RIMScast

Kyle Leng, Senior Compliance Officer at Airtower Networks, sheds light on the critical importance of wireless connectivity for public safety. He discusses the risks posed by outdated infrastructure in buildings, particularly during emergencies when communication is essential. Exploring IoT advancements, he shares insights on updating Wi-Fi and cellular systems in high-rises and older buildings. Kyle emphasizes the need for modern safety protocols and collaboration with local authorities to ensure reliable communication for first responders in urgent situations.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin interviews Chris Reilly about his insurance career and how you came to join and lead Link USA. They also cover RISKWORLD 2025 and the DE&I Studio, where Chris was on a panel. Chris talks about how he volunteered for the DE&I initiative at Amwins and how it has grown over the years. Chris does not believe the current anti-DE&I rhetoric will continue for long, in light of the existing Title VII and EEOC protecting employees and applicants against employment discrimination. Chris believes organizations know what is right, and that they will do better with a strong DE&I program in place, reducing reliance on EPLI coverage. The conversation concludes with information about Link USA's upcoming events.   Listen to learn more about supporting Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion efforts in your organization.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our topic is inclusivity in risk management and we will be joined by Chris Reilly, the National Co-Chair of Link USA, and Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader at Amwins Group Benefits. [:45] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! Register by July 1st for the next RIMS-CRMP Virtual Workshop, which will be co-led by Parima. That course will be held on July 8th and 9th. [1:02] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED virtual workshop will be led by Joseph Mayo on July 17th and 18th. Register by July 16th. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode’s show notes. [1:20] RIMS Virtual Workshops! On June 26th. Pat Saporito will return to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”. [1:32] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode’s notes. [1:43] Starting on July 16th, James Lam will host a six-module course, the RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management. This is a bi-weekly course that will run through Wednesday, September 24th. A link to last week’s episode about it is in this episode’s notes. [2:04] Registration closes on July 9th. A link is in this episode’s notes. [2:09] Mark your calendars for November 17th and 18th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The agenda is being built. Soon, we will distribute a Call for Nominations for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll update this episode’s show notes when that link is ready. [2:32] Think about your organization’s ERM program or one that you know of, and how it has generated value. We will have more on that in the coming weeks. [2:40] On with the show! It’s June 2025. It is Pride Month and RIMScast and RIMS are dedicated to fostering an environment where individuals from all backgrounds feel valued, respected, and empowered. We’ll dive into the real meanings of words and initiatives; words like inclusivity. [3:01] Joining me today to delve into those terms is Chris Reilly, the National Co-Chair of Link USA. Link is the LGBTQ+ Insurance Network. Chris is also the Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader at Amwins’s Group Benefits. [3:17] We will discuss the state of diversity, equity, and inclusion in insurance and risk management, how the pendulum has swung, and what risk professionals and employers need to know about a landscape that may or may not be changing as much as you think. [3:35] Interview! Chris Reilly, welcome to RIMScast! [3:42] It’s Pride Month. For Chris, it’s a great time to be celebrating oneself and celebrating with the community. He says there’s no reason not to celebrate 12 months of the year. [4:14] Chris Reilly has had a 30-plus-year insurance career. His dad and grandfather had an agency. His father offered him a job right out of college. Chris thought he’d step up in a year or two, but he’s still doing it 30-plus years later. It’s a great career. He loves the industry. [4:47] The first part of Chris’s years he spent in the Property and Casualty world as a commercial broker, most of those years with Aon. He jumped to the wholesale side when he joined Amwins in 2000. [5:05] Chris is on the employee benefits side, providing group benefit programs to companies through broker partners. [5:13] About five or six years ago, Amwins created internal DEI programs. Chris immediately volunteered to join the National Council at Amwins to participate in and help build those programs. He worked on a committee centered on making the workplace intentionally inclusive. [5:54] Chris served on that committee for two years. In the process, he came across Link, which was in the UK. Chris and a colleague convinced Link to bring it to the U.S., which they did in 2021. Four years later, Link has expanded into Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Atlanta.  [6:18] Link restructured this year with a national board for a national presence. Link kicked off Pride Month with a national virtual event. It had a great turnout. Chris is excited to continue to lead Link and help support the LGBTQ+ community and its allies in the insurance industry. [7:04] Chris notes that the insurance industry is still known to be a very conservative industry but from 30 years ago to today, there has been a big difference in inclusivity. There’s constant evolution and change. We can always continue to do things better. [7:23] Chis says everybody is striving to do things better. That’s why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs became so important for all industries. Justin says that saying the words Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion instead of DEI provokes thought about their meaning and impact. [8:21] Chris agrees; when we say with intention, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with intention, it’s just better. Don’t we all want to be included? Inclusion is an endearing word. Let’s all come to the table. We need to be more intentional about the words. [9:19] Chris Reilly attended RISKWORLD 2025 for the first time and was at the DE&I Studio. There were speakers and panels. Chris represented Link USA to talk about who they are, what they do, and their mission for the LGBTQ+ community in the insurance industry. [10:21] Chris served on a panel where Link, the National African American Insurance Association, the Asian American Insurance Network, the Latin American Insurance Agency Networks, and the Association of Professional Insurance Women were represented. [10:43] The organizations work to make sure the insurance industry continues to be a diverse, inclusive, and equitable industry. They support each other and continue to press the message of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. They raise their voices for the common good of every employee. [11:17] Leaders from all of those organizations have been guests on RIMScast, with Chris Reilly and Link being the fifth organization represented. If more organizations are created, Justin will include them on the show.  [11:37] Chris brings decades of experience in the trenches to his role on Link.  [12:02] Justin says we’re hearing a lot of anti-DEI rhetoric. Chris says a lot of it is noise. People are throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. In most C-Suites, smart leaders seek legal advice. If they haven’t been doing anything illegal, there isn’t much they need to change. [13:01] Companies that feed into the noise end up hurting their employees which can hurt their bottom line in the long term. [13:27] Companies need to cut through the noise and make sure that they know what’s true and what’s not true. They need to focus on continuing to do what they’ve been doing that has been working. [13:55] Chris thinks that a company scaling back its DEI initiative hurts its reputation. When they scale back, the employees feel it first. If employees don’t feel good in the workplace about the culture that has been developed for employees, that impacts the work and the output. [14:34] Eventually, that can hit outside the walls of the insurance company. Insurance isn’t a direct-to-consumer product so this industry doesn’t get impacted in quite the same way as a retail store. [15:06] Plug Time! The very first RIMS Texas Regional Conference will be held from August 4th through the 6th in San Antonio at the Henry B. González Convention Center. Public Registration is open. [15:17] Hotel cut-off for the discounted rate is available through July 7th. The full Conference Agenda is now live, so you can start planning your experience. Don’t miss the post-conference workshop, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course, available onsite. [15:33] This event is open to any RIMS Chapter member. If you are local to the area, you might consider becoming a RIMS member today, so that you can get all the benefits and begin networking with your new RIMS Texas peers. Links are in this episode’s show notes. [15:48] You can also visit the Events Page of RIMS.org for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Texas! [15:56] Just a month later, we will be up North for the RIMS Canada Conference 2025, from September 14th through 17th in Calgary. Registration is open. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.CA and lock in favorable rates. We look forward to seeing you in Calgary! [16:15] On October 1st through the 3rd, the RIMS Western Regional Conference will be held in North San Jose at the Santa Clara Marriott. The agenda is live. It looks fantastic! Visit RIMSWesternRegional.com and register today. [16:31] Let’s Return to Our Interview with Chris Reilly of Link!  [16:50] There’s no such thing as illegal DE&I! There is no legal framework about whether a company does DE&I or not. Companies decided that having a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce was good for business. [17:30] There have been studies that show that when a company has a strong DE&I policy, it outperforms its competitors that don’t by nearly 20%. Teams that are more diverse and inclusive outperform homogeneous groups by nearly 80%. [17:57] When you have a diversity of people; when you include people of different backgrounds in thought and education, you get more diverse thoughts and you can create better outcomes as a result. [18:15] This concept of illegal DE&I is thrown up there to create confusion and get people worrying about what they’re doing. [18:51] Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) is what companies would buy if they have a sexual harassment suit, a discrimination suit, or a wrongful termination suit. Employers take this coverage to protect themselves from that. [19:25] Whether they have EPLI coverage or not, before the term “illegal DE&I,” nobody was concerned about it. They all felt that they had the proper policies and best practices in place to prevent employment practices claims. [19:43] If there were this rash of claims suddenly happening, maybe it’s not “illegal DE&I” but you’re not doing it right. Fix the problem so that it doesn’t become an issue. [19:59] What companies are seeing is that their policies and best practices have been working, so there’s not a problem. If companies start believing that they shouldn’t have DE&I programs, that will embolden individuals to be bigots, racists, harassers, and bullies at work. [20:25] If that happens, you will get employment practices claims. [20:30] Justin feels that we are seeing uninclusive and bullying expressions more now on social media than when he was hired at RIMS eight years ago. [20:36] Chris thinks that the world has changed and the narrative has changed and people feel like they're emboldened to bring out those negative personality traits in themselves for some reason. [20:50] Chris recently talked to a company where the CEO addressed the employees, to tell them that bigotry, harassment, and hatred have no place, and will have no place in the company. [21:16] He told them the company was built with a culture that respects everybody, that is about fairness and integrity, working together, and creating inclusive and collaborative teams, to create the best outcomes they can for the company and its consumers. [21:32] He said they are going to keep doing what they’re doing because everything’s going just fine. He said if we start trying to tinker with the DE&I programs, that will inevitably create problems and deteriorate the great work that you have been doing. [21:53] What’s the ROI on DE&I? It’s hard to quantify. When your employees are happy, they’re doing good work, they’re being productive, and the company is successful, that comes in part from the investment of time, energy, and money put into Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion programs. [22:08] You can try to tie ROI to some of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs when you talk about EPLI, Directors & Officers, and E&O insurance. If you don’t have good practices, what you will have is employment practices liability claims around discrimination and harassment.  [23:01] HR will have to deal with the HR issues of employees, potentially defending a lawsuit. If they don’t have these coverages in place, those defence costs can get expensive. You might have to settle a suit, which can cost more money. It’s a ripple effect. [23:27] With more claims, the premiums of these policies will go up. So, if you’re not following best practices and have to start paying out claims and higher premiums to defend yourself against these claims, those are financial factors to consider in the ROI of doing the right thing. [23:51] Plug Time! Let me tell you about the Spencer Educational Foundation. Spencer’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [24:31] Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3.3 million in General Grants to support over 130 student-centred experiential learning initiatives at universities and RMI non-profits. Spencer’s 2026 application process is now open through July 30th, 2025. [24:31] General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. [24:35] Spencer’s Risk Manager on Campus Program offers grants of up to $5,000 to universities and colleges in the United States and Canada to host a practicing risk manager on their campus for a one-to-three-day residency. [24:49] The Risk Manager on Campus program has been praised by both universities and risk managers as a rewarding educational experience for students and a chance to give back to the profession. The application deadline for 2026 is June 30th, 2025. Check the link in the notes. [25:08] Visit SpencerEd.org for more information. [25:12] Let’s Return to the Conclusion of My Interview with Chris Reilly! [25:34] The pendulum has swung one way. Chris thinks that it will swing back as smarter and calmer minds prevail, in the end. Organization leaders know what’s right and wrong. Once the noise calms down, people will realize that we already have things in place to protect everybody. [26:14] We already have Title VII and the EEOC in place. I have told people that with all that’s being said, no laws have changed. Title VII is in place and the EEOC is still there to enforce it. If there were crazy problems with this, Title VII and the EEOC would already be addressing it. [26:44] Chris believes the pendulum will swing back to the center sooner rather than later. Executive orders and attempting to change laws are not going to sit well. There are already protections in place to prohibit employment discrimination. [27:13]  Chris is the National Chair of Link USA. A couple of days after this episode, there will be the New York City Link-Up Networking Happy Hour, Pride Edition. That’s going to be in Manhattan on the Avenue. [27:33] On June 26th, in Los Angeles, there will be a Pride Movie Night and Networking Mixer at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Chris says these events are always fun. Link tries to create personal connections between the LGBTQ+ Community and its allies. [28:04] We’re all doing the same thing, feeling the same pressures, working in the insurance industry, and wanting connection. Some people work at companies that may not have anybody else like them in their firm. They’re looking for connections within the LGBTQ+ community. [28:28] Link is heavily supported by its allies. They couldn’t fight the fight without the allies. The events are about bringing people together in a fun way and ultimately, networking in the industry. People connect and build business relationships and develop businesses, as well. [28:55] We’ve got a link to Link in this episode’s notes. [28:58] Chris, it’s been a real pleasure to speak with you. I’m glad we’re having this dialogue. I hope to see you at RISKWORLD 2026 and the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Studio. [29:21] Special thanks again to Chris Reilly of Link, the LGBTQ+ Insurance Network. Links to the events that we mentioned and to Link’s website are in this episode’s show notes. [29:34] RIMS has a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Council and page. You can visit it on RIMS.org, through the Community section, and the link in this episode’s show notes. [29:49] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [30:17] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [30:35] 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. [30:53] 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. [31:09] 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. [31:23] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [31:31] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Links: RIMS Diversity Equity Inclusion Council Link (LGBTQ+ Insurance Network) Link USA Events in New York City and Los Angeles RIMS Texas Regional 2025 — August 3‒5 | Registration now open. RIMS Canada 2025 — Sept. 14‒17 | Registration now open! RIMS Western Regional — Oct 1‒3 | Bay Area, California | Registration now open! RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Risk Management magazine RIMS Now The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Education Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Deadline July 30, 2025 Spencer’s Risk Manager on Campus — Application Deadline June 30, 2025 RIMS ERM Conference 2025 — Nov 17‒18 in Seattle! [Save the Date!] RIMS-CRO Certificate in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management — Featuring Instructor James Lam! Register by July 7. | Bi-weekly course begins July 16. RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — July 8‒9, 2025 | Presented by RIMS and PARIMA RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — July 17‒18 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Generative AI for Risk Management” | June 26 | Instructor: Pat Saporito See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “James Lam on ERM, Strategy, and the Modern CRO” “Live from RISKWORLD 2025” “Thoughts and IDEAs on Inclusivity with Michael Bach” “The Strengths of DE&I Initiatives with Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray of Alliant Insurance Services” “LAAIA Atlanta Chapter President Jose Aponte” “Equality and the Risk Profession with Elisa Stampf”   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL’s New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today’s Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: Chris Reilly, National Co-Chair of Link USA | LGBTQ+ Insurance Network, Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader at Amwins Group Benefits   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

