From Cancer to Calling: Erica Carrico’s Million-Dollar Pivot

When Erica Carrico was diagnosed with cancer in her 30s, she found herself rocking her baby and questioning everything. What followed was a promise to stop living for everyone else—and to start showing up for the purpose she was meant to fulfill.

In this episode, Erica shares how that wake-up call launched her into a soul-led business that now generates seven figures and impacts women around the world. We talk about the power of listening to your inner knowing, building a business that aligns with your values, and the unexpected ripple effects of saying yes to your calling.

Key Moments:
– The quiet clarity that followed a cancer diagnosis
– How corporate burnout pushed Erica toward purpose
– The mindset shift from “safe” to soul-aligned
– Letting go of perfectionism and people-pleasing
– Tips for reconnecting with your purpose at any age
– The ripple effect of building a business with heart

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this might be it.

Erica’s Book: Awaken Your Purpose – Available on Amazon, Kindle, Audible
Learn more: https://www.ericacarrico.com

Join my Insiders crew for weekly updates, tips, inspiration, and fun: https://www.pennyforyourshots.com/insider

Looking for my courses or options to work together? https://www.pennyforyourshots.com/about

Wanna sip with us? Join my Sipper Club here: https://pennyforyourshots.com/sip

Learn More, get on the list, or Register for Wine Camp 2025: https://pennyforyourshots.com/winecamp2025

To connect with Penny, get notified, or learn more, check out www.pennyforyourshots.com

- Follow Penny on Instagram: @penny4yourshots
- Or Facebook: Penny (Kuhlers) Fitzgerald

Transcript

 From Cancer to Calling: Erica Carrico’s Million-Dollar Pivot 

Penny Fitzgerald: When Erica Carrico was diagnosed with cancer as a young mom, everything changed in the quiet moments of breastfeeding her baby. She found herself reflecting on life purpose and what truly mattered and what followed was a radical life shift, leaving behind the path she thought she should follow and stepping into the purpose she was born for.

In this heartfelt [00:01:00] conversation, Erica shares how that quiet clarity became a million dollar coaching business, and how you too can turn pain into purpose and dreams into legacy. If you've ever felt stuck in the shoulds or wondered if it's too late to start over, this episode will speak straight to your soul.

Here is Erica Carrico.

 It's so great to meet you. 

Erica Carrico: Thank you. Likewise. I'm looking forward to this conversation. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, me too. Where are you located? 

Erica Carrico: I am in the Denver area. 

Penny Fitzgerald: In Denver. Wonderful. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. How about you? Wow. 

Penny Fitzgerald: I am, uh, currently in Iowa. Oh my gosh. Yeah, kind of central, central US and then sometimes in Sarasota, Florida, so, 

Erica Carrico: okay.

Where in Iowa? My whole family, my parents are both from Iowa and I went to Iowa State. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Really? Oh, Go, Cyclones. We're big Cyclone fans. 

Erica Carrico: Same. Yeah. Oh, that's 

Penny Fitzgerald: amazing. Wonderful. Yeah. We're, um, I currently live in Newhall. Okay. Yeah. Uh, [00:02:00] Eastern Iowa near Cedar Rapids. My husband grew up in eastern Iowa. Are you, you have people in Cedar Rapids?

My 

Erica Carrico: mom, she's in Robins. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh, that's so fun. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. My daughter, um, was actually, we lived in Marion actually when my daughter was born. So she was born at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids. 

Penny Fitzgerald: All for heaven's sakes. I know. That's so fun. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, that's really for sure. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, and I grew up in North central Iowa in a small farm town of, um, 2,500 people.

Erica Carrico: Yeah. My dad grew up on a farming town or on a farm outside of Adel, so same kind of thing. Nice. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay. So we That was great. We were meant to meet at some point or another. 

Erica Carrico: Definitely. Yeah. Iowa people are the best. Midwest people are the best people. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. What a small world 

Erica Carrico: it is. That is a really small world.

Yeah, for sure. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, great. Well, Erica, tell us a little bit about your, about you, your journey. Um, you have started your own business, but you went through some [00:03:00] things to get there, right? 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I, um, yeah, I think I was, that I was that typical person where I. I, I knew I didn't wanna have a traditional life, but mm-hmm.

I also was always playing a tug of war with my mind and my heart. And my heart was telling me that I wanted to travel and see the world. And, you know, I did, I definitely did do that. I've, I've, I've been to over and backpacked through over 50 different countries, but there was also that part of my mind that was.

Telling me like, you know what? Society always tells us we, you need to get a a real job. You need to start earning money. You need to get married. You need to have a family. And so I ended up, um, around 27 kind of falling into that pattern and, um, landed in corporate America. I was in corporate recruitment for quite a while.

And, um, you know, long story short, did the whole corporate burnout situation and my, yeah. Fiance who I did end up marrying later. At the time we left, um, Australia, we were living in Australia [00:04:00] and we did a year long trip around the world. And I knew on that trip we went through a lot of developing countries and I really realized that I couldn't go back to corporate and I didn't want to slave away earning millions of dollars for a company that already had millions of dollars.

And so I wanted to start my own business as a coach. I had seen a life coach before. My, um, undergraduate degree is in psychology. I always wanted to be in the personal development space. I'm, I've been a personal development junkie since I can remember. And, um, on, you know, on that trip we were, we got engaged and he was like, and my whole family and his whole family were like, you can't start, you're business, especially not as a coach.

Life coaches, they don't make any money. And, um, we're getting ready to start a family. You need to have a real job, right? So. I did what I thought was the safe thing, and I took out a $60,000 loan, went and got my master's degree in nonprofit management. So then I became the executive director of a not-for-profit organization earning $29,000 a year.

