Deconstructing Comp

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 f...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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' comp...

Send us Fan Mail 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, an...

Send us Fan Mail 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 f...

Send us Fan Mail 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 t...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Se...

Send us Fan Mail 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 thin...

Send us Fan Mail Meet Jackie Arbelaez, Senior WC Business Development Manager, CORA Physical Therapy. The day before we interviewed Jackie, she fractured her hand. Did that stop her? Nope. She insisted on doing the interview anyway. Pain? What pain? Jackie is one tough cookie...she's strong-willed, determined, resilient.  In this podcast episode we get to know Jackie and find out how she has...

Send us Fan Mail Judge Robert Rassp is one of the coolest people in workers' compensation you will ever meet. Over 35 years of practicing law and he is now presiding judge WCAB Los Angeles District Office! There are so many cool things to know about Judge Rassp, you will just have to listen to this episode to discover them. Here are a few notable cool facts about Judge Rassp: Skipped his juni...

Send us Fan Mail Can you believe it? We have released 14 episodes with more on the way! Our editor is on a break, so we decided to pause and reflect on our podcast episodes completed so far. We have really enjoyed getting to know the folks in the workers' compensation industry, learning about their career paths, decisions made from college that brought them to where they are today.  We think...

Send us Fan Mail In our latest episode, we chat with Margaret Spence,  CEO & Founder of C. Douglas & Associates and the Inclusion Learning Lab. Margaret is based in West Palm Beach and has traveled a very interesting career path. From adjusting claims, to underwriting, to risk management and human resources, she has covered a lot of ground in the industry. She has seen and done most of it....

Send us Fan Mail Meet Steve Nichols who joins us from the Austin, Texas area. If you want to know anything about Texas legislative issues, Steve is your person. Get to know him and subscribe to his Texas newsletter. Currently working as a consultant, Steve, served for many years as the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) Manager of Workers’ Compensation Services.  Prior to joining ICT, Steve worked f...

Send us Fan Mail Bret Cade, senior sales executive with Ascential Care Partners, lives in the Greater Atlanta area and has enjoyed a successful career in the workers' comp industry. Recently he sat down with Yvonne and Rafael and chatted about his career in the workers compensation industry.   While he graduated from college with the dream to become a sports broadcaster, when that didn't...

Send us Fan Mail If you don't know Ya'Sheaka Williams, you ought to! She is one of the absolute best in the business. She is young, already with a good number of years of experience under her belt, she is smart, honest, funny, kind and genuinely interested in doing the right thing.  In this episode, Yvonne and Rafael chat with Ya'Sheaka about her career, how she got started and some...

Send us Fan Mail Heading into Labor Day Weekend, Yvonne and Rafael pause to wish you and your family a fun, safe and peaceful weekend. We have enjoyed our podcasting journey thus far and we hope you have too.  Please take a moment to subscribe to Deconstructing Comp on your favorite podcast platform, and we would love it if you give us a rating and review. This helps others find our podcast too. W...