Lauren Toppins: On Life, Loss, and Resilience
When Lauren Toppins decided to start her real estate company in 2020, it may have seemed like an inopportune time to go out on her own. The pandemic was just ramping up, and it would have been impossible for her to chart a clear path to get the job done.
Yet, more than a year later, Cherrywood has grown into a successful brokerage and property management firm in the heart of Oklahoma City. With a team of 37 realtors and nine employees, Toppins manages close to 100 rental properties, however, the 39-year-old married mother of four had to overcome personal tragedy and medical scares just to get to where she is now.
All along the way, Toppins has never lost her guiding light, which is to help others through her company.
“I want to make sure that any property that has a Cherrywood sign in front of it is one that someone is going to feel safe and secure in and well taken care of,” Toppins says.
Toppins, born in Lawton, initially wanted to be a lawyer. So, after graduating from Lawton High School, she got her bachelor and law degrees from the University of Oklahoma. Her legal resume includes an internship for the Grady County District attorney, serving as general counsel for a TPA company in Oklahoma City and an attorney for a payroll company.
“I got to do a lot of cool things,” Toppins says. “I was over legal, human resources, maintenance and security at one point. One of the cool parts was property management. All of the sales offices across the country, I would manage their leases. That’s where I started getting into real estate more.”
At the time, Toppins believed she was on the path she wanted. She was using her degree and making good money. It was everything she thought she wanted. However, after her mother-in-law was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away, Toppins realized she wanted more out of her life. “I realized how much time I wasn’t spending with my kids,” Toppins says. “So, I ended up leaving a fantastic company and started doing investment properties for just ourselves.”
That led Toppins to begin buying, remodeling and flipping houses and eventually into property management as well. That’s when the idea of Cherrywood began to take root. She wanted to create a company that would be all things to all people. No matter what needs an individual may have, Toppins wanted to be able to offer wrap-around services.
“What makes us different is that we can help people buy or sell their dream,” Toppins says. “Or maybe it’s buying a property as an investment. We also do property management. We have the opportunity to help our investors but also help people with finding a home that suits their needs. Kind of real estate at all angles.”
While everything seemed to be coming up roses professionally, Toppins’ personal life was quite a different story.
Heading into 2019, Toppins and her husband, Matt, were happy with their family of five. They already had three young girls (Dylan, Walker and Maguire), conceived with the help of fertility clinics. Toppins soon found out she was pregnant with a fourth child, conceived naturally.
“I got pregnant with our fourth daughter and really felt like it was God saying ‘here is your reward,’” Toppins says. “I was like, what a blessing.” Claire Toppins came into the world in April of 2019. She was born with a genetic disease called Trisomy 18, also called Edwards Syndrome. Little Claire lived just 25 hours.
Toppins almost let the tragedy take her down a dark path to the point she just didn’t want to do anything. “But people’s support and all that really got me through it,” Toppins says. “Then I felt motivated again to have a plan to open (Cherrywood). I’m a pusher.”
A little more than a year after Claire’s death, Toppins opened the doors to Cherrywood, which didn’t take long to pick up steam. Toppins was able to add more realtors and properties in quick succession.
“It was exciting,” Toppins said. “Then on Thanksgiving, there was another hit.”
On Thanksgiving of 2020, Toppins started to lose her vision. A month later her doctors found a tumor on her optic nerve which resulted in her enduring a craniotomy in February of 2021. “The night we were supposed to open the Edmond office, I was in the hospital because I had a stroke behind my eye,”’ Toppins says. “So I am completely blind on one side.”
The blows kept coming. In May, after being placed on steroids, Toppins learned she would never be able to have children again. Through it all, Toppins has had her family and Cherrywood to latch onto for strength.
“It has been a saving grace. As a female, when you have your head shaved in parts and the medicine makes you gain weight and all these other things that have gone wrong,” Toppins says. “Cherrywood has been a consistent place that has allowed me to still find fulfillment and find motivation. Because whenever there was a hard day, I’d say I need to go help this person or I have this thing to do. I get to see different people be happy. So, it brings me back to what this is really all about.”
Toppins’ vision of turning Cherrywood into a company that cares has come to fruition. Whether it’s a young couple buying their first house or a single mother moving on from bad situations, she said Cherrywood has been able to guide them.
“Going through all that, Cherrywood has been a really big blessing,” Toppins says. “I feel like this place is a Godsend. I feel like God gave me this place to further support other people in whatever their journeys are.”