And that like, oh my gosh, that was, [00:05:00] that was what I should have done, right? So I did it and I, I felt like things were going well because I, I was making a difference in the world. I finally felt like I was having impact. But I was still building someone else's dream and I was still speaking someone else's work and raising money for someone else's dream.

And it was like, I just, I knew I had this inside of me and I wasn't putting it out there. I was too afraid. All the things, we had kids at this point and, you know, I had another round of, of depression and of anxiety and, um, boom. I was diagnosed with kidney cancer when I was 36 and still breastfeeding my daughter, and that was a huge wake up call for me when I really realized that.

I was living life for everybody else and the way that I was living life by just ignoring and pushing down my dreams and my desires and what was I felt trying to come out. Um, it just created this toxicity in my body and I feel like my body just kind of started turning on itself. So I. That was when everything changed.

And I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna live. I don't even know if I'm gonna be here. I don't know how long I [00:06:00] have left, but I am not going to spend the rest of my life doing what I feel I should be doing. Like, what is the point of that? That's not why I'm here. And so I went on this real journey of shutting all of what was no longer serving me and really only building my life up with things that intentionally are.

And so I, I left my job, well, I started my business first. And then I left my job a year later. It just really took off. Now it's like this multimillion dollar company, um, nice. That impacts thousands of women around the world. Yeah. So, 

Penny Fitzgerald: oh, it 

Erica Carrico: happened and I left my marriage and, um, yeah, I, I, I let go of a lot of, of friends.

I Wow. Put a lot of boundaries in place. Um, and yeah, it's just been quite a journey. I think five years, six years later, my life is completely different than it was before. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Well first of all, congratulations. Thank you on taking that leap of faith. 'cause I think a lot of us, we get stuck in the fears and we let those, the limiting beliefs and, you know, doing things for others come first.

Yeah. [00:07:00] Wow. Too often. Oh, all, yeah, all the time. Well, and, and traditionally it's the safe bet, like you were saying, to do, to go into business for someone else, but really. Probably 50 years ago that might've been safer because there was loyalty and there's not anymore. 

Erica Carrico: Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Plus now I feel like, do you feel too, that you're following a calling like this is for 

Erica Carrico: Oh yeah.

Penny Fitzgerald: A way to serve people that you were seeing needed served. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, definitely. That was one of the, I almost made this, well, I did make this promise to God where it was, you know, if I can get through this when I was going through my cancer experience, if I, mm-hmm. If I get through this, I will spend the rest of my life being of service in the way that I know that I'm here to be of Wow.

And that is how my whole business was birthed and has now grown into. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow, that's pretty powerful. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: A mandate from God. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. A mandate from God. And ironically, you know, they say, we teach what we [00:08:00] need to learn. Right, right. So ironically, business is around helping women to, well, and men, I suppose, to discover their life purpose.

What are you here for? What is your dev? What are your divine gifts? What is your original medicine that you're here to share with the world? Mm-hmm. And then, you know, the next step is how can you earn a living doing that, and how can you make a profit from it while you're impacting others? So I. Sort of created this whole business based on what I needed to learn, um, and what I really spent years trying to figure out.

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Can we, can we back up a second too? I wanna, um, hear more about Okay. You, you went to Iowa State 

Audio Only - All Participants: mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Undergrad and, but you ended up in Australia early on. I 

Erica Carrico: did. 

Penny Fitzgerald: What took you to Australia? How did that come about? 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Well, I, I had the travel bug from when I was little and I. Well, I ended up doing a study abroad program when I was at Iowa State and I went to University of New Castle in Australia.

So I lived there for a semester and then ended up traveling on the back end of that to [00:09:00] New Zealand and went to Thailand and Indonesia and that just really. Barked it for me. So after I graduated from college, I spent some time backpacking around Europe and did like a whole, I think I did like 22 countries in Europe and came back, moved to Denver.

And you know, five years later I sort of had this like midlife crisis of if I don't, you know, I, if I don't do something different. Right now, this is gonna be my life. I was very settled. I had an apartment, I did have a job. I was in corporate recruitment at the time. I, um, had my friend circle, I had a boyfriend, and I just was like, this can't be my life forever.

Like, I, I'm not done traveling. I wanna go out there and do I wanna have more of a cooler life than what I've had so far. So I was in corporate recruitment and I had a friend that I had met traveling in Europe, who was also in corporate recruitment in Sydney, and her company sponsored me to come over. So I actually got a visa.

Oh. To move over. Yeah. I thought I would stay for two years. I ended up marry meeting and marrying an Australian, um, and stayed for 10 and then didn't come back to the [00:10:00] States until 10 years later. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Wow. And so the backpacking journey in Europe, that was that a part of a. Like a Peace Corps thing, or just a wanderlust Kind of.

It was a wanderlust. Just wanted to go. 

Erica Carrico: I just wanted to go. Yep. So I went by myself. It was a wild experience. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh 

Penny Fitzgerald: my gosh. That's, and, okay, so coming from an older woman, 

Erica Carrico: it 

Penny Fitzgerald: sounds so brave and so exciting, you know, to be a single person, or did you, did you meet friends along the way and be able to I did travel together and, yeah.

Erica Carrico: Definitely met friends along the way and kind of stuck with the same crew for once I met up, I think, yeah, for the first few weeks I was pretty solo and then I met up with a crew that I ended up traveling with the rest of the time. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, that's fantastic. What a great way to meet friends. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, it was, they're still my friends today, like they become lifelong friends, so, and they're the one ones I ended up going back to Australia and living in Australia with.

Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Oh my gosh. That's exciting. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Okay, so you are. Coaching people now [00:11:00] in how to find their purpose and and joy and to move towards their purpose. 

Erica Carrico: Yep. I've got a course that I've created. I, it, it started as a one-on-one coaching program back in 2016. Then it turned into a group program and now it's more of an online course.

