Join host Maartje van Krieken as she takes you through the journey of what inspired her to begin this podcast and how it will offer you immediate insights and ready-to-deploy solutions addressing the most complex business challenges so you can stay ahead of the game.

Maartje van Krieken: Hi, welcome to the Business Emergency Room podcast. My name is Maartje van Krieken and I'm the host of this podcast. I spent over 20 years in the international oil and gas industry working frontier projects in the most remote and complex locations to work. I resigned from that career in 2018 to start off my own consulting business that's called the chaos games consulting to continue doing much of the work I was doing before, namely, helping teams, projects and organizations get unstuck. And all this is culminated in the in me starting this podcast because I believe there is a niche out there, a niche and a need for businesses to have access to somebody or someone or something that helps in those first moments, those first days, when you have finally admitted that maybe you need some help. I say finally, because I think it's also the hardest thing to do, to admit that maybe you're at this point where you need some help, and whatever you're doing right now is not working or not enough or needs changing at that point, I think the biggest hurdle is taken. You've admitted that you need something, but then where do you go? There's, of course, all sorts of help out there, and it comes in many forms and shapes, but identifying what's most needed and what you need to outsource and what you can do in house is quite hard. And I believe, and have seen, that many organizations waste a lot of time and money paying for not the right kind of help and support to climb out and get back on top of things, and that's what this podcast is all about.

This podcast is about addressing that immediate emergency situation and figuring out first steps to get back on the road to recovery. We will be addressing these things in three ways. So the first thing that we will talk about in the business emergency room podcast is scars. I believe we are very well able to learn from others and others mistakes, if not in prevention, then in the situation as we need to climb out, because we've already set aside our pride, and so it is our ears and eyes are open to learn what others might be able to offer us. So we will be talking, or I will be talking with guests who've experienced business emergencies and have the scars to prove it, and talk about what they learned, the do's and don'ts and their top tips and tricks. The second thing we will talk about are what I call business first aid kits. So I will be providing lots of tools and tricks and other things that you as a leader or as an organization or a business owner can deploy to climb out of business emergencies and get back on the road to recovery and resources that might be relevant to you. Last but not least, we will also be doing some life on air triage. I'm very excited about this, because I believe that something like that is not out there, and I think there's lots to learn from seeing and observing and hearing the conversation of somebody in the midst of turmoil, and how to start climbing out. So excited about that aspect, we will be open to anyone who wants to bring forward a business emergency. So if that's you, do not hesitate to reach out.

I will also tell you that we will be bringing on other experts. If there's one rule in my life, and that I've always brought into into my teams, is that I'm willing to let you have a go in anything, but never play glove poker in work situations. And by that, I mean that you should know what you really don't know and where the major gaps in your expertise are, if it's dangerous for you to have a go at something without the appropriate expertise, you should not do it and come back. And so I will bring in experts on the topics where I have a gap in my expertise, or where it's important that you get very factual and appropriate advice to follow in the financial or the legal realm, for instance, or in the PR space, where that's very important. So also looking forward to bringing on some of my fabulous peers and colleagues to enrich what we have to offer you on this podcast.

So if you are a business leader or business owner or professional in an organization in a very dynamic or potentially challenging environment, if you have experienced business emergencies, or are experiencing business emergencies or almost business emergencies on a regular basis, I think this is the podcast for you, and I look. Forward to you enjoying the episodes and interacting with me on this so yeah, spread the words. Stay tuned. Thank you.