Leadership isn’t just about growth. It’s about protecting what you’ve built before pressure exposes the cracks.

In this episode of The Policy Playbook, Misty Carson sits down with Samantha Greer, Principal and CEO of SG Consulting, to talk about what leadership really looks like when the stakes are high and the margin for error is small.

Samantha operates in public, high-accountability environments where one misstep can stall momentum, damage reputation, or derail a mission entirely. She shares what leaders often get wrong about risk, why reaction is far more expensive than preparation, and how organizations can position themselves for growth without becoming overwhelmed by success.

This conversation goes beyond titles and tactics. It’s about anticipation, discipline, and making smart decisions before pressure forces your hand.

If you lead an organization, manage reputation, pursue funding, or operate in complex systems where waiting is already a risk, this episode will change how you think about protection, strategy, and leadership.

This is not an insurance podcast.

This is the playbook leaders need when the game is on the line.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

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In this episode of The Policy Playbook, I sit down with Frank Rygiel, a leader who understands what responsibility really looks like when decisions impact people, operations, and outcomes.

Frank shares candid insight on leadership, ownership, and the realities business leaders face that rarely get discussed openly. We talk about decision making under pressure, long term thinking, and why consistency and accountability matter more than trends or titles.

This is a grounded, practical conversation for leaders who carry real responsibility and want to build organizations that last.

If you are responsible for people, performance, or risk, this episode will resonate.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

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In 2024, the average cyber attack cost businesses $4.88 million, and most companies did not even know they had been breached for six months.

In this solo episode of The Policy Playbook, Misty Carson breaks down the seven biggest cyber threats hitting businesses right now and exposes a hard truth.

Most leaders think “We have cyber insurance” means “We are protected.” It does not.

Cyber policies are manuscript contracts, every carrier writes their own rules, and the coverage gaps are often hiding in the fine print. By the end of this episode, you will know where your program is strong, where it is exposed, and exactly what to ask your broker before your next renewal.

In this episode, Misty covers

• The 7 major cyber threats you cannot ignore
  • Ransomware
  • Social engineering and AI powered phishing
  • Supply chain and third party vendor attacks
  • Bricking of hardware
  • Internet of Things and device vulnerabilities
  • Business email compromise and funds transfer fraud
  • Nation state attacks and cyber warfare
• Why having a cyber policy and being protected are two very different realities
• How waiting periods, sub limits, and exclusions quietly gut your protection
• The difference between
  • Social engineering vs computer fraud
  • Property damage vs cyber damage
  • Cybercrime vs cyberwar exclusions
• The real cost of an attack
  • Ransom payments
  • Forensic IT and emergency response
  • Business income loss and extra expense
  • Notification, credit monitoring, and legal defense
• Where most policies break down
  • Tiny social engineering sub limits
  • No bricking coverage for destroyed hardware
  • No dependent business income for vendor failures
  • IoT devices not clearly addressed
  • Silent cyber and vague war exclusion language

You will walk away with

• A clear understanding of how each threat shows up in the real world
• The specific coverage terms you need to look for in your own policy
• The 7 questions to ask your broker before you renew
• Simple verification procedures to put in place now so your claim is not denied later
• A practical way to run a tabletop cyber scenario with your leadership team

If you have ever thought “We have cyber, so we are fine,” this is the episode that will change how you look at your coverage

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

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Most business owners are making six-figure decisions without a full playbook.

They have a CPA.

They have a financial advisor.

They have an attorney.

They have an insurance broker.

But none of them are calling the plays together.

In this episode, Misty digs into what happens when fragmented financial advice leads to unnecessary taxes, costly risk exposure, missed opportunities, and legacy plans that fall apart when life changes.

EJ Pipkin has spent over 20+ years advising high-net-worth families and business owners, plus 10 years serving as a Maryland State Senator. Today, he uses that experience to act as a true quarterback — coordinating wealth, tax, and legacy planning so business owners don’t drop the ball on the goal line of their financial future.

