Welcome to Riffle — A Different Approach to Business Continuity

Welcome to Riffle.

This is where we talk about business continuity—what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change.

If you’ve spent any time in this space, you’ve likely seen the same patterns:

Plans that sit unused.

Exercises that don’t translate to real-world action.

Programs that feel disconnected from how the business actually operates.

This blog exists to address that gap.

How I Got Here

A while back, I was at a dinner with a group of business continuity professionals.

At some point, someone asked a simple question:

“How did you get into this field?”

We went around the table, one by one.

Not a single person had a straight path.

One had been a park ranger.

Another came from IT.

Others from operations, risk, or completely unrelated roles.

Every story was different—but they all had one thing in common:

No one set out to work in business continuity.

They found their way into it.

And then they stayed.

My Path Started in Public Health

My path started in public health.

One of my first roles was tied to CDC bioterrorism preparedness grants. The objective was clear and high stakes: help protect a city of over 400,000 people in the event of a biological attack.

That meant planning for how to distribute prophylaxis at scale—quickly, effectively, and under pressure.

It was operational, urgent, and very real.

From there, the work expanded.

Planning for biological response led to broader preparedness efforts.

Preparedness led to continuity planning.

Continuity planning became a full-time focus.

And eventually, that path led me here.

What I Started to Notice

As I moved deeper into business continuity, something became clear.

The field is full of smart, experienced people doing important work.

But the way the work is structured doesn’t always match the reality it’s meant to support.

We build plans.

We conduct assessments.

We run exercises.

But too often, those efforts sit just outside the business—adjacent to operations rather than integrated within them.

The result is a gap between what’s documented and what actually happens when disruption occurs.

Why This Blog Exists

This blog is where we explore that gap.

Not from a theoretical standpoint—but from real experience.

Here, we’ll focus on:

Why traditional approaches struggle in dynamic, operational environments

How organizations actually respond to disruption in practice

Where most continuity programs lose time, engagement, and relevance

What a more effective, operationally aligned model can look like

This isn’t about adding more process.

It’s about making continuity work in the environments it’s supposed to support.

Where We’re Starting

We’ll begin with a foundational question:

What is the role of business continuity—and why does it so often miss the mark?

That question is what ultimately led to the creation of Riffle.

If you’re rethinking how continuity should work inside your organization, you’re in the right place.