Exploring Risk in Extreme Environments with Kevin Vallely

Jul 23, 2024

Explorer and author Kevin Vallely discusses building resilience, managing risks in extreme environments, and the importance of teamwork and communication. He shares insights on his upcoming keynote speech at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver.

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Intro

00:00 • 4min

RIMS Canada Conference 2024 Preview and Keynote Introduction

03:51 • 8min

Journey from Childhood Panic to Extreme Expeditions

11:34 • 9min

Exploring Resilience and Teamwork in Extreme Environments

20:09 • 5min

Principles, Expansive Expeditions, and Risk Management

25:02 • 14min

Exploring Risk Management and Courage in Extreme Environments

38:46 • 4min

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Justin Smulison interviews Kevin Vallely, an explorer, architect, mentor, and author, about his early life, his career, his risk philosophy, and a hint of his upcoming keynote speech at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, from October 6th through 9th in Vancouver, B.C.

Listen in for the steps to building the skill of resilience.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. Today we will discuss strategic risk management with architect and world-renowned adventurer, Kevin Vallely, who will also be one of the RIMS Canada 2024 keynotes.

[:43] First, let's talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. August 15th kicks off the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management. Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops.

[1:07] Let's talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University.

[1:22] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode's show notes.

[1:38] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode's show notes.

[1:53] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register.

[2:06] Exhibitor's space is still available at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. This is your chance to get in front of risk professionals from around the world. To learn more about how to become an exhibitor at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, click the link in the show notes. All RIMS regional conferences information can be found through the Events page at RIMS.org.

[2:29] The first of two guests today, Aaron Lukoni, is the Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management in British Columbia, and the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Aaron is making this cameo appearance on RIMScast to tell you what's coming up for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. This may be the best RIMS Canada Conference ever!

[3:01] Aaron Lukoni, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:32] Aaron Lukoni is a Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management, British Columbia. She handles wildfires, floods, and national events. She is a professional problem-solver for the Province of British Columbia.

[3:52] By night, Aaron is the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Eight years ago, she started on a subcommittee. She has a passion for volunteering. Aaron will be hosting the RIMS Canada Conference in Vancouver B.C. from October 6th through 9th, 2024.

[4:51] This RIMS Canada Conference will be great. It's in stunning Vancouver! It will be a dynamic program filled with insightful presentations and interactive thought leadership sessions. There will be a huge exhibitor hall and amazing networking opportunities! There will be extra Plenary sessions with coverage of risk management critical topics.

[5:46] There will be expert speakers and a diverse lineup of educational sessions to allow attendees to dive deeper into their areas of interest. There will be something for everybody at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024!

[6:22] The keynotes are Kevin Vallely, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jon Montgomery, and Jay Kiew, our guest on RIMScast Episode 296 (Check it out!). The speakers will highlight emerging trends from technological advancements and regulatory changes to evolving best practices and leadership considerations, all to motivate and inspire you and set the tone for the conference.

[9:37] Thank you, Aaron! We look forward to seeing you at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver, from October 6th through the 9th.

[9:45] Our next guest is an explorer, architect, and author. He is Kevin Vallely, who is renowned for his adventurous spirit and compelling storytelling. He holds a Guinness World Record for the fastest unsupported trek to the South Pole and has led numerous expeditions around the globe.

[10:06] He's the author of Rowing the Northwest Passage, about an unprecedented journey through one of the world's most challenging environments. In 2025, he will trek to the Arctic in a way that no one has ever done. We're going to hear about it and his risk philosophies for strategic risk management, with a preview of his RIMS Canada Conference 2024 keynote.

[10:40] Kevin Vallely, welcome to RIMScast!

[10:50] Kevin is in Vancouver today, and it is hot there this July! It's 35 Celsius or around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He enjoys the heat.

[11:53] Kevin has been undertaking major expeditions for almost three decades. It started when he was a child, one freezing February night in Montreal. He was nine years old and his brother was five. They were separated from their parents in a department store, and a security guard put them out on the street instead of finding their parents. Kevin's brother cried to go home.

[13:31] At that point, Kevin, being the big brother, started the journey home with his little brother. Finding landmarks, he got to a familiar street and followed it for several hours, stepping into apartment buildings on the way to warm up, and made it home to their relieved parents and police searching for them.

