insurance brokerage Archives - Business RadioX ®

Jeremy Stevenson, iBridge Global Partners, Kurt Seiler and Hannah Odonoghue, Baldwin Risk Partners

September 15, 2023 by John Ray

Family Business Radio

Jeremy Stevenson, iBridge Global Partners, Kurt Seiler and Hannah Odonoghue, Baldwin Risk Partners

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Jeremy Stevenson, iBridge Global Partners, Kurt Seiler and Hannah Odonoghue, Baldwin Risk Partners (Family Business Radio, Episode 48)

Jeremy Stevenson, Founder and Managing Partner of iBridge Global Partners, and Kurt Seiler and Hannah Odonoghue, Risk Advisors with Baldwin Risk Partners, joined host Anthony Chen. Jeremy discussed his work with family businesses, including common issues he sees and the approaches he takes to advising on growth and exit planning. Kurt and Hannah, personal risk advisors with Baldwin Risk Partners, covered how they work for the client directly, the personal and business risks their firm can help mitigate, and more.

Anthony had a follow-up question for the guests about the advice they would give their younger selves just starting out.

He wrapped up the show with comments about being proactive and contacting professionals to protect your assets.

Family Business Radio is underwritten and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network.

iBridge Global Partners

iBridge Global Partners, specializes in helping family business owners navigate the complexities of doing business with family.

With a focus on growth, streamlining, and long-term viability, they excel in optimizing governance, fostering sustainable growth, and crafting transition plans that secure legacies.

Jeremy Stevenson, Managing Partner, Founder, iBridge Global Partners

Jeremy founded iBridge to get back to what he loves, helping family businesses achieve their goals. He co-founded and sold a $1B+ company, has helped over 100 family businesses achieve their goals, and ran two family businesses.

Outside of business, he mentors military veterans, advocates for animal welfare, is a car and bourbon enthusiast, and tries to play golf.

Kurt Seiler and Hannah Odonoghue, Personal Risk Advisors, Baldwin Risk Partners (BKS Partners)

**Kurt Seiler and Hannah Odonoghue, Risk Advisors, Baldwin Risk Partners (BKS Partners)**

Baldwin Risk Partners is a risk management firm and insurance brokerage specializing in custom insurance solutions. With over 40 insurance carrier partners they are able to comprehensively write policies and competitively price almost any risk. They work for the client directly – not any single insurance company, and our focus is protecting what you’ve built. Property, Casualty, Liability, and business insurance.

Anthony Chen, Host of Family Business Radio

**Anthony Chen, Lighthouse Financial, and Host of “Family Business Radio”**

This show is sponsored and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network. Securities and advisory services are offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. (RAA), member FINRA/SIPC. RAA is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products, or services referenced here are independent of RAA. The main office address is 575 Broadhollow Rd. Melville, NY 11747. You can reach Anthony at 631-465-9090 ext 5075 or by email at anthonychen@lfnllc.com.

Anthony Chen started his career in financial services with MetLife in Buffalo, NY in 2008. Born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens, he considers himself a full-blooded New Yorker while now enjoying his Atlanta, GA home. Specializing in family businesses and their owners, Anthony works to protect what is most important to them. From preserving to creating wealth, Anthony partners with CPAs and attorneys to help address all the concerns and help clients achieve their goals. By using a combination of financial products ranging from life, disability, and long-term care insurance to many investment options through Royal Alliance. Anthony looks to be the eyes and ears for his client’s financial foundation. In his spare time, Anthony is an avid long-distance runner.

The complete show archive of “Family Business Radio” can be found at familybusinessradioshow.com.

Wendell Strickland, Strongside Solutions

July 19, 2023 by John Ray

Business Beat

Wendell Strickland, Strongside Solutions

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Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat: Wendell Strickland, Strongside Solutions

Wendell Strickland, President and CEO of Strongside Solutions, was Roger Lusby’s guest on this episode of Business Beat. Wendell talked about what sets Strongside apart as a healthcare insurance brokerage, their products, and recent changes in benefits. He also discussed Strongside’s culture, his leadership style, the long-term vision for the company, success stories, and much more.

Business Beat is presented by Alpharetta CPA firm Frazier & Deeter and is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®

Strongside Solutions

Strongside Solutions – Insurance Brokerage PLUS is a privately held Georgia-based healthcare, insurance broker consulting and management company with over 20 years of proven results and expertise.

They specialize in the review, design, and implementation of holistic self-funded benefits programs that yield better performance, richer employee benefits with greater efficiencies.

They deploy Strongside Solutions developed services and processes that reverse healthcare cost increases, minimizes administrative burden, and improves the overall healthcare experience for employees and the employer.

