April 17, 2025 • 22 mins
What happens when you blend creativity with one of the most traditional industries out there? Woodruff Sawyer, Senior Claims Consultant, Qiana Redmond—better known as "Q"—is flipping the script on workers’ comp education through personalized learning and interactive games. From turning HR trainings into Family Feud-style competitions to hosting her signature “Ask Q Work Comp Sessions,” Qiana makes complex topics not only accessible but also fun.
With two decades of experience as a claims examiner and broker, Qiana brings fresh solutions to post-pandemic challenges like remote work injuries and industry knowledge gaps. Her innovative approach proves that even in insurance, creativity isn’t just welcome—it’s essential.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
How do you get better at what you do?
Time management assistance.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
AI.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Webinars, mentors, open platforms like Coursera
Live and virtual Live trainingLive course, live training.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Live course, live training, live training.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Live training, live training, live training, live
training, live training, livetraining, live training, live
training.
Whoa, that's a lot.
So focus, communication,regulation and direction REA
Audio.
I'll give a little bit ofbackground and then let you tell
your background right?
So I was fortunate enough tokind of do an update on the
(00:31):
re-employability program forWoodruff Sawyer and got to meet
some really, really nice andinteresting and really engaged
people.
While I was doing that and as Iwas doing kind of my debrief, I
was looking through and Inoticed some very interesting
labels on your LinkedIn andthat's what kind of caused me to
reach out and as we talked Ithought you know, it's so nice
(00:52):
to see such a creative mind inthe workers comp world and how
you're working with your clientsand we'll get into that in a
few minutes.
But but, kiana, thank you somuch, much for being with us and
joining me today.
So why don't you give a littlebit of background about how you
got involved with WoodruffSawyer and some of that?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Sure Well, Todd, it is my pleasure.
Thank you so much for invitingme to the podcast.
Can you believe I have 20 yearsof work comp experience?
I'm telling you, work compkeeps me young okay.
So I spent the first 10 years ofmy career in workers'
compensation as a claimsexaminer.
(01:34):
I was a medical.
Only then, a lost time I spenttime on a future medical desk, a
settlement desk, and justbetween those collective
experiences I learned so muchwhat to do, what not to do, what
works, what doesn't work.
And then for the last 10 yearsof my career I spent on the
(01:58):
broker site.
I worked at Epic Brokers for alittle while and now I am here
at Woodruff Sawyer doing seniorclaim consulting.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So do you mind sharing, like how did you
originally get into workers'comp?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Sure, it's a funny story.
So I was at a well, I didretail management before for a
major retailer.
We won't talk about the name,retail management before for a
major retailer, we won't talkabout the name.
But I was like I am so sick andtired of working weekends and
overnights.
I was very young at that timeand I was just thinking I need
(02:35):
something different.
So I actually went to a jobfair I don't know if they even
still have those anymore Likethis was pre-LinkedIn, pre-all
that you know.
This was back in the day whenyou would fill out an
application and turn it intopersonnel, right?
So, I went to a job fair andthis particular manager that
(02:58):
worked for AIG at the time shesays hey, I think you'd be a
good medical only claimspecialist.
I didn't even know what it was.
I said does that involveweekends?
She says no, it's an easy job.
Here's the application.
Go ahead and apply.
I applied, I had one interviewand next thing I know I was on
(03:22):
the desk.
I didn't even know what workerscomp was.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Right?
Well, it's funny because that'sa very close story as to how
the founder and CEO of re-employability.
She was in retail.
She didn't want to workweekends anymore and you know
she ran into somebody that said,hey, how about you try
insurance and workers' comp?
And here she is 25 years later.
(03:49):
So it's a great story forpeople that want to get out of
that type of a routine.
For some people it's great, andI know exactly how you feel.
My first job was in radio.
I was in the promotionsdepartment and I worked every
Saturday, every Sunday, all weeklong and made like no money at
all and finally I just kind ofgravitated towards sales and
(04:13):
that eventually to workers' comptoo.
So anybody that might belistening, that might be in a
job like that, because there's alot of opportunity in insurance
.
And when I was 20-some yearsold, if you had told me you're
going to go work in workers'comp, I told you you were nuts.