And actually my book just came out a few weeks ago. Oh, that's exciting. Um, about it as well. So yeah, I've developed a process that now at this point, thousands of people have gone through and it just works of really getting clear. It's like a. Soulful journey. So really stripping back the layers of societal conditioning and remembering who you are at soul level.

Mm-hmm. And then there's a, the second half of the course, or the program, or the book even is, um, around, it's like a career coaching process almost, of taking you through Okay. And. Really choosing and evaluating what businesses you want to start, and then it has, you go through like this selection of kind of weeding them out, narrowing it down, and ranking them all.

And you really end up getting a hundred percent clarity around a business that you're going to start or a side hustle or avol, you know, [00:12:00] even moving into a new career that is a hundred percent line aligned with your purpose and um, and you having impact in the world. In your unique way while also living the lifestyle that you wanna live to.

So there's a lot of things we have to take into consideration. Like I moved into the executive director of a not-for-profit organization, which was definitely fulfilling on some levels, but was never going to allow me to live the lifestyle on $29,000 a year. Right? Like there was a real misalignment there.

So I, this whole process really keeps people from making that kind of a mistake. So they hopefully only have to make the shift once. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, when you think about kids in college and going through that process and deciding what, well, you have to decide when you're what two, what you wanna do the rest of your life.

Erica Carrico: That's the pressure people put on you. That's the societal pressure, right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, exactly. 

Erica Carrico: Well, and if you And what they might even wanna do doesn't, might not even exist. You know what I, what I do right now would not have even been possible when I was even in college 'cause we didn't have the [00:13:00] internet.

Right, right, 

Penny Fitzgerald: exactly. Yeah. And you can create so many things. With just, you know, if you open up your, your heart and think about what am I capable of? What, well, not what I'm, 'cause we don't know what we're capable of until we push ourselves or until we step out of that comfort zone, and most of us don't.

Erica Carrico: Right? 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's so exciting. Yeah. I think about that being, you know, the safety zone. Again, going back to, okay, when you're thinking about what you wanted. When you grow up, whatever age you are, when that happens, right? 40 or 50 or 60, yeah. You, if you limit yourself because of all the things that you've done in the past.

Mm-hmm. And you may not know what's available, you may not know what things pay. 

Erica Carrico: Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Like even in the corporate world, you might have a good paying corporate job, but if it's sucking you, your soul dry. 

Erica Carrico: Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You know, 

Erica Carrico: and a lot of times too, what I found in corporate [00:14:00] was yeah, it was sucking my soul dry and I had to be there at like seven 30 in the morning and they, we literally had to stay at our desks until six 30 at night.

So, great. When you're in your twenties, but what about when you wanna have a family, you know? Right. So there's all these things that the, the process that I help take people through. Gets you clear on all of that. Like you actually research that, you know what that's going to look like, and I have all these different prompts that I walk you through also so that you know what questions to ask, what to research, what to look for.

Um-huh. And then you kind of rank, um, you know, you put your non-negotiables in and you rank like, would this job or would this business allow me to, you know, work from anywhere, for example, or set my own hours or whatever is really important to you. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. Wow. That's fabulous. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Um, yeah. Part of what I do too is, um, help people, help women entrepreneurs mainly see that, okay, here's a limiting belief that I have that I didn't know I had, and let's break through that so I can move towards my purpose.

Erica Carrico: [00:15:00] Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: So it sounds very much aligned with, um, well first you're helping people find their purpose and define it. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. Wow. And you've been doing this since 2016? 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: That's really brought a lot of clarity. 

Erica Carrico: Yes, definitely. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's been journey. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Don't you feel too that when you start working or walking towards your, your dream or toward what lights your soul on fire, that that really brings the clarity Then you know what to do next.

And you may not know in the beginning. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And it can, it'll change and evolve too. I, I always look at it as like, our purpose is kind of like an onion, and I, you know, I think there's many ways that we can express our purpose out into the world, but mm-hmm. It's like an onion. And the more that we peel off the layers, the more we get to know ourselves at a deeper level, and then our work obviously evolves and changes out there based on the knowledge that we have about Wow, too.

Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, and you did all this. [00:16:00] After your cancer diagnosis? 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: So did you go through chemo at the time too, and all of the health things that you had to be aware of and all of it? Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: I did not. I actually chose, I did have the surgery, so I had a big tumor. Mm-hmm. They took half of my, one of my kidneys and, um, and then removed the cancer that way and I did not mm-hmm.

Go through chemo and radiation. I, I knew if my body created. Cancer. Mm-hmm. There was a reason and that if I didn't do something different, um, from like an energetic perspective, a physical perspective, an emotional perspective, I knew my body would just recreate it and I didn't wanna put the toxins into my body, so, mm-hmm.

I did not do chemo and radiation, and I really took a healing journey. Mind, body, soul. I changed everything about, I really learned to love myself at a cellular level, and I think that was kind of the foundation of all the work that I did and, yeah. Changed what I was putting into my body, changed how I was talking to [00:17:00] myself internally.

Um, I was very healthy and I was, you know, very into exercise and fitness, but I think I was just so critical. I did not have a good, I did not have self-love at the time. I was very, you know, I was a perfectionist and very hard on myself and picked apart my body. And, um, yeah, it was, it was a journey of, of, yeah, it, it was a life changer for sure.

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. Wow. Tell, can you tell me more about. How you changed, how you made that shift to be more mindful of what you put in your body and how did you navigate that? Because I, I feel like Americans especially, were just kind of becoming more aware of, you know, like microplastics and some of these things that are in the environment that we're trying to avoid and be more healthy and be more natural.

Erica Carrico: Right. Yeah. How did 

Penny Fitzgerald: you navigate that through all of that? 

Erica Carrico: Lots of reading books and lots of, yeah, listening to podcasts. And Louise Hay was a really big guide for me. [00:18:00] She has a book that was really helpful. It's called You Can Heal Your Life. And that was a great book for me. I, I read that many times over.

