Kris Robbins is known around First Interstate Bank by her laugh.
“She has a great smile and I love to hear her laugh,” said Sara Becker, senior vice president and director of marketing and communications at First Interstate Bank. “It can be reassuring when you’re all in a tough, challenging time knowing you’re all working through it together. She’s approachable and relatable and that makes her such a strong leader with people because she’s in the trenches with them, always willing to listen or give a word of advice and help find solutions.
“Robbins keeps clients at the forefront of all we do while ensuring that employees are seen, heard and valued.”
Now chief operations officer for First Interstate Bank in Billings, Mont., Robbins got into banking right out of college and immediately found her calling as a problem solver for her colleagues and her clients.
“What I really like about my job is making a difference in people’s lives, and that’s from an employee perspective and a client perspective,” she said. “People are what keep me going on a daily basis.”
In her leadership role, Robbins focuses on First Interstate’s six principles of engagement by centering positive intent, teamwork and always doing what’s right. Shane Richards, senior vice president and director of lending centers at First Interstate, said her positive style lends itself well to her colleagues and encourages people to come to her whenever they need.
“Kris provides the safety net for people so they can be their authentic selves,” he said. “She creates an environment of thinkers. She’s not telling people to do something, she wants you to think and come up with solutions and problem-solve. She creates the environment to do it and then gets out of the way and lets people do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
Robbins’s steadfast reliability, empathy and ability to provide safety for her peers led to her recognition as a 2024 BankBeat “Outstanding Women in Banking” honoree.
Over the past few years, Robbins has been central to expanding and revamping the bank’s call center, an often utilized but underserved section of First Interstate. Her leadership on the project has led to better support for customers and workers alike.
“The call center was an area that just didn’t get all the attention it needed,” she said. “So I had the opportunity to come in and listen and learn from the people doing the work. As a result, we came up with a plan to really set up the right infrastructure for the contact center, which meant the bank investing and ensuring we had the right people in the right positions.”
The project was an extension of Robbins’s consistent advocacy for the people who work at the bank. Becker said Robbins stepped in when she identified challenges the center was having and put the right people in the right places.
“Her desire to make things better and continually improve is something that follows her in all sides of her job and we see results in every area,” she said. “It doesn’t only make it better for the clients, but for the employees as well, so it’s a win-win. And I think that’s what leads to the respect and admiration she has from the people around her as they see that she’s willing to tackle the tough challenges and get things done.”
As a mother to two college-aged daughters, Robbins is also working to diversify the banking industry and encourage more young women to join the ranks of financial institutions. Her colleagues say it’s one of her passions within her day-to-day work.
Robbins also extends these opportunities to young people through her volunteer work. As the granddaughter of an educator, she knows the importance of youth having access to programs and work that excites and elevates them.
“It’s important to me to have a diverse group of people around the table when making key decisions that affect the business, our employees, our customers and ultimately our communities,” she said. “I think it’s also really important to ensure that we’re focused on the youth in our community and providing them the opportunities to take part in programs that complement their educational process where they’re able to understand the issues at hand in their communities. Education is deeply important to me.”
While maintaining her consistent workload, Robbins makes sure to regularly catch up with as many people in the office as possible, setting up weekly check-ins to ensure everything is running smoothly. Robbins continually establishes a safe space for colleagues to ask questions or bring up concerns to keep the bank moving forward and improving wherever possible.
Community banking and her team have driven Robbins throughout her nearly 30 years in the industry, and she looks forward to continuing to positively contribute for years to come.
“To be a part of the banking community as a woman and to be able to serve in my position these communities across the 14 states that we are in is an absolute honor, but it’s really the great people that we have here at the bank, doing the amazing work that they’re doing to ensure that our clients are taken care of, who should get the credit,” she said. “People-first always is important to me and I live by that and so does my team. It makes me proud of what I do and proud to be a banker.”
