Summer Minnick
Deputy Executive Director & CMO
MML
“Working with Heidi has been transformational for me. She challenges me to think about situations from multiple vantage points and figures out how to get the best out of my team. My growth as a leader is directly tied to working with Heidi. She is a highly effective executive coach who walks the line perfectly between pushing you and your potential, and celebrating your progress. I love her! 😊.”
Melvin Gottschalk, Jr., MBA
“Pat Riley said ‘Great effort springs naturally from great attitude.’ Heidi Frye’s executive coaching enlightened me to the truth behind these words. She helped me understand where I was, where I wanted to go, and challenged me to make it happen. Along the way she provided insight and education, while making sure that I continued to hold myself accountable. I would not be where I am today without Heidi and highly recommend her leadership coaching to anyone focused on their own development and their team’s success.”
Suzette Jaskie
(Former CEO of West Michigan Heart and MedAxiom Consulting)
“What a great asset Heidi has been to our team. We have worked with her on recruiting projects and team building initiatives. We found her creative and insightful approach invaluable to the team. We also have engaged Heidi as a coach to some of the key staff – always believing that we all are better with a coach. Heidi in essence became part of our team and was able to assist key leaders in advancing their leadership approach and in turn—able to produce better results for the corporation. I would recommend Heidi without reservation!”
S.J., Amazon Reader
“THE LIGHT SWITCH by Heidi Frye is both an excellent tutorial for leaders wanting to hone their leadership skills thereby enhancing their impact and an insightful guide to self-awareness. The author was clever in engaging the reader into active retrospection, which simply couldn’t be avoided, and therefore a richer experience. The thing I loved most about the book is that the insight and lessons apply not only to leaders, but to all that are involved in relationships-both professional and personal, which of course is most everyone. When I finished the book, I found wanting to read more by this author.”
Juli B.
CFO
“Working with Heidi was one of the most rewarding experiences in my career. I am a better leader, co-worker and person utilizing the skills I have learned with the short time we spent together. She has been one of the most influential people in my life. I would recommend her expertise to anyone inspired to invest in advancing their career and organization.”
Consultant
“If I had to name Heidi's greatest strengths, they would be her bias for action and her desire for results. If you want to move forward, get things done, and are not afraid to take on the work involved in professional development, then Heidi Frye is the coach or consultant for you.”
Amber Ginop
Director of Marketing
Hexarmor
“I had the opportunity to be a part of Heidi's ‘Emerging Leaders’ program last year. From day one, Heidi brought so much energy, wisdom, and perspective to our group. Each person in the program had very different backgrounds, personalities, and department responsibilities – which can sometimes make workshops challenging. Heidi saw this as a strength instead of a hurdle. She challenged and showed us how to increase empathy individually and as a team. Through various tools and exercises, Heidi dug deep into what made each of us ‘tick,’ teaching us how to communicate more effectively with each other now that we had that shared knowledge. One year later, my colleagues and I still use the tools Heidi gave us! This program brought us much closer as a group, and we had a ton of fun along the way. Some may call her processes unconventional, but once we all released our egos and let our guard down, the workshops were a game-changer for our emerging leaders' group! 😊”
Neha Hackman
CFO
“In just two sessions, Heidi changed my mindset. She figured out in no time that I had trust issues. I am more emotionally strong in both my workplace and my love life. Today, I am happily married and am successful in my career.”
Principal Engineer
“Heidi's authentic coaching gave me another toolbox of skills that helped me lead effectively. She helped me reach my potential.”
S.F.
Director of Category Management
“I was fortunate enough to get to work with Heidi through an emerging leaders training that she facilitated at our company. I’ve been in leadership positions for a handful of years, and I wish I would have had the opportunity to work with Heidi much earlier in my journey. She brought us practical and effective tools that we could immediately implement within our teams. While going through this 6-month development program there were a handful of takeaways, but the two that had the greatest impact in my professional life were: 1) gaining a deeper understanding of how to interact with a variety of people, and 2) further defining who I want to be as a leader. If you are looking to grow in your career and/or become a more effective leader, then I would highly recommend working with Heidi!”
J.C.
Director of Marketing
Meijer
“In one sentence: Heidi made me a better leader, employee, spouse, and friend. She proved to me that having a deep understanding of who you are comes before you can understand others. She put me on a journey that gave me more control over my mind; and to not always believe what the mind thinks. Life is about choices and when you know what you want, it’s easy come decision time. Heidi is an outstanding coach that helped me achieve more than I thought I could, in a short period of time.”