Um, I'm trying to remember what other books I read, but. But yeah, it was, I think once I really learned to, I think, love myself on a cellular level and recognize like how magical my body is, you know, even just the simplest things, it's like how our heart just beats without us asking and how we're constantly breathing without, I mean, our body is so amazing and it's so easy to, to pick us apart and say, I don't like this, I don't like this and I don't like this, but it's like, wow.

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

Erica Carrico: We birth children and we are, we heal ourselves and we get cut and it grows back together. I mean, really just kind of being grateful for the small things and recognizing when my mind is going into any kind of a negative loop or that critical space. Mm-hmm. I can pull it out. And over years and years and years of trying to practice that.

I don't have those negative thoughts about my body anymore. They're just not there. Whereas that was pretty much like a hundred percent of my thoughts in the, in the beginning and through that feeling. It's like you put different, I don't have a [00:19:00] problem with my weight anymore and I, I did before because.

The things that I would put in my body, I was eating for comfort or the things I would put in my body weren't super healthy. And now it's like I don't want to put certain things in my body because I don't like how it makes me feel, or I don't want to put that in my body because I know what it's gonna do to my cells.

Right? So it's just a different, it's not from a place of I can't have this, it's a place of, I actually just don't 

want, 

you know, so everything shifts. I think when you really start to love and appreciate your yourself, um, at a spiritual, emotional, and physical level. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Yeah, that's a big shift going from I can't have that to, wow, I feel so good when I eat this way.

Right? Or. Think this way. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And I still, you know, like last night I had a milkshake with my kids and it, it wa it's fine. I don't think about it. It, and I don't have a problem when I do. So it's like, if I'm gonna choose that mm-hmm. I'm gonna choose it. I'm gonna enjoy it and, you know, I probably won't want one for another few days or weeks or whatever.

So it's also, um, I think a healthy [00:20:00] balance too. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. It's not limiting. It's not. A barrier, 

Erica Carrico: right? Yeah. Whereas before, it'd be like, oh my gosh, I had a milkshake. I have to work out hard the next day and I can't have X more calories than this. And was, oh geez, I was in that space before. Experience restrictive.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, very much so. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Wow. You know, sidebar. Yeah. Um, Louise Hayes, uh, started her business at 60. 

Erica Carrico: I know that, I tell that to everybody 'cause every so many people are like, it's too late for me. And I have like 7-year-old women in my, in my business building program, Uhhuh. And they're literally like starting their business at this stage of life.

And I always share that example of Louise Hay and she had a, I think it was like a mul, a billion dollar company when she passed away Hay House. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. It's, 

Penny Fitzgerald: I love that. 

Erica Carrico: Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. Our only limitation is really us, you know, we get in our own way so much. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, definitely we do. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Cool. Okay.

[00:21:00] So do you do, um, like group coaching? Is it just one-on-one and you, you have the course, but Yep. Do, um, how do you present that? 

Erica Carrico: So my, the Awaken Your Purpose course is a, um, a self-guided course so you can go as quickly, some people move through it and as quickly as three or four weeks. Some people maybe take a month or two.

So that's self-guided. And then my business, bro, my business building program is called Soul Business Accelerator, and that is a hybrid program. So lots of private coaching, group coaching, um, private Facebook group modules. That one's more of a. Um, yeah, we build your business with you over the course of a year, and then I usually have like four or five private coaching clients as well.

And those are more women who are scaling to, you know, putting in more passive in passive revenue or passive, I guess, marketing, um, in place so that they're scaling to that million dollar mark. Um, so there's, I guess, three levels that people come in and, and work with me. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, nice. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. [00:22:00] 

Penny Fitzgerald: Do you love gr group coaching?

I do, 

Erica Carrico: yeah. I do like the group. It's, it's definitely special. I love the sisterhood and seeing women support women and I think, yeah, there's, um, yeah, there's a lot of love in group coaching for sure. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I feel like, you know what, what one person is struggling with or what a question one person might have, another person might have it or will have it.

Down the road. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: And just doesn't know it yet. 

Erica Carrico: Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Or, or is maybe afraid to ask. So it really brings out a lot of good for everyone in the group. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And sometimes women just jump on the calls to listen to other people's questions and they get so much mm-hmm. From that. So that happens. Absolutely.

Mm-hmm. Yep. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, for sure. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Okay, cool. So, um, what about retreats? Do you run retreats or any of that? 

Erica Carrico: There's an in-person. Yeah. I do it two, twice a year. I do an in-person. It's only available for current, um, [00:23:00] clients and students uhhuh. So I actually just had one. Um, there was like, I think 15, we capped it at 15 'cause I, I do them in my home, so people flew in Oh nice.

From everywhere. Yeah. And then it's so nice to have them here and, um, we do it over the course of two days and really do a deep dive into each of their businesses and where they're at and what they're struggling with. And they each create something while they're here. Um, so yeah, we do that twice a year as well, which is really 

Penny Fitzgerald: nice.

Erica Carrico: Yeah, 

Penny Fitzgerald: there's something magical about being onsite 

Erica Carrico: mm-hmm. With 

Penny Fitzgerald: the group and yeah, you can really, um, do a deep dive. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And then I think they become, they become close as well because they have that experience together. Like they're staying together and they're eating together and they're having dinner together and they're.

Working together and collaborating and yeah, they, then it develops that bond that I think lasts for a long time. Like, I think they've all got WhatsApp chat groups that they Oh, okay. Past our, past our time together. Yeah. It's really sweet. Oh 

Penny Fitzgerald: gosh. 

 When you do your group coaching or when you do any of your coaching, um, you, you, it's a [00:24:00] year program that you're, that you have them in. 

Erica Carrico: The business building program is a year long program. Yeah. Okay. It usually takes about a year and we have women that come in and they're starting from scratch. They just have an idea of what they want to do and we help them.

