Deconstructing Comp

Join Yvonne and Rafael as they talk with Sabrina Taylor Mitchell, AVP Southeast Region of PMA Companies. 

Sabrina is full of surprises in this episode. Sharing about herself, her family, how she worked her way through school as a young mom, she charted a course for herself, and guess what? The course wasn't always traveling in a straight line. She chats about navigating loop-de-loops and curly q's. 

Sabrina is an amazing servant leader.  In addition to her very demanding full-time job, she mentors others in a variety of ways. Not only is she currently working to develop a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) program at PMA Companies, she has also been an integral player in several programs at the Workers' Compensation Institute's annual conference in Orlando: Annual Prayer Breakfast, Diversity, DEIB and more. 

Grab your earphones and listen up as we really lean in to get to know Sabrina, she is a powerhouse WC leader. She really sets an amazing example of how you can chart your own course, regardless of your starting place. What gives her strength? Her Faith. She also talks about her church, Designer's Way in Tampa, FL. 

¿Quieres hablar con Sabrina, entonces? ¡Vamanos pronto!

¡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

Take some time with Yvonne and Rafael as they lean in and get to know the Honorable Jacqueline Steele. 

We talk to her about growing up in Tampa, getting her undergrad degree from the University of South Florida (go Bulls!), attending law school, and how a Moot Court Competition landed her in the workers' compensation industry. We also chat about some twists, some turns, and how a 25-year career results in lifelong friends. 

She also dishes on what it's been like to leave her long-time career as a workers' compensation attorney and step into the role of a Manatee County Judge in the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida. 

You'll find her at the annual WCI E. Earle Zehmer National Moot Court Competition - open to all conference attendees and provides CE hours. More details on Moot Court Competition sessions here: https://www.wci360.com/track/national-moot-court-competition/

Jacque is one of the absolute best people. You will hear some raw feelings come through in this episode, in the tone of our voices, heartfelt emotions come shining through. 

Are you ready? Grab your headphones and let's go get to know Jacque Steele!

¡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

Join us for a special treat with none other than Abbie Hudgens, Administrator for the Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation. 

It's always a treat to talk with Abbie, a true southern belle and Tennessee native. However, she just announced her retirement effective August 31, so sharing time with her to discuss her career is truly a special treat. 

Yvonne and Rafael share a few laughs, learn a lot about Abbie, how she came to be in the workers' comp industry, what she has accomplished while here, and so much more. 

Abbie has overseen a complete reform of the Tennessee Workers' Compensation system as the administrator, having stepped into that role in 2011. 

Get to know more about Abbie in our conversation with her and enjoy a few surprises along the way. 

¡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

In this episode, Yvonne and Rafael lean in hard to get to know Angel Guerra Chagolla, based in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.  

Where do we begin with Angel? You just have to listen to this episode. Angel is a perfect example of how you can come into this industry, start at ground level, and go all the way to the top. What does it take?  Curiosity, persistence,  grit, and the desire to make a difference. 

Angel shares her journey through the insurance industry and how she navigated all of life's challenges and climbed straight to the top. 

Angel is a national risk professional, proud Latina businesswoman, DEI advocate, founder of Beauty and Beast in Business, business and career coach, mentor to many and so much more!

Let's go together to talk to Angel! ¡Vamos juntos a hablar con Angel!

¡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

Join us - Yvonne and Rafael - for a super fun episode where we get to know Dr. Geralyn Datz, Medical and Pain Psychologist and President of Southern Behavioral Medicine Associates, based in Hattiesburg, MS. 

Dr. Datz had us laughing from the very start. Spend a few minutes with us as we share a few laughs, discuss how she came to be in the workers' comp industry, get a brief review of her career, and more. 

You'll find that not only is Dr. Datz incredibly funny, but she also's a highly sought-after industry speaker, and she is multi-talented! We are so lucky to have her in the workers' comp industry. You'll hear in this episode how things could have gone a very different way. 

So, let's go ¡Vamanos!

¡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

Dr. Claire Muselman is back! 

We are happy to welcome back Dr. Claire Muselman to our podcast. So much has changed since the last time she was on the show. 

Yvonne and Rafael share some laughs as we catch up with Dr. Claire on some important changes in her career and life. 

Now taking on risk management as chief risk officer with Emory Industrial, Dr. Claire explains some of the fascinating changes she has managed over the past year. 

She also shares about the journey of navigating life with a thirteen-year-old daughter,  teaching at Drake University, and more. 

Grab your headphones, settle in and let's go talk to Dr. Claire!

¡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

Yvonne and Rafael talk with Donna Check, co-founder of NeuLife Rehabilitation based in Mt. Dora, Florida. 

Donna talks with us about growing up in Long Island, what she studied in school, how she ended up in the workers' comp industry, and why she decided to pursue a career in brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation.  Of course, there are many interesting stories that she shares with us along the way. 

Grab your headphones and your favorite beverage, this is a fast and furious episode!