Company website | LinkedIn

Wendell Strickland, President and CEO, Strongside Solutions

Wendell Strickland, President and CEO of Strongside Solutions, offers an accomplished history of executive leadership, talent acquisition and client centric business development. In Wendell’s current role at Strongside Solutions, he identifies growth opportunities, client centric strategic strategies and guides the implementation of operational services that provide greater value to the clients they serve.

The company was founded in response to growing inefficiencies, carrier option homogenization and diminishing customer service in the administration of healthcare. Strongside does not reinvent healthcare, they have found better ways of providing access to desired care while reducing time and expense.

Wendell’s programs, delivered by Strongside Solutions, challenge the status quo and are driven by the prospect of guiding greater financial control, providing options beyond the expected, and proven successes.

Our three distinct business divisions create cumulative advantages for our clients in the following areas:

Financial Health:
- Initiatives that return expenses that positively impact OPEX, CAPEX, and EBITDA
- Our programs deliver up to 40% reduction in Healthcare and Prescription costs while expanding employee benefit options
- $0 Copays on name brand medications
Plan Coverage:
- Global network access to best-in-class care
Claimant Liability Insulation:
- Tailored programs isolate high-risk medical and pharmacy claims

Wendell also serves as one of Strongside’s Lead Benefit Consultants. Wendell has been a benefits consultant since 2004. Working for national and regional brokerage firms provided a platform for in-depth education and client experience. Ultimately, Wendell learned to identify and develop strategic offerings and processes that delivered better benefits at a lower cost to employees and employers.

Wendell specializes in self-funded middle and large market employer plans. His proficiency spans fully insured and self-funded medical plans. He is an expert in evaluating and managing pharmacy benefit management companies and programs as well as contract evaluation and negotiation. Wendell works closely with Strongside Solutions’ operational and management staff and our clients to develop strategies that reduce costs, deliver healthier employees, drive compliance, and reduce the overall administrative burden for benefits administration.

A Core Value that Wendell has instilled into Strongside Solutions’ culture is to listen first and offer solutions only when the business objectives and needs of our clients are understood. Wendell provides strategic direction and development of a 3-5-year client action plan that will be measured against plan analysis, forecasting and financial planning, contract negotiations and carrier/vendor management.

Wendell has over 20 years’ experience in:

Corporate strategy and service development.
Talent acquisition and development.
Benefits consulting for Middle and Large Market Employers.
Consulting experience on public sector, private sector and school system clients.
Self-Funded and Fully Insured plan design and implementation experience.
Analyzing and developing Stop Loss contract designs that meet client needs.
PBM Analysis experience in delivering savings on RX programs.
Medical Claim Analysis.
Wellness Clinics.
Population Health Management.

Frazier & Deeter

The Alpharetta office of Frazier & Deeter is home to a thriving CPA tax practice, a growing advisory practice and an Employee Benefit Plan Services group. CPAs and advisors in the Frazier & Deeter Alpharetta office serve clients across North Georgia and around the country with services such as personal tax planning, estate planning, business tax planning, business tax compliance, state and local tax planning, financial statement reviews, financial statement audits, employee benefit plan audits, internal audit outsourcing, cyber security, data privacy, SOX and other regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions and more. Alpharetta CPAs serve clients ranging from business owners and executives to large corporations.

Roger Lusby, host of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat, is an Alpharetta CPA and Alpharetta Office Managing Partner for Frazier & Deeter. He is also a member of the Tax Department in charge of coordinating tax and accounting services for our clientele. His responsibilities include a review of a variety of tax returns with an emphasis in the individual, estate, and corporate areas. Client assistance is also provided in the areas of financial planning, executive compensation and stock option planning, estate and succession planning, international planning (FBAR, SFOP), health care, real estate, manufacturing, technology, and service companies.

You can find Frazier & Deeter on social media:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

An episode archive of Frazier & Deeter’s Business Beat can be found here.

LIVE from RISKWORLD 2022: Shari Paul, Alliant

June 1, 2022 by John Ray

Minneapolis St. Paul Studio

LIVE from RISKWORLD 2022: Shari Paul, Alliant

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LIVE from RISKWORLD 2022: Shari Paul, Alliant

Shari Paul, First Vice President for Alliant, heads all of Alliant’s digital media and sat down with host Jamie Gassmann in the R3 Continuum booth at RISKWORLD 2022. They discussed the value of social media in the insurance industry, the multiple podcasts Alliant has, advice for effectively using social media, podcasting, and more.

Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.

