It’s a Chimed Life: Meet Chris Denina, Senior Internal Communications Manager
When Chris “CD” Denina was young, he was shy but wrote for his elementary school newspaper. “It helped me get out of my shell, and I liked seeing other people read what I wrote,” he says. In college, he continued writing. “I didn’t know what to study, but I knew that I liked writing, so I figured I’d try that in real life.”
He double-majored in print journalism and English, creative writing, and his first job out of school was writing community news for the Los Angeles Times.
“I got to go out, talk to people, go into peoples’ homes and communities, sit in on city council and government meetings, and then write about them,” he says. “My job was to learn about what was happening in the community and share that with the paper’s readers.”
After a while, with journalism starting to slow and much of companies’ advertising spend going to internet channels, CD returned to school, this time for a master’s degree in creative writing. “I studied so many things I never thought I’d be able to use in my career, like playwriting, fiction, prose, and screenwriting,” he says. After his master’s, he tried his hand at journalism again and then decided to go corporate.
At first, he thought it was unusual that he applied so many of his creative writing skills to the corporate world. “With time, I realized that a lot of my corporate writing is like a mini-newspaper, only for an audience of employees,” he says. “Instead of reporting on what’s happening to benefit people in a community, I write on behalf of a company to get people engaged at work.”
So his career in internal communications began. And when he was looking for his next gig three years ago and saw an opening at Chime, he was interested. “When I got a call from the CEO’s chief of staff and was invited to be part of the journey of Chime transforming from a startup to a mature company, I was excited,” he says. “I was the first official internal communications hire and have had the chance to build out the function from end to end. It’s been really neat to come into a company and start something from scratch.”
Today, CD is Chime’s senior internal communications manager. Here’s a look at how he approaches internal communications at Chime, how his work has evolved over time, and how he stays connected to Chime’s mission and members.
Writing for an audience of employees
The first part of CD’s work is finding out what’s happening at Chime. To do that, he’ll listen in on meetings, talk to different functional stakeholders across the organization, and figure out what the ‘mini-newspaper’ should be talking about. Then he and his team post news to The Interchange, Chime’s internal communication platform.
“My focus is on making people feel like they have the information they need to succeed as a Chime citizen, that they know where the company is going and enjoy coming to work each day,” he says.
Part of the shift CD had to make when he started writing for an audience of employees was to change how he engages his readers. “I’m writing for one thousand people instead of tens of thousands, and not everyone reads the content, so I have to find other ways to get people excited about being at Chime,” he says. To do that, he focuses on meetings like Chime’s all-hands, different content formats like video and digital signage, and programming that engages readers, viewers, and participants. For example, this year, Chimers are grounding their work in the needs of our members, so CD has focused heavily on programming and content that revolves around and helps Chimers feel connected to Chime members.
In addition to executive and strategic communications, one of the biggest parts of CD’s role is producing Chimetacular, an annual event to highlight Chimers who embody and put Chime’s values into practice. The event also focuses on Chime members and how they’re at the forefront of everything Chime does. The awards ceremony has become a major cultural event at Chime, with fun skits, cameos, and videos. Every show has had a unique theme, from pop culture to game and talk shows.
“Now that we’re back in the offices and can host events like Chimetacular in person, they have become an entire production,” he says. “We’ve been coming up with ways to get people excited about watching from home and attending in person. Turns out my creative writing skills have come in handy more than I thought they would! I now describe my role as part journalism, part marketing, and part theater production.”
The seasonality of internal communications
To CD, successfully navigating internal communications is a lot like moving through the seasons. There are the all-hands meetings and Chimetacular, which require all of his focus for several weeks to pull all of the pieces together. “These bigger events almost feel like a movie release — we write them, build content and launch with a bang,” he says. “There’s a lot of planning, writing, and collaboration involved.”
Other times, there’s a lull between those bigger tentpole events. “During the in-between, we have the chance to strategize, collaborate with other teams and plan what’s next,” he says.
The seasons — and overall flow — of internal communications have changed over the course of CD’s career. In the earlier days, the function relied on newsletters, evolving from print to digital magazines distributed to employees. “But as soon as you distributed it, it was out of date — that’s why publishing company news online has made such a huge impact,” he says. “Online content can always be updated.”
And over the last few years, internal communications at Chime has expanded from being in office and online to being virtual, spread across time zones, and embracing hybrid work models. “Most people at the companies I’ve worked with have been in an office, but now, with remote workers making up such a large portion of the office, my role has taken on an entirely new meaning,” he says. “How do we keep people across offices and remote roles engaged and excited? What does it mean for engagement when showing up for work is opening a laptop, and a company only exists to some employees through a screen? We have to connect so much through the devices in front of us, which poses new and interesting challenges for my role.”
To add to that challenge, CD’s work is trying to grab Chimers’ attention amidst a very crowded attention economy. As more people use social media and other apps, grabbing their attention becomes difficult.
“That’s where creativity comes in, and we have the opportunity to make things more meaningful for folks,” CD says. “We can tell a story that’s relatable or feel-good, create a captivating visual asset, or make an event special to attend or watch.” In short, it’s his role to make people want to attend, watch or participate. “The way I capture people’s attention goes back to the skills I never thought I’d apply in a corporate setting — bringing elements of creativity and theater into a business setting.”
Connecting to Chime’s mission and members
When it comes to tying everything back to the member — which we always try to do at Chime — CD starts with the fact that he is a member. “I make Chime my primary way to spend money, so I can stay familiar with the product and member experience,” he says. He also attends call center shadowing sessions and stays up to date on community initiatives, like Chime in for Changemakers, to feel connected to our members’ stories.
And members are a big part of the excitement and meaning he brings to internal communications at Chime. “Sharing our members’ stories helps get Chimers excited about the work we do,” he says. “I see it as a central part of my job to promote Chime’s mission and members in all meetings and events, so Chimers are aligned and focused. After all, that’s a core tenet of internal comms: engaging, inspiring, and informing — which starts with getting every Chimer on board with our mission.”
As a Chime member himself and having heard many member calls, CD knows how important Chime is to our members’ lives. “I’ve heard members say so many times how much they really need Chime to pay their bills or buy essentials, like gas and groceries,” he says. “So many things we do are connected to a card that holds our money, our dreams, and our aspirations. If a member wants to pay for college, buy groceries, or give someone a gift, their ability to do so comes down to how they pay for it. Working at a company where people have such a real connection to our product hits differently. Seeing how Chime really helps people is a constant reminder of why we’re all here, and that’s really exciting.”
