Influential Women Features Heidi Foster: Building People And Driving The Next Generation Of Collision Repair Leaders

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Crash Champions Senior Vice President of Operations-West Leads Approximately 300 Locations Across 15 States While Creating Career Pathways, Developing Future Leaders and Expanding Opportunities for Women

Today, as Senior Vice President of Operations-West for Crash Champions, Foster oversees approximately 300 collision repair centers across 15 states. Her responsibility extends well beyond operational performance. She leads through multiple layers of leaders and thousands of teammates, with accountability for sales, profitability, customer and carrier performance, talent, and the continued development of the organization’s leadership pipeline.

The scale is significant, but Foster is intentional about staying connected to the people doing the work. She believes numbers tell leaders where to look, but people ultimately determine whether a business succeeds. Her approach is grounded in setting clear expectations, holding people accountable, recognizing great performance, and making sure leaders at every level are developing the people behind them.

“If you build the people, they will build the business” has become central to how Foster approaches leadership.

That philosophy helped inspire the creation of the Associate Service Advisor Program, or ASAP, three years ago. Foster saw an opportunity to create a career pathway for people with little or no collision repair experience, whether they came from inside or outside the organization. The idea was simple: if someone brings the will, Crash Champions can help provide the skill.

Working alongside a team of leaders, trainers, mentors, and program administrators who helped bring that vision to life, ASAP developed into a five-stage learning journey designed to prepare participants to become successful Service Advisors. Participants build technical knowledge, business understanding, customer service skills, and confidence while receiving hands-on development from people throughout the organization.

Today, more than 400 teammates have graduated from ASAP, with a 78% retention rate. Twenty-two graduates have gone on to become mentors themselves, helping develop the next group of participants.

For Foster, that may be one of the program’s most important accomplishments.

“The goal was never just to create Service Advisors. It was to give people an opportunity they may not have had otherwise and then watch them turn around and create opportunities for someone else.”

That same people-first philosophy led Foster to establish Women of Crash Champions, or WOCC. What started with six women has grown into a community of more than 500 members. Today, women throughout Crash Champions contribute to its continued success through mentorship, development, connection, and their willingness to support one another.

For Foster, both programs represent the kind of leadership she wants to leave behind: create the opportunity, surround it with great people, and build something that no longer depends on one person to succeed.

Learn More about Heidi Foster:

Through her Influential Women profile, https://influentialwomen.com/connect/heidi-foster

Influential Women

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