts you but not in a way that will make him feel like he did something wrong.

Something I felt particularly moving was Coulter’s struggle to be both a whole person and Amazon’s workload. She is quoted at one point saying, “But Amazon as we know it, wouldn’t exist without a thousand tiny acts of self-destruction every day.” I will not tell you how her ending at Amazon came to be or the many detailed accounts she provides in this well-written and thorough workplace memoir. What I will say is that it is fascinating to know what is going on behind the curtain of one of the world’s largest conglomerates from the eyes of a driven and ambitious woman like Kristi Coulter. For anyone looking for a “hit the ground running” style story, this is for you. Her narration also made it that much more enjoyable!

An insightful, grimace-worthy look into what it's like working for Amazon. Coulter describes the sexist, dog-eat-dog culture in the US offices and charts the changes in Amazon from when she first joined them (in the mid 2000s) to now.

The frantic and terribly organised environment, the way staff are thrown into new roles with no training or context, and the culture of "making money over everything else" didn't really surprise me, but still made for an "this is awful but I can't look away" read. The worst part was reading about the trauma that people ended up leaving the company with. Coulter describes the constant turnover of staff and people regularly having breakdowns every week. She mentions finding out about a therapist who pretty much specialised in ex-Amazon workers and explains the way the toxic culture led her to become an alcoholic. This is a really insightful read, and one that confirmed a lot of things I'd heard/suspicions I'd held about amazon.

Wow, just wow. A compelling listen (or read) is akin to being a bystander of a train wreck. This is one women's experience working for the behemoth we know as Amazon in its early’ish days and her ultimate escape to save her mental health and soul. Kristi and her husband are living in Michigan and seemingly happy, but she is a bit bored in her career so when an opportunity comes knocking to progress she snaps it up and off to Seattle they go. The company is growing at rocket pace, seems to not care how they chew people up and spit them out and actually revels in it, treats women with couched disdain and though clearly not female friendly doesn’t even seem human friendly. The entire culture seems hideous and yet addictive to for the author stay within it to see if she could break through and make some changes. What she discovers is that a team work is just an illusion, those in charge and even those she reports make promises they can’t or wont live up to, there is no sense of community to foster, respect is just a word in the dictionary, gaslighting is the language and combination of each and every manager she encountered along the way, fear and intimidation rule and without the vast stock options it would have been a giant boondoggle. It did though eventually lead her to living her lifelong dream of becoming a published author who wrote and finding herself again. Really interesting and well written, but honestly makes me question whether I ever want to order anything from them again.

Kristi Coulter is such a good writer that I wish I was a better writer so I could do her book justice. The content of the book was fascinating, often in a train-wreck-can't-look-away manner. I'll admit I went into the book blind and chose it simply because I am a fan of memoirs read by the author. I had no idea that Kristi was a long-tenured Amazon employee with STORIES to tell. These stories were surprising, expected, disgusting, mundane, heartbreaking, and inspiring all at the same time. I was rooting for her, hard, as I nodded my head in agreement with the sexual harassment comments and the simple notion that we "can't outgrow our gender". Amen (sadly) to that.
Witty, funny, poignant, and eye-opening... this was a lovely listen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and - most importantly - Kristi Coulter for this audio ARC of Exit Interview.

Kristi Coulter's memoir of her time at Amazon is an exquisite window into the heart & mind of a high level employee at one of the world's largest and most-poorly-regarded employers. The writing alternates between light wit and heavy reality checks, detailing the challenges facing women in the upper echelons of the corporate elite and giving humanity to the players involved.

I really enjoyed Exit Interview by Kristi Coulter. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it! Being able to hear Kristi tell the story made this book even better than reading it. You could really hear when she was passionate about something, angry, or being sarcastic.

As someone who has worked for a company that gives no work life balance and expects you to do a lot with very little resources, I really identified with what Kristi was saying! Kristi was great in the way she wrote this book. She not only went into the negatives about working at Amazon, but also highlighted things she learned that made her into the worker she is today. Kristi also highlights the struggles of working as a female in a male dominated company.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC! This book is set to be released on September 12, 2023.

