Chess Not Checkers

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien welcome back Cal Spoon of Insurance Busters for a second round, after his first appearance drew some of the best feedback the show has ever gotten. With wildfires still fresh on everyone's mind in Spokane, the guys go deeper into the mechanics of a claim and how the average person can actually protect themselves.

Cal makes his central case plainly: an insurance company is a business, and since its only product is paying valid claims, the only way it grows profit is by paying less. From there he walks through what that means for you. He explains the duties after a loss, why the sworn proof of loss (SPOL) is the document that actually triggers the insurer's obligations, why your policy is written at a postgraduate reading level on purpose, and how the whole structure, from adjusters to attorneys, is built to mitigate payouts rather than install coverage. Along the way he gets into the McCarran-Ferguson Act, "the float" that Warren Buffett built his fortune on, and a jaw-dropping story about a bank check his own mother could not cash.

The practical takeaway is simple. If you have a loss, pause, hire a public adjuster whose interests are actually aligned with yours, and pull up your own policy and ask it one question: what are my duties after a loss in this specific policy.

Learn more at insurancebusters.net. Given the strong response, a third episode with live listener questions may be on the way, so send yours in.

Chapters 

00:00  Welcome Back, Cal Spoon (Part 2)

01:36  Using AI to Actually Read Your Policy

03:50  Vacant Job Sites and Real-World Liability

05:25  Why Your Premiums Never Go Down

08:00  Written at a Postgraduate Reading Level on Purpose

09:55  The One Question That Explains the Whole Business

12:50  David vs. Goliath: What to Do When You Have a Claim

13:00  Your Duties After a Loss

16:40  Mitigators: A Whole Staff Built to Remove Coverage

21:20  The Sworn Proof of Loss (SPOL) and What It Triggers

24:49  Mortgage Checks and Who Holds Your Money

26:30  Cronyism and How the System Interconnects

31:35  The McCarran-Ferguson Act and 50 Separate Markets

36:40  Why They Can't Compete With Insurance Ad Dollars

42:08  How a Huge Insurance Company Goes Bust on Purpose

44:20  The Check His Mother Couldn't Cash

50:00  The Float: Where the Real Money Is Made

56:43  The Corner Store: Morality When You're in Need

01:00:30  Can They Pay Every Claim and Still Profit? Yes

01:03:11  Already Took the Check? What to Do Now

01:04:55  Why a Public Adjuster's Interests Are Aligned With Yours

01:09:45  The Best Prompt for Your Own Policy

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Danny Beard, Director of Strategic Partnership at Union Gospel Mission, for a wide-ranging conversation that runs from a dairy farm in southern Illinois all the way to the heart of Spokane's hardest problem.

Danny has lived a remarkable life. He started cutting hair in seventh grade, played Division I basketball at Kansas State alongside future Hall of Famer Lon Kruger, turned down the NBA to serve, and then spent 40 years helping build NBC Camps from 300 campers into a global operation. Along the way he coached a young Adam Morrison and watched him overcome a juvenile diabetes diagnosis to become a Spokane legend. Now at Union Gospel Mission, where he has been involved since 1984, he walks Keith and Jordan through what the organization actually does, why it runs as a high-barrier shelter, and the five things he believes make someone a contributing member of society again.

Chapters

00:00  Welcome, Danny Beard!

01:02  Cutting Hair Since Seventh Grade

06:22  Growing Up on a Dairy Farm

09:50  How a Basketball Camp Brought Him to Spokane

14:35  Building NBC Camps From 300 to 11,000

19:22  How the Camps Scaled: Fred Crow and Grassroots

24:46  Playing D1 Ball at Kansas State

29:00  The Game That Put Him on the Map

32:30  Turning Down the NBA to Serve

36:35  Coaching a Young Adam Morrison

42:02  Union Gospel Mission: 75 Years and the Mission

44:20  Five Marks of a Contributing Member

49:48  Handouts vs. a Hand Up

52:52  Why UGM Is a High-Barrier Shelter

53:20  The Success Rate and the Five-Year Goal

56:36  Why Spokane Has the Problem It Does

57:48  Enforcement, Accountability, and "Johnny's House"

01:03:40  A Nuanced Problem: Drugs, Mental Health, Housing

01:08:30  The Home Project: Reconnecting People With Family

01:12:40  Why Isn't This Getting Fixed?