Mm-hmm. Really put everything in place, create their offer, price their packages, put their website in place, put all their marketing in place for them. Um, and then we have women that are already earning six figures in their business and they're. You know, they don't have the consistency, so they want some consistent marketing to either add another six figures to their bottom line or, um, they just don't wanna rely on re referrals or social media.

Mm-hmm. So then we put these other strategies in place. So it's all levels of women are in there. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. That's awesome. It sounds start to finish too. You are helping them from Yes. Concept to execution and 

Erica Carrico: everything in between concept. Yep. We, it's a six figure business. Uh, it's a, it's called Soul Business Accelerator: Your Six Figure Roadmap. So it essentially gets women from zero to eight, 10, 12,000 a month, and they're Wow. [00:25:00] Consistently 

Penny Fitzgerald: fantastic. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Yeah. Then they can quit their jobs and have their impact and live their purpose full time. Usually at that. Yeah. At that level. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Think about the ripple effect too, when you're helping women at that level.

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And 

Penny Fitzgerald: then that trickles down to their people and who they serve. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Well that was, you know, I, when I was going through my cancer experience, it was like, I kind of had this, I went through this phase where it was like I wanted to be the healer and I wanted to be the, you know, the medicine worker.

And I just kept getting this clear message of like, no, you're meant to coach and guide the healers and the medicine workers, so. You know, I work with like functional medicine specialists all the way to psychics, to mediums, to plant medicine, um, practitioner, I mean, all of it. A wide range of coaches and um, speakers and alternative therapists, you know, all of it.

And it's so great to know that when they're out there doing their work, that's how I'm having impact is like all of their clients are also receiving, [00:26:00] um, you know, the healing. So it's, yeah. Wow. That was very clear for me. And very intentionally designed. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Yeah. Again, I go back to the bravery it would take to do that because, okay, so when you're going through your journey, you're, you've got your cancer diagnosis and you're trying to make ends meet, and you've got, you've got two daughters, correct?

Erica Carrico: I have a son, yep. And then I was breastfeeding my daughter when I was diagnosed. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Sorry. Two. Okay. Two kids, a son and a daughter. Okay. Wow. I, as a listener, I'm just thinking about, you know, the, what you must have felt to know, you know, okay, I've got this thing I'm fighting and I know it's not right. I mean, how did you, how did you take a step back and listen and be able to receive that information about this is what I need to do and have, I mean, how did [00:27:00] you go through that?

Erica Carrico: Well, I think breastfeeding was, it was, you know, I was like devastated that that was happening to me while I was breastfeeding. But it was actually really great because I had so much time because you sit there with your baby a lot, you know, and Uhhuh, 

Audio Only - All Participants: you 

Erica Carrico: sit there and you think she, my baby. Neither of my kids ever took a bottle.

So I did every single feed. And so for, you know, multiple times a day, I'm sitting there for. A wa a long time and I, um, I would just think, and I would pray and, and there was this one time where I don't remember if I was putting her to bed or down for a nap, but I, it just, I was rocking her and I, I just remember looking down at her and her big blue eyes just looked up and she just smiled at me and I.

Burst into tears. And I just was like, why is this happening to me? And why is this happening to me now? And, and am I gonna live or am I gonna die? Like, what is gonna happen to me and what do I do? And, um, it was like very clear. I actually write about this in my book. It was very clear. I, I heard the words remission.

Remission. [00:28:00] And it was like, I'm not in remission. I said that out loud. I was like, I'm not in remission. And it said remission. Remember your mission. Remember why you're here. And it was wow. Remission was, remember your mission to me? And it was like, wow, I have gotten so far away. I knew as a child what I was here for.

I knew that I was here to, to serve and make a difference in the world and. And I wasn't doing that anymore. And, um, I wasn't doing that in my way, and I knew that. And so it was a, that was a very clear moment of like, okay, whatever, however long I have left, I will be of service. And, um, I enrolled, I had always had the calling to be a life coach in some capacity or whatever.

So I enrolled in a coaching program, like, I think it might've been the next day and started like two weeks later and, mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Um, 

Erica Carrico: yeah. And off to the races, so 

Penny Fitzgerald: no. Yeah. The way you heard that word, remission. Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: So bizarre. I mean, you couldn't make that up if you tried. No. [00:29:00] Um, yeah. And that you heard 

Penny Fitzgerald: it, you know that you heard it.

Heard it, heard it. Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. And I 

Erica Carrico: said out loud, like, I'm not in remission. I don't know that I'm 

Penny Fitzgerald: That's so cool. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Um, do you meditate? 

Erica Carrico: I used to, I, I'm really bad at it right now. Um, you know, but definitely for a very long time there I did. And so I'll still do, you know, like if I, if I'm tired during the day, I'll take a 20 minute, um, like a pow 20 minute or a 30 minute power nap and I'll listen to a guided meditation or I am affirmations a lot.

Mm-hmm. Oh, nice. If I'll do guided meditations, you know, if I'm, yeah. If I'm like sitting in my sauna or whatever. But for when I was healing for the first two to three years after cancer. Every day I did for at least 20 to 30 minutes. 

Penny Fitzgerald: That's great. Yeah. I, I think about, um, you know, you saying it, you practice, um, you know, the healthy habits and the, all of that.

I feel like meditation for me helps me, and I have to keep practicing [00:30:00] at it because if I skip a few days. It's really you fall outta it. Yeah. Yeah. It's um, you know, even for little things like memory and like, why did I come into this room? Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. All those fun. Perimenopause, menopause. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Exactly.

Like I know I had a mission that I was coming in here for. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. That definitely happens to me too. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. And meditation, I feel like it, it really, it helps me focus more, it helps me get clarity. It helps me stay present with whoever I'm speaking with. Yeah. And, um, yeah, I just really need to practice it.

