My Story
My Story
Hello! I’m Erica and I am a coach, small business consultant, mama, recovering perfectionist, artist, traveler and at least a dozen other labels that support my identity. Isn’t it funny how we try to wrap up our entire selves into a neat little sentence or two in an attempt to convey the multilayered person that we are?
I was born in Cairo, raised in the UK, spent a decade in the Pacific NW, and now live on the east coast. Growing up in this international lens, I became fascinated with people’s perspectives and journeys. I would always seek advice or ask for the ideas of others. Ultimately, I wanted to crack the code of living a good life. It seemed like a puzzle so many people were grappling with - I thought I could figure it out if I asked enough people.
Throughout my childhood and into adulthood, I craved variety and options. I ran away from predictability and felt trapped by boredom. There was always another life plan I could create, trip I could plan, class I could take. This led to me changing my major my last year in college and after graduation, 4 jobs in 4 years.
I could never sit still. There was something else out there for me, I just didn’t know what it was.
I began my coaching journey in early 2019 when in the span of a month, I had four people close to me tell me I would make a good coach. I had heard of coaching in the past but immediately dismissed it as a potential path of exploration because in my mind, a coach was woo-woo, slimy, or both. Someone who stood on a stage at a conference and told you to high five the person sitting next to you. Or someone who didn’t have the chops to go to school to become a therapist. Or some 20-year old who took a course once and called themselves a life coach.
I ran away from this idea for a while until it became apparent that all roads were leading me to coaching.
I created a diversion for myself - maybe I wanted to go to grad school! That sounded more prestigious, and there wouldn’t be so many questions around it.
And yet I didn’t take that action either.
After months of research, stalling, dilly-dallying, it was a coaching call that prompted me to take action.
I learned that I am chiefly motivated by variety and adventure, yet an almost equal motivation is safety and security. I was paralyzed by these polar opposites nudging me in different directions and creating inertia. Once I made that click I saw my entire life through that lens and couldn’t unsee it. Every major choice I had made or grappled with was either in the pursuit of adventure or security.
I also learned that coaching is not the process of telling someone what to do. It is an exploration of ideas in a safe space that sparks insights, clarity, inspiration and clear action.
I signed up for a course three days later.
Now I coach, and I adore every moment.
Alongside my coaching journey, I moved through the corporate world in several company sizes and industries. The roles I held allowed me to touch all parts of the business and see how things could break or thrive from the individual contributor level all the way up to the C-Suite. When I stepped away from full-time office work to create the world my life as a parent demanded, I turned to these skills to support other businesses. My sweet spot is women-led small business (1-50 employees), where the potentiality and vision is exciting. I am drawn to those interested in changemaking and disruption - doing things differently in the name of creating a better world for others.
No matter the size or industry, all businesses have the same obstacles. Now I enjoy enhancing or creating processes, dreaming and strategizing the future with business leaders, and consulting on everything from operational minutia to creating authentic-to-you sales processes.
CERTIFICATIONs & Continuing education
2023 - The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies
Seminar I: Toward Wholeness | Integrating the Masculine and Feminine in Self & Society (8-weeks)
Seminar II: Jung’s Red + Black Books (8-weeks)
2023 - Braver Coach: Unpacking Worthiness Series (5-weeks)
2023 - Tara Mohr’s Coaching Way Program | Andrea Leda’s Braver Coach Unpacking Worthiness Course | Satya Doyle Byock Toward Wholeness Seminar
2021 - 200-hour Master Awaken Your Life Program- Accredited Diploma in Coach Training by the Association of Coaching
2021 - Credentialed Coach (ACC) by the International Coaching Federation
2019 - 2020 - Executive Coach Training by Coach Training Edu, accredited by the International Coaching Federation
2018 Yoga Teacher Training - 200 Hour at Gypsea Yoga School, accredited by the Yoga Alliance
2015 Bachelor of Art, Linguistics. University of Oregon. Summa cum laude.