What you’ll learn:

• The most expensive mistake business owners make with their money
• How to prevent “wealth becoming a burden” after a business sale
• What a true financial quarterback does that advisors alone cannot
• Why coordinated advice protects both the deal and your legacy
• How clarity in wealth planning reduces stress and future regret

Who this episode is for:

Founders, business owners, executives, CFOs, and anyone planning a major financial transition in the next 3–5 years.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

Subscribe & Review:

If this episode helped you think differently about wealth strategy, follow The Policy Playbook and leave a review — it helps more leaders find the show.

Guest: EJ Pipkin, Founding Partner at Extra Mile Financial

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How do you grow a mission-driven healthcare organization to $78 million in revenue while serving thousands of families in their most vulnerable moments? You follow a leader who has done it for 40 years.

This week, Misty sits down with Linda Ward, one of the most respected voices in hospice, palliative, and home health care. Linda has led Gulfside Healthcare Services through statewide expansion, new care centers, and service innovations, all while fiercely protecting their culture, their people, and their purpose.

What you’ll learn:

• The strategy behind Gulfside’s recent Hillsborough + Pinellas expansion
• How to innovate in a highly regulated industry
• Why sustainable growth requires protecting people — not just margins
• The leadership philosophy that built a strong culture with 500+ employees
• How reputation becomes your most valuable asset in healthcare

Who this episode is for:

Healthcare executives, nonprofit leaders, policymakers, and any leader scaling in a regulated industry.

🎧 Listen to learn how to grow big without losing what made you great.

Subscribe & Review:

If Linda’s leadership inspired you, follow The Policy Playbook and leave a review — it helps more leaders find the show.

Guest: Linda Ward, President & CEO — Gulfside Healthcare Services

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This week on The Policy Playbook, we’re stepping off the field.

This episode isn’t about strategy, insurance, or what to fix next. It’s about pausing with intention during Christmas week, especially for leaders and high performers who spent the year carrying responsibility, making decisions, and holding things together.

If this year felt demanding in a quieter, more intentional way, this conversation is for you. Rest isn’t weakness. It’s part of how sustainable performance is built.

Straight talk and smart strategies will return in the new year.

For now, take the pause that allows you to finish strong

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You know what drives me crazy? Watching business owners pay the price for mistakes their brokers made.

Higher premiums. Coverage gaps. Unnecessary risk. All because someone on your team didn’t do their job.

In this episode of The Policy Playbook, Coach Misty Carson throws penalty flags across the field, exposing the violations brokers commit that cost companies money, protection, and peace of mind.

From pass interference to delay of game, she breaks down the five questions every leader should ask before renewal — and the red flags that reveal whether your broker is playing fair or running their own agenda.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated or powerless at renewal time, this is your game film.

🔑 What You’ll Learn

• The five questions that reveal whether your broker is protecting or exposing you
• How to spot “pass interference” when brokers dodge coverage explanations
• Why “market conditions” is the industry’s most dangerous excuse — and what to demand instead
• How to prevent “illegal blocking” that traps you with one broker year after year
• The ethics of broker compensation — and how to ask about commissions the right way

💬 Key Quote

“You’re not just a spectator in this game. You’re the one paying for every yard lost in premiums, coverage gaps, and missed opportunities.”

💡 Takeaway Play

Insurance is not a spectator sport. If your broker can’t explain, defend, and strategize your coverage, you’re playing with an empty playbook. Ask better questions, demand better answers, and protect your business like you mean it.

Tagline: Smart strategies. Straight talk. Zero BS.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook 

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

Host: Coach Misty Carson, Business Development Executive at OneDigital and Founder of Playbook Consulting Group

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What if your benefits package wasn’t just an expense line—but your secret weapon for winning talent and keeping your best people?

In this episode, Coach Misty Carson sits down with Stephanie Porrino (Koch) one of the nation’s top 25 HR and benefits leaders, to uncover how she turned a traditional benefits program into a competitive edge that fuels both engagement and profit.

