Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Salty Adjuster

“You don’t have to be an insurance person to be successful in insurance. It certainly helps, but you should acknowledge what you understand and what you don’t understand.” — Chris Luiz

Chris Luiz has seen enough insurtech pitches to know the difference between a founder who has done the homework and one who thinks insurance is an industry just waiting for technology to come save it.

As the founder of Scout Insurtech, Chris has built a community around connecting insurance leaders, founders and emerging technology in a decidedly different way. Scout has no expo floor. You literally cannot pay Chris to put you on stage. And what started with buying insurance people beers has grown into one of the industry’s most talked-about events.

In “this episode,” Chris joins The Salty Adjuster for a wide-ranging conversation packed with advice for anyone building, buying or working with insurance technology.

Founders, take notes. Chris gets into some must-hear do’s and don’ts: know the specific problem you solve, understand where you fit in this enormous industry, be realistic about the carriers you can actually land, surround yourself with people who know what you don’t, and ask a LOT of questions.

He also takes on the current AI frenzy, explains why “we serve all of insurance” is a major red flag, talks about emerging areas of risk he believes deserve more attention and shares why he thinks technology could fundamentally reshape traditional insurance career paths.

And then there’s LinkedIn.

Chris hates reply bots. Like, publicly-threaten-to-eviscerate-them hates reply bots.

Naturally, Salty and Producer Brett relate.

Plus: hate mail, why insurance conferences need fewer sales pitches and better conversations, the future of human relationships in an increasingly automated industry, swearing at your LLM, and which dinosaur Chris would invite to Scout.

It turns out the answer to a lot of what Chris believes about insurance, technology and community comes back to one thing: Real Connection.

“What part of the industry do you serve? ‘We serve all of it.’ Okay, that’s a pretty aggressive stance. What problem are you focusing on? ‘Oh, we can do anything.’ It’s like, well, you’re literally dead in the water.” — Chris Luiz

If you've listened to any of The Salty Adjuster thus far, you know we love a claimstech founder who has done the work to understand the adjuster ecosystem. We don't so much love when outsiders come in uneducated with tech prescriptions for problems they have never had to face.

Chris Luiz sees a lot of InsurTech startups. As the founder of Scout InsurTech, he’s become one of the industry’s sharpest eyes for spotting which founders understand the insurance market, which ideas have real potential, and which pitches start falling apart as soon as you ask a few questions.

In this trailer for his upcoming episode of The Salty Adjuster, Chris gives us some of his biggest red and green flags.

🚩 “We serve all of insurance.”
🚩 “We can do anything.”
🚩 A target list that is basically the biggest carrier logos in the industry.

Green flag behaviors?

🟢 Founders who know what they don’t know.
🟢 Teams that bring real insurance expertise into the room.
🟢 Startups with a specific problem, market and path to getting their first customers.
🟢 People who ask a lot of questions.

Chris has spent years helping founders navigate insurance, building the Scout community and creating one of the industry’s most talked-about InsurTech events.

And as you’ll hear in the full episode, he has some thoughts about AI, insurance conferences, LinkedIn reply bots and what the next generation of insurance companies might look like.

Our full episode with Chris drops tomorrow, Tuesday, September 8. Enjoy the trailer.

What happens when two claims people meet on LinkedIn, become friends and decide risk management desperately needs to be more fun?

You get Riskfetti.

Sandy Avina and Angel Guerra both came up through claims before building careers in risk management, giving them a front-row seat to what happens when the textbook version of insurance collides with actual human beings.

They also discovered they make a pretty damn good team.

Angel is the big-picture, “why don’t we just do it?” half of the partnership. Sandy brings the details, the execution and some of the best comedic timing in insurance. Together, they wrote Riskfetti in six months and built something designed for the people actually doing the work, especially those who suddenly find themselves responsible for risk without a giant department or unlimited resources behind them.

They join Salty and Producer Brett to talk about their claims roots, why risk managers shouldn’t be the “fun police,” the pathway to yes, why insurance has such a hard time educating people and the realities of managing risk that rarely make it into a textbook.

There’s also Nick Fury, Darth Vader, a $2,000 vacuum cleaner, questionable mascot hygiene and perhaps the most convincing argument for starting the thing you keep talking about starting: “We’re on a floating rock hurtling through space. There’s no rules. We can write a book. Who’s gonna stop us?”

Raise your hand if you’ve found your person in insurance. The one who makes you better at the work, makes the hard days funnier and somewhere along the way became a dear friend.

Salty and Producer Brett built The Salty Adjuster on that kind of partnership, so we know it when we see it.

And Sandy Avina and Angel Guerra have it.

Between them, Sandy and Angel bring decades of experience across workers’ compensation, claims and risk management. Sandy is the Riskfluencer, known for making insurance make sense with humor, pop culture and the occasional question about whether Darth Vader is overpaying to insure the Death Star. Angel has built and led complex claims and risk programs and has made a career out of bringing strategy, structure and humanity to some very messy problems.

Now they’ve taken all of that experience, friendship and personality and poured it into Riskfetti: Risk Management for the Rest of Us, their new book designed to make risk management useful, understandable and maybe even fun.

In this trailer, we get into the partnership behind the book, finding your people in this industry and Sandy’s reminder that, at the end of the day, we’re all basically hurtling through space on a rock trying to figure this thing out.

Insurance gets weird. Find good people to hurtle through space with. This episode drops Wednesday 9/2.

“The shiny object syndrome is very real when you’re on your own.”

Meg McKeen has a folder in her Google Drive full of ideas. Some became real things. Some were completely built and ready to go before quietly dying. Some might come back someday.

That feels about right for someone who has spent the last eight years figuring out what she actually wants her career, business and life to look like.

Meg, founder of Adjunct Advisors and host of Bound & Determined, joins The Salty Adjuster for a conversation about choosing freedom, building confidence by actually using it, and accepting that there isn’t always a clear path from idea to success.

She talks about selling her house and taking her life on the road, turning a podcast she originally gave herself permission to quit after eight episodes into a 100-plus-episode show and live event series, and why bringing women together in coffee shops, bookstores and art galleries feels more like her kind of insurance event.

The conversation also gets into sobriety and insurance’s deeply ingrained drinking culture, why Meg intentionally creates alcohol-free spaces, and what it might take to make industry events feel safer and more inclusive for the next generation.

Plus: airport tofu, networking hikes, the dream of mailbox money, Salty’s questionable caterpillar-to-butterfly metaphor, a proposed insurance podcast roadshow and the eternal truth that 7 a.m. conference sessions should probably be illegal.

Because for all the freedom Meg has created, she’s refreshingly open about the Fridays she’s wanted to quit and the Mondays she came back anyway.

As she puts it: “It’s messy in the in-between, to put it mildly.”

Spaces are still available to join Meg's Bound & Determined Midwest Tour! Tickets here: Methods for Modern Insurance Professionals

“It’s messy in the in-between, to put it mildly.”

Meg McKeen knows the highlight reel is rarely the whole story.