In this engaging talk, James Lam, a pioneering risk management thought leader and founder of James Lam & Associates, shares insights on the evolving role of Chief Risk Officers since the pandemic. He discusses essential competencies that distinguish successful CROs and illustrates the impact of a strong risk appetite framework using E*Trade as a case study. Lam also introduces his upcoming virtual course on advanced enterprise risk management and envisions how AI can enhance ERM practices, ensuring risk professionals leverage new opportunities.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin interviews John Baldwin of Discount Tire. Justin and John explore risk management topics, including Tire Safety Month, tire safety education of customers, and the tire selection tool he developed, Treadwell. John shares information about ongoing projects at Discount Tire and also his work on the board of the Tire Recycling Foundation. Listen to gain awareness of how tire selection can be a safety factor in your ERM program.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:17] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is John Baldwin of Discount Tire. He’s joining us for National Safety Month and National Tire Safety Month here in June 2025. We’re going to learn about the risk tool that he developed at Discount Tire. [:49] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! The next RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Workshop will be presented in conjunction with NAIT on June 10th and 11th. Register by June 9th. That course will be led by former RIMS President, Nowell Seaman. [1:11] Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and through this episode’s show notes. [1:18] Virtual Workshops! On June 12th, Pat Saporito will host “Managing Data for ERM”, and she will return on June 26th to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”. [1:35] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode’s show notes. [1:47] We have a special new 12-week virtual workshop course, The Advanced Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Certificate Program, instructed by James Lam, one of the most famous Chief Risk Officers in the world! [2:04] He will lead an intensive 12-week program, beginning July 16th, bi-weekly until September 2025. Registration closes on July 7th. [2:17] James will join us next week to discuss this program and his ERM philosophy. Check out the link in this episode’s show notes and the Education page of RIMS.org. Register today before we reach virtual capacity! [2:33] On with the show! It’s our first episode of June 2025. That means that it is National Safety Month here in the U.S. and also Tire Safety Month. I was delighted to book today’s guest, John Baldwin, PhD. He is the Chief Product and Technical Officer of Discount Tire. [2:56] He developed a risk tool for Discount Tire called Treadwell. This is the company’s personalized tire recommendation tool. [3:05] Treadwell utilizes extensive real-world testing data, including nearly a million tread depth measurements annually and evaluations of dozens of new tire models each year. [3:17] John is also a member of the Enterprise Risk Committee at Discount Tire, so we will also learn about his risk philosophies and his efforts to bolster sustainability when it comes to tires, tire manufacturing, and tire recycling. [3:33] Interview! John Baldwin, welcome to RIMScast! [3:52] John says risk management is like safety. You incorporate it in every decision you make. It’s good to make it part of the daily oxygen. [4:10] John started consulting with Discount Tire in 2007 and became full-time in 2012. [4:25] John is a Senior Vice President and Chief Product and Technical Strategist. He’s responsible for the fitment guide on the website. Discount Tire measures each vehicle it can and puts that in the fitment guide. [4:56] They consider product quality and performance. They test tires, wheels, and lug nuts, before offering them for sale. John’s background is technical. [5:10] John is also in charge of sustainability and government affairs. [5:24] John has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a PhD in polymer science, the study of plastics and rubber. He was at 3M for a lot of years working on filter media for filter masks, which had a resurgence 25 years after he left. [5:49] John went to automotive working in adhesives. He was hired by Ford. He was at Ford when the Ford Firestone recall happened. He got drafted onto the Root Cause Team, to find out what was going on with the tires because of his background. [6:08] John worked in advanced manufacturing on a cross-functional team. [6:22] John’s advice to folks coming up in a company is “Saying No is career-limiting.” He had said No a lot, at the beginning of his career. When he started saying Yes, things changed. [6:38] Coming from the larger companies where he had worked, John says the vibe at family-owned Discount Tire is an entrepreneurial spirit. There’s a lot less bureaucracy. You go talk to people to get things done. It’s very comfortable for John. [6:58] John says Discount Tire is for everyone but the people who thrive here are more self-starting, think it out, and occasionally color outside the lines. It’s nice. You learn a lot. [7:13] John has a small group of about 25 people. They are cohorts of the risk group. The risk group collects and manages thought processes and information. The people who own the risks have to take care of them. The risk group shares a framework for them to manage risks. [8:23] John is on the Enterprise Risk Committee. It’s a group of the different functional areas, Technical Fitment, Real Estate, IT, Cybersecurity, Store Management, Product Quality, Legal, HR, and other areas from around the corporation represented. [8:52] The Enterprise Risk Committee is one level below the Steering Committee. They use a tool called Riskonnect. They analyze and bring the risks to the Steering Committee. Justin and John first connected through the last Riskonnect webinar! [9:46] There are technical issues in managing the stores, including customer safety. Customer safety is a founding philosophy at Discount Tire. Customer safety is the first consideration. [10:21] When John first came on board at Discount Tire, it was after the Firestone Tire recall and Discount Tire focused on tire quality. Everyone at Purchasing hated him for being “Dr. No.” He told them: Let’s put a process together where we validate whom we’re buying from. [10:51] He said, we validate the quality of the tires and wheels that we’re buying and that frees you up. We could entertain buying from people we would never have entertained buying from because they meet our criteria. Suddenly, it goes from closing the box to expanding the box. [11:07] That’s how we have to get people thinking. Once you have the process down, it unburdens you. It allows you to take more risks because you have a way of assessing what the risk is and doing something about it. [11:34] June is Tire Safety Month, promoted by the NHTSA. John is planning on a visit there next week. Tire Safety Month is an opportunity to engage and ask customers: Have you looked at your tires? Do you know what your air pressure is? Discount Tire does free air checks and fills. [12:20] One of the number one things for safety is making sure you have plenty of air in your tires. Most people don’t think about it or check it. Talk with customers about tire tread depth and why there are treads. [12:54] Tire Safety Month is June because school is over and people will be taking road trips. Be aware of your tires. Check your air pressure and tread depth. The tread is essential for driving in rain or snow so you don’t hydroplane and you can brake properly. Get your tires checked. [13:47] These things matter. There’s a reason tires are designed the way they are. The public generally doesn’t know. When John started working in tires he had no idea they came in different sizes. Everybody has a first day at work. [14:26] People generally don’t change tires on their own, because you need a machine. [14:34] Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! On June 5th, Zywave joins us to discuss “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What’s the Cause and What’s the Solution?”. [14:49] On June 17th, Origami Risk returns to present “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction”. [15:00] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/Webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members. [15:11] Are you a summer intern and interested in learning more about career opportunities in the insurance industry? Are you based in the Greater Chicago area? If so, join Chicago RIMS in a free event sponsored by Origami Risk. [15:29] Students and insurance professionals will come together to explore the wide variety of career paths in insurance and the captive industry. This event will provide you with valuable insights into the industry and allow you to start building your network with peers in the area. [15:44] This is an opportunity to learn from industry experts and kickstart your career in insurance. Register at ChicagoRIMS.org and mark your calendar for this free event on July 10th at 3:30 p.m. at 222 N LaSalle, STE 2100 in Chicago, IL. [16:04] Let’s Return to Our Conversation with John Baldwin of Discount Tire!  [16:23] John points out mistakes in tire safety and maintenance. Are you overloading your vehicle? If you pull a trailer, are you loading the trailer correctly? Are you overdriving your abilities in bad weather? It’s not about going fast, it’s about stopping fast and being able to steer. [16:57] Be mindful of the conditions around you and how other people are driving. Most people tend to overestimate their abilities, especially if they’re not in those conditions often. [17:19] Fleet safety is another topic. You have to pay attention to the details. [18:10] Discount Tire is a large purchaser of tires. Tire salesmen came in and boasted about their tires and downplayed their competition’s tires. Discount Tire didn’t have a basis for pushing back so they hired a driver and started testing the tires. They got warranty information. [18:39] A year after Discount Tire started testing tires for internal information, Chief Strategy Officer Dave Ginsberg, a data scientist, joined Discount Tire. He was thinking of an algorithm to help people pick tires. John told him of the data they gathered to help Discount Tire pick tires. [19:10] Both Discount Tire and the consumers have the same problem, what to buy. There’s a lot out there. David put together the math behind Treadwell, and John’s team generated the data. It’s based on what you drive, where you drive, and how you drive, on city roads or a highway. [19:48] Not every car is a commuter. Some people just drive on the weekend. On different cars, different trim levels come with different tire sizes and wheel sizes. A key issue is what mileage you can expect. Discount Tire does free rotations. That gives them data on how long a tire lasts. [20:41] Discount Tire tests in winter and rain. They also test worn tires that they’ve buffed down to 4/32nds and test them in the wet. Tires are only new for the first couple thousand miles. Then various changes occur in how your tires perform over time. [21:11] So that’s what we’re trying to get at with people. We’ve changed a lot about how the tire industry’s looking and talking about that, all for the customer, to relay to you how this is going to work over the life of your tire. [21:26] There are annual evaluations of over 75 new tire models each year. When Cooper was bought by Goodyear, the track Discount Tire was using for testing became redundant for Goodyear, so Discount Tire purchased it. They have a third-party test for them. [22:16] John tells tire manufacturers that Discount Tire uses Treadwell internally