There was no way that I thoughtI'd be able to do, or even want
to do that, right, right.
(04:34):
So what are some of the thingsthat you experienced in your
previous days or even now in theworkers' comp world that maybe
you didn't expect?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
days, or even now in the workers' comp world, that
maybe you didn't expect.
Great question, I would say,the changes since the pandemic.
I am a very people person,right.
I am so used to being on sitewith my clients, taking tours
with them, I'm used to justreally being side by side with
(05:07):
them.
As a consultant, I specializein that.
I'm able to makerecommendations, I'm able to see
things from their purview.
Well, when COVID happened, Ihad to really just kind of
reimagine what my role lookedlike, and with that you kind of
have a great resignation.
So a lot of folks that I workedwith before I no longer worked
(05:31):
with them, and then you had adifferent generation of the
workforce come in, and so withthat, one thing that I didn't
expect is you know the amount ofinjuries that I saw during
COVID, especially working fromhome.
You'd be surprised.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
And just the just the different, just how COVID just
affected the industry in general.
You know, with telemedicine Ialso noticed that, you know,
usually withComp, the humanresource department, manages it.
There is an expansion in that.
So there is a bit of aknowledge gap.
(06:12):
That's another thing I did notanticipate.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So while I am consulting with clients and
giving recommendations, I'm alsoteaching them as well also
teaching them as well, and whatI, what really drew me to want
to have a conversation with you?
As I mentioned on your LinkedInprofile, are you kind of what
what you had had put in there?
Claim client ambassador Now,that's not your official title,
(06:36):
is it?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
It's not so one of my beloved clients that's what
they call me.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I have clients that call me a bunch of things and
they're all great, but when hesaid client ambassador, I said
whoa yeah you know, that makes alot of sense because you know,
um, we were talking a little bitbefore we started recording how
much I'm sure your clientsappreciate your energy and your
creativeness, and and you cameup with what you also have
(07:05):
listed on LinkedIn as thecreator of Ask Q Work Comp
Sessions.
Tell us what Ask Q is and howdid you come up with the idea?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Sure, sure.
Well, my name is Kiana.
Everybody calls me Q inside theworkplace, outside the
workplace it's just a part of mybrand.
And I had a client that I washelping with a work comp program
and she said to me wow, if Idon't have a clue, I'll ask you.
(07:37):
Then I had another client.
I was just doing a work comp101 with them and again, this is
a multi-generational workforceand at the end they were saying
if I don't know what to do, askQ.
And I was like this kind again,a knowledge gap, with just
(08:06):
different workforces, retiringthe great resignation things of
that nature, and just trying tofigure out how to get certain
clients up to speed, becausewhat happens is the claims
aren't a point right, they'realways processing.
But claims aren't a point right, they're always processing.
So again, just trying to figureout what is going to work best.
(08:29):
How can I teach?
I love teaching.
And what's going to make themfeel comfortable.
So ask you, sessions areessentially where I can take an
external client, an internalclient, anything that they have
a question about, I'm thesubject matter expert.
(08:52):
If I don't know, I'll go aheadand ask others.
I just want the clients to stayaway from that AI realm, right.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
That's very dangerous , especially with WordComp, and
this is really a session, soit's their session, whatever
they have on their mind,whatever they want to learn more
about, and also I always tellthem what is to your advantage.
Ok, so I know that certainorganizations have certain goals
, they have certain metrics.
(09:22):
Let's get, let's put this in anask you session and you are
empowered to go for it.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Why do you think that AI is dangerous in workers'
comp right now?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Oh my goodness, Well work comp is very nuanced, right
.
I don't just handle California,I handle all states, and I
think what tends to happen, whatI'm seeing in certain
generations is AI is their firsttool.
Instead of asking me a personthat has 20 years of experience
(09:56):
I've been around the world once.
I've seen it twice.
Nothing has caught me bysurprise.
It's just dangerous because,yeah, there are some truths, but
how does it relate to youractual situation?
That's the gap.
So that's why I'm here.
Yeah, there's no context.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Right, I think that's such a big deal.
I mean, that's a good lessonfor not just work comp.