This show was originally broadcast from the RIMS 2022 RISKWORLD Conference held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

Shari Paul, Alliant

**Shari Paul, First Vice President, Sr. Marketing Manager, Alliant**

Shari Paul is First Vice President and Senior Marketing Manager for Alliant Insurance Services. Shari is a data-driven marketing and digital media communications professional with over 20 years of experience within a variety of industries focused on customer acquisition, satisfaction, and retention.

Alliant Insurance Services is among the largest and fastest-growing insurance brokerage and consulting firms in the United States. Fueled by entrepreneurialism and driven by results, Alliant operates on the belief that more is possible and expectations are meant to be exceeded.

Their clients and partners have profound confidence in them to deliver in all market climates through the design and delivery of innovative solutions and services across a broad range of industry verticals.

Alliant’s people stand as the backbone of the organization. They proudly employ a team of diverse, driven, and exceptional people and invest heavily in their success, giving our brokerage and consulting teams the freedom and resources they need to help their clients grow their businesses to remarkable heights. The result is a dynamic team of professionals who consistently perform at the highest level while caring and giving back to causes that impact their communities and the world at large.

Alliant is built on teamwork and collaboration, a philosophy that has guided its growth and evolution for almost 100 years. They rise together to meet challenges, think together to drive innovation, and thrive together in business and in the diverse communities where they operate.

As one of the top 10 largest insurance brokerage firms in the U.S., Alliant combines the power and breadth of big-company resources with a hyper-personalized approach that puts your interests above everything else.

Their culture of entrepreneurialism, collaboration, and innovation gives them the independence and accountability to create solutions that uniquely match your needs. Because when people come first, more is possible.

Company website | Company LinkedIn | Shari Paul LinkedIn

About Workplace MVP

Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.

Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann

**Jamie Gassmann, Host, “Workplace MVP”**

In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.

R3 Continuum

R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting Live from RISKWORLD 2022 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in helping workplaces thrive during disruptive times. Now, here’s your host.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:21] Hi, everyone. Jamie Gassmann here, your host of Workplace MVP, coming to you from RISKWORLD 2022. And with me is Shari Paul. Hi, Shari.

Shari Paul: [00:00:32] Hello.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:33] And welcome to the episode. Give me a little background of your role and who you’re with.

Shari Paul: [00:00:38] I am here with Alliant Insurance. We are one of the largest brokers in North America. And I do all of the digital marketing, digital media for the company.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:52] Wonderful. And I know you have a very specific topic. I think you guys even have your own podcast. What’s the name of your podcast?

Shari Paul: [00:00:58] We do. We have quite a few podcasts actually, because we have so many different specialties that there is – my gosh – The Financial R&R with Ron and Ryan. That’s one of the most popular ones. We’ve got Digging In with our agribusiness team. And then, just a blanket Alliant specialty podcast.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:23] Yeah, kind of covers a whole-.

Shari Paul: [00:01:25] Yes.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:25] … kind of-

Shari Paul: [00:01:25] Covers gamut.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:26] … gamut of different topics and area of conversations around the industry. And I know one of the things that we were talking about before we jumped on our mics mix was about the power of social media in this industry. So, what are some of your thoughts around that?

Shari Paul: [00:01:42] Absolutely. You know, what’s interesting about the insurance industry is that it’s not very social media — I don’t want to say savvy, but there — it’s hard to get someone on board with doing the social media or seeing the ROI or seeing the value in it. And what we discovered with the pandemic is that there was a lot of opportunities with doing podcasts, with doing the webinars, with doing different type of digital media and digital experiences that worked out phenomenally. So, that’s-

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:18] Yeah. So, it’s almost like creating an ecosystem from your organization, basically, that extends out of just the in-person opportunities like a conference because, obviously, the last couple of years, it wasn’t as readily available.

Shari Paul: [00:02:31] Right.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:31] And you know, virtually, it’s tough to network on a conference virtually.

Shari Paul: [00:02:36] It is.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:36] It’s what I’ve found. So, talk to me about, like if somebody was really wanting to put together kind of — from a social media perspective, kind of a program and promoting that internally, how could they build that case internally to kind of get that kind of moving through the ranks?

Shari Paul: [00:02:50] Yeah. What’s great is to find your cheerleaders, right? To find those evangelists of social media. And we have quite a few that have gone out and actually started their own blogs, they post on social media, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram almost daily. And from that, what we have found, actually, is we’re getting a lot of press attention. So, we have gotten quite a few journalists reach out to us based on the topics that we’ve been putting out to do interviews. So, it’s actually been phenomenal.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:25] Yeah. So, it’s like almost like finding those thought leaders that are willing to present themselves as that in a very public way?