NeuLife Rehab offers specialized rehabilitation and works with people who have had brain or spinal cord injuries.  Learn more about them here: https://www.neuliferehab.com/

Are you a My Cousin Vinny fan? If so, you will understand the "maximum allowable torquage" when you hear Donna's answer to what most people don't know about her. 

¡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

In this episode, Yvonne and Rafael chat with Bill Minick, a Texas attorney, risk management consultant, and pioneer of Texas injury benefit management programs. Some people refer to this kind of program as a workers' comp "opt-out" program. He is the founder and former chairman of PartnerSource, the leading provider of responsible alternatives to traditional workers’ compensation for businesses operating in the state of Texas. 

Bill shares his educational background and how he wandered into the workers' compensation space. He also gives a fantastic historical overview of Texas workers' compensation and the business climate that led to the development of alternative options for employers to manage work injuries in Texas. 

We also chat about why injury benefit management programs haven't become as popular in other states, as they have in Texas, and Bill's involvement with Comp Laude® Awards and Gala, an annual event hosted by WorkCompCentral. 

So, dear listener, grab your headphones and saddle up for a fun and info-packed episode with the electric disco king, a.k.a. Bill Minick. Who knew?

¡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

In this episode, we get to know Patrick Robinson, VP of Government Affairs at ODG (an MCG Health Company). 

Patrick shares his interesting career path from an attorney in Shreveport, Louisiana to administrator and judge, WCRI, now with ODG, and some of the things he has learned along the way. He also chats about grandkids, his Latin connections, and a few things he did during the pandemic. 

Plus, we have a first, ladies and gents! Patrick reveals that he got his start in the workers' comp industry by way of the Canadian Football League in Shreveport, LA - via the Shreveport Pirates! Listen for more details on that little tidbit. How cool is that? 

Patrick does not disappoint. He also shares details about a trip to Chihuahua, Mexico, and a surprise twist! 

¡Vamanos pronto! Hablamos con señor Patrick...

¡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

In this episode we get to know Debra Livingston, President and CEO of ReEmployability based in Tampa, Florida. 

ReEmployability, founded in 2003, offers employers a proprietary return to work program, Transition2Work, a cost-effective solution to modified light duty assignments, and reduces workers’ compensation and non-occupational disability claim costs while giving the injured worker time to heal and benefiting the community. 

Get to know more about Debra and hear what she has to say about her time in the workers' compensation industry. Yvonne and Ralph share much in common with Debra having "grown up" in the industry by way of Tampa. 

Debra is full of surprises, including something you might not know about her....do we have any Godfather movie fans? 

And of course, we laugh. Bonus if you can tweet @DeconstructComp how many times Ralph says he "loves" Debra!

¡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

In this episode, we get to know John Ruser, President and CEO at Workers' Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). According to the WCRI website, WCRI was founded in 1983 and they are an independent not-for-profit research organization which strives to help those interested in making improvements to the workers' compensation system by providing highly-regarded, objective data and analysis.  

You are in for a special treat! Yvonne and Rafael kick off this episode speaking Spanish, because they discovered John was hanging out in San Juan, Puerto Rico when they recorded the episode. ¡Que rico!

Tune in and join us as we find out more about John, how he came to be in the workers' compensation industry and how the WCRI goes about identifying the issues and trends they explore through their research. 

A peak inside this episode: John shares how WCRI has studied the impact of Covid on workers' compensation claims including the disruption Covid caused, the Great Resignation and long-haul Covid claims. 

WCRI's 38th Annual Issues & Research Conference will take place in Boston March 16-17. Visit their website for more information https://www.wcrinet.org/

¡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

Yvonne and Rafael catch up with Alex Swedlow, President of California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI).

According to their website, CWCI provides data, practical analyses and real-world expertise on issues and trends affecting California workers' compensation. Many look to CWCI's research as an indicator of important trends and issues in the workers' compensation space, as California is such a large, unique and significant state to consider.

Join Yvonne and Rafael as they explore Alex's background, how he arrived in the workers' comp space and perhaps a few fun facts you may not know.

¡Vamanos pronto!

¡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

Join Yvonne and Rafael as they kick off Season 2 of Deconstructing Comp with none other than Joe Paduda, industry expert, speaker and blogger, author of the Managed Care Matters blog. 

Joe is one of the foremost experts in the workers' compensation industry. Yvonne and Rafael catch up with Joe as he discusses how he landed in our industry, what he's been up to lately, and what we should be looking at in terms of important issues on the horizon. 

If you don't know Joe, I'm not sure what rock you live under (just kidding!), but you can find his Managed Care Matters blog here - https://www.joepaduda.com/

So here we go! Are you ready for another fun season of getting to know the incredible people of our industry, learning how they got here, how they spend their time in the industry and what's important to them? Come on then! You might learn something new!

Grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair and let's go talk to Joe! ...  ¡Vamanos! 

¡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

Here we go! Listen to Yvonne and Rafael chat about kicking off their second season of Deconstructing Comp. They share how 2022 started with a bang and how excited they are to continue their podcasting journey getting to know the people in the workers’ compensation industry. ¡Vamanos! 

