Episode 25 of Straight Outta Workers’ Comp features Bob Wilson and his co-host Mark Pew in conversation with Chelsea Strawn, founder of Lighthouse Comp, a Tennessee-based case management firm built on the conviction that processing a claim and actually caring for an injured worker are two very different things. Chelsea shares her remarkable path into the industry—a catastrophic work-related accident of her own that broke her back, cost her a year of employment, and gave her firsthand understanding of the fear, financial anxiety, and loss of control injured workers face—and how that lived experience now shapes the empathy-driven approach she teaches her nurses. The wide-ranging discussion covers the difference between sympathy and empathy, why fraud is far rarer than people assume (and often confused with malingering or depression), the critical role of clear communication and honest expectation-setting, the importance of including families in the recovery process, and how transparency can dismantle the deep-seated mistrust many injured workers feel toward case managers. Equal parts personal, practical, and occasionally irreverent, it’s a candid look at what it truly means to walk alongside someone during one of the most difficult chapters of their life.
