YoStella: Build a Better Business - Inspiration for Improving Your Brand, Marketing & People
Each year on Fat Tuesday, New Orleans throws a “Stella and Stanley” party. This annual event honors local boy and world-famous author Tennessee Williams and his masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire.
The movie version is notorious for the scene where Stanley, Marlon Brando in a tight white vest, yells “Stella-a-a-a-a-!” up the tenement stairs to his wife. “Stella” might be the most repeated movie line ever and Brando never needed to act again except, he said, for the money. Like a legendary actor, businesses need to cultivate their craft: building an amazing brand, elevating creativity, and growing authentic connections.
At StellaPop, we believe every business has a masterpiece in them.
YoStella: Build a Better Business - Inspiration for Improving Your Brand, Marketing & People
Crisis-Proofing GovCon: How Federal Contractors Survive and Win During a Crisis
The stakes in GovCon don’t just feel high—they are. We pull back the curtain on how federal contractors survive the inevitable crisis moments that test every control, every habit, and every layer of leadership calm. From a failed deliverable to a DFARS-reportable cyber incident, we show how the difference between a termination for default and a follow-on win comes down to four pillars: speed, clarity, accountability, and resilience.
We start by naming the problem precisely—operational, compliance, financial, or reputational—because labels drive obligations in the federal world. Then we dig into the real mechanics of moving fast without spinning: immediate CO notification, a battle-tested crisis communications SOP, and a red team that meets quarterly and runs realistic tabletop drills. Along the way, we share concrete scripts and timing, the anatomy of a fact-only memo, and the cadence of updates that calm oversight rather than trigger it.
Cyber risk gets special focus. We connect NIST 800‑171 controls and CMMC readiness to practical incident response, root-cause reporting, and the documentation the government expects. We dissect subcontractor exposure—how to vet security posture, encode instant incident notifications into subcontracts, and ensure insurance actually covers your risk. On the financial front, we explain how to pre-build an allowable crisis cost buffer so you can pay for forensics, remediation, and surge labor without stalling performance or begging for ceiling relief.
To bring it home, we walk through a mid-sized IT prime that faced a sub-driven cloud exposure and still won the follow-on by moving in 12 hours, owning the failure, hardening systems, and over-delivering for 90 days. The message is simple: a crisis is the government’s most intense audit of your capability and character. Play it right, and it becomes proof of value—not a career-ending event.
If this helped sharpen your playbook, follow the show, share it with your team, and leave a quick review. What would you add to your 90‑day rebuild plan?
Welcome back to the deep dive. Today we are strapping in for a look at the really high-stakes world of government contracting. GovCon.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:If you operate in this space, you know it's just well, it's a zero-sum game played under an intense microscope.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Think thick compliance rules, really rigid deadlines, non-negotiable ones.
SPEAKER_01:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Stakeholders all over the map, right? One minute, it's the buy the book kernel focused only on mission uptime.
SPEAKER_00:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yeah. And the next, it's you know, someone deep in OMB, a spreadsheet warrior demanding justification for every single line item. It's intense.
SPEAKER_01:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: It really is. It's an environment where just doing good work, well, that's not nearly enough.
SPEAKER_00:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Nope. You've got to follow every rule, document every single step, protect data perfectly. Right. And that's just on a good day before a crisis inevitably hits.
SPEAKER_01:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Correctly.
SPEAKER_00:Trevor Burrus, So our mission today is really to stare right at that moment, the tipping point. Maybe it's a cyber attack, maybe a supply chain breakdown, or even a big leadership shakeup. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01:And figure out the steps, right? How do you manage that without losing the contract?
SPEAKER_00:Or worse. Trevor Burrus Getting blacklisted. Yeah. How do you navigate it?
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell So that's really the core idea we're starting with today. Crises in GovCon aren't like rare events. They're basically guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00:It's about the fallout.
SPEAKER_01:Right. How you manage that fallout, how fast you react, how clearly you show you're recovering. That's what separates the survivals from the companies that just, well, vanish.
SPEAKER_00:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Propriation transforms what could be an existential threat into more of a credibility audit, you could say.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell A credibility audit. I like that. So the choice isn't if you'll face one, but if you'll come out the other side seen as, you know, an even stronger partner. Okay, let's dig into this.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Yeah. And we have to start with definitions. Because in the federal world, specificity is king. The government needs crystal clarity on what kind of fire you're actually fighting.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Why is that label so critical up front?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Because if you misdiagnose it, well you lose control of the response narrative instantly. And you lose their confidence faster than you can even think about getting a contract mod approved.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so what are these categories? The ones we absolutely have to get right.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell The sources lay out four really distinct buckets. You have to use the right label. First, there's the operational crisis. Okay. This is probably the most straightforward. Simply you can't deliver what you promised, delayed milestones, systems breaking down, maybe big workforce shortages. It's a delivery problem. Got it.
