🧸 Kristen Timmins, VP of Global Internal Communications at Hasbro
From applying her legal training to crisis comms to having fun with Furby at work
Welcome to this edition of The Switchboard, a newsletter exploring the ways we communicate and connect at work and beyond. I’m looking for examples of the ways being involved in culture positively impacted someone’s career. Reply to this email or send me a message to be featured or nominate someone. Thank you.
In This Edition
📔 Applying skills to non-linear career paths
🪀 Having fun at work
⛔ Embracing the “let them tell you no” philosophy
About Kristen
Kristen Timmins is the VP of Global Internal Communications at Hasbro, where she brings her passion for storytelling and connecting people to the forefront. With a background in political science from the University of Southern California and a JD, Kristen has a knack for making complex information accessible and engaging.
Before joining Hasbro, Kristen honed her skills at State Street, John Hancock, MetLife, and Liberty Mutual Insurance, where she took a non-linear path through compliance, change management, and risk oversight.
When she's not crafting compelling narratives or rowing her way to success (she rowed at USC), Kristen enjoys exploring new places, indulging in a good book, and family game nights with her two boys. She's all about fostering meaningful connections and making a positive impact wherever she goes.
What sparked your career path?
My career has been anything but a straight line. I am an attorney by training. I went to law school with the intention of always going into corporate legal. joined State Street Bank in Regulatory Compliance. It was a really interesting time to be in this field after the 2008 economic collapse. It was face-paced. We were learning as we went because no one has faced this situation before us.
I didn't realize it at the time, but the parts of that job I loved was change management and executive communications — taking a 600 page regulation and consolidating it into a one-pager.
I enjoyed being able to really look at a large problem and figure out how to solve it as an advisor. Ultimately, there was an opportunity to officially transition from legal to communications at a very difficult time for the company. It is public record that traders from State Street intentionally fixed the market and we fell subject to the Department of Justice having a monitorship over the company for three years. One of the biggest pillars was how do we build compliance acumen and risk management as common language for all employees and their understanding the importance of that in the work that we did.
They required a Comms lead who spoke Regulatory Compliance and Legalese, but who could also support Communications. After speaking with a lot of folks, I made the transition and never looked back. I like to say Comms finds you. Somehow, some way, comms knows the type of person who enjoys chaos and eager to problem solve above all else.
What a story! How did you transition from that work to now supporting a very different industry with gaming.
I knew that if I wanted to build a Comms career I needed to work in a field beyond financial services. I focused exclusively on retail to expand my reach to work directly with customers.
This opportunity at Hasbro was a dream, how do you not say yes to a gaming company that has a life-sized Connect 4 in the office?
It's been really wonderful as I have two kids who think I make the toys and therefore am the coolest mom ever. Hasbro has a strong mission and is known for bringing joy. When we re-launched Furby, I sent an email in Furbish from our head of toy and it was a welcome reminder to have fun at work.
How fun! Can you pick a favorite toy?
Right now at my house – it’s Nerf! We have Nerf battles daily. We actually have an entire wall now. For me personally, it's board games. I grew up loving them and you can’t beat the nostalgia of playing a game with your children that you once played with your own mom.
What is a value that drives you personally and professionally?
Two wrongs don’t make a right. It's something I teach my children all the time. You own your actions. Just because someone did something you didn’t agree with, you need to have the energy to recognize there’s no excuse for you to show up in a way that doesn't align with what is right. I also use this at work.
Comms is the connective tissue in so many conversations. The role we play in relationship management is to be calm in the storm. When there’s a bad article, a market headwind or an employee concern, those moments can feel scary and people can behave outside of their character. I acknowledge that it didn’t feel great and encourage everyone to take a step back and ask what we are going to do about it that feels aligned with who we are and what our values are because we're not just going to jump right in and be reactive.
As you look back, is there a pivotal project that's shaped your career?
When I had first joined Hasbro we were undergoing a lot of change, we had a beloved CEO and unfortunately he passed away. He had announced that he was going to retire for health reasons and passed away very shortly thereafter. As we were onboard a new CEO, an activist investor tried to take advantage. Our new CEO who is our current CEO made a lot of changes: we changed our entire Executive Suite and transformed our operational practices.
For the average employee, it felt like a lot. It closed this chapter in a very abrupt way that was different from before even though it was all the right things. This was right when I joined the company. As a Comms team, we needed to take employees on this change journey. We paused to remember why it’s fun to work here and that our employees are also fans.
We did an out of office campaign where we came up with a suite of messages for our July 4th week off. It was a small gesture that brought us joy. We knew there were a lot more serious things to do, but this has a meaningful impact for employees to reflect why we love working here. It was a Why Not moment that reminded us to do something out of the box and it had a lot of impact.
What are the skills needed for great communicators?
I think the number one skill for a strong communicator is abundant curiosity. In order to communicate something, you need to understand it fully. Otherwise it comes across that you didn't write that or know what you wrote.
You have to ask questions — why did you do this, can you tell me more about this, and what are our peers doing and so many more questions.
You have to see outside of the frame to ask about all the other things to make sure everything lands. This also means learning. When you have that skill in combination with the ability to write and relationship manage it really takes you far in Comms.
What's a hack or habit that grounds you in life and work?
We all suffer from inbox overwhelm and for the most part, I thrive in the chaos. But you can’t live in that space chronically without being good at responding. If I get asked for a date, a link or a quick question, I just reply. I’ve already opened an email or direct message, processed it and consumed it so I just respond to operate and stay in balance. I believe it’s coined the “touch it once” principle. I’m not perfect at it but I certainly find when I use it often, there is an increase in the ease of my day.
What about the opposite. How do you balance that with being proactive?
It’s not easy, but I think it’s recognizing that in our work, it’s not going to cross the 50% line (best case scenario 50% of our time is on proactive comms). It's just not the nature of what we do.
I try to bring this proactiveness into my day to day. For example in those fire drill moments, I am advocating proactively to calm down that something might be flaring but what would be best is if we respond to it in three weeks when we have time to do that. We don’t need to react, we can own this.
What advice would you like to end on?
I am a firm believer in “let them tell you no” – apply for the job that you don't think you are qualified for. My first job out of law school required 7 years of experience, and I had 0 years. I applied anyway and it was the right time and I got the role. I often wonder: what if I didn’t do that? This is also applicable to life because who knows where I'll take you?
Thank you Roberta (Bertie) Thomson for this story nomination. I’m always grateful for your support growing this community of caring communicators and connectors. If you enjoyed this article, give it a heart, consider sharing it with a friend or posting a learning on LinkedIn. Signing off for this edition. — Julia