Communicator spotlight: Khobi Brooklyn of Hims & Hers
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Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Hims & Hers
As chief communications officer of Hims & Hers, Khobi Brooklyn is tasked with building the telehealth company's brand in a crowded — and highly regulated — space.
Why it matters: She has a track record of helping new, innovative companies within antiquated industries break through.
What she's saying: "Health care needs to change," she told Axios. "We need to focus it more on the customer and articulating that vision and creating a path for that change takes incredible focus, prioritization and creativity."
How she got here: Brooklyn got her start working at a PR agency before taking an in-house communications role at Tesla in 2009.
- She then joined the team at Square, overseeing product comms and brand marketing before rejoining Tesla as head of global communications in 2015.
- Brooklyn also held executive comms roles at Nike and autonomous vehicle company Aurora before joining Hims & Hers in 2023.
How it's structured: Brooklyn reports to Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO Andrew Dudum. She oversees a team of 17 responsible for external and internal communications, as well as government relations and policy.
Every CEO should know that communications is not something you just slap on at the end of a project.
- "Strategic communications should be part of the conversation in the beginning, because communications moves the plan forward and can impact the business."
Trend watch: The continued elevation of internal communications.
- "It's not always thought of as the sexiest part of comms but it's so crucial to a company being successful. Employees are this incredibly focused audience that is right there for you to engage."
Who she's watching: The comms team at Nike and its "ability to tell incredibly engaging, compelling stories that have established an incredible connection to its consumers."
Best advice: Advocate for yourself.
- "It sound so obvious, but I think in communications, we do it less because so much of our role is to put the other people up and make sure that they're being taken care."
