Joshua W. Desha

Risk Strategies Company

I've been in the Employee Benefits world since 2007 and I'm excited to now partner with Risk Strategies as Vice President of Business Development.  My years in this industry have taught me a lot, and the most important lesson I've learned is this:  More than anything else, employees, employers, C-level executives, owners, and HR leaders deserve a partner who...

💪 Understands the Benefits world and keeps up with innovation.
💪 Takes the time to really get to know (and WANTS to know) their company/industry/business.
💪 Willingly walks their clients through a REAL and INNOVATIVE long-term strategic benefits system based upon the needs of their employees, and the company financially.

The sad fact is that the vast majority in this industry never take the time to do these things for and with their clients. It's one of the reasons benefit rates are consistently increasing, employee satisfaction is at an all time low, and brokers are forced to move from carrier to carrier begging for a better deal. 

If you are a company and you are looking for a partner, a real partner, that will walk with you through this minefield of Employee Benefits, then let's talk.

Vice President of Business Development

The Leadership Lighthouse

The Leadership Lighthouse aims to be a beacon of hope, visibility, and leadership within each and every community. We help leaders lead.

Head of Operations

🔥 Helping Employees reduce their healthcare costs (Access to Doctors, Therapists, and 425+ generic drugs at NO COST) 🎯 Allowing Employers the chance to lower overall Health Insurance Spend 🙌🏼 🙏🏼 Benefits Nerd 🤓

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗺 𝗜❓𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 “𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲” 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁❗



I am one of the leading employee benefit experts on Linkedin. As an accomplished professional, I've worked with individuals and corporations alike.  
 
I believe to be genuinely GREAT you MUST stand out and be different!

Leaders in our industry should...
 
👊🏼 Stop being boring and ordinary!
👊🏼 Learn what matters to others FIRST.
👊🏼 Know your customer's story and needs better than they do.
👊🏼 Figure out how to put it all together for a long term/sustainable business strategy.
 
► 𝗔 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:
 
🔥Worked with hundreds of different businesses on strategic benefits planning.
🔥Led a team of 21 offices to business growth of 218% within 12 months.
🔥12-time Presidents Club winner in 2 different industries.
🔥I've started 2 companies from the ground up.
🔥11 Industry Elite Award trips.
🔥Took a team of young salespeople and turned them into the highest producing team in the company's history.

► 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆:

💰  I'm somewhat of an Employee Benefits sharp-shooter.  Being in the business since 2007, I've seen it all.  
💰  I can speak in movie quotes and still get my point across.

💰  I'm an all-around good guy.  :)  And hey, that seems to be missing in today's world, right?
 
► 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆:

☎️   512-876-4677
📩   jdesha@risk-strategies.com
💬   DM me here on Linkedin
🐤   Carrier Pidgeon (just tell it to go to "THAT DUDE" and it will get to me)

Director of Sales

Revive Health is Virtual Healthcare 2.0.  Stop spending so much money on healthcare and health insurance. We facilitate rapid and easy access to affordable, quality care and prescription medications. Our membership plans start at less than $1/day.

Bret Packard

Bret Packard Enterprises

Ecosystems & team design.

Risk management.

Investor.

Founder

Managing Director, Asia Wealth

Barclays

Managing Director (Southern Africa Region)

Managing Director (Zambia)

Managing Director, Premier Banking and Liability Products (Emerging Markets, Middle East and Africa)

Managing Director, Premier Banking, Current Account/Savings Account Products, Barclays Financial Planning (United Kingdom Retail Bank)

Managing Director

Citi

Wealth Management Head (Asia Pacific)

Consumer Sales and Distribution Director / Investments Business Manager (Japan)

CitiGold Sales Director (Asia Pacific)

CitiGold Director / Sales Logistics Director / Area Director / Area Sales Manager / Branch Manager / Market Manager / Management Associate (North America)

Senior Executive, Retail Banking and Wealth Management

Founder, Bret Packard Enterprises | Top 100 Thought Leaders of the Year, Global Excellence Awards

My philosophy is built on relentless self-discovery, disciplined execution, and an unshakable belief that anything is possible. 

I thrive on critical thinking, constantly disrupting my own assumptions and unlearning outdated habits to evolve. 

Success isn’t a finish line—it’s a continuous journey of raising the bar, dissecting performance, and programming myself to eliminate distractions and insecurities.

I’m driven to unlock my full potential through habits that align with my mission and deliver validated outcomes. 

I practice as fiercely as I play, embracing every challenge as an opportunity to ask, “How good can I be?” 

Fear is sidelined, momentum is protected, and excuses are unacceptable. 

I set strict boundaries to safeguard my focus, delay gratification to stay hungry, and bring an A-game that leaves no doubt: when I’m at my best, I win—every time.

I see consequences as the driver of change, sacrifice as the path to the next level, and achievements as sweeter in reflection than in the moment. 

From the inside, I shape my reality, always chasing something just out of reach, knowing the market respects my edge. 

I’m not just in the moment—I’m part of it, building a legacy where what’s good for one fuels greatness for all.

Stay hungry. Never settle.