Shari Paul: [00:03:32] Right. I mean, you put a thought leadership piece out or, you know, an article or something like that, or press release, and it’s one dimensional. So, you don’t really get to go into the different thoughts or, you know, it’s just that at that one time. But when you’ve got a lot of people on talking about what’s going on, you get a lot more, I think, bang for the buck there.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:56] Yeah, absolutely. And like staying really current with industry trends, and things that you’re seeing and you know, people that might be looking they’re looking for something right now, you know.

Shari Paul: [00:04:05] Absolutely.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:05] Not that happened four years ago. They want to know what’s the current world. So, if you’ve got like somebody who maybe is a little hesitant in your organization, but, you know they’re brilliant, you know, what are some of the tactics you’ve used to convince them to get behind your microphone?

Shari Paul: [00:04:20] Constantly asking. Constantly, “Come on, I know you can do it. I know you can do it.” Yes, we’ve had a few that are reluctant, but once you get them going, and they get that first podcast under their belt, then they understand that it’s easy.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:35] Yeah. Once they get the taste of that media, right? And the attention.

Shari Paul: [00:04:40] Yeah.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:40] Just like all of us, right? We can, like, thrive on that in a way.

Shari Paul: [00:04:45] Absolutely.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:45] So, if there was one like leaving, you know, idea or advice or concept you wanted to leave on this episode for anybody that might be listening post-show, what would that be?

Shari Paul: [00:04:57] Just do it. Jump in and do it. You know, you don’t have to worry about equipment. There’s a million different ways to do it. There is lots of, you know, mics and things that you — I mean, we do ours on Zoom, you know. So, we do produce them afterwards. But, you know, just get in there and do it. There are so many topics and so many news items that just, you know, hit the airways, that you’ve got to get something out there quick, and having someone sit down and write something or try to respond to it, it’s not as – it just doesn’t work as well as doing a podcast or or a social media feed.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:39] Yeah, wonderful. Well, it’s been great to have you on an episode.

Shari Paul: [00:05:42] Thank you so much.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:43] Yes. Thank you so much for joining us. And if somebody wanted to get a hold of you to get more information from you, how can they reach you?

Shari Paul: [00:05:50] www.alliant.com or you can give me an email at shari.paul@alliant.com.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:59] Wonderful. Thanks again so much for joining us.

Shari Paul: [00:06:06] Thank you.

Outro: [00:06:06] Thank you for joining us on Workplace MVP. R3 Continuum is a proud sponsor of this show and is delighted to celebrate most valuable professionals who work diligently to secure safe workplaces where employees can thrive.

Tom Martin with L-3 Communications, Sabrina Serafin with Frazier & Deeter, Teri Gass with Sterling Risk Advisors, and Sara Totonchi with Southern Center of Human Rights

April 27, 2016 by Mike

Silver Lining in the Cloud

Tom Martin with L-3 Communications, Sabrina Serafin with Frazier & Deeter, Teri Gass with Sterling Risk Advisors, and Sara Totonchi with Southern Center of Human Rights

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Tom Martin, Sabrina Serafin, Sara Totonchi, Teri Gass, Dominick Rainey

Tom Martin/L-3 Communications

L-3 Communications is a prime contractor in aerospace systems. L-3 is also a leading provider of a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military and commercial platforms. At L-3, success is defined by their ability to meet their customers’ needs. That’s why every part of their business is focused on quick and agile response, innovative thinking and a relentless commitment to getting the job done.

Sabrina Serafin/Frazier & Deeter

Frazier & Deeter’s Process, Risk & Governance (PRG) Practice provides customized risk management solutions to clients with offices in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Nashville and Tampa. They deliver assurance and consulting services to various public and private organizations including Service Organization Control (SOC) examinations, outsourced and co-sourced Internal Audit, and other advisory services. The PRG practice also has deep expertise in IT audit and risk management.

Teri Gass/Sterling Risk Advisors

Sterling Risk Advisors is a full-service, Atlanta-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm serving the commercial, professional and personal needs of clients across a diverse spectrum of industries. These include medical and other professional services, construction, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, real estate and technology. Product offerings include all forms of commercial and personal property & casualty insurance, employee benefits and surety bonds. Beyond the products – they look to become the trusted advisor to clients in all things related to risk and which may in any way affect the client’s business objectives. They do this by becoming experts in the business of their clients, knowing what is happening in the economy, the courts, and the legislature.

Sara Totonchi/Southern Center of Human Rights

The mission of the Southern Center for Human Rights is to end capital punishment, mass incarceration, and other criminal justice practices that are used to control the lives of poor people, people of color, and other marginalized groups in the Southern United States. They do this through death penalty representation, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and public education.