Regularly or I fall out of it. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. That's everything. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, and that you heard, you know, I mean, going back to you hearing the calling and the re the reminder of your mission, that's, that's cool that you were present [00:31:00] enough to hear it. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, and I found, I think we're, you know, my, we're I, I found my cancer intuitively also.

I, it, I wasn't really, yeah, I wasn't, I, I was having, I, I was like, I think I went to the doctor in April of 2016 for my annual exam and I started having weird thoughts of like cancer. And I remember asking her at that appointment, um, a couple of my friends are getting diagnosed with breast cancer or whatever.

I think another one had thyroid at the time. And I just was like, what kind of symptoms would I be. Experiencing if I had cancer. And, you know, she was like, Uhhuh, you're healthy. You're, you know, you're fine. You have nothing to worry about. Um, and so I dismissed it. But as the months went on, I remember also standing at work and washing my hands in the bathroom.

And I kind of just was like, there's something here. I didn't, I thought it was like my stomach, not my, I didn't think anything of my kidneys, but I thought it was like in the area. And so September finally comes around and I am having dreams. I'm waking up thinking about cancer, hearing cancer in, in, in like all the [00:32:00] shows.

The videos that I was watching on social media, on billboards. Mm-hmm. Everywhere I went was cancer. And I, so I went into the doctor and I was like, I'm, there's something going on here. Um. And I need, I would love it. I wanna know what's happening. So she was like, okay, well we'll do blood work and we'll do like a chest x-ray or something.

And I was like, fine. Mm-hmm. So those came back fine. She sent me home 10 days later. I was, I like, had a panic attack and I went back in, I'm like, I need to know what is going on inside. I need to see inside. I need a CT scan. And she's like, we don't just do CT scans for anyone who requests a CT scan. And I said, just, I just need to know, like I need to know from my peace of mind.

And basically went over, got the CT scan done. I think she made something up like I was having stomach pains or something like that. And, um, 

Penny Fitzgerald: were you having 

Erica Carrico: No. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Were you having any issues, like physically you didn't feel any symptoms of it? No. Just intuit, just intuition. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And two hours later, sure enough, I got a call from her and she said, well, we found a three inch mass on your kidney and Oh 

Penny Fitzgerald: my God.

Erica Carrico: Yep. And in two hours you have [00:33:00] an appointment with, um, a urologist and an oncologist. We've already set it up for you, just be there. And three days later I was in surgery, so 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my goodness. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. It went fast and they had never seen, wow. Kidney cancer is usually an old men. So like I was in the waiting room for all my appointments afterwards and throughout the treatment.

Mm-hmm. I was in there with like 80, 90-year-old men. It was, they were like, we've never seen this in a woman your age. And so that was part of the thing where I knew it was for a reason. I knew that was happening to me for a reason, and I knew I needed to know why. So for me, mm-hmm. Um, it wasn't just a case of like.

Let's get this fixed and then I'm gonna move on with my life. It was, no, this is telling me something big. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: That's a, wow. 

Erica Carrico: It was like my biggest fear, I think it's everyone's biggest fear, is to, I didn't wanna, my biggest fear was that I would get sick and I would leave my children and it was, you know, and I had to face that.

And I think nothing really became clear to me [00:34:00] either. My path forward didn't become clear to me until I actually accepted. It took me a while to get to that point where I heard that clarity, that message Uhhuh. I didn't get the clarity until I like actually accepted that I might die. Like I might really, truly, and I became okay with that.

And then as soon as I was okay with that and accepted that as part of my reality, then boom, all the clarity came. It was the most bizarre thing. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. And the clarity came, um, telling you what the path was or how to start that path. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So in the beginning, um, what, what was it? Or what were you drawn to do to get started?

Erica Carrico: I was just afraid. I was terrified. I was, I was spinning in fear. I was asking the doctors, why is this happening? I was trying to figure that out. I, you know, why is this happening? What created this? I, I was like, very much into the research. Is this genetic? Um mm-hmm. I mean, mm-hmm. I was, yeah, I was very much in that space and I wasn't [00:35:00] happy with the answers I would get.

'cause they would tell me there, this, this was just a fluke. And don't worry, you know, in five years a 

Penny Fitzgerald: fluke. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. A fluke. It was just a weird blip and nobody in your family has cancer And um, yeah, it's not genetic and you're, it just is a, it was a blip and I that to me. Did not like that made it worse. So that's, I think what kind of those answers took me down the path of, well, no, this wasn't a mistake.

If my body created this, there was a reason why and none of you all tell me, so I'm gonna go figure that out. And so that's when I started doing a lot of the work. Louise Hay actually has a book, um, I can't remember what it's called, but it talks about symptoms and illnesses and relates it to different thoughts in the body.

And cancer is a lot about. Self-hatred and a lot about, um, holding onto resentment and I hadn't thought of that. Yeah. So, and then kidneys was like toxicity obviously. And, um, yeah. So it was all really [00:36:00] about me holding everything in and, and the way that I was talking to myself and the thoughts I was holding in and I wasn't allowing my own creativity to get out, and it just became very clear for me.

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Well, and you think of things that happen in your abdomen. Gut. Right. Your gut reactions to things and Right. I know it's pretty clear when, um, when you're saying no to something that your soul is saying yes to, or vice versa. You, you can feel nauseous pretty easily or like you've gotten punched in the gut, you know?

Right. We say that a lot. That's 

Erica Carrico: true. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That is so true. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. But cancer, that's crazy and scary. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, but that was a long time ago. 

Erica Carrico: Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Almost 10 years. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, almost 10 years. 

Penny Fitzgerald: And you're healthy. 

Erica Carrico: Yes. I feel like I, yeah, definitely. I'm going through, you know, I'm 44, so I'm definitely going through the, 

Penny Fitzgerald: Hmm.