Eight years ago, she stepped away from a traditional corporate career and started building something of her own. Since then, that has grown into a business, a podcast, a community and, eventually, a life on the road.

But there have also been SOS calls to old managers asking, “Are you hiring?” Fridays when she’s slammed the laptop shut and declared herself done. And Mondays when she got right back to it.

In this trailer for next week’s The Salty Adjuster, Meg talks about the tradeoffs behind the freedom she’s built and asks a question that stuck with us: “What is my freedom worth?”

Our episode with Bound & Determined host Meg McKeen is coming Monday. Be sure to subscribe and follow so you don't miss the drop.

What happens when an insurance pitch competition becomes a road to the Startup World Cup?

Stacey Brown, founder of InsurTech America, joins Salty to talk about the 2026 Innovation Challenge, where startups, innovators and students are competing for $30,000 in awards, carrier exposure, mentorship and, for one winner, the opportunity to represent InsurTech America at the Startup World Cup in San Francisco.

Stacey takes us inside what judges are actually looking for, why he expects AI to show up in the vast majority of this year's submissions, and what it takes to stand out when every pitch starts sounding the same. He also explains why the Challenge is making room for students and why building the next generation of insurance talent matters to him.

But this is The Salty Adjuster, so naturally the conversation eventually turns to the other thing Stacey (and Producer Brett, and Salty) take extremely seriously: music. The trio compare concert stories, debate the art of the perfect conference walk-up song and discover they may have finally found someone who puts as much thought and time into a playlist as Salty does.

Let there be tech. Let there be rock. And let the Innovation Challenge begin.

Submit your entry HERE: Insurtech America

“One winner from our contest will have the opportunity to go on and represent us, and represent InsurTech America, in the Startup World Cup.”

What if your insurtech idea could take you from Hartford to the Startup World Cup?

InsurTech America founder Stacey Brown joins The Salty Adjuster to make the case for entering the 2026 Innovation Challenge, where startups and innovators will compete for $30,000 in awards, industry exposure, mentorship and a chance to advance to the Startup World Cup in San Francisco. Submissions are open NOW here: Insurtech America

And this isn't your average pitch competition. The Startup World Cup brings together qualifiers from around the globe for a massive final competition featuring leading VCs, tech founders and judges from Shark Tank.

Think Shark Tank meets the World Cup, with insurance as the qualifier.

Hear Stacey explain what's at stake in this special preview. The full episode drops soon.

“If an adjuster’s thinking about metrics instead of serving the customer, don’t you think that the customer can feel that? They can feel that.”

Buster the Adjuster spent years adjusting mixes before he ever adjusted a claim. Then one claim changed the entire course of his life.

When a storm sent six feet of water into his basement studio, destroying recordings, equipment and keepsakes, the adjuster who showed up noticed something in Buster that he hadn’t seen in himself yet: a musician knows how to listen. Maybe that same ear belonged in claims.

Buster’s initial response? “The insurance industry does not need a Buster.”

Turns out, it absolutely did.

In Episode 26, Buster joins Salty and Producer Brett to talk about the claim-inspired path that led him from professional musician to claims adjuster, why policies are a lot like sheet music, what adjusters lose when their work becomes too focused on production metrics, and why the most complicated part of a claim is often the human being living through it.

We also talk Earth, Wind & Fire, flooded guitars, desert-island album picks, Dino from The Flintstones, important Dairy Queen endorsement discourse and the beginnings of what we can only hope becomes the Buster/Salty brand partnership.

Sometimes life changes the arrangement without asking permission. You just have to adjust accordingly.

The Salty Adjuster has officially entered its international era, its game show era, it's video episode era, and its "recording through a tornado" era (Taylor Swift could never). And through it all, the team at Sydney's Ocean Underwriting met every challenge head on.

Welcome to our first-ever insurance game show. Inspired by their company's stellar Instagram marketing creativity, we invited Elizabeth Pace, Alexandra Merida and Seb Allison to compete in OCEAN’S ELEVEN: five rounds, questionable scoring, absolutely no prizes and one biased Salty host who insisted he somehow had seven points.

And because apparently our production needed a little Wizard of Oz energy, an actual tornado warning hit Salty mid-recording. He disappeared. He called back in from his mobile. The show went on as it must. Which was appropriate, because Elizabeth revealed she’s a massive musical theater nerd, Seb introduced us to the office tradition of “Garyoke,” and the whole thing occasionally felt less like an insurance podcast and more like a show that should have had an overture and an intermission.

Between AI slop, American insurance jingles, Australian translations, Nerds Gummy Clusters and dinosaurs, there’s also a real conversation here about why Ocean’s culture works. Their people genuinely seem to like each other, they know how to make complicated insurance approachable, and they’ve figured out how to have a personality without sacrificing professionalism.

The lights stayed on. The tornado missed Salty (phew!). And somehow, we finished the show.

Ocean Breathes Salty, indeed (that's Modest Mouse, for you kiddos in the audience). We hope you enjoy whatever it is, and we salute our favorite Australian insurance folks ever, the team at Ocean Underwriting, for being such good sports.

"Financial. Reality. Hit."

Buster the Adjuster spent years adjusting mixes as a professional musician, until his own claim led him to pursue claims adjusting as a career. At the time, he thought "The insurance industry does not need a Buster." He couldn't have been more wrong.

Now, Buster speaks about adjusting to unexpected changes in a way that only a musician turned adjuster could lay down.

“Just because it’s a total loss doesn’t mean it’s totally lost.”

What happens to all the stuff after an insurance company decides it’s not worth repairing?

That question takes The Salty Adjuster north of the border to Canada for a conversation with Ray LaMarche of BARGA about salvage, sustainability, and the enormous amount of recoverable value hiding inside property claims.

Ray breaks down what actually happens after a loss, why “write it off” and “throw it away” shouldn’t mean the same thing, and how smarter salvage practices can reduce waste while putting real dollars back into the claims equation.

Cameron and Ray get into the economics of recovery, the environmental impact of the way the industry handles damaged property, and why adjusters may need to start looking at the stuff headed for the dumpster a little differently.

Because sometimes a total loss still has plenty of life left in it.

Learn all about the great work BARGA is doing here: https://www.barga.ca/about/about-us and follow them on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/barga-ca

When season one began back in May, we never dreamed we'd be having these kind of conversations with the caliber of guest the show is pulling. It's been such a thrill. We are officially wrapping Season One on August 31 and we are working to get as many episodes to you before then as we possibly can before we take a week off to let Producer Brett catch some sleep and let Producer Daniel and Designer Quinn refresh our look and sound a little.

This look-ahead trailer includes tidbits from every yet-unaired convo we've got in the hopper.

🍁 Dropping tomorrow (or maybe even earlier if you're subscribed on Spotify 👀 ) is our conversation with claims adjuster and mechanical engineer turned salvage CEO Ray Lamarche of BARGA.CA, our first international guest.

🌊 Continuing the international theme is our game show style throwdown with Ocean Underwriting (and yes, there are Nerd Clusters involved). Elizabeth Pace, Alexandra M., and Sebastian Allison were the most fun we've had talking insurance in a long time. Go follow Ocean Underwriting on Instagram for even bigger laughs.

🎊 #Riskfetti has launched and we have co-authors and risk education phenoms Angel C Guerra, PhD Candidate and Sandy Avina, MBA together talking about so many topics you're passionate about, and plenty of humor in the mix

🎙️ She's Bound, she's Determined, she's embarking on her Midwest tour, and we're here for it. Meg McKeen let us turn the microphones on her as she sat in as our guest to discuss the similarities between claims deployment and hashtag#nomadlife, and so much more.

🎹 Buster The Adjuster might have the most interesting path to claims adjusting that we've ever heard, coming from a music production background and finding all the ways we've never thought of to liken policies to sheet music. Do not miss this one.

🫂 Rose Hall, PE sees friends and clients through the same lens, bringing authenticity and candor to every conversation in every room. Now at RH Business Ventures, LLC, she's leveraging a lifetime of carrier side experience as a consultant.

And before we wrap on 8/31, we've got interviews lined up with Chris Luiz of Scout InsurTech, Michelle Raue, Omer Rimoch and Morgan Blocher of Advance (live from BrokerTech Ventures in Chicago!), Walker Mullinix, AIDA, AIC, Josh Fischer of Kru Talent Group, Audry Torrence of best search., and Stacey Brown of InsurTech America on their upcoming Innovation Challenge. Let's make August the Saltiest!

Think about how much stuff is involved in insurance claims every year.

Farm equipment destroyed by fire. Machinery damaged by water. Hail-dented outdoor kitchens. Appliances. Furniture. Building materials. Commercial equipment.

The claim gets settled.

But the stuff doesn’t disappear.

Thirty-five years ago, Ray Lamarche was a heavy-duty mechanic who lost his job after an acquisition. Looking through the newspaper classifieds, he found an insurance company searching for a mechanic.

Ray says he “didn’t even know how to spell insurance.”

But the company understood something important: they could teach a mechanic to become an adjuster. They couldn't teach an adjuster to become a mechanic.

And Ray learned to look at claims through both lenses.

Where someone else might see a destroyed tractor, Ray saw a perfectly good loader on the front.

Where someone saw a burned piece of equipment, Ray knew there could be valuable components inside.

Where a carrier saw a hail-damaged $20,000 outdoor kitchen that needed to be hauled away, Ray saw something another family might happily buy for $5,000.

What looks like waste to one person can still have tremendous value to someone else.

That idea eventually became BARGA Insurance Salvage.

Ray saw an insurance salvage system that relied heavily on preferred contacts and closed networks. The public had little access to what was available, carriers were losing potential recovery, and usable property could end up being hauled away and dumped.

So BARGA built a more open, competitive way to give it another shot.

Sell it. Repair it. Reuse it. Part it out. Find the person who sees value in it.

Sometimes that person is down the road.

Sometimes they're in Argentina buying a burned 40-foot combine header from Canada because the parts and equipment are worth rebuilding.

Less waste. More recovery. More transparency. More usable property kept out of landfills.

So yes, we’re calling Ray the Captain Planet of claims.

Check out this trailer and stay tuned for Tuesday's fresh episode drop.

It’s 2026. We can track a burrito from the restaurant to our front door, but an adjuster can issue thousands of dollars in claim payments and still end up wondering where the check went.

Cody Eddings, co-founder of SnapRefund, is working to change that.

Cody joins Salty and Producer Brett to talk about transforming claims payments for the adjusters sending them and the policyholders waiting for them.

We get into digital payments, mortgagee approvals, lost and uncashed checks, and the technology giving adjusters more visibility and fewer administrative headaches after they hit “issue payment.”

We also talk about where AI can actually make an adjuster’s job easier, what claims technology could look like ten years from now, and what Cody has learned building a company inside the wonderfully complicated world of insurance.

Then we discover Cody travels with Magic: The Gathering cards, spent four years DMing a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, and knows enough about dinosaurs to correct Jurassic Park.

Come for the future of claims payments. Stay for the dinosaur lesson at the end.

Learn more about SnapRefund at www.SnapRefund.io

“It’s no surprise that a lot of people feel frustrated by the insurance industry because these situations often feel like a black box… the average person is expecting, okay, well, when I need it, it’s gonna be there. And then when it’s not… it feels like broken trust.”

Cody Eddings knows more than a little about the build. $+ years into his journey as the CEO and Co-Founder of SnapRefund, The St. Louis native is a lifelong entrepreneur, engineer, and a third-time founder, helping insurers rethink one of those things that really should be easier by now: getting people their claims payment quickly.

Building technology for insurance also means learning insurance. And as Cody discovered pretty quickly, even if you've done your homework, this industry is quick to serve founders some humble pie.

In the trailer for Episode 23 of Season 1, Cody joins Salty and Producer Brett to talk about the legacy processes that still make parts of a claim feel like a black box, and what happens when those systems fail the person waiting on the other side.

Full episode drops Tuesday, August 11!

Learn more about SnapRefund here: https://snaprefund.io

"People don't ask for help because a company hangs up a poster. They ask for help because someone else had the courage to go first." – Cal Beyer

Content Note: This episode includes candid conversations about addiction, mental health, substance use, overdose, and suicide. If these topics are difficult for you, please take care while listening.

If you've been listening this season, you know we've spent a lot of time talking about trust.

Trust between carriers and policyholders. Trust between adjusters and contractors. Trust in technology. Trust in leadership.

This episode asks a different question. How do we build enough trust that someone who's struggling actually asks for help?

Our guest is Cal Beyer, a longtime insurance and risk management leader who now serves as Senior Director of SAFE Workplaces at SAFE Project, a national nonprofit dedicated to overcoming the addiction and mental health epidemic. He was also one of Producer Brett's first mentors in the insurance industry and quickly has become a dear friend of the show.

Cal introduces us to what he calls the Three V's of leadership: Visible. Vocal. Vulnerable.

When leaders make mental health visible, speak openly about it, and have the courage to share their own stories, something remarkable happens. Trust grows. Conversations begin. People stop carrying everything by themselves. And eventually, as Cal explains, a fourth V emerges: Vertical. A culture where compassion spreads from one person to the next until helping each other simply becomes part of who you are.

We also talk about burnout, stigma, psychological safety, recovery, and why the strongest leaders aren't the ones who pretend to have all the answers. They're the ones willing to start the conversation.

Whether you work in claims, underwriting, risk management, or anywhere else in insurance, this is one of those conversations that extends far beyond our industry.

Resources from Cal Beyer and SAFE Project:

• SAFE Project: https://www.safeproject.us

• #NoShame Pledge: https://www.safeproject.us/noshame/#pledge

• Treatment, Family Support & Recovery Locator: https://safelocator.org/en/help-selection

• Prevention Perspectives Webinars: https://www.safeproject.us/prevention/#Prevention-Webinars

• Naloxone Training Resources: https://www.safeproject.us/training/

• Goldfinch Health: https://goldfinchhealth.com/

• 10 Questions to Ask Your Surgeon: https://goldfinchhealth.com/10-questions-surgery/

• Billion Pill Pledge: https://billionpillpledge.com/

"If you give people a safe place to be reasonable, they will be."

Claims may eventually close, but the way we get there is changing fast.

This week, Salty sits down with Chrysa Jones, founder and CEO of StreamSettle, to talk about one of the least glamorous—but most important—parts of the claims process: getting people paid.

From electronic payments and digital settlements to attorney involvement, fraud, customer expectations, and the future of claims technology, Chrysa explains why faster isn't just about speed—it's about trust.

The conversation also dives into building a company from the ground up, navigating the legal side of insurance, and why innovation only works when it makes life easier for adjusters and policyholders alike.

If you've ever wondered where claims technology is headed after coverage is decided, this episode is for you.

Because in the end, as Chrysa says, "Everybody really has the same goal... they both really just want to settle and get a fair deal."

People don't ask for help because a company hangs up a poster.

They ask for help because someone else had the courage to go first.

That was one of the biggest takeaways from our conversation with Cal Beyer.

He shared what he calls the Three V's of leadership:

Visible. Vocal. Vulnerable.

When leaders acknowledge that mental health is real, speak openly about it, and aren't afraid to share their own stories, something changes.

Trust grows.

Conversations start.

People stop carrying everything by themselves.

And then, as Cal explains in this trailer, a fourth V appears:

Vertical.

The culture spreads. Compassion moves from leadership to every corner of the organization until people are simply helping people.

Insurance is built on showing up for people on some of the hardest days of their lives. Maybe we should be just as intentional about showing up for each other.

Watch this two-minute conversation. We think it'll stay with you. Episode drops Tuesday 8/4.

Resources from Cal you can use:

Description of SAFE Project: 

SAFE Project is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to overcoming the addiction epidemic in the United States. Established in 2017 by Admiral James and Mary Winnefeld after the tragic loss of their 19-year-old son Jonathan due to an opioid overdose, SAFE Project aims to save lives impacted by substance use and mental health challenges through overdose prevention and response, education on stigma, and development of prevention and recovery programs. SAFE Project also provides tailored guidance and training within its four key initiatives: SAFE Campuses, SAFE Communities, SAFE Workplaces, and SAFE Veterans. To learn more, please visit www.safeproject.us 

Selected SAFE Project Resources: 

#No Shame Pledge: https://www.safeproject.us/noshame/#pledge

Treatment, Family Support and Recovery Housing Locator: https://safelocator.org/en/help-selection

Prevention Perspectives Webinars: Registration Page and Links to Past Webinars: https://www.safeproject.us/prevention/#Prevention-Webinars

Naloxone Training Resources:  Separate links availablefor 3 versions of training: 60 second, Abbreviated (5-10 min) and 30-min: https://www.safeproject.us/training/

Goldfinch Health: https://goldfinchhealth.com/ 

• 10 Questions to Ask Your Surgeon: https://goldfinchhealth.com/10-questions-surgery/

• Billion Pill Pledge: https://billionpillpledge.com/

"They're both having an imaginary argument with the other side that doesn't even exist."

Most of us assume claims settlements drag on because one side refuses to be reasonable. But what if that's not actually the problem?

In next week's The Salty Adjuster episode, Chrysa Jones of StreamSettle explains why adjusters and plaintiff attorneys often want the exact same outcome—they just have no safe way to find out.

The result? Years of unnecessary litigation, millions in avoidable costs, and claimants left waiting while everyone assumes the other side is digging in.

Luckily, Chrysa and the team at StreamSettle are on the case.

Whether you've spent decades handling claims or you've never seen the inside of a lawsuit, this conversation is really about something bigger: communication, trust, and how easily we create villains out of people who may actually agree with us.

Check out the trailer for our upcoming episode with Chrysa (full ep drops Tuesday!)

"Unlike a claim file, there's no rush. There's no duty to close it out quickly." — Precious Norman Walton

"Grief is a ball inside a box. At first, every time it hits the side, it hurts. As time goes by, the ball gets smaller... but it still hits the sides of the box." — Salty

This is not the episode we planned.

We had a full page of questions for Precious Norman Walton about leadership, advocacy, catastrophe claims, and one of the most unique careers in insurance.

We asked exactly one.

Because somewhere between that first question and the second, two claims professionals who had each recently buried one or both parents stopped talking about insurance and started talking about grief. About what it's like to become the policyholder instead of the adjuster. About caring for the people who once cared for you.

About the grocery store aisle that breaks you. The song that catches you off guard. The impossible task of settling an estate while your own heart is still trying to make sense of what's happened.

As Salty says during the conversation, "Grief is a ball inside of a box. At first every time it hits the side, it hurts. As time goes by, the ball gets smaller... but it still hits the sides of the box."

So no, this isn't the episode we planned. It's the one we needed.

And judging by the conversations we've had since recording it, we have a feeling some of you might need it too.

Connect with Precious on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/preciousnwalton/

Follow Project55 for mental health resources for insurance professionals: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project55

Dial 988 for support.

Check out Salty's favorite band Touché Amoré and their beautiful lyrics on grief on Spotify.

Email TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com to tell us your story... claims related or not. We're here for you, always.

"Behind any one of our successes... it's a group of people that are pushing. Sometimes I'm pushing, sometimes they're pushing me."

That simple idea sits at the heart of this conversation with Bobbie Shrivastav.

We talk about what it takes to build communities that matter, why the most fulfilling work is fueled by joy instead of ego, and how the people who make the biggest impact are often the quickest to share the spotlight.

From launching initiatives that challenge the status quo to creating opportunities for others to be seen and heard, Bobbie has spent her career proving that leadership isn't about standing in front of the crowd. It's about bringing people with you.

This episode explores entrepreneurship, growth, mentorship, EmpowerHER, and the power of surrounding yourself with people who challenge you, champion you, and occasionally give you the push you didn't know you needed.

Because none of us gets there alone.

If you're feeling isolated, we invite you to email TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com, join us on Linkedin, or join our reddit community. We'll get you connected with mentors like Bobbie.

"When mom took her final breath, dad was sitting by her side, holding her hand. Eight months to the day, dad decided to join her. As an insurance professional, I think the hardest thing was getting into the mindset of 'I'm the insured. I'm the bereaved.' Their house burned down that July. I had to jump into that mode, going back and forth with adjusters." - Precious Norman Walton CPCU, SHRM-CP, AIC, AIS, AINS, ACS, TRIP

"I lost my mom last year. I came home from a CAT deployment and both my parents went into the hospital on the same day. My boss was texting me about a claim and I was like 'I'll call you back later, I just found out my mom is gonna die." - Salty

Note from The Salty Adjuster Team: This isn't the episode we anticipated it would be. We had a list of questions for Precious, one of the foremost leaders in our industry, about everything insurance-career-related. But Salty and Precious found common ground in recently losing one or both parents within the same year, an experience unlike any other experience. We let the mics keep rolling on a cathartic, heart-opening, real dialogue that everyone needed.

We're presenting this raw, unflinching trailer without edits and will also present the full episode this week without commercial interruption or production announcements. The song at the end of the trailer is by the band Touché Amoré, whose heartwrenching songs and lyrics about the death of his own mother are favorites of Salty.If you need support managing grief or loss, call 998, check out friends of the show Project55 (Brenden Corr and Justin Goodman), The SAFE Project (Cal Beyer, CWP, NAC) or visit The Salty Adjuster reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSaltyAdjusterPod) where you can interact directly with Salty and Producer Brett . We promise you're not alone.

THANK YOU Precious for the love, candor, and vulnerability for this upcoming episode of the show.NAAIA - National African American Insurance Association Insurance Nerds #SandwichGeneration #Grief #MentalHealth #loss

"What you're now doing is you're not teaching adjusters how to adjust. You're teaching them estimatics... when you remove the elements of being able to let adjuster adjust claims, you run the risk of that bad reputation: 'X carrier doesn't want to pay claims.' A lot of that spans from moving away from adjusting."

We're counting down the end of Season One and Beginning of Season Two (September 2026!) by revisiting some of our favorite moments from Season One so far. This was a big one for us.

Back in the beginning of June, we sat down with the one and only Andrew Norton, CPCU, ARe, SCLA Gold, for a conversation we wish could've gone on another full hour or two. We'll be bringing him back for more wisdom in Season 2, but ICYMI/if you're new to the show, head back to episode 9 this weekend and treat yourself. And while you're at it, treat the hardworking Salty Team by rating and reviewing the show, please and thanks!

Available on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gMQb5qGbInsurance Nerds #insnerds #insurancenerd CoVerse The Salty Adjuster

"Now it's our canvas to paint. What are we going to do differently?"

We love a leader in this industry who takes the time to kick the door open for others to follow. A trailblazer who takes a dirt road and paves it so that it's easier to bring people along. In our upcoming episode next week, we sit down with someone who embodies that spirit: the accomplished, collaborative, inclusive and brilliant Bobbie Shrivastav ☀️

Despite founding multiple insurtechs including Solvrays, building EmpowerHER - Leading the Future with Lucy Graham and Stacey Brown, co-authoring the Momentum Series books with Renu Joseph, cohosting the Insurance Sync podcast with Laurel Jordan, AND mentoring and sponsoring dozens (if not hundreds) of insurance professionals, Bobbie doesn't think she's the story.

For her, the story is the joy of creating something with people you believe in. Building communities that didn't exist before. Watching others step into the spotlight. Having so much fun doing the work that the accomplishments almost become secondary.

You can hear the smile in her voice when she talks about her work. We hope this trailer for Tuesday's episode brings a smile to your face. #TheSaltyAdjuster InsurTech America InsurTech Carolinas The Salty Adjuster CoVerse Communications

Every once in a while, someone comes along who completely shatters your assumptions about what an insurance professional looks like.

Austin Lewis is one of those people.

Austin is an economist-turned-life insurance broker, Army National Guard member, husband, dad, and conservationist who has built an audience of more than 120,000 people by doing something you don't see every day. Before he starts talking about insurance, he's usually knee-deep in the Chesapeake Bay pulling out shopping carts, tires, fishing line, and whatever else doesn't belong there.

That's how we found him.

What started as a Facebook rabbit hole turned into one of the most unique conversations we've had on The Salty Adjuster.

We talk about why someone told Austin he'd never make it because he showed up on camera dirty, sweaty, and wearing chest waders instead of a Rolex. We talk about building a business around purpose, why authenticity attracts the right clients, and how social media can be about something bigger than selling.

If you've ever wondered whether you have to fit the industry's mold to succeed, this bonus episode might change your mind.

Grab some Old Bay chips and maybe a pair of waders and enjoy this refreshing conversation with The Bay Life Broker himself.

Check Austin's work and brokerage out here: https://www.baylifebrokerage.com/

🦀 SUPER. SPECIAL. BONUS. EPISODE. INCOMING. 🦀 We've found a guest unlike anyone you've ever met in insurance for a conversation unlike any we've heard on this (or, candidly, any) insurance show.

Be honest... When you hear the words "life insurance broker," what comes to mind? 🕴‍ A tailored suit? ⌚ Fancy watch? 🚗 Nice car? 🏌‍♀️ Golf on Fridays? 📸 Filtered LinkedIn posts from a sleek office?

What if we told you to instead picture a guy in the water just outside Baltimore city, in fishing waders and a cut-off tee-shirt, hauling trash and handling wildlife every morning before clocking in at the office? Austin Lewis, owner of Bay Life Brokerage, is an economist-turned-life insurance broker who starts most mornings knee-deep in the Chesapeake Bay pulling shopping carts, tires, and fishing line of the world's third-largest estuary. While he works, he talks via reels to his 67,800 followers on Facebook and his 58,400 on Instagram about insurance, conservation, and leaving the world a little better than he found it. In fact, that's his entire value proposition for Bay Life Brokerage (https://lnkd.in/gjUPg8ag).

When The Salty Adjuster stumbled across one of Austin's videos on Facebook he asked Producer Brett if she thought there might be a chance he'd do the show. And when she crossed her fingers and hoped that someone with more than 100K followers on social would even bother to reply to her DM, Austin responded to Brett within minutes (and waaay after business hours), more than willing to jump on the pod. It isn't like he has a ton of free time. A member of the Army National Guard, volunteer with the BACK RIVER RESTORATION COMMITTEE INC, husband, dad, and yes... #insurancebroker... Austin is living proof that sometimes the best way to make a difference is to stop trying to look like everyone else.

"I'll never forget, I had one friend...," Austin told us, "he's an investment advisor, and he told me that he did not think that it was going to work well for me because I was showing up on video dirty, sweaty, in waders, cut-off tee. I mean, looking like I was a bricklayer or something... And the point he was making was, in this industry, people want to do business with people who appear to be successful financially."

Watch the trailer, then get ready for this BONUS EPISODE DROP (coming Thursday!) for one of the most unexpected conversations we've had on The Salty Adjuster.

Have questions for Austin? Pop them in the comments or email TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com.

"Silence is the worst. Silence is a trust killer."

Hey friends.

If you've been listening this season, you've probably noticed a theme.

We've talked with Michael Balarezo and Arvind Sontha about restoring trust through technology. Heather Blevins reminded us that claims is the promise. Bryan Falchuk challenged us to rethink how we use AI without losing our humanity. Curtis Goldsborough showed us what trusting across claims and underwriting silos could look like.

This conversation ties a bow around all of it.

Leslie Sapienza has spent her career helping some of the largest organizations in insurance rethink how they communicate with customers. And after this conversation, you'll probably never look at a claims letter, text message, or status update the same way again.

We talk about why silence is often more damaging than bad news, why policyholders don't need perfection as much as they need clarity, and why communication has earned a seat at the executive table instead of being treated like a "soft skill."