Julie L. Novak
Chief Executive Officer
Michigan State Medical Society
“I started working with Heidi about 18 months into my tenure as CEO, and at first it felt like a bit of an indulgence but I soon realized it was essential to my growth as a leader. In the early days, she put a variety of concepts and tools in my path and they are things I go back to again and again. Now I use the time to problem solve, “unpack” my current challenges, and find a way to move forward on complex situations.”
Matt Schad
CEO
Nucraft Furniture
“For the past two years Nucraft has worked with Heidi to create internal peer groups to improve our internal communications and teamwork skills. These groups also serve as development opportunities for our associates as they learn leadership, communication and other critical skills. Heidi facilitates these groups and the feedback has been uniformly positive from the participants. These groups are becoming the foundation of a unique development experience that we provide at Nucraft. We have also called on Heidi to work with several Nucraft associates individually to build important management, leadership, communication skills, and to develop a better understanding of their strengths and opportunities for improvement. Heidi and UPwords have become a trusted Nucraft advisor.”
Healthcare Executive
“Heidi's leadership coaching helped move me forward when I was stuck. She was able to hold my experiences while lending keen insights in what I could do to improve my relationships and outcomes. I don't hesitate when recommending Heidi to others.”
Anonymous
“Heidi Frye has been a wonderful coach and a great inspiration to me over the past few years. I was connected with Heidi for leadership coaching two years ago. Understanding my desire for self-development and leadership growth, she worked closely with me to expand and strengthen my personal skills….an invaluable experience! I continue to use the tools she provided to me in both work and at home. Heidi is an extremely talented executive business coach.”
Steve Okland
Chief Commercial Officer, Caldera Medical
LinkedIn Testimonial
“Heidi is on the short list of most influential people I've worked for. The first skill set I think of, since I was fortunate to work with her early in our careers, is her professional selling skills. Simply one of the best sales people I've observed; smart, great listener, puts customers at ease, naturally gets others talking about problems and solutions. Customers love and respect her. The second talent I would note is her natural leadership ability. The early successes at BSC were driven by unique individuals who set the tone, personality and culture of the company. Heidi was one of those few individuals that set the standard, the tone, for the whole organization. Lastly, Heidi is one of the really good people in this business. Impeccable character, ethics, values and principles. The respect she received from peers and management and customers could easily be overshadowed by her down-to-earth interactive style. People are always comfortable working with Heidi, and they respect her. Happy to provide details and examples for those interested in learning more.”
Jeanne Herold
Managing Director, Enterprise Client Leader - Aon
LinkedIn Testimonial
“Heidi has provided valuable personal insight and coaching to improve my professional results with benefits that improved my work/balance life as well. I would recommend Heidi to assist operations with motivation, networking, corporate presence, sales motivation and goal setting priorities.”
A.H.
“I received professional coaching with Heidi for a little over a year, and it was one of the most influential times of my life. I am much more confident with who I am as a professional, a manager and as a person. She sees the best in you and finds a way to draw it out. I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to meet with her. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Heidi’s guidance.”
Lori Stokes
Materials Manager
“I have reached out to Heidi during the many phases of my management career for leadership coaching. Her advice and wisdom has helped me identify ways to grow professionally as a individual and leader. She is honest, professional, and highly insightful. I am extremely thankful for her straight-forward approach and feel blessed to have received her guidance.”
Pamela T. Jerdee
Senior Training and Education Manager
LinkedIn Testimonial
“Heidi Frye was a top performer for many years while she was a sales representative at Boston Scientific. The reason she won the sales awards year after year was because of the professional relationships she developed with the physicians she called on. She was knowledgeable and credible and customers enjoyed buying from her and working with her. She is passioniate about her work and has incredible determination. She is successful at everything she does. With great pleasure I can give the highest recommendation for Heidi Frye.”
Brandy DeWilde
Remote Sales & Relationship Management Leader - LinkedIn Testimonial
“Heidi provided training to our 200+ audience for ManufacturingNEXT through Inforum. The presentation was eye opening, well researched, and clearly resonated with our diverse audience in the manufacturing industry. Heidi's insight was like a ring of keys for those looking to get through locked doors.”
F.T.H.
“Every once and awhile in one's career there comes a time when things start to fall apart. Maybe you don't realize it, but others do. Whatever made you tick before is just off and you have, for now, lost your way. I experienced this recently and was fortunate to be introduced to Heidi through my employer. It wasn't what I wanted to do but it was ‘recommended.’ You know how that goes. My experience with Heidi provided me with a hopeful, trusting sounding board each week who helped me see my strengths and some of my weaknesses. Yes, they were there. In the six months that I worked with Heidi, her consistent, positive attitude allowed me to see needed areas of improvement in myself. Key to this was knowing that I had let my relationships at work slip in reaction to getting the work done! With her guidance, I was able to reconnect with many of my staff that I had ignored in some ways and found the opportunity to make my future relationships better and stronger. Time with Heidi will benefit you in your life and in your work. I looked forward to my sessions. You will too. Working with Heid is well worth your commitment and your peace of mind, both professionally and personally, for the future.”
