About Popham Associates
Vision
Misson
Values
Excellence
Change
Relationships

Popham Associates History
January 18, 2012—a date easily forgotten yet one I will never forget. I celebrated my 55th birthday by walking into the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, and leaving with Popham & Associates, LLC. My dream of being an entrepreneur became reality.
Popham Associates began in Millersville, MD with no clients, great optimism, and a five-year plan. The plan had been in place for several years—it needed a start date.
I retired after 32 great years as a leader with State Farm Insurance with a vision of rebranding myself—offering consulting, coaching, and training services. My goal was to use the wisdom and experience I had gained to help individuals and organizations grow and prosper.
We owe our growth to our clients—allowing us to meet their needs, sharing their expertise and feedback to make us better, and referring us based on a quality experience. The Popham Associates journey has now expanded beyond Maryland to serving clients in eight other locations: Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, & North Carolina.
Popham Associates—we are called to build generous leaders and healthy organizations. Come grow with us!
Todd Popham
Founder & President
Certifications / Training
Edward Tufte, Beautiful Evidence
Droste Group, Everything DISC
Droste Group, Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Droste Group, Facilitation Skills
Droste Group, Trusted Advisor
Hogan, Hogan LEAD Certification
Center for Creative Leadership, 360 Assessment Certification
Myers Briggs, MBTI
USA Hockey, Level 5 Master Coach
Balanced Scorecard Initiative, Balanced Scorecard Certificate
Corporate Coach University, Coaching Clinic
Center for Creative Leadership, Coaching for Development
University of Michigan, Managing for Managers
Six Sigma, Green Belt
Darden—University of Virginia, Service Excellence
Darden—University of Virginia, Managing Change
Harvard Negotiation Project, Negotiation & Leadership
Graduate School
Bradley University, Executive MBA 2004
Outstanding MBA Student Award
Professional Insurance Designations
FLMI, 2005
CLU, 1987
CPCU, 1983

Popham Associates Leadership
Meet Todd
Todd Popham is an entrepreneur, professional coach and teacher. After a 32-year career with State Farm, rising from division manager to Zone Strategy Manager and working with company executives all over the Mid-Atlantic Region, Todd paused and took a moment of reflection. Stopping for gas at Exit 68, Todd realized he wanted something new—he’d always found it rewarding to mentor younger associates and new hires, and as he moved up in senior leadership, he’d had less time to do that. He wanted to spend more of his time connecting one-to-one with people, or working in teams at companies, on how each person can find a more personalized effectiveness and satisfaction at work.
Todd now conducts leadership coaching sessions for everything from Fortune 500 firms to small business owners and leaders. He’s been called, “an excellent sounding board for the challenges a leader faces when leading an organization through transformation.” Todd believes that one should continue learning and giving back to their community at any age and continues to offer wisdom in his many articles, courses, and books. Todd was awarded the outstanding MBA student award by the Bradley Faculty as well as the Richard A. Gerrond Teaching Excellence Award from the Society of CPCU for interpersonal skills training. He serves on the Board of ATHENA International, an organization dedicated to developing and honoring women leaders.
Testimonials
As a new immigrant from China for American, with career change from academic teaching to work in one of the top 30 Corporations, I had so many cultural and organizational gaps to fill and have had many mentors through my career journey. Todd is the best of all! He is THE bridge to link me to see the light and reach my goals. Todd is a great listener, respects diverse background and thoughts, offers coaching and encouragement without trying to dominate or direct me. The mentorship with Todd not only has helped my career advancement, but also has transferred me to become a better mentor to others. Modeling the way that Todd mentored me, it enhanced my own coaching skills. I forever appreciate Todd’s significant impact in my life!
I have worked with Todd for the past four years. He has helped our company establish a business strategy, create an organization structure, and develop our leaders. Todd is a trusted advisor and has contributed to our growth by keeping us focused on priorities. As a small business owner, I highly recommend Todd as a consultant and coach.
