Deconstructing Comp

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Do you know Raja Sundaram with Plethy, Inc.? If not, you are in for a treat! Raja is a workers' comp newbie. He and his company Plethy have entered the workers' compensation scene in the last few years and they are making some big waves! 

If you missed the Star Wars reference in the title, it is considered one of the most iconic quotes from the original movie. It is from Yoda during his training with Luke Skywalker:  “No, Try Not! Do or Do Not, There Is No Try.” It is very fitting for this conversation, and Raja has real ties to Star Wars movies! Listen during the episode (he's a fast talker). 

As a newbie, he brings so much of what we need to the workers' compensation industry: an engineering mind, empathy, and innovation.  

Raja's takeaway is this: " The workers' compensation industry is an incredibly noble profession that is about helping human beings have the quality of life that we all deserve." 

So, the Star Wars quote is so fitting. How are YOU showing up in workers' comp? Whatever your role is, ultimately, what you do impacts an injured person in some way. So, all you workers' comp Jedi out there...Try not! Do, or do not! There is no try. 

Come along with Yvonne and Rafael...let's go talk to Raja!

Learn more about Plethy here - https://www.plethy.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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Melissa Steger is the associate director of workers' compensation and unemployment insurance for the University of Texas System in Austin, Texas. 

In this episode, Melissa shares how she started her career in workers' comp, delivering workers' compensation checks. In that first job, she became curious, fell in love with workers' compensation, and has spent her career of over 30 years learning and working to make improvements to the system. 

For more information about UT System's workers' compensation program, click here: https://www.utsystem.edu/offices/risk-management/workers-compensation-insurance-0

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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Come along with us and get to know Jim Allsup, founder of Allsup Employment Services and the Ticket to Work program for individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. Individuals who qualify are offered Vocational Return to Work services free of charge. 

In this episode, Yvonne and Rafael talk to Jim about the Ticket to Work program and what he says is a little-known benefit for individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. 

Learn more about the Ticket to Work program here: https://www.allsupemploymentservices.com/

Check out Jim Allsup's expert services for individuals seeking Social Security Disability benefits. They offer nationwide assistance, and their representatives are available and ready to provide help: https://www.allsup.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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Brandi Lewis is one busy woman! We were lucky to catch up with her at the WCI conference for a live podcast interview. 

Join Yvonne and Rafael as we talk with Brandi, learn about what she's been up to lately, and talk to her about the business she founded and now chairwoman of Health Plus Trans, providing transportation, translation, and ancillary services. 

Among her many skills and talents, Brandi is a phenomenal event planner and turned our WCI Salsa Party into a top-notch, red-carpet event not to be missed! She kicked it up several notches from our salsa dance party at last year's conference. She brought in a DJ from Miami, spicy professional salsa dancers, a carnival-inspired stilt walker, and so much more!

To learn more about HealthPlusTrans, visit them here: 
https://healthplustrans.com 

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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Finally, Yvonne and Rafael catch up with Kirsten Kaiser Kus, an attorney with Downey and Lenkov, LLC at WCI. We have been hot on her trail for some time now, trying to schedule an interview. Luckily, she had time to spare and sit down with us at WCI. 

Get to know more about Kirsten and what she has been up to. 

Visit her profile here: 
https://www.dl-firm.com/attorneys/kirsten-l-kaiser-kus/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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We are so happy to connect with our brand new friends we made at WCI for the first time! Ash Afzal with Bismark Medical. 

Join us for a fun group conversation with Ash, Amina, Bilal, Mohammed and "T"

Another set of first-timers that Yvonne met through the Whova app. Bismarck is a family-owned company in the DME business, and they are looking to expand into the workers' compensation market. 

Yvonne and Rafael are like two kids in a candy store!

For more information about Bismarck Medical, visit them here: 
https://bismarckmed.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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Catherine Benavidez and Art Nuñez from Injury Management Organization join us to talk about their experience at WCI and what they are up to at IMO at their corporate headquarters near Dallas, Texas, in Plano. 

For more information about Injury Management Organization visit them here: 
https://injurymanagement.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

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Do you know Maxine Topper? Wowza, do we have a treat for you! 

Meet her son Richard Boyer, anesthesiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of HoopCare, a Cornell Tech Run Startup. Richard joins us to chat about his tech startup, HoopCare. 

HoopCare is transforming preoperative medical clearance with telemedicine and AI.

Fascinating conversation. Yvonne and Rafael are super pumped up by conversations with such young and driven professionals who have their sights on workers' compensation and how they can improve the system. 

How lucky are we?

Visit HoopCare's website here: https://www.hoopcare.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

Send us Fan Mail

A fun group, we are calling the "mod squad" includes Dr. Geralyn Datz, Jeffrey Adelson, and Stuart Colburn. We have a very fun and energetic conversation about dinner the night before and the beginning of the WCI Conference. 

Experience the energy of the WCI conference as we chat about this groups thoughts on various topics. They all love to poke fun at Yvonne, so laugh along with the conversation about dingers. 

We finally pulled ourselves together and talked about the conference opening session and some of the important topics discussed by Out Front Ideas co-hosts Kimberly George and Mark Walls. 

Come along for this fun "group" discussion. 

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp 

Send us Fan Mail

Join us as we sit down with Zachary Rosenthal of Physicians Health Center to chat about the WCI conference and what his goals are for the conference. 

It was a pleasure to chat with such a young professional in our industry and someone who has been in the industry for a few years and sees the opportunity and potential for improvement. 

For more information about Physicians Health Center for more visit their website here: https://physicianshealthcenter.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp