UPwords Inc - Our Team

Heidi Frye, UPwords Inc. - Principal

Heidi has spent her career helping companies advance - by focusing on, and effecting, “upward” growth. She has directly been responsible for and achieved growth by exceeding sales targets, pioneering business units, and finding and securing top talent. Additionally, she has trained teams for high performance impact, mentored and coached key individuals, and motivated large groups.

Having spent over fourteen years in the fields of consulting & executive search, Heidi is dedicated to bringing her experience to companies who truly live by the concept of “our people are our most important asset” – companies committed to securing, developing, and advancing the best people. Understanding people, their blind spots, and having the courage to be real are Heidi’s strong suit.

Throughout her twenty+ year career, Heidi has learned and used best practices in sales, team building, training/workshops, and coaching & mentoring - having worked directly for, and achieved numerous performance awards in Fortune 500 companies: Xerox; Boston Scientific; and EMC. She has earned a reputation for integrity, “doing the right thing”, and “telling it like it is”, as well as delivering high-quality service and achieving results while keeping an eye on the bottom-line.

Heidi holds a degree in Business Administration from Wayne State University with a major in Marketing and a minor in German. Heidi is also a graduate of the Leadership University – School of Developmental Coaching, Coach2 and MLCS (Master Leadership Coaching System) ICF certified programs. Read more

Terry Younker                                                           Back to Top
UPwords Inc. - Project Coordinator

Terry joined UPwords Inc. in 2008 as Project Coordinator. In this role, she is involved in many aspects of the business, including candidate recruitment, research, and project and business development. Terry was initially assigned two major recruiting projects while “in training”, for which she immediately took responsibility and impacted, resulting in quick success. Her contribution to the business has been great - she is always applying her out-of-the-box thinking and her “partner” mentality. She has demonstrated expertise in a number of key “people” areas and continues to draw on her vast professional career managing, interviewing, training and coaching people to benefit the clients and business.

Terry’s professional career spans over 11 years in retail management. She spent 8 years with Target Stores. During her time with Target she held 7 different management positions and relocated 6 times. She worked her way up through the ranks of management, including; Department Manager, Customer Service Manager, District Shortage Specialist, District Operations Specialist, Assistant Store Manager and Store Manager. She survived three brand new store openings, the last one as Store Manager of a 28 million dollar Target Greatland Store. As Store Manager Terry was responsible for total store operations including; profit, sales, expense control, customer service, merchandising, loss prevention, training and human resources for an hourly and salaried team of up to 100 employees.

Terry was selected to be a Regional Leadership Trainer of managerial skills for Target. She has trained on many topics including: Total Quality, Diversity, Benchmark Thinking, Building Teams, Conflict Management, Counseling and Corrective Action, Influencing Others, Interviewing, Time Management, Motivating People, Strategic Planning, Team Problem Solving as well as Thinking and Speaking on your Feet, just to name a few. She has facilitated training for groups with 10 to 65 participants. Terry has had the opportunity to put many of these techniques into action, having interviewed, hired and trained, hundreds of employees, as well as having had to administer the “straight talk” of counseling, corrective action and termination of employees.

After leaving Target, Terry spent 3 years working in management for Toys R Us, at four different locations. Her favorite assignment with Toys R Us was as the Assistant Manager for a Toys R Us Kidsworld. A prototype store, in Virginia, that included a Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Kids R Us, combination store with a leased food court, shoe store, hair salon and photography studio in one building. Terry left Toys R Us and the hectic pace and hours of retail management to become a stay at home mom.

Terry was a Stay-at-Home Mom for 10 years prior to returning to work at UPwords Inc. She has two terrific kids and would not trade her stay-at-home experience for anything. However, she is happy to be active in the professional world again and enjoys the people she meets through her position as Project Coordinator at UPwords Inc.

Terry is a graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Merchandising Management.

