The Red-Bearded Risk Guy

10/01/2026

After a two-year break, The Red-Bearded Risk Guy Podcast is back!

For the first episode of the relaunch, I sat down with Michael Fiore, President of Fought & Company Inc., a Portland-area steel bridge manufacturer with a rich history and a clear vision for the future.

One of the biggest takeaways from our conversation was the power of focus. Michael shares how they embraced change when he stepped into the leadership role and why returning to its roots as a steel bridge manufacturer, instead of trying to be everything to everyone, became a catalyst for growth.

We also discussed something I'm passionate about: risk management that actually works in the real world. We talk about building a genuine safety culture, improving communication throughout the organization, addressing mental health in the workplace, and what separates companies that are truly committed to safety from those that simply talk about it.

Whether you're a business owner, executive, safety professional, or leader trying to navigate growth and change, I think you'll find value in this conversation.

Link in comments - available wherever you go for podcastSpotify, Apple, etc.

06/10/2024

🔥 It's heating up! 🔥

If you're in construction, your busiest months also tend to be the hottest months of the year!

This means your crew is exposed to potentially dangerous conditions.

👷‍♂️👷‍♀️ You should always watch your crew for signs of heat illness, but this applies even more at the start of summer. Your team isn't as adapted to the heat now as they were last September when it started cooling down.

👀 Make sure your supervisors are keeping an eye out for the two most common types of heat illness.

1️⃣ Heat Exhaustion

2️⃣ Heat Stroke

👨‍🚒 And make sure your team knows the main ways to prevent an emergency.

💦 Water

🛌 Rest

🌳 Shade

I've attached a simple guide from OSHA OR for your convenience. I'll also paste links to some resources I shared last year in the comments.

👍 Follow me for more tips to keep your team safe, minimize workers' comp claims, and reduce your total cost of risk!

⁉ Comment below or message with any questions!

05/30/2024

"We always leave meetings with our insurance agent even more confused than we were going in." - 👇 👇👇 👇


⚠ The Situation ⚠

A multifamily general contractor I worked with was losing money, time, and REALLY pi***ng off the project owner who hired them.

The project owner used a third party company to track certificates of insurance(COIs) for their subcontractors.

The third party company kept emailing the GC saying their COIs were "out of compliance".

This meant the GC couldn't go on jobsites for 2-3 days at a time because their insurance policies didn't meet the job requirements - holding up work for everybody involved in the project.

The GCs CFO was stressed about their reputation and future opportunities with the project owner.

He would forward these emails to the agent but his answers just left them more confused and frustrated.

The agent had never reviewed their contracts, so the he didn't know how to fix it and the policies were written wrong to begin with.

✔ An Easy Fix ✔

It only took about 10 minutes for us to review their contract's "insurance and indemnity" clauses and confirm what was missing from their policies.

They signed a letter to make me the broker on the policies - and all I had to do was add a simple form to fix it. The fee for this form was $250.00/year.

Now whenever an opportunity comes up, they'll just forward the contract to make sure they have what they need before work ever starts.

They used to see their insurance program as a barrier to ther success. They now see it as an important piece of their growth strategy - they've grown from $7 million to $20 million in 2 years!

If this is the type of partnership you want with your broker, I would love to work with you!

Leave a comment below! Message me to learn more!

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05/24/2024

You are already vigilant about theft, especially if you do business in the PDX area!

You don't really have much choice, do you?

We all know company property loves to "disappear", whether it's stock, equipment, your whole fleet's worth of catalytic converters…

And Memorial day weekend reminds me of "Home Alone". Remember when the wet bandits waited for families to leave for the holidays so that they could rob their houses?

Depending on what source you look at, commercial property theft goes up by 30-50%+ every Memorial Day weekend.

It makes sense that criminals would be standing by on days like this where they expect everybody to be home for the three day weekend.

Here are some steps you can take to protect your assets and minimize damage(remember, the wet bandits were also vandals):

1.) Install an alarm.

2.) Check all building and vehicle doors before leaving.

3.) Perform background checks on employees.

4.) Install Security Cameras(make sure you consider the legal and privacy aspects of this.)

