
Preparing for the Unexpected
Preparing for the Unexpected is about how people, organizations and communities plan, prepare, test, communicate and respond to sudden unplanned events such as natural and manmade disasters and crises. The show is for everyone who wants an understanding of how plans are created for individuals, organizations and communities and for anyone who wants to know what they can do in their own lives to help protect themselves from unexpected events.
There is a myth that disasters happen to others but in reality, they happen to everyone. It's just a matter of when and how well-prepared you are. The greater the level of awareness, communication and knowledge, the quicker one bounces back from adversity.
The overall aim of Preparing for the Unexpected is to reduce the suffering, effects and impacts caused as a result of disasters and unexpected life events by increasing knowledge and awareness of Operational Resilience, Business Contingency, Disaster Planning, Crisis Management, and related activities.
Latest episodes

Apr 17, 2025 • 51min
Vendor and Third-Party Risk Management w/ Daniela Parker
Join me Thursday, April 17/25, as I talk with respected resilience and risk management expert, keynote speaker, and executive, Daniela Parker. We discuss Vendor Risk Management and Third-Party Risk Management. During our talk we touch on: 1. Defining Vendor Risk Management and Third-Party Risk Management. 2. Evaluating vendors and partners. 3. Where and how, to get started. 4. Executives and their preferred vendors. 5. Capturing risks and mitigation activities. 6. Stakeholders (Project Management). 7. Complacency and lack of understanding. 8. Assessment proof and documentation. 9. Finding the gaps and testing together. 10. The dreaded ‘tick-box’ exercise’. 11. Replacing a vendor (it’s more than you think). 12. Due diligence. 13. Scheduling ongoing reviews…and more! For the 3rd segment, we talk about her keynote presentation at the October 2024 Continuity & Resilience Today (CRT) conference – ‘Staying the Course: Resilience in Times of Internal Uncertainty’. We discuss: 1. Talking strategy. 2. Prioritizing and communicating risk. 3. Resilience as a revenue generator (if that doesn’t get attention from leadership, nothing will). 4. Strong sponsors. 5. Leveraging the headlines. 6. Tips…and more! Daniela shares some wonderful insights as a resilience and risk management professional, former Chief Risk Officer and Operating Officer, and provides realistic tips that can help resilience professionals with 3rd party risk management and ‘staying the course’. Don’t miss what Daniela has to share. Enjoy! Daniela Parker Currently serving as the Chief Risk Officer for Resource One Credit Union in Dallas, TX, she manages various areas such as Enterprise Risk Management, Information Security, Collections, Internal Audit, Compliance, Business Continuity Planning, Fraud and Financial Investigations, and Vendor Management.After beginning her career with US Bank, Daniela joined credit unions as a Branch Manager for TwinStar Credit Union in Olympia, WA. She held multiple positions over an 18 years there, from Division Manager and AVP Branch Operations to Chief Risk Officer. She joined Resource One Credit Union in August of 2022, relocating to Texas.Daniela is a Certified Business Continuity Professional DRI and holds CUNAs Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert Certification. Additionally, she earned a Master of Science Degree in Business Continuity, Risk, and Security from Boston University. Daniela has delivered presentations at prestigious events such as MITs Advanced Business Resiliency Program and is a class facilitator in Boston Universitys Graduate Risk Management Program.

Apr 10, 2025 • 49min
ESG and Resilience w/ Harsha Sastry
Join me Thursday, April 10/25, as I talk with respected resilience, risk management, author, speaker, and ESG expert, Harsha Sastry. We discuss the topic of ESG and Resilience. During our talk we touch on: 1. Defining ESG (Environment, Society, Governance). 2. Defining resilience (it’s more than you think). 3. Discussing the “E” (environment) in ESG. 4. The financial environment. 5. Discussing the “S” (society) in ESG. 6. Employee training and development (Org leadership are missing out on this opportunity). 7. Access to communications (knowing and awareness). 8. Supply chains (reverse and forward engineering). 9. The “G” (Governance) in ESG. 10. Ownership. 11. Business ethics and values. 12. Cybersecurity (awareness). 13. BIAs and ESG factors…and more! Harsha shares some wonderful insights on ESG and resilience you don’t want to miss. Enjoy! Harsha Sastry is a certified professional with over 24+ years of experience in Industry across multiple strategic roles in IT, Disaster Recovery, Continuity & Resilience across Engineering, FMCG Manufacturing, ITES & Publishing, Financial Services and IT & IT Services industries. Harsha has worked for large groups in India and Global Brands. Harsha has spoken and contributed in numerous summits, global forums and is well connected professional in Industry. Harsha publishes a weekly newsletter “Moments of Continuity” in LinkedIN as a contribution to industry and the continuity professional’s community.