We also dig into the role AI should play in claims, the difference between informing someone and reassuring them, and why every interaction either builds trust... or quietly chips away at it.

Whether you're an adjuster, a claims leader, or anyone who has ever wondered why one claim leaves a customer singing your praises while another ends with an angry LinkedIn post, this episode is worth your time.

Learn all about Leslie here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lks-strategies

Bad communication. No communication. Slow communication. Confusing communication. On a claim, which might be the worst day of a policyholder's life, the way carriers communicate can make or break trust. In our upcoming new episode on Tuesday 7/21, we have strategic communications expert Leslie Sapienza for a frank and timely conversation about how insurance stops failing claimants through comms.

Get a taste of the episode in this fresh teaser trailer and please subscribe and follow on Apple and Spotify so you don't miss a single episode drop!

CoVerse Communications The Salty Adjuster Brett McKenzie LKS Strategies

Bryan Falchuk has spent decades challenging insurance to think differently. As President & CEO of PLRB, a best-selling author, celebrated speaker, and one of the industry's most prolific voices and educators, Bryan joins The Salty Adjuster for a conversation that covers just about every corner of claims. Leadership, burnout, AI, fraud, recruiting, and the future of the industry are all on the table.

What makes the difference between an Insurtech that changes the industry and one that flames out? Bryan says it starts with humility, not hubris.

Can AI actually support empathy in claims? Bryan thinks it can, if we deploy it for the right reasons.

What happens when we treat every claim like fraud? Longer claim cycles, higher costs, and less trust.

Why are so many adjusters burning out? And why supporting claims professionals takes more than another wellness initiative.

Who are the "dinosaur hunters"? Bryan explains what separates the InsurTech companies that last from the ones that don't, and why curiosity will always beat certainty.

Which state has more tornados in 2026 than any other and how is that changing the market? The answer is gonna surprise you.

Salty has benefited immensely from the resources that PLRB offers adjusters striving to continue learning through their career. Nearly two-thirds of the insurance industry's carriers are PLRB members. If you're an adjuster, there's a good chance you've benefited from PLRB's conferences, educational resources, or technical expertise. If you're not sure whether your organization is a member, you can check using your work email here: https://members.plrb.org/login

Follow Bryan on LinkedIn, and be sure to check out The Future of Insurance podcast.

Dropping Tuesday 7/14/26... we've got the big guy: Bryan Falchuk, President & CEO of PLRB, Dropper of Wisdom, Best-Selling Author & Speaker.

Note to adjusters: robot lawyers do NOT equal claims cost savings. This trailer gives you a sneak peek into next week's episode where we cover:

• Why insurance needs to stop treating every claim like a potential fraud case—and how trust leads to better outcomes for everyone.
• What makes great leadership in today's insurance industry, especially as burnout and constant change reshape the workforce.
• How AI and emerging technology should support insurance professionals, not replace the human judgment that claims depends on.
• Why the industry's biggest opportunities come from being willing to challenge old assumptions and continue learning.
• How purpose, curiosity, and relationships have shaped Bryan's career—from claims leadership to author, podcast host, and CEO of PLRB.

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE wherever you are hearing this trailer so that you don't miss it because trust us... you don't want to. And while you're at it, be sure to subscribe to "The Future of Insurance" podcast where you can hear even more of Bryan and a can't miss lineup of industry leading guests.

"What would help a ton is just educating a homeowner on what a claim looks like."

Most people assume a conversation between a staff adjuster and a former public adjuster is going to sound like a debate.

It doesn't.

In one of the most surprisingly honest conversations we've had on The Salty Adjuster, The Callused Former Public Adjuster joins the show to talk about what actually creates better claims outcomes.

The answer isn't bigger estimates. It isn't denying more claims. And it isn't hiring a public adjuster every time something goes wrong.

It's communication.

It's education.

It's good faith.

From explaining why "you can't build a used house," to discussing why homeowners often don't understand the difference between ACV and RCV, why some public adjusters genuinely earn their reputation while others deserve to lose it, why some carrier adjusters become burned out and calloused, and why every claim should begin by remembering there's a human being on the other side of the estimate, this conversation challenges assumptions without taking cheap shots at either side.

Whether you've spent your career as a staff adjuster, IA, public adjuster, contractor, mitigation professional, or restoration expert, you'll probably hear a perspective you haven't considered before.

And if you've ever believed the other side is the problem, this episode just might change your mind.

So grab a salty snack, put up your feet, and join us for one of our favorite conversations of the season.

"What would help a ton is just educating a homeowner on what a claim looks like."

Public adjusters often get cast as the villains of the claims story.

This episode challenges that narrative.

In this trailer, The Callused Former Public Adjuster joins The Salty Adjuster for an honest conversation about the biggest gap in claims today: homeowners simply aren't taught how insurance works.

Every acronym is new. Every form is confusing. Every delay feels personal.

Whether you work for a carrier, as an IA, a public adjuster, or a contractor, this conversation is full of surprising moments—and plenty of common ground.

Full episode coming soon. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Nobody becomes an adjuster because they love paperwork.

Yet for most claims professionals, paperwork has become one of the biggest obstacles standing between them and the people they're actually trying to help.

This week, The Salty Adjuster sits down with Arvind Sontha, founder and CEO of Kyber, to talk about the administrative burden that's quietly reshaping claims. Arvind explains why documentation has become such a bottleneck, what exceptional adjusters have in common, and how AI can eliminate tedious work without replacing the expertise, judgment, and empathy that make adjusters indispensable.

It's a conversation about technology—but it's really a conversation about giving adjusters their time back.

So grab a salty snack, put your feet up, and join us for a fresh look at the future of claims.

In this episode:

• Why paperwork has become one of the biggest pain points in claims

• The three qualities every great adjuster shares

• Where AI belongs—and where it absolutely doesn't

• How reducing administrative work can improve outcomes for adjusters and policyholders alike

• Why the future of claims is still deeply human

Be sure to subscribe toThe Salty Adjuster wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review if you're enjoying the show!

If you've ever spent more time writing about a claim than adjusting it... this trailer is for you.

Arvind Sontha, founder and CEO of Kyber, joins The Salty Adjuster to talk about paperwork, the hidden administrative burden facing adjusters, and why "No adjuster enjoys paperwork" might be the least controversial statement in insurance.

Listen to the trailer now, then come back Tuesday, July 7, for the full episode.

Heather Blevins has a nickname for a reason.

Better known throughout the industry as The Insurance Rebel, Heather joins The Salty Adjuster for a conversation about claims, leadership, burnout, authenticity, and why "we've always done it this way" isn't much of a business strategy.

We talk about why claims professionals aren't a cost center—they're the people delivering the promise every insurance policy makes, and the heroes on the front line of a policyholder's worst day ever. We get into consumer education, finding your voice, why "soft skills" aren't soft at all, and why adjusters deserve more support than another email reminding them to practice self-care.