You know all the conversationsI think that people are having
online and even in person now.
Even in person now, they lackso much context, which is why I
love doing this podcast, becauseit allows us to bring some
(10:39):
context to some things that thatare kind of happening in the
workers comp world right now andjust having a little further
discussion and really getting toknow the people that are
involved.
And that's again what impressedme so much when we started
talking was your ability toreally bring creativity into the
job that you do.
I know that that's, in mostcases, not the first word that
(11:01):
comes to somebody's mind whenthey think of a work insurance
broker Right, but you've goneabove and beyond for your
clients to be creative andhelping them to learn, because
you're such a good teacher.
To be creative and helping themto learn because you're such a
good teacher.
One of the things that we weretalking about was a game that
you created for one of yourclients at their request in
(11:23):
order to help teach them aboutwork comp.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Can you tell us about that?
Sure, so this is a bigreemployability client.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I just want to plug them there.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I was asked to go to an HR summit.
Usually claim consultantsaren't even invited, I think
because of my jovial personalityand just working with the
client for so long.
They were like hey Q, we have50 HR professionals.
(11:54):
They were like hey Q, we have50 HR professionals.
Some are here in America, someare in other countries, some are
in other states, other grids,other territories.
How can we get everyone togetheron one page and what's a fun
way that they can learn workcomp?
And I was working with the workcomp manager.
We were thinking about a fewthings and then I'm like we
(12:14):
should play Family Feud and whenI tell you the excitement and
the amount of adults that werewanting to get the right answer
and hogging the buzzer and justasking questions, like even when
(12:35):
they would get a question right, it would be a but what if this
scenario and what if thatscenario?
So that's what I did for themand it worked out so well.
They want me to come back, ofcourse, but we're going to play
a different game.
I was just trying to think ofwhat else we could do to play a
different game.
I was just trying to think ofwhat else we could do, but it
(12:57):
was not to brag.
But they said that the workcomp session was the most
memorable.
You know when people are havingfun they forget that they're
learning.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah no doubt I have.
I've given so many presentationswith re-employability, both in
person and through teams andthrough Zoom calls, and I would
always rather be face to facebecause I feel like you know
whether we're doing a refresherfor you know 50 or 100 adjusters
(13:28):
, just to re familiarize themwith what our program is and the
benefits to their clients, justto re-familiarize them with
what our program is and thebenefits to their clients.
Much rather do that in person,because I feel like there's just
you can look at somebody, youknow they're not off feeding
their dog if you're doing it ona team's call, right.
But to engage with a game is socreative in such a way, like
you said, to make it memorable,and that's how people are going
(13:50):
to remember and they're going toremember you and they're going
to remember what you're tellingthem.
So did you get much pushbackinternally or how was that taken
?
Because obviously I mean all,all organizations within workers
comp for the most part are moreof a straight-laced,
conservative type of business.
Right, it's insurance.
(14:10):
So I would imagine coming tosomebody and saying, hey, we're
going to play Fun Feud or FamilyFeud for this big client.
What happened?
How did that?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
get accepted.
So it's interesting.
I think the question was well,why would they want a workers
comp person there?
Cause work comp people arenever at, uh, hr summits.
It's usually benefits, or youknow, I was the only person
invited time.
Okay, um, did I get pushback?
(14:45):
No, but I got.
Well, q are you sure you know?
Is this really what the clientwants?
And I was like, yes, this iswhat the client wants.
And again, after you know, Ipresented everything to my
manager, the account executive.
They were excited.
No one could go with me thatday, so I went up there by
(15:09):
myself, I bought prizes.
And when I tell you, even whenI do go on the campus of this
particular client, they stillremember the stuff that I said
last year and I'm like I don'teven remember.
And then you know, one thing Ileave them with is, if you don't
know what to do, ask you, pickup the phone and call me.
(15:31):
Right, won't remembereverything.
I don't want you to remembereverything.
So, um, that's one thing thatthey did walk away with well, we
stylized your game forre-employability and I suckered.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I mean, I asked a few people from uh re-employability
to join us to try a couplequestions of the way that you
put this together.