01:15:56  75 Years of UGM and the Nov 15 Gathering

01:17:55  Wrapping Up

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Gavin Cooley, president of the Spokane Business Association and the city's former longtime CFO, for an honest conversation about homelessness, addiction, and the future of Spokane. 

Gavin shares what cities like Houston and Boise have figured out: that this is not mainly a funding problem but a collaboration problem, and that saving lives and keeping streets clear are not opposing goals. The three of them get into the "one-third rule," why silos and turf wars stall progress, the difference strong leadership makes, and the harder human questions of indifference, compassion, and accountability. Through it all runs a stubborn hope that Spokane could become the comeback story other cities study.

00:00  Welcome, Gavin Cooley

00:47  Eight Kids, Fifteen Grandkids, and Growing Up in Spokane

03:33  The Bridge Over the Falls That Never Happened

07:21  From City CFO to Studying Homelessness

08:20  What Houston Got Right

11:40  Getting Everyone Under One Umbrella

15:45  Trying to Bring the Houston Model to Spokane

19:55  Why It's Not a Funding Problem

21:21  Condon's Collaborative Approach

22:20  When Fentanyl Changed Everything

28:30  Why the Problem Persists

31:20  The False Dichotomy of Compassion vs. Accountability

36:50  San Francisco's One-Year Turnaround

40:20  On-Street Patrol and the One-Third Rule

43:45  What a Real Response Would Look Like

50:00  Leadership, Admitting You're Wrong, and the Hard Pivot

55:15  Spokane Could Be the Comeback Story

58:30  Why Spokane Is More Resilient Than You'd Think

01:03:00  The Danger of Normalizing It

01:09:25  This Is Who Spokane Really Is

01:14:00  When There's a Clear Way to Help, Spokane Shows Up

01:18:55  Final Thoughts

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Cal Spoon of Insurance Busters, a public insurance adjuster Keith met through the local fires. If you have ever filed an insurance claim, or ever will, buckle up, because this one will change how you look at the whole system.

Cal pulls back the curtain on a profession almost nobody has heard of, and in doing so explains how insurance actually works. He gets into why the policy you signed is really a contract, the "duties after a loss" buried on page 33 that most people never read, and why the adjuster the insurance company sends works for them and not for you. Along the way, he breaks down how premiums get invested, how carriers use data and old software to predict the exact number you will accept, and why so many claims get settled for a fraction of what is actually owed.

He also gets practical. Cal walks through what to do if you are in the middle of a claim right now, why you should pause before accepting a goodwill offer, the difference between replacement cost and actual cash value, how matching and "line of sight" tricks work on roof claims, and why a quick lawsuit can actually cost you more than it recovers. Plus, why he shows up to disaster zones with a smoker and feeds the community instead of buying ads.

This is part one of a two-part conversation. Learn more about Cal at insurancebusters.net.

Show Flow

00:00  Welcome, Cal Spoon of Insurance Busters

01:34  What Is a Public Adjuster?

03:40  Where Modern Insurance Really Started

05:05  Your Premiums Are Invested in a Hedge Fund

08:16  Futures, Forecasts, and What the Carrier Really Knows

12:18  Colossus: The AI That Predicts Your Payout

16:06  Why You Trust the Company That Owes You Money

19:30  It's Not a Policy, It's a Contract

22:40  Goodwill Offers and Buying Your Silence

25:26  Mold, Civil Authority, and the But-For Doctrine

33:00  How to Actually Shop for Insurance

37:46  A1 vs. A2: The $180 Mistake That Costs Six Figures

46:55  What to Do If You're In a Claim Right Now

53:00  Why He Brings a Smoker Instead of Buying Ads

58:55  Why Insurance Busters Litigates Most Claims

01:00:30  The Sworn Proof of Loss and Pricing a Claim

01:03:30  Roofs, Decking, and Why Patches Don't Cut It

01:06:45  Replacement Cost vs. Actual Cash Value

01:08:05  The Float: How Carriers Make Money Holding Yours

01:17:15  Wrap-Up and Where to Find Cal

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Lance Beck, chief strategy officer at Greater Spokane Incorporated and former president and CEO of the Valley Chamber, for a wide-ranging conversation about the past, present, and future of Spokane.

