BUSINESS CONTINUITY: THE RISKS YOU’RE NOT READY FOR WHEN LIFE HAPPENS
By Erin Erenberg, Founder & CEO of Chamber of Mothers and Elizabeth Coppola, Emergency Manager and Certified Business Continuity Specialist
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Recently, we had the privilege of hosting two remarkable women for a conversation that redefines how we think about business continuity: Erin Erenberg, Founder & CEO of Chamber of Mothers and Elizabeth Coppola, Emergency Manager and Certified Business Continuity Specialist
Together, we explored a critical question: Are businesses truly prepared for the inevitable life events that impact every employee — and, ultimately, the bottom line?
REDEFINING BUSINESS CONTINUITY
When we hear “business continuity,” we tend to think of backup systems, data recovery, or disaster response. But Erin and Elizabeth invite us to think bigger — and more human.
As Erin shared, the Chamber of Mothers was born after the U.S. failed to pass federally subsidized paid family and medical leave in 2021 — leaving families and businesses to absorb the impact. “Every working person will experience care needs in their lifetime,” she said. “Yet we’ve built a system that assumes they won’t.”
Elizabeth reframed the issue from a risk management perspective:
“We plan for fires, floods, and data breaches. But every employee will face a life event — a birth, a death, a health crisis — and most businesses are not prepared for that disruption.”
This insight transforms how we view care in the workplace. Life events aren’t “personal” problems; they’re continuity risks — predictable, recurring, and financially measurable.
THE COST OF IGNORING LIFE EVENTS
According to Elizabeth, for every dollar spent on preparedness, businesses save between $6 and $13 in recovery costs. Yet, most organizations fail to apply that logic to human sustainability.
When caregiving responsibilities collide with work, as they inevitably do, the consequences ripple across operations:
Loss of institutional knowledge
Declining productivity
Increased turnover
Burnout and disengagement
As Erin noted, “We lose trillions from women leaving the workforce, not because they want to, but because our systems make it impossible to stay.”
PLANNING FOR THE PREDICTABLE
Every company purchases fire insurance or invests in cybersecurity, but very few have “life event insurance.”
Preparedness, Elizabeth said, means identifying essential business functions and planning for who will carry them forward during an employee’s absence. Whether it’s parental leave, eldercare, illness, or bereavement, the risk is not if — it’s when.
She advises leaders to ask:
Who are the key people your business can’t function without?
What happens if they’re suddenly unavailable?
Have you built in support systems — like fractional or interim talent — to maintain continuity?
“Preparedness isn’t just about surviving disasters,” she said. “It’s about ensuring your people — and your business — can thrive through life.”
A NEW LENS FOR EMPLOYERS
Erin highlighted a common fear among founders: “Many business owners want to support paid leave but worry about operational strain. Preparedness changes that conversation.”
When companies normalize leave, and plan for it, they reduce anxiety on both sides. Erin points to organizations like THE BOARD which connect companies with experienced fractional leaders who can step in temporarily.
“Imagine if every company built life events into their continuity plan,” she said. “You’d not only protect your business, you’d strengthen trust, loyalty, and culture.”
FROM BURNOUT TO BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY
The conversation closed with a powerful reminder:
Moms, and caregivers in general, have long “figured it out.” But that patchwork approach comes at a cost: burnout, attrition, and, ultimately, business instability.
As Erin said, “We’re amazing, but we’re not superheroes. If we don’t build community and preparedness into our workplaces, the system breaks — and so do we.”
The outgoing U.S. Surgeon General once noted that parents were so overwhelmed they were getting sick. His conclusion?
“THE SOLUTION IS COMMUNITY.”
And that’s exactly what this conversation calls for — a collective shift from seeing care as a personal burden to recognizing it as a shared business responsibility.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Business continuity is human continuity. Life events are not disruptions — they’re realities every business must plan for.
Preparedness pays off. For every $1 invested in planning, companies save up to $13 in recovery costs.
Normalize leave and care. Treat caregiving as a strategic business risk, not a personal inconvenience.
Build systems before the crisis. Relationships, coverage plans, and fractional talent pools are your insurance.
Human sustainability = organizational resilience.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE Follow: @Chamber of Mothers and chamberofmothers.com to find a local chapter
Join the conversation: How is your company planning for life events as part of its business continuity strategy?
THE BOARD sits uniquely at the intersection of Brand, Business, and Culture. Fractional talent is the future, and THE BOARD is where it lives. 1:1 advisory, project-based experts, fractional leadership, and curated DREAM TEAMS to help you move faster, smarter, and with far less risk. Let’s talk!
