Business Resilience DECODED

Episode 166: The Impact of ESG on Business Continuity

ESG – which stands for environmental, social, and governance investing – is a way for investors to evaluate risk and social responsibility before investing in companies. In this episode, we’ll be sharing some specifics of ESG, how it can affect your organization’s business continuity practices and decisions, and why you might consider becoming an ESG-compliant organization.

Sour...

Episode 165: Best Practices to Land Your Next Big Role | Resumes, Interview Tips, & More

If you find yourself looking for a new role, you might be wondering how to set yourself apart in the application and interview process. Enter Kim Hooper, an HR manager for Asfalis and an award-winning security professional with more than 20 years of experience at companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon. In this episode, Kim is sharing her best t...

Episode 164: Should Brands Take a Political Stance?

In 2024, we are entering election season, which in the U.S. has become more and more divisive over the last several years. In this episode, we are going to dig into whether businesses or brands should take political stances on divisive issues, and how you can choose to navigate this going into 2024.

Some key takeaways from this episode include:

• There are two ways to...

Episode 163: The Joy of Metrics + Training the Next Generation of Professionals

Metrics are a huge factor in business continuity and allow us to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of our strategies. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Bernard Jones, professor of homeland security and emergency management at St. John’s University. Throughout his career, he’s worked in several industries, including tech and data, healthcar...

Episode 162: Artificial Intelligence in Business Continuity | Use Cases, Risks, and Our Favorite AI Tools

At the recent DRJ conference in Phoenix, the topic everyone wanted to talk about was AI (artificial intelligence). As tools like ChatGPT become more mainstream, the conversation is shifting to how we can actually use these tools in our industry. In this episode, we’re sharing some of the ways we’re using AI in our business, and...

Episode 161: Supply Chain Resilience in the Wine & Spirits Industry

Supply chains continue to be a trending topic, and in this episode, we’re digging into managing and troubleshooting supply chains for the wine and spirits industry. We’re joined by John Liuzzi, the national director for business continuity for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, who is running a “dream team” of business continuity professionals in his in...

Episode 160: Leadership Risks You Need to Prepare For

Leadership is a major factor in how smoothly your emergency management and business continuity plans are created and implemented, so in this episode, we are sharing some of the top leadership risks to prepare for in order to have a stronger team. The article Vanessa references for this episode is from Forbes on “Navigating Leadership Challenges in a Rapidly Changing World.”...

Episode 159: Wildfire Preparedness and Emergency Management

While the top disaster threat in California is still earthquakes, wildfires have gotten a lot of attention over the last few years. We’re seeing wildfires affect more of North America recently, so in this episode, Leslie Luke, the deputy director of the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office at the Office of Emergency Management, is here to share his expertise. Les...

Episode 158: How Prepared Is Your Business? | 5 Metrics & KPIs You Should Be Tracking for Business Resilience

We’ve spent years helping businesses rethink how to measure the effectiveness of their resiliency program. In fact, we have a 200 question input form that examines just this. While this podcast episode is not long enough to share all 200 questions, we’d like to offer five metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs...

If your team is running exercises where everyone is just going through the motions, you’re missing some key blind spots in your processes. In this replay episode, Rick Christ, a senior consultant at Crisis Prevention and Response, Inc. and a FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner, lays out his seven deadly sins of crisis management exercises. From focusing on shiny objects to exercising too big, Rick covers the mistakes you might be mak...

In light of the Supreme Court recently ruling against affirmative action, in this episode we’re sharing clips from our past episodes on higher education. From the experience of leaders and students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), to the future of security and DEI efforts on college campuses, we hope this episode spotlights the forward progress we’ve seen in higher education despite the SCOTUS ruling.

Episode...

Episode 155: Answering the Tricky Questions and Critics about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In this episode, we are continuing the conversation from our DEI Microsimulation at the DRJ Spring 2023 conference and addressing some lingering questions from the audience. Vanessa is joined by Lisa Jones, the BC general manager at Control Risks, and James Green, the co-founder of Illuminate Advisory. Together, Lisa and James are co-foun...

Episode 154: What We Can Learn from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure and Leadership in Risk Management

The Silicon Valley Bank failure sent a strong ripple effect through the financials of several prominent companies, and instilled some fear that other banks might fail as well. In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Holmes, the co-founder and CEO of RiskVersity, to explain what happened with SVB, where we’re still feeling the effect...

Episode 153: Growing and Developing the Leaders in Your Organization

Developing leaders in your organization is mutually beneficial for your employees and the organization. In this episode, Debbie Maples, the VP of global safety and security at Salesforce, joins us to share why developing leaders is more important than ever, and how you can empower the leaders in your organization.

Some of the key takeaways include: 

• Leaders ...

Episode 152: Behind the Scenes of a Human Resources Case Study for a Retail Organization

Vernetta Purcell-Morrow, the director of human resources for the Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board is back to share her experience hiring Asfalis Advisors to conduct an human resources audit. We’ll cover why Asfalis Advisors was selected, the findings from Vanessa’s team, and the results of their proposed solutions.

Some...

Episode 151: Retail Industry Challenges – Staffing, Employee Burnout, Customer Behavior, and Community Engagement

Today we’re joined by Vernetta Purcell-Morrow, the director of human resources for the Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board. In this episode, Vernetta shares her experience with supporting community engagement programs as a company, and the unique challenges that came with being an essential retail ...

Episode 150:  The Top Rising Risks You Need to Prepare For with Chris Hurst of OnSolve

In this episode, we are unpacking data from the 2023 OnSolve Global Risk Impact Report, which details the most prominent risks and what to do with the data we’re seeing about these risks. To discuss these findings, we’re joined by Chris Hurst, vice president of value engineering at OnSolve.

Resources:

• DRJ Spring 2023: What Will an Effective...

Episode 149:  Vanessa Mathews’ Origin Story – Growing a Business Resilience Company, Emergency Management Programs, and More!

In this episode, we’re putting Vanessa in the hot seat! This week, her colleague Michelle Myrie from Asfalis Advisors interviews her on her education, building Asfalis Advisors, how the industry is shifting, and more. There are some incredible stories in this episode you don’t want to miss.

Some of the key t...

Episode 148:  Supporting the Next Generation of Hazard & Disaster Researchers

We are looking to fill roles in our organizations with talented, diverse individuals. In this episode, Dr. Nnenia Campbell, a disaster sociologist and deputy director of the Bill Anderson Fund, is sharing how this organization provides mentorship and training for the next generation of hazard and disaster researchers.

• Learn more about The Bill A...