RIMScast: RIMS 2021 Award Winners: Elliott Long and Sue Mepham

RIMS 2021 Award Winners: Elliott Long and Sue Mepham

Apr 27, 2021

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

This week, Justin Smulison is joined by two special RIMS 2021 award winners: Elliott Long and Sue Mepham!

Elliott Long, the U.S. Risk Management Consultant for Aflac, is the recipient of this year’s RIMS Rising Star Award, which honors up-and-coming risk management professionals under the age of 35, or, who have seven or fewer years of professional experience. Together, Justin and Elliott discuss his career in risk and insurance, how his work has changed since COVID-19, his career highlights and accomplishments, and what is next for him in his professional career.

In the second half of the episode, Justin is joined by Sue Mepham, a retired risk professional and a leader with the RIMS Saskatchewan Chapter who was one of two recipients of the 2021 Ron Judd “Heart of RIMS” Award. The Heart of RIMS Award pays tribute to the legacy of Ron Judd who served as the RIMS Executive Director for 22 years. Individuals are nominated by chapters for outstanding performance in advancing RIMS at the chapter level. She and Justin discuss her rich career in risk management, the Saskatchewan Chapter of RIMS, and her advice to rising risk professionals and RIMS members.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS’s Global Membership.

[:25] About today’s episode!

[:36] About RIMS LIVE 2021 virtual event on April 19–29, 2021.

[1:09] About Spencer’s Risk Manager on Campus program!

[1:40] About the RIMS Rising Star Award and this year’s recipient, Elliott Long.

[2:01] Justin welcomes Elliott Long to the podcast!

[2:16] Elliott introduces himself and shares where he works and what his title is.

[2:53] How long has Elliott been working in risk and insurance?

[3:13] What originally brought Elliott to risk and insurance?

[4:04] Elliott reflects on the wild ride that the last 18 months have been.

[4:58] Elliott shares his insights on what working in Enterprise Risk Management has felt like against the backdrop of COVID-19.

[5:58] How does it feel for Elliott to be recognized for accomplishments and achievements during this time?

[6:30] What did Elliott do to stand out amongst other risk professionals in his company as a rising star and someone to look out for?

[7:54] Big takeaways from Elliott’s career thus far and his advice for other rising risk professionals.

[9:22] Elliott shares about the volunteer work he has done.

[11:45] How does Elliott make himself indispensable in his role at Aflac?

[13:12] What would Elliott like to accomplish next in his professional career?

[14:40] Elliott gives his thanks to the global risk community and RIMS.

[15:24] Justin thanks Elliott for joining RIMScast!

[15:35] About some upcoming fantastic RIMS webinars.

[16:39] About the Ron Judd “Heart of RIMS” Award and this year’s one-of-two recipients, Sue Mepham!

[17:01] Justin welcomes Sue Mepham to the podcast!

[17:23] Justin congratulates Sue on her achievement and asks her how she feels.

[18:30] When did Sue join the Saskatchewan Chapter of RIMS? What was it like when she first joined as compared to now?

[20:40] What is the current attendance rate of the Saskatchewan Chapter?

[20:58] Sue shares about some of the positions that she has held at SCRIMS (the Saskatchewan Chapter of RIMS).

[22:20] How did Sue’s involvement with RIMS and SCRIMS supplement her professional career?

[26:17] Sue shares some standout moments from her career.

[31:09] Sue shares what she loves about being the Secretary of the Saskatoon Host Conference Committee for the 2023 RIMS Canada Conference, as well as what her current thought process is with planning for the event.

[34:33] The SCRIMS President is Katherine Dawal, last year’s RIMS Rising Star. Sue speaks about what her relationship with Katherine has been like since she first joined SCRIMS.

[35:53] Sue gives her advice to risk professionals and RIMS members.

[36:32] Justin thanks Elliot and Sue for joining the podcast and shares some of the links to check out in this episode’s show notes.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Risk Management Magazine’s 2021 Awards Issue

Spencer Educational Foundation

How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

RIMS Canada Conference

RIMS Webinars and Services:

Spencer’s Risk Manager on Campus Program — Volunteer Today!

RIMS-CRMP-FED Virtual Prep Course — May 24–26th, 2021

May 5, 2021 | “Reputation Risks. Reputation Protection. Crisis Reduction.”

May 13, 2021 | “The Risks and Rewards of Virtual Services” | Sponsored by Beazley