Apr 3, 2025 • 52min
Third Party Risk Management w/ Daman Dev Sood
Join me once again as I speak with trainer, scholar, resilience professional, researcher, and author, Daman Dev Sood. In this episode we talk about his latest book "My Experiments with Third Party Risk Management" - a topic top of mind for many businesses. During this episode we touch on: 1. Defining 3rd Party Risk Management 2. What is a vendor? 3. Parameters of Risk (related to 3rd parties), 4. Regulation, guidelines, and mandates, 5. TPRM in Operational Resilience and Business Continuity Management, 6. Performing a 'Materiality Assessment' (and it's 5 step approach), 7, Weighing vendors, 8. Performing a 'Substitutability Assessment', 9. RFI and RFPs, 10. Maintaining the evaluation of vendors (and its timing), 11. Chief Data Manager...and more. Daman once again shares some valuable insights on a topic that it top of mind for many business leaders and their organizations. Don't miss what Daman has to share - it will help you. Enjoy! Daman Dev Sood Over 36 years in the industry, over 16 years in Resilience (Organisational Resilience, BCM, Risk Management, Crisis Management), international traveler/ worker, practitioner-trainer-consultant-auditor, author-speaker, served various companies in various sectors, multiple successful/ certified implementations, over 9500 hours of training/ teaching, multiple national and global awards winner - this is what I bring to table for my customers.

Mar 6, 2025 • 51min
Leaders Under Fire: Navigating Corporate Crisis w Jeff Chatterton
Join me Thursday, March 6, 2025 on the VoiceAmerica business channel, as I talk with crisis communications expert, speaker, and co-author of 'Leaders Under Fire: The CEO's Survival Guide to Navigating Corporate Crisis' Jeff Chatterton. During our talk on Crisis Communications we touch on such subjects as: 1. Telling stories, 2. Controlling the narrative, 3. Follow the steps, 4. Green light / red light communications, 5, The recipe for crisis communications, 6. Emotions and empathy, 7. "7 to 11 words" (you have to listen to know what that means), 8. Social media, 9, Boring is good, 10. Dealing with legal advice, 11. Good and bad examples of crisis communications, 12. Ego...and more. Jeff sheds some great insights on how to communicate during a crisis - the good, the bad, and the downright ugly things all all CEOs (and other leaders) need to know. Don't miss what Jeff has to share. Enjoy! I’m an expert in high-stakes and crisis communications. I calm upset stakeholders, build trust and help my clients return to profitability. This means I work with good companies that need help telling the truth, in order to end negative headlines and erase bad publicity. My clients tend to come from four industries: 1 - Aviation - whether it’s a hot air balloons, a charter airline in Africa, or sightseeing operation over Las Vegas 2 - Major Venues - I’ve delivered crisis training to 30+ arenas & stadiums, hosting 17 major pro sports franchises. 3 - Tourism Attractions - Amusement Parks, Family Entertainment Centers & Waterparks. 4 - Travel & Hospitality - Whether it’s Quito, Ecuador after an earthquake, Bali after a volcano or South Africa after the Ebola crisis, I work with different tourism regions to bounce back quickly and even stronger. My clients are either in the middle of the worst day of their career, or if they’re smart - PREPARING for the worst day. I aim to deliver outcomes within hours of engagement via real-world tested strategy deployment. While every client is unique, I tend to deploy a combination of these services: a) 1x1 Consulting b) Post-crisis Recovery Planning c) High stakes, crisis & media training d) CrisisTether Insurance.