¡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

Listen up as Yvonne and Rafael chat about the conclusion to Season 1 of Deconstructing Comp. They seized the opportunity to record a final episode while attending the first Workers' Compensation Institute conference in Orlando since 2019! 

This is a short episode chatting about lessons learned during the first season of recording a podcast together, thoughts about attending the WCI conference at the Orlando World Center Marriott for the first time in two years, thinking about featured guests and how they'll approach Season 2. 

Grab your headphones and get ready to share some laughs with Yvonne and Rafael. 

¡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

This episode is a fascinating conversation with Raji Chadarevian, Director of Medical Regulation and Informatics at National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI).  

If you are into math, data and numbers and all the different ways to break down data and numbers in insurance and workers' compensation, you in for a special treat! Meet Raji Chadarevian...learn how his career in insurance got started when he was working as a Christmas elf!

Raji shares how he landed his first job in the insurance industry when he was helping out his cousin in Los Angeles by delivering Christmas baskets...he was her Christmas elf!

The lesson learned from Raji's story? Never underestimate the value of connections. Even when you are doing a part-time job, or helping out a family member or friend by lending a helping hand, the power of connections is always in motion. Keep an open mind, ask questions and be ready to seize an opportunity when it comes your way. 

Grab your headphones, your favorite beverage and let's get to know Raji.

¡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

Get to know Greg McKenna, National Practice Leader, Public Sector. 

Yvonne and Rafael chat with Greg about his educational background, why he chose to practice law, working in governmental affairs for Gallagher Bassett , his current role and more. 

Greg literally "grew up" in the industry with family ties to Gallagher Bassett. Hear what that was like for him as a kid and how he feels about coming full circle with his work at GB. 

Lean in and find out why Greg thinks storytelling is an essential part of what we do in the insurance and workers' compensation industry.  We take a deep dive into storytelling. It's a subject matter that is near and dear to all three of us.

Greg has been the host and emcee of WorkCompCentral's Comp Laude® People's Choice Awards for five years now. He masterfully weaves the various stories together each year and in doing so, teaches us why the art of storytelling matters. 

Grab your headphones and let's get to know Greg.

¡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

Meet Licia Thompson! Licia retired in 2019 after 22 years with Macy's, an iconic American retail brand. Her role at that time was National Director, Workers' Compensation Return to Work, Managed Care & Vendor Management. 

After retirement, Licia decided to become an author, and recently launched her first book: "When Your Soul Whispers: Strategies for leaders to redefine values and move forward after life's transitions." She also is a coach and consultant and calls herself a "reinvention strategist."

Join Yvonne Guibert and Rafael Gonzalez for another fascinating conversation about careers in the workers' comp industry. This time with Licia, a career insurance and workers' compensation professional who spent 22 years working at one of the most iconic and largest retail brands in the world! One thing we discuss in this episode is how one approaches workers' compensation and RTW for a company with hundreds of stores and an extremely diverse labor workforce. 

¡Vamanos! Let's go talk to Licia Thompson!

¡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

Listen to our latest episode with Dr. Adam Seidner, Chief Medical Officer with The Hartford. Dr. Seidner takes time out to chat with Yvonne and Rafael, and how he ended up getting in the workers' compensation industry, along some interesting details about his path from college to becoming a medical doctor. 

In this episode you will hear "a day in the life" as Dr. Seidner describes his typical work day and what that includes as chief medical officer with The Hartford. 

Dr. Seidner shares some interesting takeaways and lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has impacted of the future of work. Some of these include:

• mental health and stress
• moral impact on healthcare providers
• determining what guidelines to focus on
• social determinants of health

One of the top takeaways Dr. Seidner shares is this: "If you can address the psychological and social aspects of a claim, you can reduce the cost of the claim by 50% or more." And Rafael asks a simple question: "Why so much resistance from the workers' compensation industry if we know the ROI is there?" Dr. Seidner says it comes down to having courage to do the right thing. Listen to hear his full answer. Wow. Let that soak in. 

Find out what sport Dr. Seidner competes in and is nationally and internationally ranked!

We hope you will take the time to listen. It is the first episode where we dive into the medical side of workers' compensation and insurance. 

¡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

Meet Caryn Siebert, Vice President, Carrier Practice for Gallagher Bassett. 

Caryn shares with us about her legal background, how she landed in the workers' compensation industry and she gives us a glimpse of what her current job entails. 

Lean in as Caryn talks about why she loves her job. Find out why she feels so lucky that she gets to do what she does every day. 

One thing about Caryn is that she loves to give back! A few of Caryn's passion projects include: 

• Mentoring young professionals about the insurance industry
• School of Risk Management Insurance, Cal-State Fullerton
• Kids' Chance of California
• Give Kids The World
• Diversity and Inclusion 

She also tells us what's happening in the industry that gets her excited. So get ready to learn more about Caryn. Are you ready? 

¡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