Creating a Culture of Preparedness with Andrew Velasquez and Justin Pierce

We’re another season older and wiser! Season 2 of Business, Interrupted has come to an end, and we’re taking the opportunity to look back at the experts who shared their insights and advice with us. Listen as hosts Brian Zawada and Cheyene Marling break down their learnings and reminisce about their favorite moments from this season.

From backlogged ports to continued COVID lockdowns, supply chain has continuously been in the headlines. It’s something the average consumer doesn’t pay much attention to, but for our guest today, it’s her bread and butter.Elaine Boltz, Chief Operating and Transformation Officer at Crocs, took on her role right as the pandemic hit, giving her quite the exciting start to an already challenging position.In this episode, Elaine joins host Cheyene Marling to share her insights on quickly pivoting, managing supply chain risk, dealing with ambiguity, and trusting in coping with the unexpected.Related Resource: Getting Started with Resilience Management

The size and scope of the aviation industry make disruption a frighteningly real possibility. Yet for our guests, Andrew Velasquez, First Deputy Aviation Commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation, and Justin Pierce, Emergency Management Director for Los Angeles World Airports, planning and preparation enable them to maintain continuity.In this episode, you'll hear Andrew and Justin join host Cheyene Marling to share their insights on building relationships and networks. They also discuss how to effectively conduct risk exercises with tens of thousands of people and how emergency managers work together across organizations.Related Resource: Getting Started with Resilience Management Guide

As the business world becomes more digitally focused and enabled, many of the most impactful and disruptive events we encounter are cyber driven. It’s no longer a question of if a cyber disruption will occur, it’s when. In this episode, Chief Information Security Officers Jim Kastle of Kimberly-Clark and Mark Eggleston of CSC join host Brian Zawada to break down what a good cyber response plan looks like and how it has evolved in recent years.Related Resource:Cyber Response Builder

How do you restore business operations and move forward in the midst of the worst possible tragedy?Matthew Horace, Chief Security Officer at Mayo Clinic, spent more than two decades as a federal agent before transitioning to the private sector. Over the course of his career, he helped navigate three of the biggest tragedies imaginable: The Oklahoma City Bombing, Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Sandy.In this episode, Matthew joins host Cheyene Marling to discuss the leadership principles he’s learned throughout his career. Listen in as he breaks down why empowering and taking care of your people is the most important part of business resilience and critical event management.Related Resources:Crisis Management Plan TemplateGetting Started with Resilience Management Guide

Business continuity and resilience professionals spend significant time preparing for the worst situations imaginable. With the recent conflict in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions continuing to escalate, some of those scenarios have become reality. Whether it's government sanctions, cyber attacks, or currently unrealized consequences, the potential effects on business resilience around the world could be significant.In this episode, Michael Bratton, Director of Consulting at Castellan Solutions, joins host Brian Zawada to break down some of the immediate consequences of the war in Ukraine. You’ll learn why preparing for severe yet plausible scenarios is so important, and how lessons learned could be applicable beyond current events.Related Resources:Plausible Scenario BuilderCyber Response Builder

For many practitioners, the responsibility of maintaining business operations in a crisis falls squarely on their shoulders–if something goes wrong, it’s on them. But, what if there’s a better way?For Scott Baldwin, Head of Enterprise Resilience at Netflix, that “better way” is to transfer responsibility for the organization’s resilience to the actual stakeholders. The business continuity team then becomes a resource to train and equip the stakeholders, instead of begging them to participate.In this episode, Scott joins host Cheyene Marling to share the lessons that led him to this approach and breaks down how you can begin to look at business continuity in a different light–achieving traditional directives without getting bogged down in traditional methods.Related Resources:Executive Support AmplifierBusiness Continuity [Re]Vision Builder

When navigating a critical business event, how will you define success?In this episode, Ann Pickren, Chief Customer Officer at OnSolve, joins host Brian Zawada to compare notes on what it takes to achieve success in business resilience and critical event management.As you listen, you’ll hear top tips for crafting your business resilience program, and why it’s important to earn the respect of the organization you’re trying to help. Related Resources:Crisis Management Plan TemplateGetting Started with Resilience Management Guide

When starting (or restarting) a business continuity program, it’s easy to get hung up on trying to make it perfect. The problem is, that can leave you stuck in process, waiting for everything to line up. For Shane Mathew, Senior Manager of Business Resilience at Zoom, the key to success is identifying the quick wins to move your program forward.In this episode, Shane joins host Cheyene Marling to discuss ways to make your business continuity program “sticky” and shares the three most important things to consider when building up your organization’s resilience.Related Resources:Executive Support AmplifierBusiness Continuity [Re]Vision BuilderGetting Started with Resilience Management Guide

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to business continuity and resilience, so why not take the best ideas and adapt them to your organization?Mark Armour is co-author of the book Adaptive Business Continuity: A New Approach. In this episode, he and host Brian Zawada – author of The Business Continuity Operating System – highlight the most impactful takeaways from each other's approaches. As you listen, you’ll learn what it means to truly understand your organization so you can get the necessary recovery capabilities in place.Related Resources:The Business Continuity Operating System by Brian ZawadaAdaptive Business Continuity: A New Approach by Mark Armour and Dr. David Lindstedt