5.) Keep track of keys.

6.) Make sure the outside of your building is well-lit, especially around doors and windows.


Take note! Crime like theft is sometimes either excluded or severely limited in a commercial property insurance policy.

Don't assume you're covered. I'd love to be a resource if you want to evaluate your property and crime coverage to make sure it's not missing what the average businessowner expects to find in their insurance policy. Send me a message!

05/09/2024

Good news as a lot of us are already seeing 100% rate increases on our homeowners policies. You should still make sure that your coverage is adequate though. A lot of people are way underinsured because the replacement cost on their policy is based on 3-10 years ago.

Property insurance groups on Wednesday applauded a decision by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to hold off on an apparent plan to scrutinize mortgages on homes

09/07/2023

My cucumber fort is still growing.

09/01/2023

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

Businesses love to advertise services or products on their site they've never actually provided to a customer.

A perfect example is a general contractor I worked with once who almost got declined for their commercial package policy because they offered playground construction.

The owners had built their kids a play structure and figured, "why should I turn down that work if I ever get it?" They just didn't want to miss out on any opportunities as a new company.

So they listed virtually everything under the construction sun on their website, even though 100% of their operations were now apartment remodels and commercial tenant improvements. (Side note: The   crowd might also have some choice words on that)

The website slid under the radar with insurance carriers until one day they got a steep renewal increase that prompted going out for quotes.

A great carrier was offering us quotes that would ultimately save them $10s of thousands of dollars.

But the underwriter checked the insured's website and I received an email saying- "it looks like they do a LOT more than you said they do, Joshua. We're going to have to pass on this one."

They likely thought my client, or I were pulling a fast one.

This generalist marketing approach, cost us hours of conversation and emails back and forth to get the carrier to come back around. We aren't always this lucky and I usually try to get my clients to fix this before submitting for quotes.

Has this sort of miscommunication ever cost you big with your insurance policy?

Who would you turn to for advice on making sure you're getting the most out of your website while not triggering insurance or compliance issues?

Message me with any questions. Post your comments below! Share with a friend if you thing it'll help.



Follow me and ring the bell Joshua Keene, AAI (LinkedIn, IG and FB) and
my page The Red-Bearded Risk Guy

𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱-𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗚𝘂𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗲𝘁𝗰.

08/31/2023

Rapid growth is exciting! 💪

The other day I met with a contractor who grew from 5 to 30+ employees in the last couple years!

When the owner got started, he reached out to his personal home and auto insurance guy and got what he needed for his contractor license. He got to work!

Fast forward to my meeting with the owner’s wife and their office manager. The ones who actually deal with insurance…

They recently had a question and called their agent to see if they needed a coverage they didn’t know about.

Their agent couldn’t explain whether or not they were exposed to that risk or why one might by that coverage. He just offered to quote it.

This happens in all industries, but I see it a lot with the GCs and trades contractors I help e.g. electrical, plumbing, HVAC etc.

They’ve outgrown their insurance agent.

It’s time for them to partner with a commercial brokerage who understands their needs.

Has your business outgrown your insurance agency?

08/21/2023

THE RED-BEARDED RISK GUY EPISODE 11 IS LIVE!!! 𝗪𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 - 𝗣𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆- 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱

This guest grew up in a multi-generation insurance family and was an agent himself for years. Then he recognized a common industry headache. One that plagues both the insurance buyer and their agents.

I'm guilty of complaining about this problem far too often: The Commercial insurance world is WAY behind in terms of technology! Especially when it comes to the customer experience.

Peter MacDonald, started Wunderite for precisely that reason.

In this discussion, Peter gives great advice for anybody looking to start a company, especially if the solution you're developing involves technology, or other skills you don't have yourself.

He also shares how Wunderite is a great tool for eliminating paperwork headaches and saving time for insurance agents AND for their insurance clients. The best B2B tech solutions don't just make life easier for their business clients. They empower a business to give their own customers a better experience. Wunderite helps with both.

Listen Here: https://redbeardedriskguypodcast.buzzsprout.com/2139723 Available on Spotify, Apple etc.