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Valerie Atkin                                                           Back to Top
UPwords Inc., Strategic Partner – Training & Workshops, Leadership Coaching
Wells Street Consulting, Founder

Valerie's passion for training and consulting excellence requires that she tell the truth and refuse assignments that she feels are ill-fated or that others may be better suited to address. She is known as exasperatingly realistic and simple, which is to say she doesn't complicate unnecessarily. Before founding Wells Street Consulting, she held a variety of positions including Organizational Analyst at DuPont, Manager of Development at Stauffer Chemical, National Accounts Manager at Zenger Miller, and Regional Vice President at MOHR Development. She serves as Marketing Chair on the International Enneagram Association Board of Directors and is the past President of the University of Michigan Museum of Art Friends Board. She holds a degree in Behavioral Psychology from the University of Michigan and she has a great sense of humor about everything except Michigan football. _______________________________________________________________

Matt Ballema                                                           Back to Top
UPwords Inc., Strategic Partner with – Recruiting
Pioneer Search Group, President

Matt has been in the executive search business for over nine years and specializes in diverse industries including Energy/Power Generation, Power Transmission and Distribution, Material Handling/OEM’s and Dealers, Industrial Packaging and Financial Services/Insurance. He is currently the principal of Pioneer Search Group, LLC. With nearly 10 years of experience in executive search and placement, Matt has been involved in all aspects of recruiting. Matt has placed professionals at all levels from GM/Director/VP level to Regional Sales Managers, Sales Reps and Engineers. Matt holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science with an emphasis in Human Resources and Society from Michigan State University.

Pioneer Search Group specializes in recruiting top talent for the industries it serves by practicing traditional but proven recruiting techniques. They offer expertise in not only finding top talent, but helping organizations throughout every step of the search and hiring process, from start to finish.

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Therese Boldt                                                           Back to Top
UPwords Inc., Strategic Partner – Recruiting, Leadership Coaching
Therese Marie Boldt, Leadership and Career Coach

Therese Marie Boldt is a leadership and career coach who works with business leaders committed to developing their people to be the very best they can be, or guiding their organizations through transition.

Since her coaching practice emerged from a very successful career in HR and the recruiting industry, she provides onboard coaching to companies that understand the huge cost of a failed executive hire and know that effectively assimilating these leaders into their culture will ensure their success.

Last year, Therese Marie joined the Fox2 Detroit team as their Career Coach, offering tips and advice every Monday morning on how to find a job in today’s challenging economy. She offers workshops around the topic of conducting an effective job search and has published a book titled, “Yes! You Can Land a Job Even in a Crummy Economy,” released in July 2009.

Therese Marie received a BA in Human Resources from the Wayne State University School of Business Administration and currently serves as the President of the School of Business’ Alumni Association. She also serves on the board of ALS of Michigan, is a member of the Professional Coach Association of Michigan, International Coach Federation, and a former board member of Executive Women International’s Detroit-Windsor Chapter.

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Kathleen J. Wheelihan                                         Back to Top
UPwords Inc., Strategic Partner – Training, Coaching & Consulting
The Oz Group, Inc., President/CEO & Founder
Leadership * Teambuilding * Sales & Service * Communication * Coaching

Kathleen is a professional speaker and management consultant with nearly 30 years of experience in leadership, training, marketing, human resources, operations and theatre. Her experience, enthusiasm, and energetic speaking style are used to create dynamic events with practical tools and a keen concern for her clients’ success. Kathleen has worked with clients from a variety of industries including Michigan State University, Nationwide Insurance, Pfizer, Inc., Palace Sports and Entertainment, Botsford Hospital, DHL, Luxottica Retail (LensCrafters, Sears Optical), Michigan Bankers Association, Real Estate One, and the Florida Credit Union League. She earned her BBA in Management from Walsh College and is a member of the National Speakers Association and National Association of Career Women. Kathleen provides conference keynotes and breakout sessions, training workshops, comprehensive employee and leadership development series, individual/executive coaching, and training reinforcement activities focusing on people-to-people technology: leadership, teambuilding, communication, and sales and service.