Erica Carrico: Menopausal, you [00:37:00] know, I'm feeling all the hormones and the, yeah, sleeplessness and the fatigue and the mood changes and all that stuff. But, um, mm-hmm. Outside of all that, I feel very, very healthy, very happy, very aligned in my life and in my relationships and with my kids and in my career. And. In a completely different place.

Everything is in my life because I've put it here. Whereas before, it was like, oh wow, everything was in my life because I felt it should be there. You know? 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Yeah, exactly. You, you can live with intention now, or you choose to live with intention, 

Erica Carrico: right, 

Penny Fitzgerald: and purpose. Wow. That's a huge shift. Yeah, 

Erica Carrico: it's a big one.

Penny Fitzgerald: I think a, yeah. I think a lot of people are gonna hear that and think, oh my gosh, how can I do that? You know, the longer you do it time, 

Audio Only - All Participants: right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: The, the longer you do that for other people. Or live to others' expectations. The harder it is, I feel like to, you know, choose your own path. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Because you get so far, like when I [00:38:00] started, I mean, whenever people start my programs or working with me, they're, they, or start reading my book, they don't, they can't even remember what they love to do. Like I couldn't. I was say, couldn't even remember what I love to do. It was like, wait, I have no idea.

And mm-hmm. A lot of times we have to go back to our childhood and, you know, what did you love to do as a child? Were you outside digging in the dirt or getting lost in the woods, or were you playing with Barbies or did you love arts and crafts? Or were you constantly kicking a ball around? I mean, were you Yeah.

Around horses and animals and did you, I don't know. It's like, what did you love to do as a child and. That is a lot of times where people have to go back to it because we're so conditioned to, or we don't even think about what we love to do. It's like we just do this because we have to do it. It's like our life becomes one big checklist of all these things we have to do, and then we wake up the next day and put our feet on the floor and do it all over again.

Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. And it sucks the joy right out of us. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, completely. Yeah. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: And sometimes it makes us sick. 

Erica Carrico: Yes, very much so. I think our bodies. Yeah, like Louise Hay calls it dis-ease, right? So like there's a disease [00:39:00] in our, in our way of living. It's, we're not, yeah, it's like a dis-ease causes disease and I think that's the first sign of disease and the body is obvious or always energetic is what they say.

Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Yeah, I, I heard a, um, c-suite level manager talking, um, about a key person on the team. Um, and he said, well, she can't leave. We pay her too much. 

Erica Carrico: Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You know, I mean, you get used to this, this level and that. It's hard to break outta that. It's hard to start over. 'cause when you start a business for yourself, 

Erica Carrico: you're starting from scratch.

Penny Fitzgerald: Well. Yes and no. I mean, you, you're, you're starting, the money comes is from scratch probably, right? Yeah. Your 

Erica Carrico: skill's not, yeah, definitely. Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Your skill level, your experience, the things that you bring to the table, your passion, your energy, all of that, it just builds on itself. So yeah, you just [00:40:00] have to kind of adjust to make sure that, okay, how can I manage my income?

How can I make this work for my obligations, my responsibilities, my family, 

Erica Carrico: right? Yeah, 

Penny Fitzgerald: that's big. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And building it up too, I think, I mean, most of us work at both at the same time. Like I certainly did as well. I was working in the not-for-profit, um, executive director position full-time while I was recovering from cancer, while I was breastfeeding my baby, while I had my toddler.

And then I was building my business on the side and, you know, I, I built my business on the side until I felt comfortable leaving my job. And that happened a year later. But people, I think, assume that they have to just leave their job and start their business, but that's actually. Not Right. For a lot of people, a lot of people stay in and work it on the side until they feel like they either have enough in savings or their business is at a place where it's ready to go if they just need 

Penny Fitzgerald: more time.

Mm-hmm. 

Erica Carrico: To, to focus on it. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Right, right. And for some people, I feel it's me especially, um, it's hard to juggle all of that. You know, you have, [00:41:00] you feel a lot of responsibility towards your corporate thing or towards your, the thing that you're doing for someone else. 

Erica Carrico: Right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You can put yourself on the back burner.

Well, isn't that convenient? Now you've put yourself on hold again. Yeah. Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: It's always easier to do that. Well that's, and that's I think where the intention comes into play is like there's, if you, unless you put yourself first and you start taking steps towards creating what you want, it's never gonna happen.

'cause there's never gonna be a right time. Nobody else is gonna make the time for you to do it. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Or give you the, give you the thanks, you know. 

Erica Carrico: Exactly. Yeah. Exactly right. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Oh my gosh. That's exciting though. 'cause it gives you a lot of power. I. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You know, when you think of it, you just have to grab it, have to take it and run with it.

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Yep. Yeah, you do. 

Penny Fitzgerald: And sometimes need a coach to help you through it. 

Erica Carrico: I always have a coach. Yes. Wonderful. I've never felt, yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, fantastic. Erica, what's the name of your book? 

Erica Carrico: It's called [00:42:00] Awaken Your Purpose. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, cool. And we can find that on Amazon and, 

Erica Carrico: yep, it's on Amazon, it's on Kindle, it's on Audible.

Um, it should be here in the next couple of weeks out on like iBooks and, um, and yeah, like Barnes and Noble, it should be out all the places here shortly, 

Penny Fitzgerald: but Nice. Yeah. Cool. Well, I'll, I'll be sure to put links to that and to your website in the show notes and stuff. 

Audio Only - All Participants: Amazing. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Something else I always like to do to bring it around to something super fun at the end of my episodes.

Um, do you, do you have a favorite drink? Because I feel like wine and cocktails bring us together, especially, you know, a girlfriend. 

Erica Carrico: Yes, they definitely do. I know. I love this. I mean, well actually this is so interesting. I am coming up to my four year of being, my four years of being sober. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

Erica Carrico: But my favorite drink.

