Security Is a Superstition: Lessons from a Career Built on Risk

For most of my career, people have told me the same thing in different ways: play it safe. Stick with what works. Do not rock the boat.

In healthcare benefits especially, security is often treated as the highest virtue. Established vendors and familiar systems feel safer; staying the course feels responsible.

Over time, however, I have come to believe something different. In my experience, security is often a superstition, and standing still can be far riskier than moving forward.

Where My View on Risk Really Started

Before I ever founded a pharmacy benefits company, before I had a title or a mission statement, I was selling pizza boxes.

It is safe to say it was not glamorous work. There were lots of cold calls, rejection, and learning how to explain value to people who did not ask to hear from you. What it taught me was simple but lasting: nothing happens unless you are willing to put yourself out there. Comfort does not create progress, but action does.

Those early lessons shaped how I think about business and leadership. They followed me as I moved into healthcare and eventually into entrepreneurship. Building something from scratch forces honesty. Either you are solving a real problem, or you are not. There is nowhere to hide.

Why Healthcare Forces Harder Choices

Healthcare is an industry built on complexity and inertia. Large incumbents dominate because they are familiar and deeply embedded within the industry, not because they deliver the best outcomes.

I have seen how this plays out for employers, brokers, and TPAs: costs rise year after year, incentives remain misaligned, and decisions get delayed. Meanwhile, everyone is told this is simply how the system works.

That, however, is where the real risk lives.

Changing how pharmacy benefits work is not about chasing disruption, but about being honest enough to admit when the existing model no longer serves the people relying on it.

The Quote That Changed How I Think

One quote has stayed with me for years, especially during moments of uncertainty:

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." -Helen Keller

I do not read that as a call to recklessness, but as a reminder that avoiding discomfort does not eliminate risk. It just postpones it and often makes it worse.

In healthcare benefits, doing nothing has consequences for every stakeholder involved. It leads to employers paying more, patients waiting longer, and advisors being forced to defend systems they did not design and cannot fully explain.

Why Standing Still Is Not Neutral

Stability is often confused with safety, but stability in a broken system is a choice with real downstream effects. When we accept opaque pricing, misaligned incentives, or outdated models, we are absorbing risk quietly and passing it along to employers and patients.

At Rescription, my goal has never been to be provocative. It has been to be responsible, which means asking hard questions, building models that align incentives, and being willing to challenge norms that no longer make sense.

Coming Full Circle

Recently, I had the opportunity to return to my alma mater as an Entrepreneur in Residence. It was a meaningful full circle moment, not because of where I am now, but because of where I started.

When I spoke with students, I did not talk about certainty or perfect timing. I talked about conviction. I emphasized to them that you do not need all the answers to begin. What’s most important is a willingness to learn, adapt, and take responsibility for what you build.

That lesson applies just as much to healthcare benefits as it does to entrepreneurship.

What This Means for Brokers and Employers

For brokers and TPAs, leadership today means more than managing renewals or navigating complexity. It means deciding whether you are comfortable defending the status quo or ready to advocate for something better.

For employers, it means working with partners who understand that long-term security does not come from familiarity alone. Transparency, alignment, and the courage to rethink how healthcare benefits are designed is what will transform the definition of security within the industry.

Choosing Responsibility Over Comfort

Risk will always exist in healthcare, but the bigger question is whether you are willing to confront it honestly.

I have learned that the safest path forward is often the one that requires the most thought, the most discipline, and the most courage.

Security, when examined closely, is often just a story we tell ourselves.

Progress requires something else entirely.

Let’s connect on LinkedIn to talk further.