Deidre Toups

People, Deidre Toups said, have shaped her career more than events. One person in particular was her first boss in the energy industry, who created opportunities for her, brought her into the executive arena and expressed confidence in her ability to succeed.

“Others, mostly men, ironically, considered me their advisers for crucial decisionmaking and encouraged me to take on more responsibility,” she said.

The confidence shown in her has been well-earned through decades of making tough choices, working hard and learning, learning, learning. 

“I fell in love first and foremost with the people [in the energy industry],” Toups said. “They were down-to-earth, authentic, hard-working, and most of them had become experts in their specific fields through hands-on learning and trial and error.”

And it was an industry that literally opened up the world for her.

“It allowed me to travel to so many interesting places and experience many different cultures of also very hardworking, authentic people,” she said. “My career has taken me to the U.K., Canada, Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean and South America—places I likely would never have seen otherwise.”

It also presented challenges in managing a work-life balance that she has tackled head on.

“I had an executive coach once who helped me work through my guilt as a mom with a demanding career,” Toups said. “She taught me to challenge my limiting belief that it was a trade-off; one role had to suffer for the other. I changed that belief to declare that I could be great at both, and, holding that new belief, I was able to create conversations and requests that allowed me to be successful.”

One of the key events in her career was her first work trip out of the country. She had been married only a couple of years and had a young baby. Being away on business was not easy on the young family. 

“But I very much wanted my management team to know they could depend on me to step up and address the challenges the organization was having despite these concerns,” Toups said. “And I wanted to be there solving the problems and did not want fear to keep me from growing personally and professionally.” 

The struggle of managing the work-life balance causes many women to pull back on their careers when they start having a family because they don’t see a path to managing both, she said.

“I have done my best to overcome this by prioritizing what is important on my calendar, in my daily schedule and sometimes down to the very hour/minute,” she said. “Also, I don’t apologize for the demands of one over the other. I have a philosophy to make the best decision you can with the information you have, be as considerate as you can of others, and then, no guilt.”

Among the things she has learned is to value quality over quantity.

“I don’t have to be there for everything or even every day of their lives, but I do need to be present when I am with them and spend quality time together,” Toups said. 

Another aspect of herself she has learned to value: vulnerability.

“I am upfront and honest in conversations about all the things I don’t know about our industry,” she said. “I am skilled at financial analysis but know very little about the technical side of the business. Rather than trying to pretend or avoid these conversations, I am open about how little I know. Most men that I have encountered have appreciated this approach and have been more than willing to help educate me. It creates an authentic relationship and allows me to continue learning.” 

Check out the rest of Hart Energy's 2025 Women in Energy here.