Heather Backer Toppen

She/her/hers

I am a seeker, a joyful woman who wonders how things work, why we build connection and what is possible.

I am a mother of 3 young adults. This has become my most enduring evolving role. It has been a process of reshaping from the inside out to be more myself. I wonder often if I will consider my children young adults forever. Mostly, because it allows me to stay in a perpetual state of becoming.

I consider my friendships/relationships one of my greatest blessings. I am a member of a small beach town on Lake Michigan where I have created a home for my family. As a single parent, community is key. I find I live like I work, creating connection through a heart centered approach.

The work I do or at least get paid for has people at the center. I started out as a social worker running a 24-hour crisis center fully staffed by volunteers. I transitioned into a leadership training program for an automotive manufacturing company near Detroit. Through some magical chain of events I was sent to Toyota for a year to learn the Toyota Production System. This was in the 90's when it was considered a 'waste elimination system' to improve productivity and quality. For the last 3 decades, I have been practicing and refining both my understanding of the system and how to teach and apply it's methods. The ultimate goal of the system is one of service to the community, customers and employees. I worked internally predominately for manufacturing companies and health systems until I started my own consulting business in 2023. My clients are now small mostly family owned companies that are growing quickly and need structures and systems in place for leadership to run the business and engage people to drive improvement. Ultimately, I support leaders to lead in a way that delivers value to the customer while leveraging the creativity and joy of the people in the business.

People and possibility, I love ideas and imagining what could be. Connection and freedom are my playground, there is an alchemy that happens when people come together to bring something into being. I am not as concerned with what is created as I am with how people create using a repeatable process again and again to iterate. The human spirit and mind are magnificent when harnessed through collaboration for a greater good..

Building a curriculum and learning model for the content I have been delivering so small businesses have access to a system that supports their growth through both the value to the customer and how they lead their people with a strong coaching component for skill building.

I feel called to teach this on a larger scale. I don't really know what that means but want to find out.

How it could change the way people experience their 40 hour work weeks and truly serve a community. Businesses are an integral part of any community and people are a part of both, co-creating the system the business uses to serve the customer and how leaders engage the employees excites me. It is a heart centered system that improves lives and just happens to deliver business performance.

It feels like a solo endeavor and I am a collaborator.

Starting.

I start when I am pushed or my existence necessitates I move forward.

If the platform isn't on fire I won't jump. Which makes me think of how I parented my children when they were young - I told them to 'look before they leap'. Now that they are adults - I tell them to 'leap and the net will appear'. Apparently, leaping is the goal!

Every time my back has really, really been against a wall I find a steely resolve that demands the best version of myself to arrive and in that moment a path presents itself. What I am so proud of is that I have the humility to ask spirit/universe for guidance, patience to look for the light and the confidence to act. I have honed this skill to use in service of others too. The dissolution of a marriage with young kids, lost jobs, the death of a child by suicide, a terminal illness of a partner, debilitating depression, death of a parent, infertility.

Let's discover more about each other together.

Forward movement. I have a concept and the benchmarks would be adding details and color to the image so it can be tested. I don't yet know the milestones but I suppose there would be 6 milestones - one for each month.

Personal accountability

Mentoring

Technology tips and tricks

Ask questions, seek clarity in my answers and call bullshit when you see it.

Deflecting, masterfully 'showing up' to help you move forward. It is easier for me to see and support you than to make myself a priority.

A program including the what/content and the how/modality for delivery - 6 months.

Build it - 12 months.

Test it and use it - beyond.

My move to the Santa Fe New Mexico area.

The use of my program by leaders in 25 companies is serving 5.000+ employees and the communities where they live.

*I have a property that serves women in transition - not necessarily crisis but going from one way of living to another. It is designed as communal living. That's all I got so far!