80. Built Different: The Ethos Story w/ Chelsea Ryckis & Donovan Ryckis

The benefits industry is broken. $37,824. That's the average cost of a family of four on an employer-sponsored health plan in 2026 and it's growing at 9% a year. So how did we get here, and what does it actually look like to fight back?

In this episode, host Austin Townend sits down with Chelsea Ryckis (President) and Donovan Ryckis (CEO) of Ethos Benefits for the origin story nobody asked for but everyone needs to hear. From Donovan's background as a fiduciary securities advisor who saw the same conflicts in healthcare and couldn't look away, to Chelsea getting hit in the head with a softball and learning the hard way that you can run but you can't hide from medical debt... this is the story of how Ethos was built different on purpose.

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What You'll Learn

Why Donovan left a lucrative securities career to fix a bigger problem in healthcare

Chelsea's personal experience with medical debt and how it shaped the Ethos mission

The real definition of fiduciary — and the three things it actually requires

Why there is zero fiduciary standard in insurance (and what that means for you)

The $37,824 number every employer needs to hear

A claim is a dollar, not a condition — and why that distinction changes everything

The four things you can do with healthcare risk: reduce, avoid, retain, or transfer