About Us

Meet Erica

A woman with curly brown hair smiling at a dog sitting on a person's lap in an office setting. There are green plants, candles, and framed art on the wall behind her. A laptop and a tablet are on the desk.

I believe people are more than what fits on a page.

One particular search from my career as a recruiter is the reason I became an interview coach. I had been selected to lead a search for the CEO of an established nonprofit in the Greater WAshington D.C,/Baltimore metro area. The organization, while firmly established in its community, had grown stagnant and was in urgent need of new leadership if it was going to survive. The Board of Directors had a very specific and lengthy list of requirements: someone with not just an impressive corporate background and experience in leadership roles, but would also bring fresh perspective, energy, and vision.

I presented a slate of qualified candidates, but there was one I believed was truly the right person for the job. Not because his resume fit their mold (it didn't) but because he so clearly exhibited the drive, energy and vision the organization said they were looking for. The Board had actually passed on him in the first round; on paper, he wasn't what they thought they were looking for. I convinced them to meet him anyway, and they did based on the level of trust I had earned with them. The Board came to see what I knew this candidate could do for the organization and they hired him. This new CEO turned the organization around within the first two years, ending their second fiscal year together in a surplus for the first time in twenty years.

My "unconventional" candidate is now a trusted and beloved leader, doing good for both his organization and the broader community in which they operate.

20+

Years in high-stakes communication

From securing major gifts at Columbia University and the Whitney Museum to managing full-cycle recruiting, every role has required the ability to earn trust quickly.

2

Sides of the table

I've made hiring decisions as a recruiter and won over major donors as a fundraising executive. I know what decision-makers are really looking for.

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Proprietary Method

The Authentic Advantage Method™ was built from real hiring patterns, designed to help you communicate who you actually are, not who you think they want to see.

BFA

Drama, Tisch School of the Arts

My experience as an actor provides me with a different lens—a keen eye for the body language, tone, and small tells that shape how you're perceived, often in ways you can't see for yourself.

That experience crystallized everything I believe about this work: the right person isn't always the one with the perfect resume.

It's the one who can convey who they truly are; their drive, their vision, their value. My job is to make sure that person comes through, so you're never passed over simply because the page didn't capture you.

This conviction is rooted in more than 20 years spent where communication, connection, and trust are everything—first as a fundraising executive with organizations like Columbia University and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and later in recruitment, where I managed the full hiring process and saw the same pattern again and again: talented candidates passed over not because they lacked experience, but because they couldn't communicate their value with confidence.

That's the foundation of my work today. Through the Authentic Advantage Method™, I help candidates move beyond memorized answers to communicate who they are with clarity, confidence, and authenticity—so they don't just interview well, they stand out.