Um, with some re-employabilityto join us to try a couple
questions of the way that youput this together with some
reemployability questions.
So how about we give that ashot and see how it goes?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Sure, sure, all right , all right, all right.
Are you guys ready to playFriendly Feud?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, we're ready.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Okay, so we have asked the top 100 people about
re-employability.
Can you name a re-employabilitycore value?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Oh, look at Angela.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I think that was the purple team that got that first
Entrepreneurship Absolutely.
Would you like to continue,angela, or would you like to
turn it over to the green team?
I think we'll play Right,jolissa, yes, we're going to
play.
Ok, ok.
(16:41):
So what is another?
Reemployability, core value,service oriented, absolutely,
absolutely.
I just keep going, keep going.
Passion, that's number one Woo.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Integrity.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Team awesome job.
Can I interrupt Partnership?
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I think they have it written on their wall, oh, we're
working from home, we're fromhome Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And partnerships was the last one.
Well, you guys win this round.
There we go.
Okay, so let's go to the nextquestion.
Reemployability just celebratedits anniversary of blank number
of years.
Todd, go ahead, 20.
(17:46):
You are correct, Woo.
So this is going to stump youguys.
We asked the top 100 peoplewhat is workers compensation?
It is, I'm sorry, you didn'tmake it by the buzzer Purple
(18:11):
team what you got.
Insurance, yeah, insuranceSorry.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
What about any sort of benefits that protect the
employee?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's a system of benefits that protect the
employee so they are able tocome back to work.
This is what it is not.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Q.
Thank you, that was fun.
I don't know, I don't know ifeverybody expected that so,
obviously, when you do it inperson, sometimes doing this
over Zoom and stuff can be alittle bit technically difficult
, so we'll make sure, if you, soyou do this in person.
Right, when you've done thisright, I do do it in person.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I sometimes do it in Zoom, but however usually Ask Q
sessions are, I put together aPowerPoint but these are
questions that folks have hadbut maybe are afraid to ask and
I give them the why, the why not, the what if scenario.
I kind of look at it from thataerial view lens and it really
(19:24):
just kind of helps them out.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
And so let's say, somebody'slistening now and they're like
you know, I'd kind of like to dosomething out of the box,
something a little bit differentfor a client.
Do you have any advice on howto approach approvals, things
like that?
Obviously, every company is alittle different, but I would
hate to stifle anybody'screative ideas just because they
think they can't get somethingokayed.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Love it.
So what I will say iscreativity takes courage.
Okay, so you can't be afraid todemonstrate courage.
I think that companies are moreapt to creative ideas when they
understand the why and theimpact of retention, of possibly
(20:09):
you know this attracting otherclients, of folks having the
warm chatter with uppermanagement.
That's huge.
I mean, when you have someonewho came from you know, let's
say they are a first-year HR repand they talk to their C-suite
(20:30):
folks about what they learnedhere, that adds value.
It speaks volumes.
So I would just say just havethe courage, Ask.
All they can do is say no, Right, yeah, and also one thing that
I always think about is whatproblem am I supposed to solve?
(20:51):
We are all here to solveproblems, and why don't we just
have fun with it and do it in afun way?
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So you mentioned that you'rethinking about doing some new
things.
What do you have planned forthe year?
You want to share any of yourideas.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I can share a little bit of course, I have two
current new videos out for Ask Qand they're just little tiny
snippets.
These are questions that I getall the time, so the two that I
have are for early claimsreporting and I'll be doing some
more and hopefully some morepodcasting as well.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Good, good for you.
Is it okay if we provide a linkto your LinkedIn page in the
show notes?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Is that the best way for folks to get a hold of you?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yes, yes, excellent.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Q.
Thank you, it was a lot of funand I hope that we don't stop
talking now that we've stoppedplanning to have this
conversation, but, oh no, it'sbeen so enjoyable.
Your, your energy is infectiousand I would encourage, you know
, everyone listening to just youknow, give it a shot.
Like you said, don't be afraidto be creative and and and have
(22:03):
some fun with what you're doing,because, at the end of the day,
it's just about, you know,getting our message out in the
right way to the right people,and, uh, and being creative will
do that.
So thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Todd.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to REAAudio.