when talking about what tires to buy. It’s the same version and data that consumers see. It’s a unique tool. [22:58] There were some other sellers doing testing. Tire Rack was one of them. Discount Tire bought Tire Rack at the beginning of ’22. They continue to do testing. Tire Rack is for the in-depth enthusiast. [24:08] Discount Tire is for the consumer who needs a tire but doesn’t know a lot about tires, doesn’t have a lot of time, and doesn’t want to get ripped off. There’s a lot of technical data. Discount Tire Treadwell quickly boils it down to suggest which tire the customer should buy. [24:18] Another point about Treadwell is that it has nothing to do with the cost of the tire or how much money Discount Tire makes from the sale. It’s about the performance of the tire. It encourages the customer to look down the list for the diamond in the rough. It’s a good tool. [24:49] The tire manufacturers have looked at the tool and said they want to win at Treadwell. It’s impossible to do. The local weather affects the algorithm. Chances are, a good tire in Arizona is not a good tire in Minnesota because of the weather. Treadwell is objective. [25:31] Treadwell took two years to launch from conception. They had to get enough data from the stores in the field and enough testing to launch a small subset of tires. Now, they have almost every tire tested or it’s on the list to get tested. When a new tire comes, they test it. [26:16] One of the things Discount Tire found is that it took some time after launch for the store managers to buy into using it with customers. They didn’t understand it was a real tool. [26:40] In the last year or so, Discount Tire has started taking store managers through Treadwell to be tire evaluators for a day, testing at the track. They get a T-shirt, The Treadwell Experience. It has been game-changing. The tool has been embraced internally. [27:32] One of the store managers said Treadwell is like having a test track behind every store. [27:41] Plug Time! The very first RIMS Texas Regional Conference will be held from August 4th through the 6th in San Antonio at the Henry B. González Convention Center. Early Bird Registration is now open through June 7th. Save up to 20% on a Full-Conference Pass. [28:03] Hotel cut-off for the discounted rate is available through July 7th. The full Conference Agenda is now live so you can start planning your experience. Don’t miss the post-conference workshop, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Course, available onsite. [28:19] Also register by June 7th for your Early Bird Registration and save $200. Any chapter member can attend.  [28:39] You can also visit the Events Page of RIMS.org or here for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Texas! [28:47] About the Spencer Educational Foundation’s Grants program. Spencer’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [29:04] Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3.3 million in General Grants to support over 130 student-centered experiential learning initiatives at universities and RMI non-profits. Spencer’s 2026 application process is now open through July 30th, 2025. [29:25] General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. Learn more about Spencer’s General Grants through the Programs tab of SpencerEd.org. [29:35] Let’s Return to the Conclusion of My Interview with Discount Tire’s John Baldwin! [30:01] Discount Tire tests rolling resistance; how much fuel or energy per mile one tire absorbs, vs. another tire. Tires that roll easier don’t take as much fuel. With battery vehicles, range is a big deal. Tire rolling resistance ranking for electric vehicles is incorporated into the algorithm. [30:47] If you have the same tire, size, construction, and everything, one on a gas vehicle and one on an electric vehicle, there is typically 10 to 15% faster wear on the battery vehicle because of the weight and a little bit of the torque. They factor the car in for the mileage estimation. [31:15] Noise becomes more of a consideration with electric vehicles because there’s no engine noise. The whirring noise electric cars make is added so they’re not completely silent. [31:49] Amazon made a big commitment to electric vehicles with Rivian. A lot of Uber drivers are starting to use Model 3 vehicles. There is a trend toward hybrid gas/electric vehicles. [32:41] Treadwell is testing off-road tires. If you take a truck out in the mud, you want a tire that works in the mud and rocks. Treadwell just expanded into testing winter tires. [33:27] Discount Tire is thinking about working with Tire Rack to rank summer tires and more. [33:52] John is on the Board of Directors of the Tire Recycling Foundation. The foundation is jointly put together through the United States Tire Manufacturing Association and also the Tire Industry Association, the retailers. [34:17] We need to find more recycling uses for tires. Twenty percent of scrap tires that come off today are landfilled. Thirty percent are burned in kilns. Fifteen percent are sold used. Used tires are not optimized for safety. [34:51] Is there a way to recycle these tires back into tires rubber-modified asphalt, or mats? There are so many other things you can do with tires besides burning them and burying them. [35:12] To go into asphalt, tires are ground up and then added to the mix. It’s a different process, which when done right, provides a quieter surface with a better grip and it lasts longer. It’s a good use of tires and would take care of the scrap tire problem. [35:37] Being in the Tire Recycling Foundation complements John’s job at Discount Tire. How to recycle tires has been a problem in the U.S. tire industry for 100 years. [36:34] Municipalities sometimes have a Waste Date to drop off your hazardous waste. Instead of taking it there, you can bring it to a Discount Tire or a competitor. Then it will be recycled. [38:04] People can go to TireRecyclingFoundation.org for more information. It’s a broad-based coalition. [38:59] John, it has been a real pleasure to speak with you. It’s been illuminating. I’m glad that we’re shining a lot on how important tires are to our daily lives and the supply chain. I don’t know that we’ve ever done an episode devoted to tires! This is super cool for us at RIMS! [39:22] Special thanks again to John Baldwin of Discount Tire for joining us. [39:26] I’ve got links in this episode’s show notes for information about Treadwell, the Tire Recycling Foundation, and Discount Tire’s appearance on the RIMS Riskonnect on April 24th, 2025 webinar, “Better Together: The Marriage of Insurable Risk and Business Continuity”. [39:46] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [40:13] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [40:32] 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. [40:49] 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. [41:05] 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. [41:19] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [41:27] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Links: RIMS Texas Regional 2025 — August 4‒6 | Advance registration rates are now open. RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Risk Management magazine RIMS Now The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Educational Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Deadline July 30, 2025 RIMS-CRMP Advanced Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Certificate Program — Featuring Instructor James Lam! Register by July 7. | Bi-weekly course begins July 16. Tire Safety Month — NHTSA The Tire Recycling Foundation “All About Treadwell” — John Baldwin Interview “Better Together: The Marriage of Insurable Risk and Business Continuity” — A RIMS Webinar, Sponsored by Riskonnect and featuring Discount Tire (April 24, 2025) RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What's the Cause & What’s the Solution?” | Sponsored by Zywave | June 5, 2025 “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction” | Sponsored by Origami Risk | June 17, 2025   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Workshop — June 10‒11, 2025 | Presented by RIMS and NAIT Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Managing Data for ERM” | June 12 | Instructor: Pat Saporito  “Generative AI for Risk Management” | June 26 | Instructor: Pat Saporito See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “Company Safety and RIMS Chapter Leadership with Tamieka Weeks” “Safety and Preparedness in 2024 with National Safety Council CEO Lorraine Martin” “Traffic Awareness with Carol Fritzsche of Subaru of America” “Fleet Safety with NETS Executive Director Susan Gillies-Hipp” (2022)   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL’s New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today’s Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: John M Baldwin, PhD, Chief Product & Technical Officer, Discount Tire   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

Megan Smalter, a Market Development Executive at Lloyd’s and RIMS Rising Star for 2025, shares her insights on navigating a career in risk management. She discusses her journey from leading the Chicago RIMS Chapter to taking on new challenges in New York. Megan emphasizes the importance of mentorship, networking, and giving oneself grace while learning in the industry. She inspires young professionals to embrace diverse career opportunities and the value of building connections within the risk management community.

Chris Maguire, General Manager for Corporates Risk at Thomson Reuters, dives into the transformative power of AI in the legal and compliance sectors. He explains how predictive analytics are reshaping corporate risk management amidst evolving regulations. The discussion highlights AI's role in boosting efficiency and enhancing risk forecasting. Chris also sheds light on the expanding responsibilities of compliance within General Counsel's offices, emphasizing the vital blend of technology and core values in today's business landscape.

François Beaume, SVP for Risks and Insurance at Sonepar and VP of AMRAE, sheds light on the 17th Annual AMRAE RMIS Panorama, highlighting key insights into evolving risk management technology. He discusses the ongoing advancements in risk management systems, particularly the integration of AI and predictive analytics. The conversation delves into the growing need for specialized insurance products in response to active assailant threats, emphasizing proactive risk management. Béaume also touches on the increasing appeal of captive insurance, especially following new legislation in France.

