#ItsJUStaNIK Survivor Stories - Tammy Picman

Tammy Pickman shares her firsthand account of working for Nikolas Hake d/b/a JUS Official Services. Tammy says she began as a W-2 employee on August 1, 2026, with a written employment agreement providing a $120,000 annual salary. She describes throwing herself into the company, developing onboarding processes, spreadsheets, procedures, communications, and working with venues and artists because she genuinely believed in what JUS was building. Tammy says four scheduled pay periods passed without her receiving a paycheck. She describes repeated discussions about payroll, ACH payments, wire transfers, and a physical check she was told had been mailed but says she never received. As the financial impact grew, Tammy filed a wage claim with the Illinois Department of Labor while continuing to seek a written accounting and resolution of the compensation she believed she was owed. Her story also describes the personal consequences of the experience. Tammy explains that she trusted JUS enough to recommend a member of her own family for employment and discusses how the situation ultimately affected her family and her 14-year-old son. She offers an emotional apology to anyone who became involved with JUS partly because they trusted her recommendation, explaining that she was an employee who believed in the company too and did not knowingly encourage anyone to enter a situation she believed would hurt them. Tammy also discusses her eventual termination, communications she personally considered aggressive and intimidating, threats of substantial financial damages, and statements she says were made concerning a future requirement that company executives live in designated executive residences. Through it all, Tammy repeatedly emphasizes that she is not seeking revenge and does not claim to know everything that happened behind the scenes. She is speaking about what she personally experienced and the documentation she possesses. This is Tammy's firsthand account, told in her own words as part of the #ItsJUStaNIK Survivor Stories series. It wasn't a lethal blow. Tammy survived to walk away because #ItsJUStaNIK.