I hope we opened up your braina bit and helped you be better
(22:24):
at what you do.
Please follow us on Spotify,Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon
Music.
Please follow us on Spotify,Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon
Music or wherever you get yourpodcasts.
If you have input orsuggestions, email Todd at
reemployabilitycom.
Be grateful and have afantastic rest of your week.
How do you get better at what you do?
Time management assistance.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
AI.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Webinars, mentors, open platforms like Coursera
Live and virtual Live trainingLive course, live training.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Live course, live training, live training.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Live training, live training, live training, live
training, live training, livetraining, live training, live
training.
Whoa, that's a lot.
So focus, communication,regulation and direction REA
Audio.
I'll give a little bit ofbackground and then let you tell
your background right?
So I was fortunate enough tokind of do an update on the
(00:31):
re-employability program forWoodruff Sawyer and got to meet
some really, really nice andinteresting and really engaged
people.
While I was doing that and as Iwas doing kind of my debrief, I
was looking through and Inoticed some very interesting
labels on your LinkedIn andthat's what kind of caused me to
reach out and as we talked Ithought you know, it's so nice
(00:52):
to see such a creative mind inthe workers comp world and how
you're working with your clientsand we'll get into that in a
few minutes.
But but, kiana, thank you somuch, much for being with us and
joining me today.
So why don't you give a littlebit of background about how you
got involved with WoodruffSawyer and some of that?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Sure Well, Todd, it is my pleasure.
Thank you so much for invitingme to the podcast.
Can you believe I have 20 yearsof work comp experience?
I'm telling you, work compkeeps me young okay.
So I spent the first 10 years ofmy career in workers'
compensation as a claimsexaminer.
(01:34):
I was a medical.
Only then, a lost time I spenttime on a future medical desk, a
settlement desk, and justbetween those collective
experiences I learned so muchwhat to do, what not to do, what
works, what doesn't work.
And then for the last 10 yearsof my career I spent on the
(01:58):
broker site.
I worked at Epic Brokers for alittle while and now I am here
at Woodruff Sawyer doing seniorclaim consulting.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So do you mind sharing, like how did you
originally get into workers'comp?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Sure, it's a funny story.
So I was at a well, I didretail management before for a
major retailer.
We won't talk about the name,retail management before for a
major retailer, we won't talkabout the name.
But I was like I am so sick andtired of working weekends and
overnights.
I was very young at that timeand I was just thinking I need
(02:35):
something different.
So I actually went to a jobfair I don't know if they even
still have those anymore Likethis was pre-LinkedIn, pre-all
that you know.
This was back in the day whenyou would fill out an
application and turn it intopersonnel, right?
So, I went to a job fair andthis particular manager that
(02:58):
worked for AIG at the time shesays hey, I think you'd be a
good medical only claimspecialist.
I didn't even know what it was.
I said does that involveweekends?
She says no, it's an easy job.
Here's the application.
Go ahead and apply.
I applied, I had one interviewand next thing I know I was on
(03:22):
the desk.
I didn't even know what workerscomp was.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Right?
Well, it's funny because that'sa very close story as to how
the founder and CEO of re-employability.
She was in retail.
She didn't want to workweekends anymore and you know
she ran into somebody that said,hey, how about you try
insurance and workers' comp?
And here she is 25 years later.
(03:49):
So it's a great story forpeople that want to get out of
that type of a routine.
For some people it's great, andI know exactly how you feel.
My first job was in radio.
I was in the promotionsdepartment and I worked every
Saturday, every Sunday, all weeklong and made like no money at
all and finally I just kind ofgravitated towards sales and
(04:13):
that eventually to workers' comptoo.
So anybody that might belistening, that might be in a
job like that, because there's alot of opportunity in insurance
.
And when I was 20-some yearsold, if you had told me you're
going to go work in workers'comp, I told you you were nuts.
There was no way that I thoughtI'd be able to do, or even want
to do that, right, right.
(04:34):
So what are some of the thingsthat you experienced in your
previous days or even now in theworkers' comp world that maybe
you didn't expect?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
days, or even now in the workers' comp world, that
maybe you didn't expect.
