I lost my job. And sometimes that’s what it feels like, too. Like I’ll find it under the seat in the car or in the pocket of my pants when I pull them from the laundry bin. Other times it feels like a gross injustice, which is closer to the truth of the situation. But cry me a river. I’m far from the first victim of this injustice. Hell, I know people who have gone through the indignity of multiple layoffs. No, for the worse and never the better, the layoff is now a normalized and perhaps formative aspect of one’s livelihood.
It was a great job, inventing, designing and making award-winning, WOW, holy $%&#, innovative toys, which is what I do best.
I spent 9 exciting, challenging years at Hasbro, one of the world’s largest toy makers. Home to Mr. Potato Head, Transformers, My Little Pony, Magic: The Gathering, Monopoly and Furby, Hasbro struggles in the modern economy to compete with Lego and other, nimbler, toy makers better able to capture kids’ and parent’s’ imaginations with innovative toys and games. But that old house is still a great house. It’s got “good bones”.
Hasbro is changing, perhaps for the better, and there will be career casualties as teams are disbanded and dismantled. It’s not cavalier to say lives are changed when you reduce headcount by 15%, and that’s just in 2023. But a new CEO, as well as a “back to basics” approach from new Head of Toys Tim Kilpin, have me excited for Hasbro’s future. Fare thee well.
Hasbro owns some fun and exciting brands and, to my mind, employs some of the most creative, hardworking and caring people in roles from project manager to marketer, engineer to designer. There are even some Hasbro lawyers I’m pretty partial to! I’m thankful for my time there, learning from masters of the craft, collaborating with genius-level talent, and creating award-winning, WOW toys, which is what I do best.
I find myself excited for the foggy, dimly lit unknown of what comes next. But one thing’s for sure: I’ll be inventing, designing and making award-winning, WOW, holy $%&#, innovative toys, which is what I do best.
Drop me a line…
(630) 709-2710
dimunknown@gmail.com
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