Feb 28, 2025 • 17min
PT 2 - Crystal Ball Predictions for 2025 w/ Regina Phelps
Join me for Part 2 of my talk with multi-award winning and globally recognized Business Continuity and Crisis Management expert, Regina Phelps. Today Regina brings out her crytal ball to talk about what 2025 holds for BCM, Crisis, and Resilience professionals...all of us really. During our talk we touch on: 1. The next pandemic? (H5N1), 2. Common infections diseases surges, 3. Health & Human Services Impact Responses, 4. The homeowner insurance crisis, 5. Failing infrastructure, 6. Government instability...and more! I even share my thoughts from a Canadian perspective and how we're feeling up in the 'Great White North'. Don't miss what Regina has to share, as these are risks beyond the usual. Enjoy!

Feb 28, 2025 • 31min
PT1 - Crystal Ball Predictions for 2025 w/ Regina Phelps
Join me for Part 1 of my talk with multi-award winning and globally recognized Business Continuity and Crisis Management expert, Regina Phelps. Today Regina brings out her crytal ball to talk about what 2025 holds for BCM, Crisis, and Resilience professionals...all of us really. During our talk we touch on: 1. The current risk landscape (The Top 7 risks from the Global Economic Forum) 2. State-based conflicts, 3. Extreme weather events, 4. Goeconomics, 5. Misinformatino and disinformation, 6. Societal polarization, 7. Critical changes to "Earth systems"...and more! I even share my thoughts from a Canadian perspective and how we're feeling up in the 'Great White North'. Don't miss what Regina has to share, as these are risks beyond the usual. Enjoy!

Feb 20, 2025 • 52min
Political Instability, Skill Gaps, and Mental Health w/ M Millett
Join me as I talk with award-winning and globally recognized business continuity and resilience expert, Margaret Millett. We talk about 3 key areas that are creating waves in the resilience industry, and Margaret doesn't hold back on her thoughts. We touch on: 1. Political instability and geopolitical risks, 2. Talk shortages and skills gap in the resilience profession, 3. Mental health in the resilience profession. Margaret once again shares some great insights into three very current and relevant topics. Don't miss what Margaret has to share. Enjoy! Margaret Millett (MSBC, FBCI (Hon), MBCP) has been actively involved in the business continuity management profession for many years and worked for Fortune 300 companies in Boston, Massachusetts, Dublin, Ireland, San Jose, CA, and Raleigh, NC. She has held board levels positions with business continuity organizations, written publications and spoken at business continuity management conferences in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Since 2015 she has served as the Board Chair for the Alzheimer’s Association of Eastern North Carolina. Margaret currently works for Uber Technologies, Inc.

Feb 13, 2025 • 52min
Crisis Communications with Sean Mallen
Join me Thursday, February 13, 2025 on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel, as I talk with top-ranked communications professional, author, and an award-winning journalist, Sean Mallen, as we talk about Crisis Communications. During our discussion we touch on: 1. Crisis Management vs Crisis Communications, 2. Reputation, 3. Empathy, 4. Transparency, 5. Responsibility, 6. Social Media impacts, 7. A 'rapid response', 8. Saying sorry (meaning it and when to say it), 9. Testing & Practice, 10. Media training, 11. Bridging and pivoting, 12. Preparing for anything (the unexpected)...and much more! Sean shares some wonderful insights on what to do - and not do - during a crisis, along with some great real-life examples. If you're a leader or in a position where you'll be in charge of communications during an event that impacts your business, you don't want to miss what Sean has to share. Enjoy! Sean Mallen is a top rank communications professional—a media trainer and consultant to C-Suite executives and leaders of major industry organizations, an award-winning journalist with international experience and now a published author of a critically-acclaimed memoir. He offers sophisticated, insightful, impactful communications counsel to corporate leaders and senior government ministers, as well as heads of international charities, presidents of major industry associations and leaders in the arts community. He brings a lifetime of frontline news media experience to communications strategies, media and presentation training, speech writing and crisis communications. For more than 30 years as an award-winning journalist he covered major events from coast to coast to coast in Canada and around the world--from Queen’s Park to Parliament Hill, The White House to 10 Downing Street. He interviewed Prime Ministers and CEOs, Nobel Laureates and convicted murderers, and has been on the front lines of crisis—plane crashes, natural disasters and political scandals.