Great question, I would say,the changes since the pandemic.
I am a very people person,right.
I am so used to being on sitewith my clients, taking tours
with them, I'm used to justreally being side by side with
(05:07):
them.
As a consultant, I specializein that.
I'm able to makerecommendations, I'm able to see
things from their purview.
Well, when COVID happened, Ihad to really just kind of
reimagine what my role lookedlike, and with that you kind of
have a great resignation.
So a lot of folks that I workedwith before I no longer worked
(05:31):
with them, and then you had adifferent generation of the
workforce come in, and so withthat, one thing that I didn't
expect is you know the amount ofinjuries that I saw during
COVID, especially working fromhome.
You'd be surprised.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
And just the just the different, just how COVID just
affected the industry in general.
You know, with telemedicine Ialso noticed that, you know,
usually withComp, the humanresource department, manages it.
There is an expansion in that.
So there is a bit of aknowledge gap.
(06:12):
That's another thing I did notanticipate.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So while I am consulting with clients and
giving recommendations, I'm alsoteaching them as well also
teaching them as well, and whatI, what really drew me to want
to have a conversation with you?
As I mentioned on your LinkedInprofile, are you kind of what
what you had had put in there?
Claim client ambassador Now,that's not your official title,
(06:36):
is it?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
It's not so one of my beloved clients that's what
they call me.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I have clients that call me a bunch of things and
they're all great, but when hesaid client ambassador, I said
whoa yeah you know, that makes alot of sense because you know,
um, we were talking a little bitbefore we started recording how
much I'm sure your clientsappreciate your energy and your
creativeness, and and you cameup with what you also have
(07:05):
listed on LinkedIn as thecreator of Ask Q Work Comp
Sessions.
Tell us what Ask Q is and howdid you come up with the idea?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Sure, sure.
Well, my name is Kiana.
Everybody calls me Q inside theworkplace, outside the
workplace it's just a part of mybrand.
And I had a client that I washelping with a work comp program
and she said to me wow, if Idon't have a clue, I'll ask you.
(07:37):
Then I had another client.
I was just doing a work comp101 with them and again, this is
a multi-generational workforceand at the end they were saying
if I don't know what to do, askQ.
And I was like this kind again,a knowledge gap, with just
(08:06):
different workforces, retiringthe great resignation things of
that nature, and just trying tofigure out how to get certain
clients up to speed, becausewhat happens is the claims
aren't a point right, they'realways processing.
But claims aren't a point right, they're always processing.
So again, just trying to figureout what is going to work best.
(08:29):
How can I teach?
I love teaching.
And what's going to make themfeel comfortable.
So ask you, sessions areessentially where I can take an
external client, an internalclient, anything that they have
a question about, I'm thesubject matter expert.
(08:52):
If I don't know, I'll go aheadand ask others.
I just want the clients to stayaway from that AI realm, right.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
That's very dangerous , especially with WordComp, and
this is really a session, soit's their session, whatever
they have on their mind,whatever they want to learn more
about, and also I always tellthem what is to your advantage.
Ok, so I know that certainorganizations have certain goals
, they have certain metrics.
(09:22):
Let's get, let's put this in anask you session and you are
empowered to go for it.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Why do you think that AI is dangerous in workers'
comp right now?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Oh my goodness, Well work comp is very nuanced, right
.
I don't just handle California,I handle all states, and I
think what tends to happen, whatI'm seeing in certain
generations is AI is their firsttool.
Instead of asking me a personthat has 20 years of experience
(09:56):
I've been around the world once.
I've seen it twice.
Nothing has caught me bysurprise.
It's just dangerous because,yeah, there are some truths, but
how does it relate to youractual situation?
That's the gap.
So that's why I'm here.
Yeah, there's no context.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Right, I think that's such a big deal.
I mean, that's a good lessonfor not just work comp.
You know all the conversationsI think that people are having
online and even in person now.
Even in person now, they lackso much context, which is why I
love doing this podcast, becauseit allows us to bring some
(10:39):
context to some things that thatare kind of happening in the
workers comp world right now andjust having a little further
discussion and really getting toknow the people that are
involved.