SPEAKER_01:The basic wheels fell off the bus scenario.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Pretty much, yeah. Second, and this one can get really toxic fast, is the compliance crisis. Ah, this means you've actually broken the rules. Think failed audits, serious data mishandling, or not complying with mandatory clauses like the FAR or DFARS.
SPEAKER_01:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Wait, wait. You mentioned FAR and DFARS there. For people maybe more used to the commercial side, why do those specific regulations make a compliance crisis so much more dangerous than just an operational slip-up?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell That's a great question. Because the FRR, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and its defense supplement, DFARS, they mandate very specific actions, especially around cybersecurity reporting and protecting CUI-controlled unclassified information. So if you have a data breach, for instance, and you didn't follow the DFAR seven and twelve clause on protection and reporting, that's not just a security oops. It's a direct contractual breach.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Which could lead to termination.
SPEAKER_00:Termination for default, absolutely. It's baked into the contract language. It's a legal requirement, not just, you know, a best practice.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Wow. Okay. That definitely raises the stakes. What about the financial angle?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell That brings us to number three, the financial crisis. This is when the numbers just don't work anymore. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01:Like cost overruns.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Massive cost overruns hitting the contract ceiling price. Or maybe you underbid so badly performance isn't sustainable, or even solvency problems if government payments are delayed. It hits the contract's basic stability.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Makes sense. And the last one.
SPEAKER_00:Finally, number four is the reputational crisis. This is where your credibility, your future viability as a contractor really comes into question.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell So negative press, whistleblowers.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Yeah. Negative media, damaging whistleblower claims, anything that makes the government publicly lose faith in your leadership or your basic integrity.
SPEAKER_01:And the danger is calling, say, a serious DFARS violation just an operational hiccup.
SPEAKER_00:You do that, and you've immediately told the contracting officer, the CEO, that you don't understand the rules of the game. You've lost the trust battle right there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01:Which leads us perfectly into strategy one speed. Speed beats spin.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. In GovCon, delay is just deadly. Federal processes don't bend easily. If a key deliverable is seriously at risk or some kind of incident happens, you must notify the CEO immediately. It's mandatory.
SPEAKER_01:And the government side, they can handle bad news.
SPEAKER_00:Surprisingly, yes. They understand complexity, they know things go wrong. What they absolutely cannot tolerate is silence. Or worse, finding out you tried to hide something.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell, this is where we really need to reframe how we think about the CEO, isn't it? Not just the contract admin.
SPEAKER_00:Right. They're not just processing paperwork.
SPEAKER_01:In a crisis, they basically manage your fate. If they feel blindsided or if they hear about your problem from somewhere else, like the news or their own security photos.
SPEAKER_00:You've lost all control. Game over, potentially.
SPEAKER_01:But isn't there a temptation to wait to say, let's just get a handle on this first, maybe fix it quietly. Why is silence so bad?
SPEAKER_00:Because silence implies you're either hiding something, which is bad faith, or frankly, that you're incompetent and don't even know what's happening. Okay. Plus, when a crisis breaks, there's a clock running on the government side too. They have their own internal reporting chains, maybe even legal or congressional notification timelines they have to meet.
SPEAKER_01:Ah, so telling them quickly helps them manage their side.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. You bring them into the loop. It makes them part of the solution, not just the recipient of bad news later. It shifts you from being a problem to them to being a partner with them in fixing it.
SPEAKER_01:Which requires a plan.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Which is why you need a formal crisis communications SOP, a standard operating procedure. It's not optional.
SPEAKER_01:What needs to be in that SOP?
SPEAKER_00:It has to be crystal clear. Who specifically contacts the Keo? Who drafts that first factual memo, just the facts, who handles talking to any subs involved, and who's scanning the news and social media?
SPEAKER_01:Clarity beats chaos.
SPEAKER_00:Every single time. Trying to figure that out during the fire is a crisis itself.
SPEAKER_01:And that kind of organized speed, it obviously needs planning before anything happens, which takes us to strategy two, the pre-crisis defense.
SPEAKER_00:Right. You shouldn't be hunting for the CEO's phone number when the alarms are going off.
