Biography

Born in East Tennessee, Erica knew what it was like to see the stars at night and hear the coyotes howl in the early hours of the morning. Erica lived on a farm in Seymour, Tennessee until she was 10 years old. Before Erica began fifth grade, she, her brother, and her parents (her sister was starting college at the University of Tennessee) moved to New Orleans for her father to take a position as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LASPCA). This began Erica’s love of seeing new places and meeting new people.
After three years in New Orleans, Erica’s father took a new job, this time in Rochester, New York. The change, both culturally and geographically, was a bit overwhelming, but Erica took the move in stride and quickly made new friends.
Upon graduation from Brighton High School in 2003, Erica pursued a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. She graduated in 2005, with an Associate’s Degree of Occupational Studies in Baking and Pastry Arts Management. During her time at the CIA, Erica completed an internship at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Here, she worked full-time and was responsible for the production of many of the desserts at their fine dining restaurant.
Shortly after graduation, Erica moved back to New Orleans to begin her career in the “Big Easy”. This dream was short-lived, as Hurricane Katrina came crashing along the Gulf Coast in August 2005. By this time, Erica’s parents were again living in East Tennessee.
Erica returned home and began working at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee. She also made the decision to invest in real estate and bought her first house at the age of twenty-one.
Erica worked at Blackberry Farm for nearly 18 months before deciding to return to the University of Tennessee. Health and fitness became increasingly important to Erica, so she decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition. A love of writing drew her to a minor in Journalism and Electronic Media.
While Erica always enjoyed exercise and being healthy, during her time at the CIA she began to hone her love of running. After graduation, she decided to train for the Knoxville Marathon in 2006. Erica’s brother ran the inaugural Knoxville Marathon in 2005, so her only goal was to beat him-she did by eight minutes and took third place among the female runners.
Since then, Erica has run ten more marathons, eleven total. She returned to upstate New York for the Rochester Marathon in September 2009, and came in first place! Most recently, Erica ran the Chicago Marathon, and placed in the top 100 females. She was the 633rd person to finish, among over 36,000 runners. This was also Erica’s first marathon to run in under three hours The commitment, dedication, and pure joy that running has brought Erica has taught her to appreciate her abilities, understand the meaning of hard work, and has allowed her to continually have goals to strive for.