And that's again what impressedme so much when we started
talking was your ability toreally bring creativity into the
job that you do.
I know that that's, in mostcases, not the first word that
(11:01):
comes to somebody's mind whenthey think of a work insurance
broker Right, but you've goneabove and beyond for your
clients to be creative andhelping them to learn, because
you're such a good teacher.
To be creative and helping themto learn because you're such a
good teacher.
One of the things that we weretalking about was a game that
you created for one of yourclients at their request in
(11:23):
order to help teach them aboutwork comp.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Can you tell us about that?
Sure, so this is a bigreemployability client.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I just want to plug them there.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I was asked to go to an HR summit.
Usually claim consultantsaren't even invited, I think
because of my jovial personalityand just working with the
client for so long.
They were like hey Q, we have50 HR professionals.
(11:54):
They were like hey Q, we have50 HR professionals.
Some are here in America, someare in other countries, some are
in other states, other grids,other territories.
How can we get everyone togetheron one page and what's a fun
way that they can learn workcomp?
And I was working with the workcomp manager.
We were thinking about a fewthings and then I'm like we
(12:14):
should play Family Feud and whenI tell you the excitement and
the amount of adults that werewanting to get the right answer
and hogging the buzzer and justasking questions, like even when
(12:35):
they would get a question right, it would be a but what if this
scenario and what if thatscenario?
So that's what I did for themand it worked out so well.
They want me to come back, ofcourse, but we're going to play
a different game.
I was just trying to think ofwhat else we could do to play a
different game.
I was just trying to think ofwhat else we could do, but it
(12:57):
was not to brag.
But they said that the workcomp session was the most
memorable.
You know when people are havingfun they forget that they're
learning.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah no doubt I have.
I've given so many presentationswith re-employability, both in
person and through teams andthrough Zoom calls, and I would
always rather be face to facebecause I feel like you know
whether we're doing a refresherfor you know 50 or 100 adjusters
(13:28):
, just to re familiarize themwith what our program is and the
benefits to their clients, justto re-familiarize them with
what our program is and thebenefits to their clients.
Much rather do that in person,because I feel like there's just
you can look at somebody, youknow they're not off feeding
their dog if you're doing it ona team's call, right.
But to engage with a game is socreative in such a way, like
you said, to make it memorable,and that's how people are going
(13:50):
to remember and they're going toremember you and they're going
to remember what you're tellingthem.
So did you get much pushbackinternally or how was that taken
?
Because obviously I mean all,all organizations within workers
comp for the most part are moreof a straight-laced,
conservative type of business.
Right, it's insurance.
(14:10):
So I would imagine coming tosomebody and saying, hey, we're
going to play Fun Feud or FamilyFeud for this big client.
What happened?
How did that?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
get accepted.
So it's interesting.
I think the question was well,why would they want a workers
comp person there?
Cause work comp people arenever at, uh, hr summits.
It's usually benefits, or youknow, I was the only person
invited time.
Okay, um, did I get pushback?
(14:45):
No, but I got.
Well, q are you sure you know?
Is this really what the clientwants?
And I was like, yes, this iswhat the client wants.
And again, after you know, Ipresented everything to my
manager, the account executive.
They were excited.
No one could go with me thatday, so I went up there by
(15:09):
myself, I bought prizes.
And when I tell you, even whenI do go on the campus of this
particular client, they stillremember the stuff that I said
last year and I'm like I don'teven remember.
And then you know, one thing Ileave them with is, if you don't
know what to do, ask you, pickup the phone and call me.
(15:31):
Right, won't remembereverything.
I don't want you to remembereverything.
So, um, that's one thing thatthey did walk away with well, we
stylized your game forre-employability and I suckered.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I mean, I asked a few people from uh re-employability
to join us to try a couplequestions of the way that you
put this together.
Um, with some re-employabilityto join us to try a couple
questions of the way that youput this together with some
reemployability questions.
So how about we give that ashot and see how it goes?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Sure, sure, all right , all right, all right.
Are you guys ready to playFriendly Feud?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, we're ready.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Okay, so we have asked the top 100 people about
re-employability.