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin and his guest, Jennifer Pack, RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year, discuss her career and achievements, including Hyatt’s VP of Risk Management. Jennifer describes how her membership in the RIMS Chicago Chapter and service on the Board impacted her career.   Jennifer helped align Hyatt’s risk strategies with its evolving business model to ensure resilience in today’s complex environment. Leading nearly 40 professionals, Jennifer’s leadership and innovative risk solutions have helped strengthen Hyatt’s risk management framework, to proactively identify risks and develop strategies to address them. Jennifer successfully redesigned and centralized Hyatt’s Short-Term, Long-Term Disability, and Workers’ Compensation programs, reducing manual processing by up to 80,000 hours, improving compliance, and reducing legal exposure. It is linked to millions of dollars in savings. Under her leadership, Hyatt’s risk management team is overhauling Hyatt Hotels’ fire safety with the first-of-its-kind Fire Life Safety Compliance and Governance Program, setting a standard for the organization and industry. The initiative includes the implementation of new technology, as well as auditing the 1,450 Hyatt hotels in 79 countries. Jennifer is a beloved mentor who has had an impact on many careers. She continues to demonstrate her commitment to advancing the risk management profession as an active member of the RIMS Chicago Chapter.   Jennifer’s innovations may inspire your work for your organization’s ERM program. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:16] About this episode of RIMScast. It is one of my favorite episodes to produce, with the Risk Manager of the Year. This year’s honoree is Jennifer Pack, Hyatt’s Vice President of Risk Management. We will talk about her success in ERM, captives, and more. [:48] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! RIMS is co-hosting an intensive four-day program which is your gateway to achieving two prestigious certifications, the DRI Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) and the RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP). [1:08] This workshop will be held from May 19th through the 22nd in collaboration with DRI International. Links to these courses can be found through the Certification page of RIMS.org and this episode’s show notes. [1:23] Virtual Workshops! On June 12th, Pat Saporito will host “Managing Data for ERM” and she will return on June 26th to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”. [1:40] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode’s show notes. [1:51] We’re at RISKWORLD this week but preparations are already underway for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 on November 17th and 18th in Seattle, Washington. RIMS is accepting educational session submissions through May 20th. [2:08] The best submissions will address current and future challenges facing ERM practitioners as well as provide leading practices and concrete takeaways for a diverse audience of risk professionals from industries or organizations of varied sizes, disciplines, functions, and roles. [2:26] These include officers, leaders, managers, and students. The link to the submission form is in this episode’s show notes. [2:35] While you are at RISKWORLD, be sure to take away some inspirado and channel it into an educational session submission for the RIMS ERM Conference 2025. Of course, mark your calendars for November 17th and 18th and I’ll be sure to alert you when registration opens. [2:55] The RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Program aims to raise the profile of the risk profession and the outstanding programs the honorees have implemented within their organizations. [3:04] The award was created in 1977 and the Risk Management Honor Roll was added in 1981. The 2025 RIMS Risk Manager of the Year is Jennifer Pack of Hyatt. [3:16] As VP of Risk Management, Jennifer has transformed risk management at Hyatt, embedding a culture that has provided a launchpad for organizational success. Her innovations in captive management also earned her this award. [3:28] Jennifer is a long-standing member of the RIMS Chicago Chapter and an all-around fantastic professional. Her profile will soon appear in the Awards Edition of RIMS Risk Management magazine. [3:40] Jennifer will receive the award on May 5th at 4:00 p.m., on the main stage at RISKWORLD. We’re going to get to know her a little bit now. We’ll talk ERM, captives, Chicago RIMS, hotel and hospitality, and more. [3:57] Interview! RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year, Jennifer Pack, welcome to RIMScast!  [4:34] Jennifer has been at Hyatt, for going on 18 years. She can stay at any hotel she would like! [5:03] Some people like to leave their jobs every few years for a new company and skills. Jennifer’s career at Hyatt has been an adventure! She hasn’t been doing the same thing for 18 years. Every couple of years, she gets new roles and responsibilities. She’s constantly learning. [5:24] She has a foundation of knowing whom to go to, what the systems are, and how to get things done. There’s a base familiarity but with some excitement and learning opportunities. [5:36] If the feeling of being able to learn and grow ever stops, Jennifer will think about leaving. She’s enjoying her time. It seems like she’s working or a new company all the time. They’re transforming. They’re changing. The risk landscape is changing. There’s never a dull moment. [5:56] Justin feels the same way about working at RIMS! He started as a writer but then got these responsibilities and they took on sort of a life of their own and attracted more of an audience. It’s more work, but it’s more fun and rewarding. [6:25] Jennifer joined Hyatt in a group called Compliance and Controls. She was hired to set up their Sarbanes-Oxley department. In reaction to the financial crisis after the downfall of Arthur Andersen and Enron, Sarbanes-Oxley was born and Jennifer became an expert on it. [6:58] Jennifer launched that group and then it was moved into Internal Audit where they were exposed to a lot more people and systems. Jennifer had the opportunity to backfill someone in the Risk Management department and never left. She’s been in the risk function for 15 years. [7:30] When Jennifer joined the risk group it had seven risk practitioners in the corporate office. There were five or six Occupational Health Managers in the field, helping with Workers’ Compensation and occupational safety. There are over 35 full-time members now. [8:09] They’ve taken on new roles in the 15 years: physical security, business resilience, fire life safety compliance, and other health and safety functions in the company. They could probably use a few more people but they’re doing well. [8:38] The risk profile of the company has changed. The geopolitical risk profile of the world has changed. Hyatt’s offerings have changed. They used to be mostly business, group, and convention, and now they lean into leisure, travel, and all-inclusive, which have different risks. [9:16] Hyatt has tripled its resort rooms and quintupled its lifestyle rooms since 2017. A lifestyle room is about meeting clientele where they are. Millennials want to travel the world and experience the environment, such as an attached nightclub in Miami or New York. [9:55] They’re unconventional hotels with the framework of a well-known brand, where guests have comfort, safety, security, cybersecurity, and loyalty points while feeling like they’re in a niche hotel with great and different experiences. It feels like a boutique, attached to the brand. [11:06] Social inflation is a risk. Liability insurance has gone up because claim payouts have gone up tremendously. Claim attorneys are targeting hospitality. [12:12] Hyatt is thinking globally about health, safety, and security, making sure policies are locked down, training is locked down, and people know how to report an incident, and when to report it. How do you de-escalate an incident to win the guest back? [12:36] Saying, “I’m sorry that happened to you. Here are some points. We care about you,” reinforcing that, versus saying, “Let my insurance company deal with it.” That’s the last thing we want. If our guests had a bad incident, they had a bad experience. [12:51] Especially if you’re traveling on leisure with your family, you want to know that you’ll be taken care of. There’s an expectation that you’re going to be safe and secure. Hyatt wants to make sure to bring the level of care to them that they deserve. [13:07] Hyatt is working on the front end to retrain employees on ramping up safety and security measures and knowing how to respond when an incident happens. [13:18] Then, if it gets into the claims section, the claims management team has new robust processes to manage claims to drive down exposure. On the insurance procurement side, Hyatt is leaning into its captive to take on much higher retention in-house. [14:09] Hyatt is asking leadership in the field to bring education and awareness to the importance of risk management, what’s at risk, and what the current legal environment is, and overlay that with wanting to care for people. Hyatt cares about the guest experience. [14:43] This is a macro-level environment. If you have litigation system abuse across the country, what are insurers doing about it? What are brokers doing about it? What are corporations doing about it? [14:56] Jennifer gets with her peers in the hospitality industry, working in their respective associations, to address these issues at the state and federal levels, change laws, and push for tort reform and disclosures of litigation funding. [15:28] Hyatt has partnered with the American Lodging and Hospitality Association and is considering partnering with insurance companies. You can’t just hope someone else will take care of the problem. It’s a much bigger problem that we all need to address. [16:06] Justin points out that third-party litigation funding is one of the top initiatives and campaigns for RIMS this year. RIMS recently had the Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C., where third-party litigation funding was a top priority. It was a top RIMS talking point on the Hill. [16:38] Jennifer says Hyatt and the hospitality industry are in with RIMS on the issue of third-party litigation funding. If it continues, guests are going to have to pay more for a stay and for the experiences they want to have as rising risk costs are passed to the consumers. [17:04] Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! We are back on May 22nd, with GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company, and their newest session, “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny”. [17:22] On May 29th, Origami Risk returns to present “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction”. On June 5th, Zywave joins us to discuss “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What’s the Cause and What’s the Solution?” [17:44] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/Webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members. [17:55] Spencer’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [18:16] Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3.3 