[14:22] That had been the riskiest and most uncertain moment in Kevin's life and he effectively overcame it. It was an empowering moment. It wasn't long after that, Kevin had this dream to ski to the South Pole, which he did, thirty-five years later.

[14:47] Having been thrown into an unsettled and risky situation he didn't want to be in, and overcoming it, Kevin realized he was good at pushing through and coming out the other end, having successfully taken care of his brother and himself. It was an aha moment and the beginning of his adventuring career.

[15:22] There is no adventuring degree. You just put yourself out there. The degree is that you survive and succeed. People who don't succeed in that world either deal with very bad consequences or their expeditions fail. Having broken the Guinness World Record to the South Pole is indicative that Kevin is doing something right. He has many expeditions under his belt.

[15:50] A successful adventurer understands how to deal with risk, effectively manage it, and move forward. Kevin is a member of The Explorer's Club, based in New York. It's an elite club.

[16:39] An adventurer always has to adjust. On September 10, 2001, Kevin and a teammate were summitting 10,000-foot-plus volcanoes in Java and Indonesia, two Muslim countries with very friendly people. Then September 11th happened and in a short time, Kevin and his teammate were not wanted. [17:39] They were warned by the Canadian Embassy to get out of the country but they kept going. They began to see this change. Then someone tried to drive them off the road, cursing at the "Americans." Police officers told them to be very careful and recommended they leave. So they made an adjustment and left.

[18:09] Kevin has been back to Indonesia a number of times since, and he says it's the most wonderful country with the most wonderful people. But there was that moment in history when they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and they knew to get out. Their appearance as Westerners was held against them with hostility. It was vital to adjust and leave.

[19:25] Resilience is a fundamental facet of every occupation. Studies indicate that resilience is as important as whatever it is in your job that you are doing, in terms of career success. Resilience is a skill you can build, develop, and train. Push yourself and build that strength with small things so when something big happens, you can deal with it.

[20:11] The three Ps of resilience are a strong sense of Purpose, Partnership with a team, and Perspective on the situation. Be conscious of these three things all the time to build your resilience.

[21:32] It's RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make its RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies to Protect Your Organization. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management.

[21:57] On September 12th, Hub International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series. It's titled Pivot and Swerve Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. More webinars will be announced soon and added to the Webinars page. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars. Webinar registration is complimentary for RIMS members!

[22:23] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda is live and soon we will have a call for nominations for the ERM Award of Distinction. I'll have that link up soon in an upcoming episode.

[22:43] Review your organization's ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction.

[22:57] The Spencer Educational Foundation's goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals; that is achieved in part by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. The call for General Grant applications is open now through July 30th.

[23:18] General Grant Awardees are typically notified at the end of October. The link to the application criteria is in this episode's show notes.

[23:28] On September 12th, 2024, we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at the Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Our recent guest from Episode 293, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray will be our Honoree. Lilian is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Alliant Insurance Services.

[23:54] Lilian will be honored for her valuable contributions to supporting the future of risk management and insurance. That was a great episode, so after you finish this one, go back and listen to Episode 293!

[24:08] Let's conclude our interview with RIMS Canada Conference 2024 Keynote Kevin Vallely!

[24:50] Kevin explains that team alignment and managing risk effectively together is all around communication. If you're not communicating, you don't know if you're aligned.

[25:09] Before you head into a difficult situation, come up with some key principles to display when you're out there: your decision-making model, your guiding principles for this journey, your goals, and your definition of success, with all team members being on the same page with these principles throughout the journey.

[25:38] Kevin explains how the key principles work in practice on the journey.

[27:01] The decision-making process is to be determined and agreed upon by the members of the expedition before the journey begins. When things are happening quickly, you don't debate how to make a decision. You make the right decision when you need to.

[27:57] Kevin compares architecture to adventuring. It's an uncertain landscape in many ways. Liability, creativity, and innovation relate to the wild as well as to architecture. The wild wisdom he learns on adventures helps his architecture and what he learns in architecture helps his expeditions.

[29:56] Kevin went into architecture as a wonderful opportunity to express himself. He is doing contemporary modern homes. He has worked in every aspect of the business but has worked for himself for 13 years. His architecture is a passion project and he likes to do things that are a little bit different, with the risks that involves.

[30:34] Kevin discusses some of the homes he has designed for clients. His clients become his friends as they work together for years from start to finish. The Bridge House is one he loves. His job is to create the client's dream space with his vocabulary.