Stephan W. Waltman
Vice President – Sales & Marketing
Stiles Machinery, Inc.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for the service that you have provided Stiles Machinery for the last 15 years. Your contributions as a recruiter and consultant have been immeasurable. My staff and I have all benefitted significantly from your energy and professionalism. Personally, I feel privileged to have had access to your advice and counsel. We look forward to many more years of partnership.”
George Ward
Director IT Business Relationship Management
Adient
LinkedIn Testimonial
“In my experience with Heidi, she demonstrated exceptional skills in building and managing Executive level relationships within her customer accounts. Heidi is one of the most respectful and professional people I've had the pleasure work with in my career. Heidi has been very helpful in providing advice and recommendations to me on industry change and career planning.”
J.T.
“Heidi really helped bring our team out of our shells. She helped us see the strengths and weaknesses in all of us and helped us to build bonds that serve our organization well today. She challenged us and found creative ways to learn and apply new concepts. Her coaching has been instrumental at moving us forward as a leadership team.”
Linda M. Peasley Ph.D. & Sally A. Camper
Department Administrator Prof. and Chair
The University of Michigan Medical School
Department of Human Genetics
“The Department of Human Genetics would like to thank you for presenting the 'Dealing with Conflicts' workshop last weekend at our annual retreat. It was well-received and a lot of fun. Our graduate students certainly appreciated the various exercises and, most of all, the role playing. Getting into conflict resolution seemed the most beneficial to them. The students took away with them the concepts of 1) it’s good to get out of your comfort zone, and 2) pick your battles. The interactions with faculty, students, postdocs and staff created a good dynamic and also gave everyone an opportunity to get to know each other outside of the laboratory. Look forward to working with you in the future.”
Lisa Cooper, PHR, SHRM-CP
LinkedIn Testimonial.
“We hired Heidi in 2011 to help develop one of our high-potential managers. Heidi was able to relate very well with this individual and help her to grow. It was not easy but Heidi was up for the challenge and we were able to see great progress being made. I would highly recommend her as an executive coach for your team.”
Larry Gibbons
VP HR -
Kinectrics Inc.
“I have worked with many executive search firms across the USA and Canada. Upwords Inc. has proven to be among the best, coming through where others have failed to meet our needs. In recent searches for Business Development and sales professionals, Heidi Frye has demonstrated her ability to understand our needs and then to go out and find unique individuals with a strong technical background and the ability to effectively sell our services to a very discriminating customer base. Heidi is a delight to work with and a true professional.”
Kathie Malone
HexArmor
Email Testimonial
Hi, Heidi.
Just wanted to say Hello! I hope you are doing well.
I often refer to my journal, notes, and book, and I appreciate the relationships I formed with our group. The additional confidence the training gave me is awesome — thank you!
I hope our paths cross again soon.
Kathie
Gina TenHoopen
Account Manager
Benefits Resource Group, LLC
LInkedIn Testimonial
“I would never have thought that meeting a professional coach would be fun, empowering, and positively life-changing…but my experience with Heidi Frye was exactly that! Feeling “stuck” or like your words come out “wrong” can be debilitating in both business and interpersonal relationships. Having the experience and enthusiasm of a professional coach like Heidi helped me turn the “wrongs” into “rights” – and the results have been amazing! Heidi’s method is engaging, motivating, honest, and results driven. She gives you real techniques to put into practice on day #1, and more importantly, the confidence that you really can make the changes, and get to the next level. Being able to feel that shift in your perspective, and behavior, are priceless. From my perspective, you could not find a better leadership coach than Heidi Frye. She truly is a genius when it comes to getting results!”
J.
Your voice has been in my mind all day today! I had to email you!! …(I’m) out of my comfort zone and now I am feeling empowered. I just want to thank you for all of our talks.
Today, I'm recognizing my growth.
Jennifer J. Rook
Senior Digital Content Marketing Strategist Lead
Littelfuse = LinkedIn Testimonial
“I had the pleasure of attending Heidi's seminar on communication styles. She is an outstanding presenter - very engaging and a master of the material. I found her delivery to be honest and invigorating. I believe we all left the seminar feeling smarter and wanting more. Heidi is a gem.”
Therese Marie Smith
Director of Education & Programs