VP & General Counsel
Hot Topic, Inc.
Kim Matthews is an accomplished legal executive with over 22 years of in-house experience in the health and wellness, retail, telecommunications, regulatory and franchise arenas holding in-house positions in various mega companies such as MCI (now Verizon), Jenny Craig/Nestle, Hot Topic and Torrid. She believes that a successful in house attorney partners with the business units to minimize risk, increase productivity, reduce costs and meet and exceed business goals.
Matthews is currently the Vice President and General Counsel of Hot Topic, BoxLunch and Her Universe brands – a position she has held since April 2015. As head of the company’s legal department she focuses on, among other things, Direct to Consumer license agreements with major studios and networks, IP portfolio management, compliance, IP claims, vendor compliance, employment matters, and outside counsel management. She is pursuing her MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management (EMBA 2020), and has been an active member of the State Bar of California since 2000.
Prior to Hot Topic, Matthews worked as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and VP of Human Resources for Total Woman Gym & Spa from 2015-2016 where she was responsible for all legal matters and employee matters including litigation, EEOC, WC, LOAs, terminations, training, benefits, state and federal reporting. She also managed corporate governance, vendor and distribution contracts, lease negotiations, advertising review, litigation, and franchise matters. Matthews also served as Vice President and General Counsel for Jenny Craig from 2007 2014 where she was a member of executive leadership team reporting directly to the CEO.
