My Big Safety Challenge

Tyler Lorenzen, CEO of Puris—a plant-based food company dedicated to restoring knowledge, control, and trust within the food system—believes that in order to save people, we have to save food. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because Tyler spent his Saturdays in college playing quarterback for the University of Connecticut before joining the New Orleans Saints, winning a Superbowl with the team in 2009.

Tyler uses the leadership skills he learned on the field to hone his role as CEO, emphasizing the importance of a team-first culture: “A winning culture is how do you win as a team, not how do you win as an individual.”

Listen to Episode 5 of My Big Safety Challenge to discover more about how Tyler’s football career shaped his leadership style at Puris. Learn about his inspiring journey from the football field to the boardroom and how his sister’s advice to “be 100% where your feet are” guides him as he balances being a new father, a husband, and a CEO.

As a keynote speaker, leadership advisor, sales expert, author, and speaker coach, Rene Rodriguez and his company Volentum have trained more than 100,000 people in applying behavioral psychology and neuroleadership methodologies to solve some of the toughest challenges in leadership, sales, and change.

So, what does Rene and his company have to do with safety?

On this episode of My Big Safety Challenge, you’ll learn how Rene has become a trusted advisor to the leadership teams at 3M and Cargill, among others. In a world of short attention spans and endless content, Rene delves into the science behind what it takes to get people to pay attention, the importance of influence, and captivating an audience through storytelling—all elements that are of importance when communicating safety procedures and protocols to a workforce.

The third episode of My Big Safety Challenge Season 3 features Allison Montgomery, Vice President of EHS at Applied Materials. Montgomery isn’t one to shy away from challenges. Upon graduating high school a year early, Montgomery enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps because, as she puts it, she’s a bit of a risk taker, and she wanted to choose the branch she thought would be an excellent challenge.

Join us for this episode and learn how Montgomery uses her experience in the military to teach teamwork, perseverance, and patience. You’ll also learn how she leads with curiosity and how her love of animals eventually set her on the course to becoming a safety professional.

“When people know you care, they’re going to care too.”

A bachelor’s degree in communications, a master’s in leadership education, and a doctorate in training and development may not sound like the traditional path to a 37-year career in logistics safety, but for Dr. John Holland, they were steps that would lead to a vocation that, as he puts it, “loves and gets him out of bed in the morning.” Now the Safety Director at Venture Logistics, John discovered his affinity for safety while on a course he thought would lead him to a career in Human Resources (HR). Join us for this episode and learn more about why John changed his plan to pursue HR, his thoughts on the importance of leading with positivity and through storytelling, and how he uses a personal tragedy to emphasize the importance of road safety to his drivers.

Welcome to the Season 3 premiere of My Big Safety Challenge, produced by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) and Dale Carnegie (DC). In this episode, we are joined by Anthony Miller, CSP, Vice President of Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.—a leader in the equipment rental industry with over 1,200 locations, 18,000 team members, and 70 safety professionals. With more than 26 years of industry experience, Anthony speaks about the importance of consistency, using technology and data to predict results, and transforming safety messaging from an email or PDF into a story that resonates. When deciding how best to teach employees about exposure risk, Anthony and his team created a Monday Night Football-style video series where two “commentators” provide professional insight as a worker performs a task with exposure risk. As Anthony puts it, “Everybody loves a story, and that’s all life is, it’s a story.” Join us for this episode and hear Anthony’s and Sunbelt’s safety story.

Season 3 of My Big Safety Challenge is back! Host Merle Heckman is joined this season by Jason Kunz as co-host. This season will include more great guests who will share leadership challenges and lessons learned. Subscribe today so you don't miss an episode!

“Identify what people are good at; find opportunities for them to engage and grow.”

Eli Friedman, EHS leader for a worldwide technology company, offers insight from a sustainability and safety journey that has taken him from offshore rigs to the apparel industry and now high tech, with a law school stop along the way. He shares his passion for psychological safety and his experience with overcoming cultural barriers by emphasizing principles like empathy, trust, finding common ground, and taking an interest in others.

Since 2019 Steve Myers has been the Director, Risk & Safety at Amy’s Kitchen. Under Steve’s leadership, Amy’s has seen five straight years of improved safety performance. In 2023, the company attained its best safety record to date. Prior to specializing in safety, Steve was in private practice as a workers compensation defense attorney in California. His years of experience in workers compensation claims led to a deep understanding of the injuries that had the greatest impact on employees as well as the solutions required to mitigate risks. Steve is a safety champion and works to foster a positive safety culture that is at the core of improving safety. Steve works tirelessly to engage management and employees, and focuses his time on prevention, recognition and coaching.

The fourth episode of My Big Safety Challenge Season 2 features insight from Sim Kaur, Program Director for Global Environmental Health and Safety at Netflix. A fast riser in the profession, Kaur outlines leadership communication principles for concisely sharing your message to maximize effect and understanding employee behavior by asking questions. She advises new professionals to be adaptable when the real world isn't exactly like the textbook and to experience the front lines by getting out from behind the computer.

To learn more about the safety leadership course from BCSP + Dale Carnegie, click here.

Montrese is the Vice President Human Resources for Global CBS News & Operations and is based in Washington, DC. She has worked in the media/news industry for over 20 years, providing support on all facets of human resources. In that role and others that she has held within the healthcare, cosmetics, and automotive industries, she has found herself at the intersection of HR, health, and safety. In her various roles and organizations, she’s helped lead the charge of creating comprehensive benefits and health and safety plans that evaluate and support the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the employee populations she serves, understanding that HR has to help support the full individual through the various stages of their career.

Montrese and her team support 1200+ employees and freelancers across the globe. She has significant experience coaching managers and employees on a variety of employee related issues including performance management/evaluations, coaching & feedback, conflict resolution, and leadership development. She provides high quality HR consulting services in support of organizational goals and objectives.

Montrese holds a Masters in Applied Behavioral Science from Johns Hopkins University. She also has a Bachelor’s from Virginia Commonwealth University with a specialty in Human Resources Management and Industrial Relations.

She is from Severna Park, Maryland where she currently resides with her family. Montrese finds great joy in community service and spends her free time volunteering with various local and national organizations.