million in General Grants to support over 130 student-centered experiential learning initiatives at universities and RMI non-profits. Spencer’s 2026 application process is now open through July 30th, 2025. [18:36] General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. Learn more about Spencer’s General Grants through the Programs tab of SpencerEd.org. [18:46] On the 7th of October, the New Jersey RIMS Chapter will return to the beautiful Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, New Jersey for their Annual Charity Golf/Pickleball Event. [18:59] Registration is open and the event proceeds are used to fund the chapter’s Spencer and Kids’ Chance Scholarships. It was the filming location for the upcoming movie sequel Happy Gilmore 2. For more information, and to register, please NewJersey.RIMS.org. [19:21] Let’s Return to My Interview with RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year, Jennifer Pack! [19:47] Hyatt put a captive in place in 2013. Back then, Hyatt had huge insurance cost swings year-on-year that they couldn’t forecast. It created a lot of “noise” on the balance sheet. They originally put the captive in place to take away that noise and remove wild cost volatility. [20:38] Over time, Hyatt started to see success and build up a surplus they saw the value of a captive, especially as market conditions changed. They brought in additional forms of insurance coverage with traditional deductible buy-downs with workers’ compensation and GL. [21:04] They started to see the surplus build up and they were able to give some of the surplus back to the participants and drive down their premium cost. [21:14] In the pandemic, the hospitality business came to a halt. Before the pandemic, Hyatt’s average occupancy around the world was over 75%. In April 2020, it dropped to 6%. The owners of Hyatt were under extreme pressure. [21:43] Jennifer had an extra surplus in the captive and was able to give relief to the owners and to the company in that year and the next couple of years. Claim volume went down due to lower occupancy. Hyatt used some of that cash to fund large acquisitions. [22:19] That’s when Hyatt saw social inflation in gaps in coverage. There was no coverage for a pandemic. Through the captive, Jennifer was able to offer that coverage to the owners. She offered wages and hours insurance to the owners. [22:48] Coming out of COVID-19, with the impact of social inflation, the captive took on larger line sizes and larger layers in its umbrella tower. They had some acquisitions in cyber. They bought the Apple Leisure Group. [23:36] In a lot of those services, Hyatt isn’t providing the service but is almost like a travel agent, connecting you to the hotel, airline, or excursion. If there is an incident, the third party has the coverage. Hyatt has exposure for connecting you to the service. [24:01] Hyatt had to get creative with coverage for these new exposures, working with broker partners to fill those gaps. They did it largely with the captive, buying time until they could get a traditional product in place. [24:17] With the captive, Hyatt filled gaps, helped grow the business, and used it as a business enabler, providing cash, relief to owners, and coverage that may not have been commercially available, either to buy time or permanently fill a gap. It’s been fun! [24:53] Jennifer regularly changes which hat she wears. As the captive President, she has to look at what Hyatt is doing to protect the captive and make sure it’s adequately funded and complies with regulations. From a governance perspective, is Hyatt doing the right things? [25:21] Jennifer regularly brings in third-party experts to check the captive. Jennifer’s decisions as President of the captive are through the lens of the captive and as the owner of this business, what they are doing to grow revenues, manage expenses, and keep an adequate surplus. [25:44] The captive doesn’t run razor-thin. To have a forward-looking approach, it needs to have an adequate surplus, reserves, and cash in the captive. They’re very conservative in protecting it. [26:06] From a corporate risk management perspective, when Hyatt needs to buy insurance, Jennifer asks, can we buy it from the captive? She sometimes has tough conversations with Hyatt about borrowing versus driving up investment income to protect everyone’s interests. [26:37] Jennifer has to keep top-of-mind, which lens she’s looking through, whether President of the Captive or Hyatt Vice President of Risk Management. She wears two hats, managing all the key stakeholders’ needs and wants. [27:17] Some of the stakeholders are Hyatt, third-party owners, the corporation itself, and guests and colleagues with short-term and long-term disability and medical, adding value for the benefits team so they don’t have to go to third parties for that insurance. [28:27] As the Captive President, Jennifer is looking at loss and expense ratios, reserve to operating ratios, surplus to premiums, and surplus to reserves, making sure that they’re within the set ratios. They shoot for three to one. Anything above that number can go to participants. [29:09] They won’t go below three to one so they are capitalized for future unexpected losses or to back up future business growth. Jennifer believes Hyatt is unique in having those ratios and guards in place. Jennifer is looking forward to future needs. [30:15] The captive evaluates from time to time whether to change the ratios to five to one or four to one. In the liability space, claims are growing. Some of the demands are wild and the settlements reached or not reached are eye-opening! [30:46] Jennifer explains the global risk management claims software that is now also used for incident reporting to the risk department. They look at data from all incidents and are seeing a trend and looking to what could come down the pike and new coverages they may need to offer. [31:44] The technology is supporting the department and overall risk management strategy. The captive is benefiting through better data on what’s happening out there so they won’t get blindsided by unusual trends that aren’t yet seen in the claims. [32:19] Technology helps the captive to build out platforms to manage compliance, safety, and security in the environment. [32:28] The more data insights and comfort Jennifer has over the Health, Safety, and Security diagnostic at each property, region, and the globe, and overlays those with risk assessments Hyatt does, the more comfort she can get to take on more risks knowledgeably in the captive. [33:15] RIMS Plug! The first of hopefully many RIMS Texas Regional Conferences will be held in San Antonio from August 4th through the 6th, 2025. This groundbreaking event is set to unite the Texas RIMS Chapters and welcome risk management professionals from around the world. [33:34] Guess what, folks! Registration is now open! The advance rate is available through May 16th. A link is in this episode’s show notes. You can also visit the Events page of RIMS.org to register. We look forward to seeing you in Texas! [33:50] Let’s Conclude Our Interview with RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year, Jennifer Pack! [34:04] Jennifer Pack is the RIMS Risk Manager of the Year 2025 and she has been such a wonderful guest. This episode is coming out the morning of the awards. We will see her onstage, for anyone who has the privilege of being there. [34:19] Jennifer is honored, excited, and a little nervous to be onstage at RISKWORLD for the award. A lot of the RIMS Chicago members will be there. Jennifer has a wonderful Chicago-based team that will be there. Jennifer’s parents and her husband are coming. [36:26] Jennifer says moving up the ranks at Hyatt and RIMS Chicago has been a fun and wild ride! The growth in her career, switching from being a Public Accountant to Auditor to Risk Manager has been fun with a lot of learning. [36:54] Jennifer tries to lead and grow with optimism, fun, and humor. She’s been able to grow and develop a team under her. It’s been a really interesting 18-year adventure. [37:11] Once Jennifer was exposed to RIMS, it opened her eyes to the wealth of resources, friendship, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing. It’s been such an excellent experience for her. She couldn’t be prouder of the Chicago Chapter and the great things they do to develop talent.  [37:43] Jennifer says since COVID-19, it’s been wonderful to see the number of people who attend the outings and forums. It’s great to have such a great community and seeing them regularly is impactful. [38:06] Jennifer is Risk Manager of the Year. The Rising Star is Megan Smalter, who has had a wonderful time with the Chicago Chapter before moving to New York. In her role on the RIMS Chicago Chapter Board, and when she ran the Golf Outing, Jennifer has worked with Megan. [38:45] Julie Bean won the Heart of RIMS Award recently. Jennifer says it’s great to have the bench of expertise of long-standing members in the Chicago Chapter. Jennifer learned from them personally and in professional settings. They’re great for sharing ideas and working with. [39:36] Jennifer also mentioned Theresa Severson who was RIMS 2023 Risk Manager of the Year, with Kite Realty. There’s a lot of talent and deep risk knowledge in the RIMS Chicago Chapter. There’s a genuine camaraderie.  [40:30] Jennifer looks ahead to see companies leaning into the concept of full risk management philosophy. Risk management is so much more than just the insurance buyers. [40:45] Risk management is “How can we bring a risk management mindset to our enterprises? How can we be business enablers? How can we leverage the wealth of data and information that comes through our department to enable mindful growth in the business?” [41:05] It’s “How can we help with ESG efforts, especially with the reporting? How can we mitigate risks to the company and not just to our financial tools of insurance? What can we do in loss prevention or mitigation?” [41:26] “What can we do in claims management with more expertise, as things heat up on the litigation side with social inflation and nuclear claims?” Jennifer sees Hyatt and other companies taking more risks in the captive’s or balance sheet to offset what’s happening.” [42:10] Risk managers are going to have to articulate that and bring solutions to the forefront of their companies. Jennifer is excited about the future. She’s looking forward to launching and rolling out more technology solutions as Hyatt leverages all its data. [42:57] Jennifer knows her team can have a lot of positive impact on the organization and she’s excited about it. [43:08] Special thanks and congratulations again to Jennifer Pack, the RIMS 2025 Risk Manager of the Year. A link to RISKWORLD coverage is in this episode’s show notes via the Show Daily. [43:20] That will update this episode’s show notes with a link to the RIMS Risk Management Magazine coverage in our special Awards Edition. More honorees from RISKWORLD will join us here on RIMScast soon. [43:35] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [44:03] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [44:21] 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. [44:38] 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. [44:55] 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. [45:09] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [45:17] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Links: RIMS Texas Regional 2025 — August 3‒5 | Advance registration rates now open. ERM Conference 2025 — Call for Submissions (Through May 20) RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Risk Management magazine | RIMS 2025 Awards Edition RIMS Now The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Educational Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Dates Press Release:  “RIMS Risk Manager of the Year Goes to Hyatt's Jennifer Pack” RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny” | Sponsored by GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company | May 22, 2025 “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction” | Sponsored by Origami Risk | May 29, 2025 “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What's the Cause & What’s the Solution?” | Sponsored by Zywave | June 5, 2025   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: CBCP & RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Bootcamp: “Mastering Business Continuity & Risk Management” | May 19‒22, 2025 | In Collaboration with DRI International Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Managing Data for ERM” | June 12 | Instructor: Pat Saporito  “Generative AI for Risk Management” | June 26 | Instructor: Pat Saporito See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “Risk and Leadership Patterns with Super Bowl Champion Ryan Harris” (RISKWORLD 2025 Keynote) “(Re)Humanizing Leadership in Risk Management with Holly Ransom” “Risk and Relatability with Rachel DeAlto” “RIMS Risk Manager of the Year, Steve Robles, Los Angeles County” (2024)   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “The New Reality of Risk Engineering: From Code Compliance to Resilience” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RIMS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL’s New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today’s Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: Jennifer Pack, VP of Global Risk Management, Hyatt Corporation   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin and his guest, Kirti Mutatkar, discuss Kirti’s journey to become President & CEO of UnitedAg and President of HCAA. Kirti speaks of her master’s degrees in microbiology and finance, and how they work together in healthcare risk. Justin and Kirti explore stress awareness and mental health awareness and how these issues are managed at UnitedAg. Kirti tells how she wove attention to compassion and empathy into the fabric of healthcare administration at UnitedAg, and what that means for the financial success of the organization. She notes the significant growth of UnitedAg under her leadership, and how the scientific method of experimentation played a major role in that growth.   Kirti shares her advice for leading healthcare with compassion, and the roles supervisors and managers can play in looking for tell-tale signs of mental health needs. Listen to Kirti’s leadership wisdom that may work in your organization. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:14] Registration is open for RISKWORLD 2025. Engage Today and Embrace Tomorrow with RIMS, from May 4th through May 7th in Chicago, Illinois. Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD. [:25] After you register, visit your App Store, search for RIMS Events, and download the RIMS Events App. Select RISKWORLD 2025, load the show onto your phone, and start building your RISKWORLD itinerary! [:41] About this episode of RIMScast. We will talk about healthcare risk and mental health awareness with Kirti Mutatkar, CEO and President of United Ag and the President of the Health Care Administrators Association. We’re going to get a unique risk philosophy, today. [1:13] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! RIMS is co-hosting an intensive four-day program which is your gateway to achieving two prestigious certifications, the DRI Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) and the RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP). [1:33] This workshop will be held from May 19th through the 22nd in collaboration with DRI International. Links to these courses can be found through the Certification page of RIMS.org and this episode’s show notes. [1:48] Virtual Workshops! On June 12th, Pat Saporito will host “Managing Data for ERM” and she will return on June 26th to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”. [2:05] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode’s show notes. [2:16] RISKWORLD registration is open. Engage Today and Embrace Tomorrow, from May 4th through 7th in Chicago. The opening Keynote has been announced. It’s official. Martha Stewart will kick things off in the Skyline Ballroom, on May 5th. Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD. [2:35] Also, remember that there will be lots of pre-conference workshops being held in Chicago just ahead of RISKWORLD. These courses include “Applying and Integrating ERM,” “Captives as an Alternate Risk Financing Technique,” and more! The links are in the show notes. [2:51] The Spencer Educational Foundation is having a Flash Sale for sponsorships at RISKWORLD! Sponsorship pricing has been reduced for the Spencer-CNA Pickleball Social on Saturday, May 3rd, and the Spencer-Gallagher Golf Tournament on Sunday, May 4th. [3:10] Sponsorships are still available for the Spencer-Sedgwick 5K Fun Run on Tuesday, May 6th. Visit Spencered.org/riskworld2025 to learn about these opportunities and more. Also, reach out to Spencer’s Executive Director Megan Miller at MMiller@Spencered.org. [3:32] April is Stress Awareness Month and May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I wanted to get a fresh perspective through a risk management or risk-management-adjacent lens, which is why I reached out to today’s guest. [3:49] Kirti Mutatkar is the President and CEO of UnitedAg in California and also the President, serving a two-year term, of the Health Care Administrators Association not for profit. [4:01] We will learn about her fascinating career journey and how leading with empathy has reduced turnover and retained value at UnitedAg. [4:10] Interview! Kirti Mutatkar, welcome to RIMScast!  [4:37] Kirti came to the U.S. to do her Master’s when she was 20. She was going to study microbiology and do her PhD in genetics and biotech. Her circumstances changed and she explored getting an MBA. She got a Master’s in finance. This was in Connecticut. [5:15] Kirti moved to California and looked for work. She applied at UnitedAg, to work for “a year or two.” Each year since then, UnitedAg has grown like crazy, with many innovations. Kirti has never felt that she has been there so long, she could do it in her sleep. [6:06] For Kirti, it’s exciting every day to come to work. She was the CFO and transitioned  10 years ago to become the CEO. [6:25] Kirti was a member of HCAA for several years and is now President for a two-year term. The HCAA is very aligned with Kirti’s thinking. She learns something with every conference she attends and every board meeting. [7:36] Kirti says, if everybody in the room feels it’s their idea, and it’s because of them we have succeeded, and you know you’ve played a role in that, that’s success. [8:02] Kirti says a microbiologist, or any scientist, is constantly running experiments, and learning from experiments. Kirti says UnitedAg is a lab. HCAA is a lab. They’re testing out things and trying to see what works and what does not work. [8:36] You understand the risks to the healthcare industry at a deeper level by doing experiments. You watch the results and you learn from them. You create feedback loops and grow. [8:53] Under Kirti’s leadership, UnitedAg has tripled in size over the last couple of years, based on experimentation, learning, and adapting. That’s what being a science student had taught her. [9:14] From the finance standpoint, in the position of impacting change, just looking at the financial statements and getting a quick picture of what’s happening, was one of the best things Kirti could have done for herself in the role of CEO. [9:39] As a CEO, you have a strong CFO behind you. Understanding from a financial standpoint and a risk standpoint what that risk means to the financial, has been a big part of Kirti’s success at UnitedAg. Her knowledge of science and finance works well for her organizations. [10:15] UnitedAg has around 110 employees. It has an underwriting department for its health plan. [10:45] Kirti believes her interest in the scientific method of testing hypotheses relating to the human side of risk and finance is what she brings to UnitedAg. [11:25] Kirti explains her upcoming plans for underwriting models for employer group risk and administrative costs. She is testing out opening the books, educating, and working with employer groups. [12:33] With Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Kirti discusses mental health in the agricultural community. She has been thinking of this since COVID-19. Ag workers did not have the choice of working from home. They were out in the fields. [13:15] There was a lot of uncertainty around what COVID-19 meant. In 2020, the need surfaced to provide some form of benefit for mental health. Culturally, in the ag industry, there is a stigma around mental health care. There is a lot of stress in production agriculture. [13:54] Kirti decided to run an experiment. She proposed to the board to use some of the innovation dollars set aside to offer a mental health benefit free of cost to all the members, with no copays and nothing going to the deductible, and doing it for one year. [14:28] It was a huge risk. They didn’t look at the financial impact. They said, there’s a need for mental health; let’s do it for a year. They offered it and it became a huge impact. [14:56] A lot of people did seek out that benefit and used it. UnitedAg used Care Navigators to see what level of care a member’s need was, and based on that need, provide that care. They found that some needed much care but more of the risk is in the early stages of need. [15:59] In the earlier stages, individuals may not realize they need care. Kirti stresses identifying the initial need for mental health care. Providing care initially can prevent chronic conditions. Not just for health plan cost, but from a human standpoint, you don’t want that to go there. [16:33] UnitedAg spends a lot of time understanding mental health. Are you just having an anxious day today or are you having chronic anxiety? With the Chief Medical Officer, UnitedAg is spending time determining the tell-tale signs of anxiety to identify and help people with it. [16:59] Free access to mental health care, using Teladoc, Spring Health, other vendors, and the Member Advocacy Department at UnitedAg can be as simple as getting on a call and talking through anxiety, whether it’s caused by environmental issues like flooding, or other stresses. [18:14] Kirti says UnitedAg is seeing anxiety around ICE deportations as labor is a big part of agriculture. There are a lot of people who come to work in the ag industry and then go back home. [18:39] Employees have anxiety over whether