From navigating double-digit healthcare increases to transforming culture through empathy and data-driven decisions, Stephanie shares how she coached her company to become Florida’s Most Engaged Employer—and why HR is not a cost center, but a strategic driver of business growth.

🔑 What You’ll Learn

• How to transform HR from a “cost center” into a profit driver
• What reference-based pricing really means and how it can cut healthcare costs
• Why “stay interviews” outperform exit interviews every time
• The role of culture in building a championship-level team
• How listening and respect can outplay any retention strategy

💡 Key Quote

“We control two of the largest line items a company has—people and healthcare. If we understand those, we can change the game.” — Stephanie Porrino (Koch) 

⚡ Takeaway Play

Your benefits strategy isn’t a policy—it’s a play. When you design it around people, it becomes your most powerful recruiting and retention advantage.

📬 Next Week

Coach Misty throws penalty flags—calling out the five most common violations brokers commit and the five questions every leader should ask before renewal.

Tagline: Smart strategies. Straight talk. Zero BS.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

Guest: Stephanie Porrino (Koch), Director of HR at Hendry Marine Industries

Host: Coach Misty Carson, Business Development Executive at OneDigital and Founder of Playbook Consulting Group

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What does it take to change an industry—not just succeed in it, but actually change it?

Bridgette Bello didn’t wait for permission. She saw a gap in how Tampa Bay’s business story was being told and built a platform that changed the game. From becoming the first female publisher of the Tampa Bay Business Journal to launching TBBW—now recognized as Florida’s best magazine—Bridgette has proven that when you lead with grit, grace, and game-day execution, you don’t just play the game, you redefine it.

Coach Misty Carson sits down with this media MVP to unpack what it really takes to build a brand that matters, how to lead a lean team that delivers at championship level, and why relationships remain the most valuable currency in business. Bridgette also shares a powerful real-world insurance story that every business leader should hear before their next renewal.

🔑 What You’ll Learn

• How to build a mission-driven brand that becomes a movement
• Why “print is dead” was the best motivation to innovate
• The playbook for building small, high-performing teams
• The insurance lesson every business owner must learn the easy way—not the hard way
• Why reputation and relationships are your most protected assets

💬 Key Quote

“Protect your relationships and your reputation at all costs. That’s the currency you control.” Bridgette Bello

💡 Takeaway Play

Your brand is not just content—it’s connection. Lead with mission, execute with precision, and protect your relationships like revenue.

📬 Next Up

HR powerhouse Stephanie Porrino (Koch) joins to reveal how to turn employee benefits into a competitive edge that attracts and keeps top talent.

Tagline: Smart strategies. Straight talk. Zero BS.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

Guest: Bridgette Bello, Co-Founder, CEO, and Publisher of Tampa Bay Business & Wealth

Host: Coach Misty Carson, Business Development Executive at OneDigital and Founder of Playbook Consulting Group

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You know what happens when you don’t have a playbook? You get blindsided. You lose yards—and sometimes the whole game. That’s exactly what’s happening to business owners who renew their insurance with no strategy and zero explanation.

In this debut episode of The Policy Playbook, Coach Misty Carson calls time-out on vague answers, rising costs, and brokers who hide behind “the market is hard.” She breaks down why complexity has become a weapon, how to take back control, and what questions instantly reveal whether your broker works for you—or just collects a commission.

If you’re a business leader who built success through grit and integrity and you’re tired of feeling powerless at renewal season, you just made the roster.

Key Takeaways:

• Why most business owners lose money without realizing it
• The mindset shift that turns protection strategy into business strategy
• The first question to test your broker’s loyalty

Tagline: Smart strategies. Straight talk. Zero BS.

Next Up: Media MVP Bridgette Bello joins Coach Misty to talk leadership, legacy, and what it takes to build a winning brand.

Links:

🔗 Subscribe → The Policy Playbook

💌 Join the newsletter → Play of the Week

🤝 Connect → LinkedIn

💻 Website → The Playbook Consulting Group

Host: Coach Misty Carson, Business Development Executive at OneDigital and Founder of Playbook Consulting Group

Support the show