SPEAKER_01:So what does that defense look like?
SPEAKER_00:You need to build your red team before you need it. This isn't just a list of names, it's a functional team with real authority. And they need to meet regularly, like quarterly, even if things are fine.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Who's on this red team typically?
SPEAKER_00:It has to be cross-functional. You need the program manager, they know the ops, the compliance officer, they know the FARD FARS maze, the CFO for the money impact, legal counsel, obviously. And crucially, your communications or PR lead for the narrative.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell And just meeting isn't enough, right? The sources talk about actually practicing.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Yes. Quarterly tabletop exercises. Not just reading a plan, but running through scenarios, like a fire drill. You build muscle memory.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell So give us an example. What kind of scenarios?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Things like, okay, what if our prime system goes down completely? Total failure? Or a major cyber breach impacting CUI? Or maybe a key subcontractor suddenly goes bankrupt, supply chain collapse.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Let's take the cyber breach tabletop. What would the team physically do in that drill?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Okay, so the alert hits, the comms lead immediately starts drafting that CO notification memo based only on the confirmed facts, aiming for like under 30 minutes. Wow, it has to be. Simultaneously, the PM is working with IT to isolate affected systems. The compliance officer is double checking the specific reporting window required by that contract. Is it 72 hours? 24 hours? Got it. The goal is to eliminate the panage, what do we do now debate. The only debate should be about the specifics of this event because the process itself is already drilled. In sync, not confusion.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So that preparation is done, the crisis hits. Now it's about execution. Strategy three, communication and accountability.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. And your core job now is basically to be the grown-up in the room.
SPEAKER_01:Reduce the government's stress level.
SPEAKER_00:Precisely. They have enough internal pressures. You need to project calm confidence. And your communication has to nail three things. First, transparent, meaning. State the problem clearly, state the impact clearly, and state the plan clearly in plain English, no jargon. Don't try to minimize or hide the scope.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Second, consistent. This is huge. If the PM tells the technical contact one thing, and legal tells the CO something slightly different. Suspicion goes through the roof. Instantly. Everyone needs to be on the exact same page using the same core message.
SPEAKER_01:In third.
SPEAKER_00:Proactive. Don't just sit back and wait for them to ask what's broken. Yeah. You need to be telling them what you're actively fixing, what new controls are going in, what the updated realistic timeline looks like for getting back on track.
SPEAKER_01:And that proactive sort of steady hand approach. That's where you build capital, right?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Communicating like that, even amidst chaos, gains you immense credibility. And in GovCon, that credibility, that perception of stability is currency. It keeps you in the game for the next contract.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Let's shift to strategy four. Getting into the really practical dangers. Tech, subs, and money.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Right. And let's start with tech, because honestly, most GovCon crises these days have a digital component, ransomware, data leaks, nation-state stuff.
SPEAKER_01:It's not if, it's when.
SPEAKER_00:That's the absolute consensus. So digital mitigation needs a three-phase approach. Pre-crisis, you have to be laser focused on NIST 800 171 compliance, good security hygiene, and working towards CMMC readiness.
SPEAKER_01:Trevor Burrus, Jr.: CMMC, the cybersecurity maturity model certification. That's the big requirement rolling out now. How does being, say, CMMC level three ready before a crisis actually help mitigate it? Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00:Because CMMC level three, for example, requires you to have a mature, documented, and tested incident response plan that the government essentially pre-approved through the certification process. So when the attack happens, you're not scrambling to invent a plan. You're activating a known, verified, compliant process that cuts down response time dramatically.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, and post-crisis.
SPEAKER_00:Then the work shifts. Deep forensics to find the root cause, serious system hardening to prevent recurrence, and delivering that formal root cause analysis report to the government.
SPEAKER_01:And documentation is key here.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, totally. Documentation is like the love language of federal oversight. You can't just say you fixed it. You have to prove it with logs, audits, evidence that will stand up to scrutiny.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, cyber threats covered. What about the external risks? Subcontractors are often the weak link, right?
SPEAKER_00:Classic vulnerability. And remember, the prime contractor is always on the hook for their subs failures. Your contract is only as secure as your weakest partner's cybersecurity.
SPEAKER_01:So beyond just checking a box, what are the real best practices for managing sub-risk?
SPEAKER_00:You need to vet them, almost like you're hiring a key executive. Really dig in. Audit their compliance. Do they meet the same NIST or CMMC level required for the prime contract? Review their incident response plans. Check their insurance. Is it actually adequate for a major breach they cause?