So whenever I do a go with wine, um, with my girls and, and they're having wine and margaritas, my, my go-to was always a margarita. I always loved uhhuh, margarita on the rocks with [00:43:00] salt was my go-to. Mm-hmm. But now I do a little bit of kombucha with some sparkling water and then like some fruit on tops.

So like either some squeezed lemon or some berries and boom, I'm right in there with. The mix, so 

Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. You know, mocktails are really having a moment. 

Erica Carrico: They're having a moment. There's a lot of people that are playing with them right now. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. And they're, they're festive too, and there's no reason that you can't participate with other girlfriends, you know?

Yeah. And have whatever you like. 

Erica Carrico: Definitely. Yeah. And sometimes people, you know, like if I, even if I am with people that don't know that I'm sober, even if I just order a sparkling water and put a little lime in it, they still think, yeah, they think I'm ready. You know, like they don't even, that 

Penny Fitzgerald: could be in g and t or a, 

Erica Carrico: a vodka soda, G and t.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, for sure. 

Penny Fitzgerald: I love it. 

Erica Carrico: Mm-hmm. I love 

Penny Fitzgerald: it. Okay, so do you have a favorite memory, um, with girlfriends? 

Erica Carrico: Oh my gosh. Of course. Yes. So many. Oh my gosh. Of course. I would [00:44:00] say, actually, I would say actually one of my favorite, most favorite memories probably was when I was. Living abroad in Australia and in Sydney.

There's um, this, uh, the wine region is called the Hunter Valley, and it's like an hour and a half of Sydney. Yeah. And so the thing to do in Sydney is to go up to the Hunter Valley and stay in like the wine region and the cozy little, you know, they have the Airbnbs and the fires and the weather's usually a bit colder and Rainier.

So we went there for a couple of girls weekends actually, and just spent the whole weekend catching up and doing wine tours and eating cheese and sampling olive oils and olives and breads and just, oh my gosh, like heavenly gourmet restaurants and, um. Yeah. Lots of fun memories made in the valley. 

Penny Fitzgerald: That sounds amazing.

Yeah. Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: Should add that to their bucket list for sure. Yeah, it 

Penny Fitzgerald: definitely, well, um, I do a thing called [00:45:00] Wine Camp with another friend. Oh. 

Erica Carrico: Oh, that's so fun. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. We join, um, we, we go to different wine regions and so far we've been domestic, so we've been going to Okay. Wine regions that maybe people aren't so.

Not used to or wouldn't have gone to on their own. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Um, and you know, it's, when you don't know about a particular region, it, it's a little bit, bit more intimidating. You don't know where to go, you don't know where to stay in all of the things. So we coordinate all of that, but I. Australia is on our list for a future wine camp experience.

Erica Carrico: Yeah. And if you want an even cooler one. So I also lived in Perth, which is on the west side of Australia, not, oh yes, there. And my in-laws, I'm divorced now, but my in-laws were from the wine region, three hours south of Perth. So I spent a lot of time down there and that is like. Really, really remote and so beautiful and so bizarre.

I mean like literally koalas and kangaroos and wallabies everywhere. Oh, wow. And it's a really cool place. [00:46:00] Beautiful white beaches with white sand. It's called the, um, Margaret River region. And that's Yes. A great place for wine too. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh, 

Erica Carrico: so good. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, you're speaking my language. Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: And the Hunter Valley.

Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Well, and then also if you're going to Australia, you have to hit Barossa. 

Erica Carrico: Yes, for sure. Yes, 

Penny Fitzgerald: most definitely. Yes. Adelaide, all the, yeah, for sure. Yeah. 

Erica Carrico: Amazing. So fun. 

Penny Fitzgerald: It's a big country. There's a lot to see. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, you definitely need a few months, that's for sure. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And you were there for 10 years? 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, I was there for 10 years.

Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I might have to hit you up for some of these ideas. Oh yeah, 

Erica Carrico: absolutely. I have been, I have seen every single corner of that country, so Wow. Definitely. Yeah. Hit me up. I've, yeah, I've seen it all. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Awesome. I have another very good friend who grew up in Australia and

 now lives in, not far from me when we're in, um, in Florida, which is super fun. 

 Erica, I am so grateful to, to get to meet you and to hear your story, and I'm grateful that you are just [00:47:00] healthy and wonderful. 

Erica Carrico: Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Is there anything that you'd like to share that I didn't ask you or that you're, that you'd wanna, um, you know, share with my audience? 

Erica Carrico: I think the only thing is, you know, I think so many of us do get caught up in the rat race of life and just really remembering that, you know, we are here.

Like our souls did come here for a reason and our stories count, and I think everything that we've been through in life, I. Has happened for a reason. I think there's so much that we can turn our pain into our purpose and so, so many people you know, who are thinking like, why is this happening to me and why is life so unfair?

It's like, how can we really shift that and utilize that to go out and have an impact and maybe help other people through what you've been through and, and looking at the meeting at things in life from a different perspective is can be so beautiful. 

Penny Fitzgerald: That's a great perspective. Because when you're in it, when you're in the thick of it, it's hard to imagine that, well, this [00:48:00] is for a greater good or this is gonna turn out okay.

Erica Carrico: Yeah. Right. It's so hard. But that's what mm-hmm. Has gotten me through so much of the hardships in my life. And I have been through it and it's always, I know that I'm growing through this and that this is going to, you know, someday be a book like it is, right. Or someday. And it's gonna be this to help these people or women do this.

And um, yeah, I truly do. See all of those hardships and challenges as growth, um, and we can definitely turn them into something positive down the road. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Love it. Thank you so much. 

Erica Carrico: Yeah, same. Thank you so much, penny. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Thank you. It was great to meet you. 

Erica Carrico: You too. We'll talk to you later. Okay. Bye. 

 [00:49:00]