How To Build A Business That Survives Any Crisis (with Erika Andresen)
Erika Andresen, JD, CBCP, MPA, is a recognized expert and consultant in Business Continuity. She has nearly two decades of experience as a lawyer in both the corporate finance world and the military. Erika became a subject matter expert in national security and disaster preparedness and response while advising different commands including during high-risk situations while deployed in Afghanistan and in response to natural disasters. Erika left active duty in 2020 and started EaaS Consulting, LLC, with the goal of keeping businesses in business. She is also a professor of emergency management for the MPA program at the University of Texas at El Paso.
In this episode, she and Tom discuss why many businesses fail to anticipate disruptions. From natural disasters and cyberattacks to equipment failures, permit issues, or sudden staffing loss, businesses are often much more exposed in ways they never thought to consider. Erika stresses that preparedness comes from creating, training on, and exercising a usable plan, not a long template that creates false security.
She outlines three client types (proactive “unicorns,” crisis-driven, and compliance-forced), describes her audit-to-playbook process, and highlights common gaps like untested backups, power outage impacts, staff accountability, and vendor resilience.
This episode is for anyone who’d rather do a little work now to be prepared rather than a lot of work later should catastrophe strike.
DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
02:58 Why Businesses Get Blindsided
04:31 Disasters vs Disruptions
05:31 Where To Start Planning
05:50 Three Types Of Clients
07:54 Beware Checkbox Plans
08:50 Make Plans Short and Usable
10:13 Backups That Fail
11:27 Test Your Gear Early
14:03 Empowerment And Control
14:58 Government Won’t Save You
15:57 Helene Lessons And Anger
16:45 Book Recommendations Pivot
17:32 Poker Mindset for Resilience
17:54 Business Continuity Audit Process
19:40 Training and Disaster Exercises
20:22 Most Common Disruptions
21:26 Accountability During Emergencies
22:26 Self Assessment and Business Value
24:08 Preparedness as Competitive Edge
28:33 Vendor Risk and Backup Plans
30:04 Where to Find Erika
31:11 Parting Thoughts and Peace of Mind
33:38 Final Wrap and Calls to Action
FULL EPISODE VIDEO
CONNECT WITH ERIKA
Website: http://www.eaasc.com
Instagram and TikTok: @dontkillyourbusiness
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/eaas-consulting-llc
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