Yikes: The Kyte Baby Controversy
The Background
Kyte Baby, a woman-owned baby clothes company, faces backlash the past week after its CEO, Ying Liu, denied a remote work request from an employee, Marissa Hughes, whose baby was in neonatal intensive care.
Hughes, a marketing employee at Kyte Baby, requested to work remotely due to her adopted baby's critical health condition. This request was originally accepted, and then denied, with the company suggesting Hughes should resign.
A Hughes family member started a Go Fund me page to support the family, and the story came out.
Liu made two public apologies on TikTok, acknowledging her initial insensitivity. Neither attempt #1 nor attempt #2 helped decrease the public outrage about the treatment of Hughes, particularly from an infant clothing company.
The Message
Both of Liu’s “apology” videos on TikTok were filled with actions and language that made the ongoing incident worse, not better for the CEO and company. Here are some highlights:
Starting from Behind:
As Liu released her initial apology video, the rapid pace at which the news and public reactions were unfolding was evident. It was crucial for her initial public address to not only acknowledge the situation swiftly but also to effectively establish a positive direction for the recovery process, particularly for the impacted employee.
Liu had a lot of responsibilities in order to establish crisis recovery including:
Acknowledge the situation (sincerely)
Express (believeable) concern and empathy
Restore trust (quickly)
Outline immediate actions (to make things right)
Own the errors (clearly without excuses or legalese)
Too Scripted:
It’s good to be prepared, and yes scripted with key points, on a public statement. But there is a risk of being too scripted and appearing inauthentic. In video #1, Liu stiffly read what appeared to be a written script with her eyes darting from left to right with language that sounded legal.
In her second video, Liu went too far the other way: she “went off script” and didn’t seem to have a handle on why apology #1 hadn’t gone so well.
Insensitive language:
“We treat biological and non biological parents equally.”
The term ‘non biological parents' alienated some adoptive, step-, and foster parents.
"We treat all parents equally" would have solved this slight and embraced all forms of parenthood without unneeded distinction.
Signs of Micromanagement:
According to Liu, she denied the request to let Hughes work remotely— after — Hughes had been told something could be worked out. Then, Hughes was encouraged to resign. The whipsaw changes in the plan, with a mom in crisis, seem to point to either micromanagement or a work culture that has communications challenges and a disconnect from the company’s purpose to “care about people.”
The Microscope
Here is analysis — and consequences — straight from the comments section of the company’s TikTok page:
Lack of Sincerity in Apology:
"I like how your lawyer prepared that statement. So sincere."
"So insincere. We bought SO much kyte baby for our first and will NOT for our second or third."
"So disheartened by this. You made this statement bc you’re under heat…not bc you’re sorry."
"This literally feels like a kidnapping ransom video 🙄"
Delayed Response and Motivation:
"She communicated to you the situation and it took the public finding out for you to try to make it right. This is a statement out of fear."
"Too little, too late. You're done."
Concerns About Company Practices and Ethics:
"Non biological parent! Seriously as an adoptive mom that hurt! 🥺"
"What’s gonna happen when it’s an employee who doesn’t have a good social media presence and is working in the warehouse?"
"You have two work from home positions on your website right now. Was she offered either of those?"
Call for Genuine Action and Repair:
"Ying, mama to mama, human to human, there’s much more you can do. Repair is with actions, not words."
Customer Disappointment and Shift to Competitors:
"SIGH ✨places order from Kate Quinn✨"
Hughes told Today she will not return to Kyte Baby. As she put it, "I don't think that's a healthy work environment for me."
I’d love to know if Kyte Baby worked with a crisis communications consultant? Lots to study on this incident!