Along the way, we discover Heather's lifelong admiration for David Bowie, find out how a life-changing health crisis ultimately led her to become one of the most respected voices in claims... and of course, what dinosaur would be her favorite and why (it's definitely not what you think).

Turns out, rebellion looks a lot less like breaking rules and a lot more like refusing to stop asking better questions.

Stay Salty... and long live the rebellion.

"The claims organization is not a cost center. It's the product delivery center."That's the kind of sentence that earned our guest Heather Blevins the nickname The Insurance Rebel.

She drops so much wisdom in our forthcoming episode (out tomorrow, Tuesday 6/30!) that we had to tease it twice.

So what do you think? Is claims a department to manage... Or the promise customers are actually buying?

1️⃣ Watch the clip.

2️⃣ Subscribe via Apple or Spotify to The Salty Adjuster so you get notified for every fresh episode.

3️⃣ Bring your saltiest and most rebellious opinions to our brand new reddit community, where you can share without fear: https://lnkd.in/gG4Za-e9

New Episodes now drop TUESDAYS. Don't miss our chat with Heather on 6/30/26.

"Insurance is full of first responders who never get to be the patient."

Whitney Carpenter dropped that line early in this conversation, and honestly, it set the tone for everything that followed.

This week, The Salty Adjuster sits down with Whitney to talk about authenticity, burnout, leadership, and why so many insurance professionals spend their careers taking care of everyone else while quietly running on empty themselves. When we say, "I'm fine," do we really mean it? And how do we hold space when people aren't?

Full disclosure: Producer Brett and Whitney first met as colleagues years ago. Over time, they became close friends, sounding boards, and career confidantes. That history shows up throughout this conversation.

Whitney shares why authenticity feels so risky, why women are often judged differently for the same leadership traits, and why "I'm fine" has become the most common lie in corporate America. We talk about raising kids who teach us more about risk than any insurance textbook ever could, the pressure to always be available, and why loyalty without boundaries eventually turns into self-sacrifice.

Then the conversation takes an unexpected turn.

Salty, Brett, and Whitney reflect on lessons they've learned over the years. What starts as a podcast interview becomes a candid conversation about friendship, personal growth, setting boundaries, and learning how to advocate for yourself without apologizing for it.

Also discussed:

• Why burnout may be insurance's biggest unaddressed risk
• Fake LinkedIn personas and real-world leadership
• Why younger generations define success differently
• Dirt bikes and dinosaurs
• The industry's unhealthy relationship with the phrase "Let's circle back"

Grab a snack, grab a beverage, and remember: You don't have to set yourself on fire to keep everyone else warm.

In this (SPECIAL VIDEO!) ten-minute minisode, The Salty Adjuster team has created a master cut of guests answering our TOUGHEST question for the audience... "What is your favorite dinosaur and why?"

From Adjusto's Michael Balarezo to Datos Insights' Laurel Jordan, from Salty himself to Jason Smith of Right Restoration, from Recruiter/Magician Tony Canas to Project 55's Brenden Corr, and including LO$$ Ratio/Curtis Goldsborough, Insurance Nerd Andrew Norton, strategist Tye Threats, NY Risk Advisor Aaron Gordon, and authenticity champion Whitney Carpenter... we've got them all!

When we sat down to record this episode, it was the morning after the Knicks' improbable 29-point comeback against the Spurs.

Most people were talking about the comeback.

Aaron Gordon was talking about the guy who didn't give up on the play.

That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Aaron.

Known to most of social media as NY Risk Advisor, Aaron joins The Salty Adjuster for a conversation about hustle, burnout, family legacy, risk management, and why he would like the internet to know, for the record, that he still works for his mother.

What starts as a discussion about hustle culture quickly turns into a deeper conversation about building something that lasts. Aaron shares what it was like growing up in a brokerage founded by his father, carrying forward a family business that spans generations, and why the best advisors are willing to sacrifice their own interests when it's the right thing for the client.

Along the way, we discuss the relationship between brokers and adjusters, why insurance is a promise and not a commodity, and how the industry's reputation sometimes suffers because people misunderstand the difference.

We also spend a surprising amount of time discussing New York driving, autonomous vehicles programmed with regional personalities, food truck entrepreneurship, and whether a pterodactyl is the superior dinosaur.

Because this is The Salty Adjuster.

In this episode:

• Healthy hustle vs. burnout culture
• Family business and succession planning
• What separates advisors from salespeople
• The role brokers play before, during, and after a loss
• Why trust matters more than commissions
• Claims, coverage, and difficult conversations
• Knicks playoff lessons for life and leadership
• New York driving "etiquette"
• Food truck business ideas
• Pterodactyls

Grab a snack, settle in, and remember: If you see New York plates in your rearview mirror, just pull over. It's not worth it.

What if burnout isn't a badge of honor?

This week, The Salty Adjuster sits down with leadership strategist, speaker, and executive coach Tye Threats for a conversation that starts with her remarkable journey from working full-time at 17 as a young mother and evolves into a candid discussion about leadership, work-life balance, burnout, and the pressure many insurance professionals carry every day.

Tye challenges some of the biggest myths in modern workplace culture, including the idea that being busy means being valuable, that long hours equal commitment, and that exhaustion is somehow proof of success. Along the way, she shares lessons from decades of leadership experience, talks about developing future leaders, and offers practical advice for creating boundaries without sacrificing impact.

The conversation takes an unexpectedly personal turn as Tye reflects on loss, perspective, and the moment she realized that work will always be there tomorrow, but life may not.

Topics include:

• Why claims professionals carry a unique emotional burden
• The difference between activity and impact
• Burnout culture and the myth of hustle-as-success
• Setting boundaries without feeling guilty
• Leadership, delegation, and developing future talent
• What younger generations are teaching the workplace
• Why retention isn't always the metric leaders think it is

As Tye puts it: "People confuse activity with impact and busyness with value." That idea alone might change how you think about work.

You can connect with Tye on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiuna-threats/

Book your consult with Tye: https://wtvconsulting.com/

"When you remove the elements of being able to let an adjuster adjust claims purely based on the merits of that claim, you run the risk of creating that reputation that companies don't want to pay claims." — Andrew Norton

What happens when claims organizations become more focused on dashboards than judgment?

This week, The Salty Adjuster sits down with claims leader, educator, CPCU, meme enthusiast, and accidental Craigslist success story Andrew Norton for a candid conversation about leadership, adjuster burnout, quality reviews, and the growing gap between the people making decisions and the people handling claims every day.

Andrew shares why some of the industry's biggest challenges aren't technology problems at all. They're people problems. Together, he and Salty discuss what happens when adjusters are trained to satisfy metrics instead of adjust claims, why bad managers can drive great talent out of the industry, and how leaders can stay connected to the realities of claim handling before they become disconnected from the frontline.

They also cover:

• Why humor is a survival skill in claims
• The difference between coaching and compliance
• Quality reviews that help versus quality reviews that hurt
• Why adjusters need room to exercise professional judgment
• The industry's ongoing struggle with burnout and retention
• Whether every insurance professional secretly inspects roofs and basements at their friends' homes

Plus, Andrew delivers perhaps the most motivational dinosaur answer in Salty Adjuster history.

