About Erik

I was born and raised in Roanoke, VA, where my parents both worked in education: my father as a philosophy professor, and my mother as a music teacher. I assumed I would also pursue a career in education, so I attended Northwestern University to study biology, intending to become a professor. While I've always enjoyed teaching and helping others, I realized I wanted something more impactful outside of academia. I decided instead to take a bit of a winding road with my career: I moved to NYC to spend a year doing non-profit education work through AmeriCorps at Columbia University, then spent 4 years in business development in Big Law, moved from NYC to Ann Arbor for my MBA at Michigan Ross, and then moved to Chicago to spend 3 years in consulting at Bain. Though I've moved around a bit, I've always been driven by surrounding myself with bright and motivated people and working on challenging problems. Outside of my career, I'm best described as "someone who is into fitness, but definitely won't say no to a cinnamon roll." I'm an avid long-distance runner, having completed 7 marathons and 3 ultra-marathons since I started running in 2019. I'm also a decent baker with an ~award-winning~ blueberry muffin recipe. When I'm not running or baking, I'm most likely playing with my beagle, Felix.