The Red-Bearded Risk Guy

After two years away from the microphone, I'm excited to bring The Red-Bearded Risk Guy back with a conversation featuring Michael Fiore, President of Fought & Co.

We explore the company's journey back to its roots as a steel bridge manufacturer, the leadership decisions that fueled recent growth, and how a strong culture of safety, accountability, and communication can become a true competitive advantage. A great episode for business owners, executives, and anyone responsible for leading people through change.

Thank you for listening in 2023! We've got some great new episodes lined up for 2024!


Along with the new content, we're doing a TBT series featuring 2023's top 5 greatest hits!


It's no surprise that Craig's episode on implementing Gino Wickman's EOS model. Tune in to learn from an expert on the Entrepreneurial Operating System. 


Episode Description:


Is your company vision on track? Do you have the “right people in the right seats” to get you there? How do you measure progress toward that vision?

Today’s The Red-Bearded Risk Guy podcast interview is with Craig Wigginton, a Professional EOS Implementer who specializes in answering those questions and more! He has been involved in the successful growth, scaling and exit of multiple businesses before starting his own coaching company.

He describes how he helps Founders and Leaders get clear on “Vision, TractionⓇ, and Healthy” and elaborates on the importance of clarity in 2 major areas - 1) Getting clear on core values in order to shape your company culture, 2) Getting clear on core focuses that are going to drive the day-to-day decisions you make in your business. 

Craig runs us through the EOS Model, sharing great insights on its 6 key components! This expert guest gives an excellent overview of Vision, People, Data, Issues, Processes and how all these come together to get TractionⓇ- all based on Gino Wickman’s system and books. 

Tune in with your host, the Red-Bearded Risk Guy as we learn a ton from this impressive entrepreneur!

Reach out to me- or contact Craig on LinkedIn to schedule your 90-minute session, or to ask any EOS questions you may have. 

If you learn something from this conversation, share it with a friend or colleague that will enjoy it! Be sure to subscribe and leave a review on whatever podcast platform you're using!

🎙 Exciting News! Episode 20 of The Red-Bearded Risk Guy is LIVE! 🚀

🌟 Title: "How to Not Kill Your Business with Erika Andresen"

Erika is the founder of EaaS Consulting, LLC. and specializes in business continuity and disaster recovery planning.

She draws on a variety of interesting experiences to make this complex topic accessible for small to midsized businesses. These experiences include everything from managing actual disasters, including floods in Missouri and wildfires in the western states. At one point, she was responsible for assessing the risk of dropping bombs in combat zones! 

She's the author of "How to Not Kill Your Business: Grow Your Business in Any Environment, Navigate Volatility, and Successfully Recover

", a great book for business owners who want to get started, but aren't ready to engage a pro like Erika. 

Learn about:

- What is business continuity?

- The evolving nature of business risk.

- How risk management and insurance works together with business continuity

3 ways you can get started with continuity planning for your business:

1.) Get the book here: How to Not Kill Your Business: Grow Your Business in Any Environment, Navigate Volatility, and Successfully Recover When Things Go Wrong  

2.) Free - How Not to Kill Your Business Worksheet 

3.) Connect with Erika: EaaS Consulting, LLC

The Swiss Army Knife of Risk Resilience and Tax Strategy: Showcasing success stories and case studies of businesses that have harnessed the potential of 831(b) plans for both tax efficiency and risk management.

On this episode, we're joined by Peter Dawson, a tax strategy advisor with the  831(b) Institute and tax attorney with Prospera. 

He gives a great overview of the 831(b) micro-captive policy, which presents a robust solution for businesses seeking comprehensive risk mitigation and tax optimization. 

This specialized insurance vehicle extends coverage to traditionally uninsurable risks, providing a bespoke shield against unforeseen challenges. It also serves as an amazing tax saving strategy! 

Tune in to discover how Peter helps businesses transform insurance premiums into tax-deductible expenses, affording them a smart route to both risk management and fiscal efficiency.

In part 2, Kathleen shares her insights on making use of new technologies such as ChatGPT and other AI technologies. 



Companies can’t afford to not at least be experimenting with these technologies. 



From there, shift our focus to risk management and compliance issues surrounding marketing and your website. We talk about everything from privacy to ADA/WCAG compliance, to cybersecurity. 

Complying with things like ADA can be part of your marketing growth strategy. Not doing it doesn’t only put you at risk of compliance issues. You’re also missing out on a whole segment of the population that buys products. 

She talks about the risk about not adapting your “go to market” strategies 

We wrap up the conversation with an overview of why businesses with MarTech should book an ROI assessment. 

Contact Kathleen for a MarTech ROI assessment, or to get help with navigating all the shiny new objects in marketing technology. 

Find Kathleen one LinkedIn to book a free MarTech alignment call!

Today’s guest helped expand Oregon Tool’s E-Commerce program, taking it from $2.5 million to $30 million in global online sales in 4 years!

Now, Kathleen Voboril, uses this background  marketing consultant who helps businesses navigate the overwhelming world of marketing technology! 

Once again, it comes down to people, processes and technology alignment-this time from a marketing perspective. 

She addresses the problem of waste when it comes to buying marketing tools and guides us through the 6 most common issues she identified 

People

1. Skills- Making sure staff has the necessary skills to use relevant tech.
2. Attitude - Getting top down buy-in so that users see the value and start using technology.

