Our Story | Nathan McKenzie | McKenzie Risk Advisors

Who we are

I spent 25 years finding the thing most likely to take everything down — before it actually did.

Eleven years in the United States Air Force protecting mission-critical satellite communications. A decade walking into boardrooms and showing executives exactly where their operation was one bad day away from collapse.

Same work every time. Find the vulnerability before it finds you.

McKenzie Risk Advisors exists because that same vulnerability exists in every business and every family — and almost nobody has done anything about it. Not because they don't care. Because nobody ever sat across from them and showed them it was there.

We're changing that.

Nathan McKenzie

Founder, McKenzie Risk Advisors · Veteran

The first story

He built something from nothing.

Nobody ever taught him how to protect it.

My grandfather served in World War II, came home, and built a successful electrician business from nothing. When he got sick, the customers left. The debt got called in. Everything was gone within a year — because nobody had ever taught him how to protect the one thing the whole operation ran through. This is that story.

The Business Story

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The second story

We were living a great life.

Until everything changed overnight.

Most families are one bad diagnosis away from a conversation they've never had. When one person gets sick, the other faces a choice nobody prepares you for — the paycheck or the person you love. That's when the math falls apart for everyone. This is that story.

The Family Story

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What I learned from both of those stories

Three things that were always true — and nobody was saying out loud.

The vulnerability is always the person — never the asset.

Buildings can be rebuilt. Equipment can be replaced. The person whose relationships, knowledge, and leadership hold everything together — that's the one thing you can't replace. And it's almost never the one thing that's protected.

Nobody plans for it because nobody teaches it.

My grandfather wasn't negligent. He wasn't careless. Nobody ever sat across from him and showed him the gap. That's not unique to him. It's the rule, not the exception. The conversation that could have changed everything almost never happens in time.

Both stories are the same story.

A business that loses its key person. A family that loses its income. The mechanics are different. The outcome is the same. Everything the person spent their life building — gone, because nobody had a plan for the day they couldn't show up.

What this means for you

You don't need a product. You need the conversation nobody has had with you yet.

If you own a business — the question is who holds it together, and what happens to everything you've built if that person can't show up tomorrow.

If you have a family depending on your income — the question is what happens to them if your situation changes overnight.

In both cases the answer starts the same way. With an honest conversation about where you're actually exposed. Not a product pitch. Not a quote. A conversation.

That's what we do. And we lead with education — because most people tell us nobody ever explained this to them before.

How we operate

The principles that don't move.

Honesty over performance

If we don't know the answer we say so and find it. Trust is the whole business. We will never fake certainty to close something. We'd rather lose a sale than mislead someone.

Education before products

Most people don't have a plan because nobody ever showed them they needed one. We lead with the conversation — not the product. The plan follows the problem, not the other way around.

Relationships over transactions

We work closely with accountants, business attorneys, and financial advisors. We're a partner in your client's success, not a competitor for their attention.

The story behind the number

Every protection plan represents something real — a business someone spent their life building, a family someone is trying to protect. We never forget what the work is actually for.

The background

25 years of finding the vulnerability before it finds you. MBA.

1995 – 2000

United States Air Force — Satellite Communications Craftsman

Mission-critical communications systems. Failure was not an option. This is where the mindset was built — find every vulnerability before it becomes a crisis.

2000 – 2014

Information Security Leadership

Network Engineer through Deputy Director of IT Security. Exelis, Level 3 Communications, General Dynamics. Building the skill set that would define the next decade.

2014 – 2018

Managing Consultant — BKD CPAs & Advisors

Managing IT consultant for a $1B+ manufacturing company. Learning how the financial and advisory world operates from the inside.

2018 – 2023

Director of Information Security

CommonSpirit Health and Lazyday RV. Walking into boardrooms and showing leadership exactly where their operation was most exposed.

2023 – 2025

President / vCISO — McKenzie Consulting | MBA

Independent advisory practice. Discovering the one gap nobody was solving — the human vulnerability at the center of every operation.

Now

McKenzie Risk Advisors

Same work. Different asset. Affiliated with Impact Leadership Network.

The conversation

Most people tell us nobody ever asked them this question before.

30 minutes. No pitch. No pressure. Just an honest conversation about where you're exposed — and what to do about it.

30 minutes. We learn your situation. You find out where you may be exposed.

Find Out Where You're Exposed

Every family has one person the whole thing runs through.