[32:01] Kevin's upcoming expedition for March 2025 is called The Coldest Journey in the World. They first tried it in 2022. It lasted two weeks, due to conditions that were colder than anticipated. It was too cold for the machines. After two weeks they recognized they were putting themselves in danger so they paused to rethink it and came back.

[33:30] Their process now is innovative thinking, rethinking, and dynamically changing, based on the risk profile. The plan now is to go by ski and dog team. Dogs survive wonderfully in that environment. They love it, in coid worse than snowmobiles can take. They have a team of four traveling with two sets of dog teams. It's an Inuit and non-Inuit team coming together.

[34:08] It will be a seamless, cross-cultural collaboration. They will be learning from one another in this environment. There will be a camera team, independent of them, for a period of time, as the camera team endures. Kevin is trying to push the boundaries of what is possible in that environment. No one has been there in that time of year.

[35:00] Kevin is not looking for world records. This is a much more meaningful process for him. They are going to the Northern terrestrial edge of the planet, as far North as you can go before stepping onto the sea ice heading for the North Pole. They are going there and back on a 1,200-mile (2,000-Km) journey through the coldest, most hostile environment on the planet.

[35:31] They will see things few people get to see, including lots of polar bears, wolves, and musk oxen. It will be fascinating to see how those creatures survive in that environment. They estimate the trip will take 45 to 60 days. Last year, on Baffin Island, they did a quick, two-week test journey. At one point it was minus 47 degrees Celsius with 110 Kph winds.

[36:11] The temperature felt like minus 87 Celcius or about minus 125 Fahrenheit. Kevin bit into a Fig Newton, and his front tooth snapped off at the gum. He's getting an implant put in. It's cold and things get really brittle. It's a different world. The team understands the environment and has been in it. Someone who's never been in the environment could die quickly in it.

[36:53] Kevin's team is able to push that boundary with their experience. For them, the risk is manageable and they know what to do when things don't turn out right. They adjust to that.

[37:15] When you're out there, the first couple of weeks are nasty but then your body starts to adapt to using food to generate heat. When they skied to the South Pole, they ate 8,500 calories a day, taking a special lipase to digest the extra fat. Normally, the human body maxes out at metabolizing 5,500 calories. Kevin still lost weight. Extreme cold is the ultimat diet.

[38:27] At the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver, Kevin will talk about a planned rowing journey, attempting to traverse the Canadian High Arctic in a small boat solely under human power, with all the risks associated with that and how to manage them, including things happening that you couldn't anticipate, and how you deal with that,

[38:51] There's a lot of learning around risk management and also courage in that environment. There's risk in life. It's about having the right mindset, being courageous, and moving forward through whatever you are thrown. Kevin will use multimedia visuals with videos to illustrate his address. There will be opportunities for audience involvement.

[39:54] That sounds like it's going to be great. We look forward to seeing you there. I really appreciate you making the time for us here today. We will see you at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver. Kevin Vallely, thank you so much! This has been a lot of fun!

[40:08] Special thanks again to Kevin Vallely, for joining us here on RIMScast! He will be one of the conference keynotes, at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 in Vancouver from October 6th through the 9th. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register.

[40:25] By all means, check out KevinVallely.com. He's got some great stuff on his site. Learn more about that expedition scheduled for 2025.

[40:34] Check out RIMScast Episode 296 with Jay Kiew for more insight from RIMS Canada Conference 2024 keynotes.

[40:42] It's Plug Time! The RIMS App is available to RIMS members exclusively. Go to the App Store and download the RIMS App with all sorts of RIMS resources and coverage. It's different from the RIMS Events App. Everyone loves the RIMS App!

[41:16] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in our show notes. RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate! Contact pd@rims.org for more information.

[42:00] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information.

[42:17] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[42:33] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org.

[42:54] Thank you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!

Mentioned in this Episode:

RIMS Canada Conference 2024 — Oct. 6‒9 | Registration is open!

RIMS Canada Exhibitor Opportunities

RISKWORLD 2025 will be in Chicago! May 4‒7

RIMS DEI Council

Spencer Educational Foundation — Grants Page — Apply Through July 30.

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RIMS-CRMP Virtual Workshops

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App

Florida RIMS Annual Conference — July 30‒Aug. 3, 2024!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Funding Their Future Gala 2024