Todd has instructed leadership courses for the Society of CPCU Center for Leadership the past six years and has consistently received excellent feedback from our participants. He has developed leadership content, instructed seminars, and has experience with webinars. I really appreciate Todd’s professionalism and ability to engage learning in a classroom format. He blends academic and practical experiences to create a learning environment to address workplace challenges, and the result is learning that can be applied to improve organizational success. I highly recommend Todd as a leadership instructor.
I had the pleasure to work with Todd as the newly appointed President for ATHENA International, a non profit with a mission to create a balance in leadership worldwide. Todd is an excellent sounding board for the challenges a leader faces when leading an organization through transformation. Todd gets my highest recommendation as an executive coach that goes above and beyond. His unique ability to recognize, understand, and explain complex business relationships has revolutionized my thinking, and most importantly, my actions. I feel fortunate that I was able to work with Todd throughout this last year of my personal leadership journey.
I have worked with Todd in different activities for over 10 years. He enjoyed a solid reputation at our company as an effective leader and as a coach to many employees. We never worked directly together at our employment, but collaborated on different events and functions in other domains, especially in industry organizations. I saw Todd’s solid work ethic and competencies first hand in those settings. He also served as an excellent mentor, sounding board, advisor, and counselor to me in many aspects of my professional life over many years and we consulted each other often about all types of matters. He was my most respected adviser and I trusted him implicitly.
Todd has served the past five years as a member of our Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, including one year as Board Chairman. Todd is a strong board member who has helped our Chamber grow membership, improve our board governance, and focus on long-term strategy. He has successfully led our leadership development, membership growth, legislative, and board governance efforts, strengthening the core elements of the Chamber. Todd is a strategic leader who inspires others to excel, which benefits individual leaders as well as organizations. I highly recommend Todd for consulting, coaching, and leadership development opportunities—he is an excellent resource for both non-profit and for-profit organizations looking to grow.
Todd has been a business advisor for CEM the past five years. He leads our monthly Owner Meetings, keeps us focused on our business goals, and is a trainer/coach for our leadership team. We appreciate his advice on strategy and human resources challenges, based on his many years of leadership experience. Todd has helped us identify and implement long-range goals to grow our business, including a new human resources department. We highly recommend Todd to any small business looking for a trusted advisor to recognize new opportunities and execute results.
Personally Todd’s coaching style was exactly what I needed. Through a customized plan he helped me determine what was getting in the way of my career advancing and he helped me develop an action plan to move forward. During this process I was also able to examine some things in my personal life that needed to change. The results have had a considerable impact! Since my coaching sessions with Todd my career has moved in a new direction. There is also more harmony in my personal life as well. I will continue to benefit from his coaching.
Thanks for all you have done for me Todd!!
I have known Todd for over 10 years. During that time, the insights and mentoring he has provided have made a huge difference in my career and development as a leader. Todd’s education and variety of experiences have equipped him to provide valuable insight regardless of company or industry, as he has a gift of asking the right strategic questions and challenging one to continue to grow as an inspirational leader of their people. I highly recommend Todd to anyone looking for a coach/mentor.
I had the great opportunity to serve with Todd on the ATHENA International Board of Directors. During his service, he led an initiative to develop our 5 year strategic plan and to identify a new President / CEO. Todd has a strategic vision with the ability to identify the tactical activities that are needed to move an organization forward. He’s a consummate professional in every sense and a solid contributor. I greatly appreciated the skills that he brought to the board.
Todd has served the past five years as a member of our Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, including one year as Board Chairman. Todd is a strong board member who has helped our Chamber grow membership, improve our board governance, and focus on long-term strategy. He has successfully led our leadership development, membership growth, legislative, and board governance efforts, strengthening the core elements of the Chamber. Todd is a strategic leader who inspires others to excel, which benefits individual leaders as well as organizations. I highly recommend Todd for consulting, coaching, and leadership development opportunities – he is an excellent resource for both non-profit and for-profit organizations looking to grow.