SPEAKER_01:And then write it into the contract.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. You must embed mandatory immediate crisis notification protocols right into the subcontract agreement itself. Specify how quickly they must tell you if something happens. Silence from a sub can kill the Prime's contract.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Vetting, contracts, what about the money? All this crisis response sounds expensive.
SPEAKER_00:It is. Forensics, overtime pay, maybe emergency tech purchases, legal fees, audits. It adds up fast. And if those costs blow through your contract ceiling price, you've got a financial crisis layered on top of whatever started it. Exactly. Which is why the SMART move is to build a contingency buffer into your indirect cost pools before any crisis hicks.
SPEAKER_01:A contingency buffer? Like a rainy day fund. How do you justify that with federal cost accounting rules? Don't they usually dislike general reserves?
SPEAKER_00:They do dislike vague reserves, but you can justify this if it's specifically documented as a necessary cost for maintaining contract compliance and operational resilience in a higher risk environment.
SPEAKER_01:So you tie it to things like probable cyber threats.
SPEAKER_00:Precisely. You reference the high likelihood of cyber incidents, the mandatory reporting costs under frameworks like DFORS. It's not padding, it's planned crisis cash.
SPEAKER_01:And the benefit.
SPEAKER_00:It means you can pay for that expensive forensic audit or remediation effort without stopping work on the program and without immediately running to the CEO asking for more money, which just looks unprepared. It protects your cash flow and your professional image.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so let's say you've done all this, you've weathered the initial storm, the systems are being hardened, the CEO knows what's going on, you survived, but that's only half of it, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell Right. Surviving isn't thriving.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell What does that rebuilding phase look like? How do you go from just being the survivor to being seen again as that trusted strategic partner?
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell It takes deliberate, visible action. Three key things. First, deliver a really clean, fact-based actor-action report. No spin, no finger pointing. Focus on lessons learned and where your organization needed to improve. Own it. Own it completely. Second, share the specific tangible changes you've made. New controls, new security systems, maybe even changes in leadership or personnel if they were part of the failure. Show. Don't just tell.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And third, you commit visibly to over-delivering for the next, say, 90 days. Go above and beyond. You need to actively demonstrate this was an anomaly and that your strength and resilience is now actually a competitive advantage for them.
SPEAKER_01:It's about proving resilience, not pretending you were perfect.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Long-term trust in GovCon isn't built on perfection because everyone knows that's impossible. It's built on documented, proven resilience.
SPEAKER_01:We actually have a perfect case study for this, a mid-sized IT firm working on a big federal program. They had a major breach of sub-left sensitive data exposed on a misconfigured cloud server. Ouch.
SPEAKER_00:That's compliance and reputational crisis right there.
SPEAKER_01:Big time. But they didn't just survive it. Six months later, they actually won the follow-on contract.
SPEAKER_00:How did they pull that off?
SPEAKER_01:Total accountability, textbook execution. Within 12 hours, they notified the CO, launched their pre-approved incident response plan, they cut the problematic sub loose quickly, hardened all their systems, and delivered a transparent root cause analysis well within the required time frame.
SPEAKER_00:That's the playbook. That example shows exactly how crises test leadership, doesn't it? Yeah. Can you stay calm under fire? Can you balance the rules with the reality on the ground? Could you deliver the hard truths without panicking?
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell And the ones who pass that test.
SPEAKER_00:They become the partners the government wants to keep. They've proven they can handle the tough stuff, the inevitable bumps in the road. They become more valuable, not less.
SPEAKER_01:So when we boil it all down, what does this mean for folks listening? Successfully navigating these GovCon crises seems to rest on four key pillars we've talked about.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think so. Speed getting that notification out fast, clarity in your communication, no mixed messages, accountability owning the problem fully, and resilience demonstrating you fixed it and are stronger for it.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Speed, clarity, accountability, resilience. Got it.
SPEAKER_00:And maybe here's the final thought, kind of a provocative one for you to chew on. Managing a crisis well isn't really the end of something. It's actually the most intense audit your federal client will ever conduct on your organization.
SPEAKER_01:An audit of everything.
SPEAKER_00:Everything. Your capabilities, your character, your compliance culture, your leadership calm. Play it right, use those buffers, have that red team ready, tell the CO instantly, and it becomes proof of your value, a path to even greater credibility. And if you fail that audit, the government won't just end that one contract. They'll likely shut down your entire future pipeline with them. So the choice is pretty stark, isn't it? Prepare now.
