The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) reports that in 2024, there can be 19 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that can bring death and destruction to the United States. Storms, wildfires, and severe heat and cold waves caused nearly $50 billion in damage.
While many of us do all the pieces in our power to avoid danger, Brian Evans runs towards them. Evans restores AT&T’s telephone network during natural disasters and is also the executive chef at AT&T’s mobile base. Evans says each of his positions require quick pondering and decisive motion, and he recently shared his suggestions for managing crises big and small.
Explain your role as a chef and technology recovery expert. How do these skill sets overlap?
I restore the network during natural disasters as an AT&T Technology Recovery Expert and have turn into a lead chef on the disaster recovery team, where I provide a mobile kitchen to support our people on our base. Last 12 months I used to be in the field in 42 states.
To conduct large-scale cooking or disaster relief efforts, you wish to have the option to plan for multiple phases at once. When we enter a disaster area, basic urban infrastructure is often unavailable, so the work can take anywhere from a week to a month. You have to move quickly, so it’s about balancing preparing the first meals with coordinating deliveries with external suppliers, which may be very difficult after a storm.
Photo credit: AT&T
What advice are you able to give entrepreneurs about wearing multiple hats?
Make sure you have deputies who can manage all the pieces if your day by day lieutenants are not available, because you wish to stay on track in each of your worlds. I have a network of volunteers from 46 AT&T departments who are trained to support our disaster relief efforts, and I maintain a pool of mobile trailer volunteers with various skillsets in various regions. Make sure your bench is unfolded – we have 12 different training stops across the US, so wherever you are, there’s support nearby.
And if you care about strict implementation, also know how to communicate the value of each programs to your superiors at any time. This high-level vantage point may be easily forgotten when you are in the thick of things, but it is important. When I actually needed a larger mobile operation to cope with the scale, I could clearly show my superiors why it was so necessary to our emergency services and the way it was cost-effective, so they increased our resources to make the program truly nationwide.
What is your advice for entrepreneurs on how to act quickly and stay smart?
Protect your setup phase and then you definately’ll be faster with all the pieces else. You don’t desire to “cook a storm within a storm.” In stressful situations, it is easy to want to rush to meet the needs of your team, but creating a plan makes a huge difference. For example, we were on the ground during Hurricane Ian and with 250 mph winds it might have been easy to panic. Instead, my team established staffing status in advance, assessed the severity of the situation, and then set about planning meals, ordering supplies, and cooking to ensure our employees had a hot meal at the end of a long day. As an entrepreneur, you can be in stressful situations that your team will have to move through, and a key a part of this is maintaining morale, finding comfort among creatures, and breaking bread together. This was a key a part of my upbringing in rural Louisiana.
From what you’ve got seen during natural disasters, what do you want all people had on hand in their homes and cars?
Everyone on my team all the time carries a “bug bag”, i.e. a survival or emergency kit. They contain on a regular basis items that are not often available during a disaster, resembling extra clothes, water, blankets, snacks, etc. I all the time recommend that others have this stuff available in one place so they may be easily taken at any time. Of course, you hope you never need it, but at least you may have some peace of mind knowing you are prepared.
What should every entrepreneur know about leading a team during a crisis?
When I began working in disaster preparedness, I still wasn’t confident, but teams need a leader who is confident. So when I believed about the whole situation, I imagined the most confident person I could think of and tried to embody that person. The team is watching me during difficult missions and if I disintegrate, they are going to definitely follow suit. Whenever possible, I try to remember to take a few minutes to decompress if I feel overwhelmed. An emergency is already a very stressful situation and the way you respond as a leader affects the success of the team, for higher or for worse.