Grab a salty snack, step away from your work queue, and join the conversation.

"The untold story of insurance is that thousands of claims are handled well every single day, but nobody hears about them." - Curtis Goldsborough (aka LO$$ Ratio)

What happens when one of insurance's funniest personalities sits down with one of claims' saltiest adjusters?

This week, The Salty Adjuster welcomes Curtis Goldsborough, better known as LO$$ Ratio. Curtis has built a loyal following by turning underwriting, risk management, and insurance culture into something most people never thought possible: entertainment. But behind the humor, there' s a deeper story about the industry.

Together, Salty and LO$$ Ratio tackle some of the biggest questions facing the industry today. Why is insurance so bad at communicating with normal humans? Why do underwriting and claims often feel like they're speaking different languages? And why do the industry's success stories rarely get told?

Along the way, the conversation explores:

• Why insurance might secretly be comedy gold
• The relationship between underwriting and claims
• Predicting losses versus helping prevent them
• Consumer education and policyholder responsibility
• AI's potential role in helping people understand coverage
• Why good insurance stories rarely make the news
• Wildly unexpected underwriting discoveries
• Conference cities, pickle sunflower seeds, and T-Rex arms

It's thoughtful. It's funny. And it's a reminder that behind every policy, premium, and claim file are real people trying to solve real problems.

Grab a salty snack, step away from your work queue, and enjoy the conversation.

"Insurance is a business that's designed to help others, and yet we somehow forgot to check in on one another."

This week, The Salty Adjuster sits down with Brenden Corr of Project 55 to talk about authenticity, burnout, sobriety, mental health, and why insurance professionals spend so much time taking care of everyone else while often neglecting themselves.

Along the way, Brenden explains why his LinkedIn feed is just as likely to feature a poll about Panda Express for airport breakfast as it is a conversation about mental health. For him, it's all part of the same mission: replacing polished corporate personas with authentic human connection.

Together, they explore the emotional weight carried by adjusters, claims professionals, underwriters, brokers, and everyone else working on the front lines of helping people through difficult moments.

In the second half of the episode, Producer Brett joins The Salty Adjuster to reflect on the emotions and memories the conversation surfaced. What follows is a candid discussion about grief, workplace culture, pregnancy loss, catastrophe claims, the importance of checking on friends, and why vulnerability shouldn't be treated like a weakness.

There are laughs. There are uncomfortable truths. There are a few stories that still stick with us years later.

Most importantly, there's a reminder that behind every claim file, every KPI, and every LinkedIn profile is a human being carrying something you may never see.

Grab a salty snack, mute your notifications, and join us for a conversation that matters.

Resources

• Project 55: https://project55.org
• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or Text 988
• Email the show: thesaltyadjuster@gmail.com

If this episode resonates with you, share it with a friend. Sometimes the most important claim we handle is checking on the people around us.Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of mental health, burnout, grief, pregnancy loss, and self-harm. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, anytime in the United States.

The Salty Adjuster sits down with insurance industry unicorn Tony Cañas. Recruiter, magician, podcaster, designation collector, community builder, and former claims adjuster who escaped before the salt fully consumed him.

Tony talks about burnout in claims, why so many adjusters feel trapped, how the industry accidentally creates feral field adjusters, and what happens when smart people realize insurance careers don’t have to follow a straight line. The conversation dives into recruiting, mental health, customer surveys that ruin lives over rental cars, and why claims might not be for everyone… but insurance probably is.

They also cover Hamilton karaoke, velociraptors, rap videos, top hats, and the very real possibility that insurance conferences are one bad blockchain presentation away from becoming survival scenarios.

If you’ve ever worked a CAT event, questioned your career choices while staring at 147 open files, or wondered how anybody survives this industry with their personality intact, this episode’s for you.

In this episode of The Salty Adjuster, our host sits down with Jason Smith of Right Restoration. A restoration veteran with decades of experience helping homeowners navigate fires, floods, smoke damage, and the absolute chaos that comes with property losses.

The two talk about how they first met years ago through the textile cleaning side of the business, how their careers evolved alongside each other, and why trust and communication matter more than ever between contractors, adjusters, and homeowners.

They also get into:
• Mitigation myths and shady contractor red flags
• What homeowners should actually do during a water loss
• Smoke damage, pack-outs, and sentimental items
• Why communication can make or break a claim
• The certifications that actually matter
• Why plumbers would absolutely survive a zombie apocalypse
• Dinosaurs. Obviously.

It’s equal parts industry insight, war stories, and salty nonsense from two guys who’ve spent years walking into other people’s worst days and trying to make them a little better

So grab a snack, send an appreciation text to your plumber, and let’s get salty.

Check out Right Restoration's website: https://rightrestoration.net/

Today on the show, Producer Brett flips the mic back on the Salty Adjuster for an episode that starts with catastrophe claims and somehow spirals into punk music, deployment loneliness, dinosaur debates, and whether a giant salt shaker should become the official mascot of the show.

Together they unpack the weird emotional reality of claims work:
- living out of hotels,
- delivering devastating news,
- surviving CAT deployments,
- working through burnout,
- and trying to stay human in an industry built around catastrophe.

Also discussed:

• why you should never argue coverage on a roof
• the soundtrack behind long estimate-writing sessions
• the emotional support value of hockey games during deployments
• why every adjuster becomes at least slightly feral by Friday afternoon
• and why Jaws might actually be easier to survive than Godzilla

It’s part roadside diner conversation, part punk-rock therapy session, part claims industry group chat after midnight.

Send your questions to TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com, or pitch yourself as a guest on an upcoming episode!

"How can you can’t lead claims if you’ve never done the work?"

In this episode, The Salty Adjuster sits down with Laurel Jordan for a passionate conversation about leadership, mentorship, burnout, and what it really takes to build a lasting career in claims. A longtime advocate for women in insurance, Laurel shares her perspective on earning credibility from the ground up, creating opportunities for others, and why the best leaders understand the emotional and operational realities of the work because they’ve lived it themselves.

From frontline claims handling to executive leadership to Laurel's brand new role at expertise-driven Datos Insights, the conversation explores confidence, community, resilience, and the importance of helping the next generation of women find their voice in an industry that doesn’t always make space for it automatically.

Laurel is seeking mentees and you can email TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com if you're interested in being introduced to her.

What happens when the adjuster becomes the policyholder?

In this episode, The Salty Adjuster sits down with Michael Balarezo, a former claims adjuster who later survived his own devastating wildfire loss as a husband, father, and insurance professional. Michael shares what it feels like to stand on the other side of the claim, when your training, experience, and composure collide with the reality of watching your own life burn.

Together they talk about the emotional weight of contents claims, the gaps in the recovery process, and why Michael ultimately founded Adjusto to make claims more human for the people living through them.

It’s an honest conversation about loss, resilience, claims culture, and the difference between processing a claim and actually helping someone recover.