Erin has a tattoo on her leg of a cupcake that says “Cover-Up.”
The story behind that one? It hides an “ugly tattoo” that teenaged Erin thought was a good idea. Her friend who owns a tattoo shop in Providence agreed to cover it for free, on the condition that she let him do something funny.
Erin manages her team of Brafton writers with the same seemingly effortless, easy-going vibes. Balancing her cool factor with incredible drive and efficiency, Erin leads with admirable finesse.
Here’s a taste of Erin’s world:
“My good friends joke that I’m a hustler!”
Well, a hustler in the sense that Erin’s embarked on quite a few endeavors – and her go-getter spirit leads her to success in pretty much anything she sets her mind to.
Her professional life started at Providence Public Schools as a certified teacher, followed by a managerial role at a residential school for teens with mental illness and behavioral problems. Her life in the education world continued:
“For a few years, I facilitated Individualized Education Program meetings for incarcerated students working toward their GED and taught summer school at Department of Youth Services detention centers in Boston and Taunton,” she explained.
During her teaching career, Erin’s side gigs included co-owning a gold-buying business and selling people’s stuff on eBay. Hence where the hustler mantra found its footing.
Joining the writing world
Erin celebrated the big 3-0 by starting a blog that would end up being key to the next phase of her professional life.
“When my local city magazine started looking for a new assistant editor, I emailed the executive editor a link to my blog and the rest is history,” she said.
Love in the sky
Fun fact: Erin met her husband on an airplane. He’s originally from Lisbon, so Erin decided to ditch the magazine and start freelance writing under the Portuguese sun.
When the lovebirds moved back to Boston a little over three years ago, Erin joined Brafton as a Managing Editor – the role she continues to hold today.
Brafton life is a busy life
You’ll never find Erin mindlessly staring at the clock waiting for time to pass.
“It’s the kind of job where you look at the clock and say, ‘Oh crap, it’s 3 p.m. and I haven’t eaten lunch yet,’ ” she said.
The days fly by, which is “awesome” for Erin’s get-things-done spirit. How does a Managing Editor spend her busy days? Dealing with lots of questions, solving problems as they arise and meeting with various clients and stakeholders. She’s the point person for writers when they need to flag discrepancies or ask for advice on anything from client communications to writing styles. Erin also spends a lot of time with spreadsheets, as managing creative resource is a significant part of her job.
“I left business school after a few years because I hated math and ended up in a job where I do lots of math. Go figure,” she joked.
Erin also writes and edits content for Brafton.com. Check out her favorite byline on the Brafton blog: How to grow Instagram followers to 100k for free.
Our editorial queen
Erin leads an entire team of writers, and she’s quick to compliment them for how they manage their roles.
“They seriously blow me away – I don’t know how they do it all, but they do,” she said.
In listing out all they do – remembering various deadlines, attending client meetings, conducting keyword research, interviewing subject matter experts and writing all sorts of high-quality content – she reiterated:
“Did I mention they’re amazing?”
Erin also praises her team for being creative beyond content writing. We’ve got painters, novelists, musicians – the whole gang.
“I love being around right-brained people. It inspires me to keep working on my own creative side projects,” she said.
I love being around right-brained people. It inspires me to keep working on my own creative side projects.
Erin also mentioned how wonderful her own boss is.
“I’m grateful for him because I’ve had a few not-so-wonderful bosses over the years,” she said.
As a writer working under Erin’s lead, I can confirm that she hasn’t brought any of those less-than-favorable qualities to her leadership role at Brafton. Hey Erin – did I mention you’re amazing?
Beyond the 9 to 5
Erin spends a lot of time at the farm, playground, trampoline park, zoo and kids’ birthday parties. With good reason, don’t worry. She has two little ones: a one-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.
“Most of my after-work activities revolve around them,” she said.
However, in between managing a team of writers and two toddlers, Erin does find time to fulfill her love of travel and keep up her freelance writing at nights and on the weekends.
“My primary niche is marketing, business and mobile apps, but I also write about parenting, education and HR,” she said.
She even combined her interests to adeptly write about why parents make awesome content marketers.
The secret sauce
What’s the source of Erin’s seemingly endless motivation?
“I focus on working toward goals for the future. I’m very goal-driven,” she said.
Naturally, Erin sets herself a personal goal to visit at least three countries a year. However, her goal-driven mindset also means that she sometimes works 60 hours a week between Brafton and freelance clients.
And to that she says (with enviably cool-under-pressure charm no less): “It’s all good.”
Looks like the hustler is here to stay.