Experience:
Over a span of 30 years, I have worked in the international banking and wealth management sector across 30 countries, transforming large and complex high-growth businesses and product lines.  As an Executive Director on the subsidiary boards of the largest banks in two countries, I have run businesses in complex regulatory environments, transformed operating cultures, revamped executive leadership teams, implemented corporate governance & risk management systems and revamped faltering businesses to generate sustained profitability in both benign and adverse market conditions.

Why resilience isn’t good enough.

Some things—businesses, people, investments—don’t just survive stress, volatility, or disorder; they get stronger. 

Call them adaptive. 

Brittle systems? They crack under pressure, like a cheap wine glass. 

Robust systems? They hold up but don’t grow, just sitting there like a stubborn mule. 

Adaptive systems? They’re the real deal—like muscles ripping and rebuilding stronger after a killer workout. Chaos is their gym. 

Uncertainty? That’s their protein shake. Think of a savvy entrepreneur pivoting in a market crash or a portfolio thriving in volatility. 

Don’t be brittle, crumbling when things get rough. 

Don’t just be robust, barely hanging on. 

Be adaptive—embrace the mess, learn fast, and come out wealthier, wiser, stronger. 

So, don’t trick yourself into thinking that resilience is the magic; rather, consider being adaptive and learn to love volatility.

Choose wisely or pay the price.

I’ve seen too many play it safe, coddling their businesses like fragile eggs, only to get obliterated when the big storms hit. 

Nature? 
It’s smarter—thriving on small mistakes that build tougher, more resilient systems. 

Humans, though? 
We baby those tiny errors, and that’s a rookie move. Shielding small screw-ups sets you up for epic disasters. 

Embrace adaptability! 
Let those hiccups toughen you up, make you unbreakable. 

In Southern Africa, I oversaw a sales team on life support—low morale, talent fleeing.  We shook it up, restructuring one unit into small, cross-functional pods. 

Early days? 
Total chaos—fuzzy roles, clashing priorities, bruised egos. 

But smart leaders don’t bail; they dig into feedback, clarify roles, and align incentives for teamwork. 

Those small failures? 
Pure gold, pruning weak processes and building trust. Soon, that team attracted top talent, boosted morale and engagement, and delivered predictable wins.  That’s what we did and the team had fun doing it !

Challenges aren’t roadblocks—they’re rocket fuel for innovation. 

Lean into the grind, learn from scrapes, and you’ll find benefit from hard knocks.


Choose wisely or pay the price.

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Bret’s Digest

My thoughts on why stability is an illusion, especially if you want to put yourself in a position to improve when unexpected, significant events happen.



Be wise or pay the price.

Bret’s Digest

The Pressure Cooker.

Think of your team like a pressure cooker—built to handle the heat, not explode like a cheap knockoff. Volatility’s coming, whether you like it or not, and I’m not here to coddle you with “resilience” talk. This is about profiting from volatility.

Pressure’s gonna build—it’s a fact, like taxes or bad coffee. If you let it fester without a release valve, your team’s gonna blow, and trust me, it’s not pretty. But if you just yank the lid off like some rookie, you’re toast. 

You’ve gotta design your team—your processes, your risk management, your audits—to handle that pressure like a pro.

Ask yourself: Are your systems relieving stress or piling it on elsewhere? Is your delivery process screwing over your ops team? Are you aligned, or are you accidentally playing whack-a-mole with your own people? And don’t even get me started on compliance—break the law, and you’re done. Cooked. Kaput.

This isn’t about surviving the storm; it’s about dancing in it. 

Be the pressure cooker, not the person who blows it.

Does it matter whether risks are visible or invisible?

I don’t care which you pick, but you better know this: dodging small screw-ups is like setting yourself up for a financial face-plant on the big ones. 

When you coddle systems, people, or businesses, shielding them from tiny mistakes, you’re robbing them of the chance to learn, adapt, and get tougher. 

Those little hiccups are like market signals, showing you where the cracks are and letting you fix them bit by bit.  Stifle those, chasing some fairy tale of perfection, and you’re building a house of cards—vulnerable, with hidden weaknesses piling up. 

Without those small hits, you’re flying blind & when the cracks become crators—and they will—you’re toast. 

My concept of battle-hardening means thriving under pressure, getting stronger in chaos. 

Hide from small risks, and you’re just begging for a catastrophic wipeout. 

Choose wisely, or pay the price.

Stability is an illusion. 

Having navigated businesses and teams through a few significant crises - the Asian Financial Crisis, 9-11 tragedy aftermath, Global Financial Crisis - and emerged stronger on their back-end, I can confidently state that markets are like bikes—keep moving or crash. 

Calm periods? They’re fake. Wild swings hit, and people panic because most can’t handle volatility. A tiny dip feels like doomsday. 

When things become “too predictable,” any blip sparks chaos and sometimes panic.

Truth is, a little confusion keeps things sharp, kills complacency, and keeps you alert. 

Embrace swings—they’re opportunities, not disasters. Smart money stays calm, calculates, and pounces when others flee. Remember, volatility is your edge, not your enemy. 

Be wise or pay the price.

Bret’s Digest

My thoughts on why a bit of stress is mandatory. 


Be wise or pay the price.

taplio

The Battle

Joshua W. Desha

Bret Packard

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The Battle

Joshua W. Desha

Bret Packard

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Bret Packard's LinkedIn Performance

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