I went into this memoir with the slightly naïve expectation that it was going to detail one woman's account of working in a higher level position at Amazon, and that it was going to be full of crazy stories. I say naïve because I underestimated how grossly batsh*t some of Kristi's stories were - infuriating to the point of hilarious, especially in terms of how both she and women in general were treated at the company. In a lot of ways this is a memoir about what it's like to work as a woman in one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, including issues of wage gap and gender discrimination.

Kristi writes clearly and straightforwardly, pointing out the contradictions between all of the "advice" articles for women in big business and tech companies along the way. She is open about how Amazon both challenged her and allowed her to grow professionally but also increased her addiction to alcohol and never provided her with a concrete path to promotion. Kristi does attempt to strike a balance between the good, the bad, and the ugly, but she ultimately checks "no" on the question of whether or not she would recommend working at Amazon, which I thought was very telling.

"If you can't outrun your gender, you might as well live as you please."

I'm glad that Kristi got out and I'm glad I read this memoir. I think it's important that anyone who works in big tech or is stressed in their job to give this a read or listen. For better or worse, Kristi offers an important perspective on maintaining who you are as a person and working within a system that does not care about that, only what you produce.

This was an incredible - but unfortunately all too believable - story. I worked in Big Pharma for only 5 years, but so much of what Coulter described resonated with me on so many levels. This is a story that needs to be told for so many reasons. The role of women in the workplace is, in numerous unfortunate and horrifying ways, still so ridiculous and Coulter captures the essence of that ridiculosity perfectly. I really enjoyed her voice, both narratively and narrator-ily. I think choosing to self-narrate added a layer of resonance that I really connected with - it was like having an extended conversation with your best work friend about the inanity and struggles and realities that come along with the titles and salaries that big corporations provide. I'm impressed by her ability to tell her tale with aplomb and unabashed honesty, as well as an unrelenting humanity and sense of humor and of herself. I'll definitely be grabbing her stories and dive into fiction (which I LOVE comes via an Amazon delivery vehicle)...

A funny, absurd, unflinching journey into a soul crushing workplace and why someone would stay. The memoir is a compelling story of gender and ambition that is sadly relatable for many women.

Review given in exchange for ARC.

The media is no stranger to reporting on the events within the walls of Amazon. From Jeff Bezo's antics to the culture within. Author Kristi Coulter pens this tell all "Exit Interview" detailing her decade plus of experience inside the belly of the beast.

With stock options and the Seattle climate, to the responsibilities and difference she was making in her small neck of the Amazon woods it is easy to see WHY Kristi stayed so long. However, once the curtain was peeled back, and her eyes were fully opened this book is an enjoyable yet painful immersion into her Amazonian life and exit interview.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this audio ARC!

Exit Interview is a memoir of Kristi Coulter's time at Amazon, starting in 2008. As someone who has long despised Amazon for numerous reasons, I was excited to learn about its corporate culture, as well.

This book feels like Coulter's attempt to heal after such a long time at a horrific, stressful job. She goes into the highs and lows in a way that makes me so thankful to not work in corporate tech. She writes about her experiences in a way that shows how she viewed the experience at the time, but she also includes advice she would have given herself at the time to help her realize that the majority of this behavior is not okay.

A lot of this book deals with the way women are treated in corporate America, and this aspect stands out. While the role of race is never mentioned, Coulter herself is white and she is writing about her own experience.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good memoir about a messy job. It is funny, enjoyable, and enlightening. Also, f&*# amazon!

Coulter's memoir provides a captivating and revealing glimpse into her tenure at Amazon. Despite grappling with personal challenges, she remained dedicated to her role as an "Amazonian" in a male-dominated profession, striving to uphold professionalism throughout.

The openness with which Coulter discusses her compensation, including stock options, and the company's strategic decisions offers eye-opening insights. As consumers, we seldom ponder the meticulous planning and merchandising behind the products we buy from this colossal conglomerate. Coulter's versatility and adeptness in handling various tasks at Amazon made her a valuable asset.

Of particular interest is the issue of burnout among Amazon employees. Coulter recounts how some individuals left the company due to stress but eventually returned when other career paths proved less successful. Her story underscores the intense nature of such high-pressure roles, leaving readers to question whether they could endure it even for a short duration, let alone for the years she devoted to the company.

In reading her courageous account, one can't help but wonder if Amazon will carry Coulter's book on their online platform. It's evident that her narrative holds value and will pique the curiosity of many readers.