#137 | Kelly Berkompas | Wildfire Preparedness

Kelly Berkompas, co-founder of Brandguard Vents, on ember-resistant vents and preparing homes for wildfires. Kelly Berkompas is a passionate advocate for wildfire home preparedness and risk management, playing a key role, as Co-Founder, in expanding awareness and adoption of Brandguard Vents, an industry leader in ember-resistant vent technology. With a background in business development, strategic partnerships, and risk advisory, she is dedicated to educating homeowners, builders, architects, insurance companies and policymakers on the importance of fire mitigation solutions in an era of increasing wildfire threats. She is also a dedicated mother of four children, she is passionate about health, fitness, and community resilience. For more information about Kelly, please check out: https://www.brandguardvents.com Chapters 0:00 Welcome Kelly Berkompas 2:30 Orange County and growing up elsewhere 5:03 Swimming and running 7:36 Driving cross country 10:00 Winning on The Price Is Right 12:32 Southern California weather 15:03 The vibe of LA 17:32 A job at Procter and Gamble 20:02 A brutal boss 22:33 The Old Fire of 2003 25:02 Building cheaply without thinking about embers 27:32 California fire zone building codes 30:00 Older homes in the Palisades and Altadena 32:34 Putting the business together 35:00 Manufacturing in Commerce 37:31 A wake-up call 40:01 Rebuilding with the best materials 42:33 How neighbourhoods will change 45:00 Underinsured and selling to developers 47:34 Renters who lost everything 50:03 Educating insurers and fire officials 52:34 Carrying the stress as a founder 55:00 Selling to Tenmat 57:30 Keeping a design relevant 1:00:01 Ventilation and balcony collapses 1:02:32 How vents are tested 1:05:04 Fire spreading house to house 1:07:36 Hazard zones and insurance 1:10:00 Help from the air 1:12:32 Learning to assess properties 1:15:04 Homes that survived 1:17:37 Moving from idea to business 1:20:00 Proof that it makes a difference 1:22:33 Selling a fire-resistant home 1:25:02 A libertarian's view 1:27:30 Disclosure and home inspections 1:30:00 Communities burn together 1:32:30 Brush against the house 1:35:03 Thank you and goodbye The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com