Can you name a re-employabilitycore value?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Oh, look at Angela.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I think that was the purple team that got that first
Entrepreneurship Absolutely.
Would you like to continue,angela, or would you like to
turn it over to the green team?
I think we'll play Right,jolissa, yes, we're going to
play.
Ok, ok.
(16:41):
So what is another?
Reemployability, core value,service oriented, absolutely,
absolutely.
I just keep going, keep going.
Passion, that's number one Woo.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Integrity.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Team awesome job.
Can I interrupt Partnership?
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I think they have it written on their wall, oh, we're
working from home, we're fromhome Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And partnerships was the last one.
Well, you guys win this round.
There we go.
Okay, so let's go to the nextquestion.
Reemployability just celebratedits anniversary of blank number
of years.
Todd, go ahead, 20.
(17:46):
You are correct, Woo.
So this is going to stump youguys.
We asked the top 100 peoplewhat is workers compensation?
It is, I'm sorry, you didn'tmake it by the buzzer Purple
(18:11):
team what you got.
Insurance, yeah, insuranceSorry.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
What about any sort of benefits that protect the
employee?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's a system of benefits that protect the
employee so they are able tocome back to work.
This is what it is not.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Q.
Thank you, that was fun.
I don't know, I don't know ifeverybody expected that so,
obviously, when you do it inperson, sometimes doing this
over Zoom and stuff can be alittle bit technically difficult
, so we'll make sure, if you, soyou do this in person.
Right, when you've done thisright, I do do it in person.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I sometimes do it in Zoom, but however usually Ask Q
sessions are, I put together aPowerPoint but these are
questions that folks have hadbut maybe are afraid to ask and
I give them the why, the why not, the what if scenario.
I kind of look at it from thataerial view lens and it really
(19:24):
just kind of helps them out.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
And so let's say, somebody'slistening now and they're like
you know, I'd kind of like to dosomething out of the box,
something a little bit differentfor a client.
Do you have any advice on howto approach approvals, things
like that?
Obviously, every company is alittle different, but I would
hate to stifle anybody'screative ideas just because they
think they can't get somethingokayed.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Love it.
So what I will say iscreativity takes courage.
Okay, so you can't be afraid todemonstrate courage.
I think that companies are moreapt to creative ideas when they
understand the why and theimpact of retention, of possibly
(20:09):
you know this attracting otherclients, of folks having the
warm chatter with uppermanagement.
That's huge.
I mean, when you have someonewho came from you know, let's
say they are a first-year HR repand they talk to their C-suite
(20:30):
folks about what they learnedhere, that adds value.
It speaks volumes.
So I would just say just havethe courage, Ask.
All they can do is say no, Right, yeah, and also one thing that
I always think about is whatproblem am I supposed to solve?
(20:51):
We are all here to solveproblems, and why don't we just
have fun with it and do it in afun way?
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So you mentioned that you'rethinking about doing some new
things.
What do you have planned forthe year?
You want to share any of yourideas.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I can share a little bit of course, I have two
current new videos out for Ask Qand they're just little tiny
snippets.
These are questions that I getall the time, so the two that I
have are for early claimsreporting and I'll be doing some
more and hopefully some morepodcasting as well.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Good, good for you.
Is it okay if we provide a linkto your LinkedIn page in the
show notes?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Is that the best way for folks to get a hold of you?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yes, yes, excellent.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Q.
Thank you, it was a lot of funand I hope that we don't stop
talking now that we've stoppedplanning to have this
conversation, but, oh no, it'sbeen so enjoyable.
Your, your energy is infectiousand I would encourage, you know
, everyone listening to just youknow, give it a shot.
Like you said, don't be afraidto be creative and and and have
(22:03):
some fun with what you're doing,because, at the end of the day,
it's just about, you know,getting our message out in the
right way to the right people,and, uh, and being creative will
do that.
So thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Todd.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to REAAudio.
I hope we opened up your braina bit and helped you be better
(22:24):
at what you do.
Please follow us on Spotify,Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon
Music.
Please follow us on Spotify,Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon
Music or wherever you get yourpodcasts.
If you have input orsuggestions, email Todd at
reemployabilitycom.
Be grateful and have afantastic rest of your week.
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