Processes

1. Structure- Getting clear on roles, handoffs etc. 
2. Standards- Lack of clarity on objectives and “why we do what we do”

Tech

1. Functional fitness- It’s just the wrong tech for the company. 
2. Poor Integration/Implementation

We learn how important it is to get clear on what marketing means for your specific organization, and why havings an unbiased third party to help select the right tech options can help you avoid common headaches.

In part 2, we talk about compliance issues surrounding marketing and your website, from privacy to ADA compliance.

Complying with things like ADA can be part of your marketing growth strategy. Not doing it doesn’t only put you at risk of compliance issues. You’re also missing out on a whole segment of the population that buys products.

Find Kathleen one LinkedIn to book a free MarTech alignment call!

Or, contact me for an intro!

In this episode, we hear from Josh Maramba of Maramba Consulting and SaleTeamHub.

We've all heard that a business either grows, or it dies. This is one of the biggest risks to a business, whether it's a start up, or 1000+ employee company.

Josh and I discuss how maximizing people, processes and technology is crucial to growing revenue and scaling sales departments.

People

• Hiring your first salesperson - what to do before hiring them!
• Hiring the right sale leader for your current stage of business growth.
• Ensuring potential employees and your sales department are a good cultural fit.
• Clearly defining roles and KPIs before hiring.

Processes

• The advantages of 1-on-1 pipeline reviews:
  • Predicting revenue.
  • Increasing deal velocity.
  • Developing sales people.
• Why your sale process must map onto the customer's buying journey.
• How processes impact both:
  • Employee satisfaction and;
  • Customer experience.

Technology

• How a great CRM improves pipeline management with:
  • Efficiency and automation
  • Forecasting revenue
  • More data = Better decision making
• Swiss Army Knives- How CRMs like Hubspot have consolidated several services into one.
• What does RevOps even mean? 

Have a question or want to connect with Joshua Maramba of Maramba Consulting?

• Book a call here.
• Maramba's newly launched SalesTeamHub details.
• Connect on LinkedIn. Joshua Maramba

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and review wherever you listen to podcasts! 

I’m always ranting about how investing in risk management has great ROI for your business and for the community as a whole. 

But what about investing in those that are most vulnerable or at risk around us? 

One of the disadvantaged youth’s challenges is the lack of access to healthy recreation options, 

Outdoor adventures often come with expensive gear, transportation or know-how that some families just don’t have. 

Isaiah Adam’s founded Anchors Outdoor Adventures addresses these challenges.

They start by acknowledging that kids are the biggest risk takers around. They love to “rebel” and push the envelope.

And It turns out, action sports are a great way to scratch a kid’s thrill seeker itch, while hopefully avoiding choices that could rob them of future opportunities. 

Anchors O.A. provides outdoor events and gear to these kids like skateboarding, fishing, watersports and more!

After we learn about this great program, the guest shares his stories on starting and building a non-profit. 

He shares some of the biggest obstacles and some of the ways they’ve overcome them. 

If you want to learn more about Anchors O.A. or Isaiah Adams, you can reach out to him on LinkedIn. 

I’ll link the site in the comments.

Listen here: Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast etc. 

In this 2 part episode, Jack Myers, The Sales & Marketing Director of @Convergence Networks and I talk about this growing threat business of all sizes. 

He gives a good overview of the recent #oregondmv data breach, which affected millions of Oregonian's information. It was part of a larger attack on #MOVEit, which may have affected as many as 46 million privacy records. 

Jack shares insights on the most common types of attacks we're seeing and the most common vulnerability, which is #people

We talk about the various ways a breach affects small businesses, with one that often gets overlooked- #businessinterruption or downtime. 

He gives advice on the importance of mastering both your Admin(people, processes, policies) and your Technology(#firewall #endpointdetection #offsitebackups) and how you can't have one with out the other. 

We discuss taking advantage the new @LaPorte Insurance / @Convergence Networks partnership.

The key take-way: A holistic company approach to cybersecurity is critical to the success of your business. It must incorporate, systems and policies, technology and most importantly a well trained staff in order to protect you company and your customers!

Cybersecurity Programs: A Modern Business Must- Have W/ @Jack Myers (he/him) Parts 1 and 2 are live!!!

In this 2 part episode, Jack Myers, The Sales & Marketing Director of @Convergence Networks and I talk about this growing threat business of all sizes. 

He gives a good overview of the recent #oregondmv data breach, which affected millions of Oregonian's information. It was part of a larger attack on #MOVEit, which may have affected as many as 46 million privacy records. 

Jack shares insights on the most common types of attacks we're seeing and the most common vulnerability, which is #people

We talk about the various ways a breach affects small businesses, with one that often gets overlooked- #businessinterruption or downtime. 

He gives advice on the importance of mastering both your Admin(people, processes, policies) and your Technology(#firewall #endpointdetection #offsitebackups) and how you can't have one with out the other. 

We discuss taking advantage the new @LaPorte Insurance / @Convergence Networks partnership.

The key take-way: A holistic company approach to cybersecurity is critical to the success of your business. It must incorporate, systems and policies, technology and most importantly a well trained staff in order to protect you company and your customers!