Lance traces his own path from studying servant leadership at Whitworth to low-income housing work to running a chamber of commerce, and how that shaped his belief that the best solutions come from seeing people and places holistically. From there the three of them dig into the forces shaping the region right now: the cost of doing business in Washington, the permitting and building-code hurdles slowing the fire rebuild, the data center debate, and why so much of the public conversation gets stuck fighting at the edges instead of the 40 percent everyone actually agrees on.

At its heart, this one is about vision and who carries it. Keith, Jordan, and Lance get into infill and the Garland and North Monroe transformations, the risk a developer takes to build something cool instead of something safe, why leadership has shifted from authority to influence, and how a community rallies behind the people willing to put their name on the line. It is an honest, hopeful look at a mid-size river city with a bigger upside and a smaller mess to clean up than the markets around it.

Learn more about Greater Spokane Incorporated at greaterspokane.org.

Show Flow

00:00  Welcome, Lance Beck

01:40  A Northsider and a Passion for Leadership

04:10  Learning to See People, Not Just Stats

08:30  Why Business Took the Baton on Public Safety

10:30  Fighting at the Edges vs. the 40 Percent We Agree On

13:00  Homelessness, Visibility, and the Crime Question

15:25  Accountability and the Joint City-County Approach

18:50  Doing Business in Washington vs. Idaho

20:20  The Fire Rebuild, Building Codes, and Sales Tax

21:40  Data Centers, Energy, and Learning from Grant County

23:00  Spokane's Lost Edge: Cost of Living

27:30  A Spending Problem, Not a Revenue Problem

30:50  Why the Jail Became a Processing Center

33:40  Systems of Care vs. Working in Silos

35:40  Quick Fixes, Long Problems, and the Anti-Parking Fight

38:25  Garland, North Monroe, and Earning the Infill

46:30  Why Build Something Cool Instead of Something Safe

50:00  Who Are Spokane's Visionaries Now?

54:45  Leadership Shifting from Authority to Influence

57:30  Supporting a Culture That Rewards Taking the Risk

01:03:30  What Walt Worthy Means to This Community

01:05:00  Vision Makes the Criticism Easier to Take

01:09:12  What's Actually an Advantage About Spokane

01:12:10  The Downtown Paradox and Commercial Vacancy

01:15:46  Four "What If" Statements for the Region

01:18:45  Ownership, Action, and Casting the Vision

01:20:12  How to Get Involved with GSI

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Luc Jasmin to talk community, policy, and the challenges shaping Spokane today. Luc shares his journey from Boston to becoming a first-generation Haitian American leader in the Pacific Northwest, and how he got into politics through early childhood education advocacy.They dive into the realities of housing, workforce, and regional development, and how creative, collaborative solutions can make a real difference. Luc also shares how government can better meet community needs and the power of building consensus to drive change.If you care about Spokane, policy, or just want to hear a thoughtful conversation about improving communities, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Cody Arguelles, founder of the Late Arrival Club, a private members' lounge in downtown Spokane, and a man with one of the more unexpected paths to entrepreneurship you will hear.

Cody starts with the club itself, a whiskey-and-cigar community he built with a group of fellow veterans, where the only real requirement is being the kind of person who can disagree, shake hands, and still grab a beer. From there, he shares his story of becoming an Air Force SERE specialist, the strange post-military pitch that pulled him toward business, and how he eventually landed on building a place of his own.

The conversation gets into his run for Spokane City Council, why he runs as an independent, and his blunt take on how far the political parties have drifted from each other. Keith, Jordan, and Cody dig into what happens when people who have never built or stewarded anything end up making the rules.

Whether you are a veteran, an entrepreneur, or someone who just wants to build something real in your own city, this is a candid, story-rich conversation about service, self-reliance, and getting to yes. 

Learn more about The Late Arrival Club and how to join at latearrivalclub.com.

Show Flow

00:00  Welcome, Cody Arguelles of the Late Arrival Club

03:30  What the Late Arrival Club Really Is

10:30  Reading People and Who You Let In

13:50  Signing Up Blind: Choosing the SERE Path

17:14  What He Misses Most About the Military

23:55  Manipulation Training and How People Break

30:49  Local Politics Is Local: Why He Ran

34:23  Being Conservative, Running Independent

41:30  How He Out-Raised the Career Politicians

44:59  Where Government Makes Problems Worse

55:22  Who Should Be Making the Rules

1:05:40  A Magic Wand: Spokane in Five Years

1:15:46  Burned-Out Developers and Betting on the City

1:22:43  The Fight to Smoke in His Own Private Lounge

1:26:04  Wrap-Up

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Devin Mecham, designated broker of NAI Black, for an insider's look at commercial real estate and where Spokane goes from here.

