September Casteel is paying it forward, ensuring her team has a voice

02/24/22 02:20:pm

September professional.jpg September Casteel, operations manager in Sheboygan, thought being a social worker was her life calling until circumstances combined with an exciting opportunity.

She joined Rogers in 2019 as a therapist in Madison’s OCD and Anxiety child and adolescent intensive outpatient program and later the partial hospitalization program.

“I wanted to join an organization that would teach me how to be a good therapist,” September says. “Bridget Ellingboe [director of operations in Madison] would talk with me about my career goals, and I realized becoming an operations manager would give me the chance to make a difference system-wide.”

She served as operations manager in Madison for two months when her husband had a career opportunity at the same time the operations manager position opened in Sheboygan.

Since assuming the role full time in October, September meets with her team every morning and assists with problem solving as needed. She also walks around the clinic two to three times a day to meet face-to-face with as many employees as possible.

“I want to hear what’s going well and what they may be struggling with,” she says. “I see myself as the connector and balancer between the organization’s goals and expectations and my team’s goals and expectations. I work with my team to find the best solution for patients while striving to meet the organization’s strategic priorities.”

One of September’s priorities is making sure her team feels heard.

“As a leader, it’s important for me to teach, show, and prove that everyone has a voice at Rogers,” she says. “I teach them that it’s okay to raise concerns and share opinions. I show them by allowing my team to make decisions and come up with their own solutions rather than dictating what they should do. I prove it by taking the time to listen to their ideas. My favorite thing about Rogers is the encouraging and positive team approach. I knew as a therapist when I first started with Rogers my voice mattered and that’s empowering, so I want my team to feel that way, too. I want to pay it forward.”

Leading the Sheboygan outpatient clinic, which opened in June 2021, and supportive living center, which opened in December 2021, has been a rewarding experience.

“Rogers is a well-oiled machine,” September says. “It was exciting to see first-hand everything that goes into getting something like the supportive living center up and running, and it’s been great building the Rogers culture. Rogers is about putting patients first and is unique in the way we embrace change and make improvements. We know we can always do better and not every organization recognizes that.”

September says the supportive living center will be an amazing opportunity for the community. It’s currently available to internal Rogers referrals from residential treatment, as well as from other Rogers locations offering partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient care.

“The Sheboygan team has been wonderful and flexible,” she says. “I’m proud of them for rolling with the punches through a lot of changes.”

Getting to know September

September personal 1.jpg A native of Wisconsin, September and her husband, David, have moved a lot due to his military service, which spanned 11 years. He was a medic in the Army, then the Air Force Reserve and National Guard. One of her favorite places she’s lived is Kansas City because “you get less snow, it’s not as cold as Wisconsin, and there’s a lot of neat things to do. Even though it’s a big city, it has a small-town vibe.”

September and David married when she was 20, and they celebrated their 14th anniversary in December. They never had an actual honeymoon because of his military service so they hope to make it to Jamaica sometime this year.

September and David have a 4-year-old daughter, Emelia, and a 2-year-old German Shepherd named Remy, short for Remington.

A fun fact about September is she wasn’t born in September. Her birthday is May 19.