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🔥😌 Calm in the Chaos: Real-World Incident Management (and the Stuff We Don’t Talk About)

by Sara Heitkamp | at Minnebar20

Let’s be honest—incident management isn’t just about dashboards, severity levels, and status updates. It’s about people. It’s about pressure. And sometimes… it’s about quietly wondering if everything is falling apart (including you).

In this session, we’ll go beyond theory and into the real world of incident response—where communication gets messy, decisions aren’t imperfect, and the difference between chaos and control often comes down to how we show up in the moment.

Through real-world scenarios (names and minor details changed to protect the privacy of those involved), we’ll break down what actually works during high-severity incidents—how to create calm, structure, and clarity when everything feels urgent.

We’ll also go where many talks don’t: the uncomfortable parts. The missteps. The failures. The moments where things didn’t go as planned—and what we learned from them.

You’ll walk away with practical approaches to: • Leading incidents with confidence and clarity • Running and participating in truly blameless postmortems • Using premortems and proactive strategies to prevent incidents before they happen • Influencing a culture of reliability—even when priorities compete

And because growth doesn’t stop at work, we’ll briefly explore how these same practices—reflection, ownership, and learning—can be applied to our personal lives, including navigating career setbacks with intention and clarity.

This session is interactive—come ready to reflect, share your own experiences, and learn from others. Because the most valuable lessons in incident management don’t come from slides… they come from the stories we’re willing to tell.

Sara Heitkamp

I’m a people-first, high-energy engineering leader specializing in Site Reliability Engineering, Incident leadership, and operational resilience at scale with 10+ years of experience managing Incidents and living the #oncalllife spanning Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 companies across e-commerce retail, telecommunications, SaaS, and highly regulated healthcare, leading reliability, performance, and engineering functions at scale. I've recently wondered is everything falling apart?! as I've navigated career losses, my son's autism diagnosis and worked through health issues (including surviving septic shock).

Known for strengthening system reliability and cultivating high-performing teams, I collaborate across engineering, product, infrastructure, and business functions to execute complex cross-organizational initiatives while fostering environments grounded in clarity, accountability, and psychological safety. I bring energy, momentum, and even joy to the work so that people and platforms thrive together.

At the core of my leadership philosophy is the belief that reliability is both a technical and cultural discipline. I lead with energy and positivity, intentionally creating a team environment where people feel safe, supported, and even have fun—because I’ve seen firsthand that when people enjoy working together, they perform better, solve problems faster, and show up strong even on the hard days.

I’m a mom to a 22-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son, and raising them has been both my greatest joy and my greatest teacher. I love creating moments of adventure, curiosity, and connection with them. Outside of work, I’m drawn to movement and growth—whether that’s volleyball, strength training, yoga, learning a new skill or getting lost in a good book. I’m always exploring ways to live with more intention, energy, and authenticity.

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