Devin shares how he got into the business, and the guys dig into the market from a commercial lens: why the office sector has taken such a hit, how downtown and public safety factor in, and whether office can ever be a strategic investment again. They also look ahead to the building boom they expect as the region rebuilds after the fires, and who is actually positioned to win that work.

From there the conversation turns to the bigger forces shaping the city: the permitting headaches and Growth Management restrictions that stall good projects, the opportunity and the questions around data center development, and the hard truth that everyone says they love Spokane while pulling it in very different directions. Jordan even gets candid about rethinking how he wants to play real estate going forward, and why he is leaning more commercial.

Whether you are an investor, a developer, or just someone who cares about where Spokane is headed, this is a candid, in-the-weeds conversation about real estate, civic vision, and playing the long game. Learn more about Devin at NAI Black.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome, Devin Mecham of NAI Black

03:24 How Devin Got Into Real Estate

07:00 Missing Bedtime: The Numbers and the Why

10:24 Reading a Commercial Deal (Without the Jargon)

13:47 The Coming Rebuild Boom and Who Wins It

17:25 Why the Office Sector Fell

20:48 Buying Office: Cap Rates and Staying Power

24:10 Tenant Improvements, Leases, and the Real Math

27:32 Growth, Permitting, and the GMA Problem

34:16 Property Taxes and Getting Stonewalled

40:56 Data Centers: Opportunity and Questions

44:28 Loving Spokane, Disagreeing on the Vision

51:31 When the Rules Change Out From Under You

54:56 Buy Well, Never Sell: Lessons and Case Studies

61:45 74 Projects In: Rethinking How to Play It

65:08 Partnerships and Final Thoughts

We're revisiting one of our favorite conversations. Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien sit down with Brynn MacLennan, CEO and co-founder of Slate, the company reinventing something almost nobody enjoys: flossing.

Brynn walks through the whole arc, from the first spark of the idea in 2019 to launching an electric flosser in 2022, and everything that came with scaling a physical product through a pandemic. She's honest about what it actually takes: the innovation, the leadership calls, the team culture you have to build, and the curveballs you never see coming.

Whether you're chasing a business idea of your own or you just dread flossing, there's something in this one for you. That's what makes it worth a second listen.

Learn more at slateflosser.com

Show Flow

00:00 Welcome, Brynn MacLennan of Slate

03:14 A Dentist, a Problem, and the Idea for Slate

06:37 What It Really Takes to Make a Physical Product

09:56 Spending $24K to Get Started

13:11 Regrets, Passion, and Loving the Product

16:27 Flossing, Correlation, and Not Wanting to Die

19:41 Grit vs. Stubbornness: Knowing the Difference

23:00 Bringing More Voices Into the Business

26:24 "Every Day I Realize I Know Nothing": Learning as a Leader

32:55 How Slate Actually Gets Made and Shipped

52:24 Leading People Without Losing Yourself

1:02:14 Hiring for Behavior, Not Just Skill

1:08:51 Playing Chess, Not Checkers: Final Thoughts

In this episode of Chess Not Checkers, Keith Riddle and Jordan Tampien pull back the curtain on something they usually only mention in passing: the real mechanics of real estate development.

Whether you are an investor, a developer, a would-be flipper, or just trying to make sense of today's housing market, this episode is a candid, numbers-and-all look at how real estate really works, and a reminder that at some point, as Jordan puts it, you have to pick a life instead of just collecting stuff.

Show Flow

00:00  Breaking Down a Real Deal for Once

02:39  The Peyton: Seven Stories, 96 Units

07:44  Tax Credits, Lenders, and a Loan That Nearly Fell Apart

12:44  Why a Pro Forma Is Worthless Once You Dig In

20:40  The New Rules: Rates, Holding, and Who Wins

25:48  Where Values Are Actually Falling

28:18  Rebuilding After the Fires vs. Your Insurance Payout

36:13  Spokane's Renovator's Market and the Return on a Flip

46:39  50,000 Older Homes and Why More Flippers Would Help

49:09  Oversized Houses and the Shift in What Buyers Want

56:59  The Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

1:12:42  Sentiment, and Reconnecting

1:22:30  Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up