Feb 6, 2025 • 52min
Surviving 9/11, Disability Perceptions, Fear, and Guide Dogs
Join me, as I talk with author, international speaker, and 9/22 survivor, Michael Hingson. It's an inspirational discussion about such topics as: 1. Surviving 9/11, 2. Staying calm and controlling fear, 3. Misperceptions about disabilities, 4. Operating with prejudice, 5. Guide dogs and Michael's new book "Live Like a Guide Dog", 6. Trust, 7. People and adversity, 8. Resilience, 9. The human-animal bond, 10. You own best teacher...and more! It's an inspiring talk and Michael shares some great insights that can benefit us all, in our personal and professional lives. Enjoy! Michael Hingson WHAT I DO: I write books. I do podcast interviews with really interesting people on my "Unstoppable Mindset Podcast. I love doing keynote speeches and talks all over the world about my experience as a blind survivor of 9-11. I use my experiences to assist companies, organizations, and individuals in creating a more inclusive world. Also, I travel internationally speaking to and inspiring audiences with talks on Trust, Teamwork, Diversity and Change. As the Chief Vision Officer for AccessiBe, I also help people understand why it's important to have an online presence that is inclusive and ADA compliant. It's the right thing to do. I provide training on adaptive technology for the blind. HOW I DO IT. Your company or organization needs different lenses to see how you can be inclusive and practice diversity. My experience and how I show up in the world gives me a unique perspective in how you can effectively assist your people in growing in this area. I will gladly consult with your organization to help shape a healthy culture of inclusion and diversity. Our team at AccessiBe will also help you understand not only the risk you run in today's litigious culture by not having an ADA compliant website or online presence, but as one of the leaders in ADA compliance technology, we'll show you how to do it, and why it's simply the right thing to do.

Jan 23, 2025 • 51min
BURNOUT! with Anne Bonney
Join me as I talk with speaker, author, and confidence builder, Anne Bonney as we talk about Burnout, and how it impacts us in our personal and professional lives. During our talk we touch on such subjects as: 1. Defining burnout, 2. The 5 factors of burnout, 3. Predictability, 4. Control, 5. Seeing progress, 6. Having an outlet, 7. Social support, 8. Self-efficacy, 9. Identifying stressors, 10. Emotional energy, 11. Boosting emotional energy, 12. Drawing boundaries, 13. Ignoring burnout and the ramifications…and more!! Anne’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious, as she shares some wondering insights about burnout and how we can prevent it or deal with it if we are experiencing it. Don’t miss what Anne has to share – you’ll be better for it. Enjoy! Change is here to stay. The only constant in business is that there will be more change, and if you’re not dealing with it right now, stay tuned...it’s comin’! As an authority on managing change with confidence and resilience, Speaker and Author Anne Bonney CSP (Certified Speaking Professional. masterfully imparts her knowledge through empowering keynotes and interactive live and virtual workshops to ignite and inspire your organization to be more emotionally intelligent and adaptive through transitions. She will fire-up your team’s influence so they can productively lead and communicate courageously which directly correlates to their ability to manage change, immediately impacting your organization’s profitability. Who doesn’t want that?? This sassy little redhead shares business lessons from her crazy life experiences, which arms her with relatable and hilariously memorable stories from growing up overseas, running international marathons, animal training, morale building tours to the military in Iraq, volunteering at an elephant sanctuary and singing opera at a performing arts school and yes- there’s more. Anne has worked with many companies including Under Armour, The New England Aquarium, Lockheed Martin, NASA, SHRM, Sysco, FBLA, the FDA and Social Security Administration, Ecolab, Shell Oil and Wells Fargo as well as many professional, entrepreneurial, and women’s conferences. Big Event? No problem- Anne has spoken to up to 2000 attendees. Small Event? Easy-Peasy!
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