Erica is a very passionate person and worker who believes in hard work, perseverance, and following through. If she says she’s going to do something, then she does it. Her detail-oriented nature, along with her passion for the endless intricacies of the human condition, have led her down a winding path of wearing many different hats, often juggling more than one job at a time. She started with a major in mathematics (where 2+2 always = 4), but decided that wasn’t enough of a challenge and ultimately switched to psychology (where 2+2 = ”it depends”). Over the years, she’s dabbled in careers within the service industry, first as a mental health worker, and then as part of a university research team where she learned a great deal about data and project management. This led her in a very organic way to KickCharge, which was the obvious next step in her lifelong career of learning.
Erica earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus on clinical psychology and research methods.
Traversing nature by foot in any way that she can. Trail running, hiking, or backpacking—she loves it all. As a child growing up in a small woodsy town, her favorite game was playing imagination in the woods next to her home. As an adult, her propensity for outdoor recreation escalated a bit, including a five-month thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, completing multiple trail & ultra-marathon races (including a 103-mile trail race!), and starting a small backpacking guiding business in 2022.
In her spare time, Erica loves to travel around the country with her husband as professional chalk artists (you may know him, he’s one of our illustrators!), train for her next trail race, or prepare for any upcoming backpacking trips on the calendar. When she can, she tries to do her part by volunteering to maintain trails, help manage aid stations at events, and provide support to runners during their goal race. She’s always looking for new audiobook suggestions as well, as she tends to complete them faster than she can find new books!
“Feeling stuck is no excuse for staying where you are. Life is hard; struggle is guaranteed, but you can exercise your right to choose where and how to struggle.” — Jennifer Pharr Davis, “The Pursuit of Endurance”