they will be there tomorrow. Employers have anxiety over whether they’ll have access to labor tomorrow. [19:12] Uncertainty creates anxiety. The ups and downs of life create anxiety. [19:28] Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! Zurich’s webinar, “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” will be held on May 1st at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Then RIMS takes a little break from webinars. [19:43] On May 22nd, webinars are back with GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company, and their newest session, “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny”. [19:55] On May 29th, Origami Risk returns to present “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction”. On June 5th, Zywave joins us to discuss “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What’s the Cause and What’s the Solution?” [20:17] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/Webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members. [20:29] Spencer Educational Foundation will be present at RISKWORLD 2025. Spencer’s Grants Program is starting soon. [20:38] Spencer’s goal to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals is achieved, in part, by its collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [20:51] Since 2010, Spencer has awarded over $3.3 million in General Grants to support over 130 student-centered experiential learning initiatives at universities and RMI non-profits. Spencer’s 2026 application process will open on May 1st, 2025, and close on July 30th, 2025. [21:14] General Grant awardees are typically notified at the end of October. Learn more about Spencer’s General Grants through the Programs tab of SpencerEd.org. [21:25] On the 7th of October, the New Jersey RIMS Chapter will return to the beautiful Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, New Jersey for their Annual Charity Golf/Pickleball Event. [21:37] Registration is open and the event proceeds are used to fund the chapter’s Spencer and Kids’ Chance Scholarships. It was the filming location for the upcoming movie sequel Happy Gilmore 2. For more information, and to register, please NewJersey.RIMS.org. [21:59] Let’s Return to My Interview with Kirti Mutatkar! [22:07] Justin remarks on Kirti leading with compassion and empathy. Both at HCAA and as CEO of UnitedAg, she puts humans at the center. People remind her it’s a business, but she has found that using compassion and empathy has an impact on real numbers. [23:26] Kirti reminds people she has a degree in finance and is a businessperson. UnitedAg has tripled in size. It is a quarter-billion-dollar trust. Its admin costs are very low and its loss ratio is very low. It’s done very well financially. [23:53] Kirti makes a decision based on the financial aspect of it and then fits in the compassion and empathy. Eventually, compassion has a big impact on the financial. Now at HCAA, people are looking at how compassion translates into numbers. UnitedAg is a perfect example of it. [24:52] Some people may want to look at it purely from a business standpoint. Kirti feels that adding compassion and empathy manages the risk factor and has a financial impact. It’s better for your business than you think it is. It’s not a fluff word, you can show it in numbers. [25:52] Kirti is part of the Claims Committee at UnitedAg. Appeals come in and they make decisions on what can or cannot be approved. There is legal representation, client representation, and financial representation. Kirti shares an example of a mental health appeal. [26:41] The appeal was denied and Kirti listened to the compliance and financial positions for why it was denied. She didn’t feel right about it, and after the meeting, she reached out to the employer. Then she came back to the committee and asked them to rethink it. [27:34] The committee found a solution within the compliance needs, to approve the claim. In the future, that employer will be apt to renew with UnitedAg because trust was created and help was provided to the employee. It was a financial decision that started with compassion. [29:16] UnitedAG’s customer retention is over 90%. That speaks for itself. [29:26] RIMS Plug! From Ryan Harris, upcoming Keynote on the Main Stage on May 6th at RISKWORLD 2025, “Greetings RIMS members and global risk professionals! I’m Ryan Harris, Champion of Super Bowl 50, best-selling author, and award-winning broadcaster. [29:46] “I’m thrilled to be your Main Stage Keynote for RISKWORLD 2025, where we will discuss the transformative five steps to building a championship team and leading to winning! You can learn more about me and my story by listening to RIMScast. [30:01] ”And more than anything, make sure to register for RISKWORLD 2025 by visiting RIMS.org/riskworld. I’m so thrilled to see you and I’m looking forward to us building together so that you can reach your greatest success!” [30:16] Thank you, again, Ryan. We look forward to seeing you at RISKWORLD 2025 on May 6th. A link to Ryan’s episode of RIMScast, #325, is in this episode’s show notes. Get a preview of the Super Bowl Champion and remember to register for RISKWORLD 2025. [30:33] Let’s Return to the Conclusion of Our Interview with Kirti Mutatkar! [30:46] Kirti says that bringing mental health into the Enterprise Risk Management strategy starts with the HR department. UnitedAg does a lot of training around mental health. There are good products available, but just saying we have this product, as a check mark, is not enough. [31:16] Go deeper, listen to your members, and train your supervisors and managers to identify some of the tell-tale signs of needs and bring them forward. Kirti’s Chief of Staff remarked to her that physical scars can be seen, but mental scars cannot be shown. [31:49] You have to go deeper to understand mental scars. Spread the word. Talk to your employees and HR teams. Be OK with someone getting emotional at work. Give them a safe space and a trusting environment. Everybody goes through anxiety and stress. [32:20] Providing a safe space does more than providing a program. Engaging, building relationships, and having a connection would be helpful. [32:35] As a CEO, Kirti’s biggest takeaway is to maintain a connection with everybody. She tries to do that as much as possible. She goes to CEO lunches and roundtables and is constantly talking to people. You never know what someone will say or do that is a tell-tale sign of need. [33:06] Kirti’s advice for risk management professionals is to go a little deeper. Don’t take things at face value. Take a step back and ask what is the true problem. Go one or two layers deeper looking for the real issues. Understanding the issue is good from a risk standpoint. [33:50] Are there not enough mental health professionals or should we look at the model for how we provide care for people? [34:10] Kirti also has a podcast, This Is Ag!, available on Spotify and other podcast platforms. She loves podcasting! The reason behind it is relationship and connection. It’s to tell people what ag is all about. This year’s focus will be on the ground workers and telling their stories. [34:58] There is so much to learn from agriculture! A lot of things still happen with a handshake in agriculture. There’s a lot of trust and a lot of relationship and connection. Kirti loves working in the industry. She’s very grateful for that. [35:14] Kirti tells what she likes about leading a not-for-profit organization. She runs it as a business but the core of it is the mission it serves. HCAA serves the underserved and she is testing how compassion and empathy play a role in the process. [35:44] Special thanks again to Health Care Administrators Association President and UnitedAg President and CEO, Kirti Mutatkar. There is a link to her podcast, This Is Ag!, in this episode’s show notes.b Let her know you heard her first on RIMScast. [36:02] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [36:30] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [36:48] 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. [37:06] 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. [37:22] 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. [37:36] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [37:44] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Links: RISKWORLD 2025 — May 4‒7 | Register today! Download the RIMS Events app! Spencer’s RISKWORLD Events — Register or Sponsor! LAST CALL! RIMS Texas Regional 2025 — August 3‒5 | Advance registration rates now open. RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Risk Management magazine RIMS Now The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Educational Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Dates This Is Ag! — Podcast, Hosted by Kirti Mutatkar RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Understanding Third Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich | May 1, 2025 “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny” | Sponsored by GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company | May 22, 2025 “Strategic Risk Financing in an Unstable Economy: Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Cost Reduction” | Sponsored by Origami Risk | May 29, 2025 “Today’s Escalating Risk Trajectory: What's the Cause & What’s the Solution?” | Sponsored by Zywave | June 5, 2025   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: CBCP & RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Bootcamp: “Mastering Business Continuity & Risk Management” | May 19‒22, 2025 | In Collaboration with DRI International Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule “Managing Data for ERM” | June 12 | Instructor: Pat Saporito  “Generative AI for Risk Management” | June 26 | Instructor: Pat Saporito See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “Risk and Leadership Patterns with Super Bowl Champion Ryan Harris” (RISKWORLD 2025 Keynote) “Maintaining an Award-Winning ERM Program with Michael Zuraw” “National Nurses Week 2021: How COVID-19 Has Impacted the Nursing Profession with Dr. Sophia Thomas and Vicki Good” “Mental Health in the Workplace with Darcy Gruttadaro” (2021)   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “Change Management: AI's Role in Loss Control and Property Insurance” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company (New!) “Demystifying Multinational Fronting Insurance Programs” | Sponsored by Zurich “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL’s New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today’s Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: Kirti Mutatkar on LinkedIn Kirti Mutatkar, CEO and President of United Ag   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

Tamieka Weeks, Director of Global Risk Management at Southwire and former President of the RIMS Atlanta Chapter, shares her inspiring journey from claims adjusting to risk management. She discusses overcoming challenges during the pandemic, emphasizing collaboration that led to her chapter winning the 2022 Chapter of the Year Award. Tamieka also highlights Southwire's evolving risk practices amid modern threats and offers invaluable advice for aspiring professionals, all while celebrating the excitement of a career in risk management that is never predictable.