Erin Thorp is an empathic keynote speaker, writer, and coach for leaders who struggle with conflict, communication, and performance during high-stress times. She supports leaders in navigating difficult conversations, building powerful teams, and communicating with empathy so they can lead confidently.
Having spent 20 years in the masculine dominated engineering and construction industries leading teams and delivering projects, Erin had taken notice that her colleagues were highly skilled and cared deeply about their work, but most were incapable of fully holding their own emotion and therefore unable to hold the emotions of others.
What is your business all about?
I’m an empathic speaker, writer, and coach for leaders who struggle with conflict, communication, and performance during high-stress times. I support leaders in navigating difficult conversations, building powerful teams, and communicating with empathy so they can lead confidently.
I spent 20 years in the engineering and construction industries leading teams and delivering projects. While supporting my daughter through a learning disability diagnosis, I started writing which resulted in my first book Inside Out Empathy which explores using the superpower of empathy to build effective teams. This book was the spark that lit the fire in me and ultimately resulted in my business.
I believe that there is a leader in everyone and am committed to discovering your leader within and supporting you to lead with impact—from the inside out.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I was born in northern Alberta, Canada and when I was 2-years-old my parents moved our family to Bethel, Alaska. We lived in Bethel for 7 years and during which time my parents battled addictions. They got sober when I was 9 and we moved back to our farm in Alberta to be closer to family and friends. Being the eldest sibling I was always a leader. I was the kid that volunteered to speak first, be the president of the committee or get things done.
I left home at 17 to pursue a degree in Engineering. My first job was as a project engineer for a construction company and I love it. I enjoyed seeing how things fit together, helping solve problems and bringing other people’s dreams to life. Despite first reactions to my presence on a construction site – you must be a secretary or the cleaner – I built a career over 2 decades as a construction leader. It wasn’t as fulfilling as I had hoped it would be as I was struggling to keep all the ‘balls’ in the air as a mother and corporate leader. My emotions often got the best of me and I found myself in many uncomfortable situations crying in my bosses office or worse yet, in front of a group of people in a meeting. Feedback from my leaders was consistent – “Erin, you need to get a hold of yourself. You need to find your game-face and learn to control your emotions.” So I started out learning how to ‘fix’ myself, however ended up in an entirely different place altogether. I ended up discovering that my emotions weren’t the enemy I once thought they were. My emotions were a source of information, a GPS of sorts if I would only stop and listen long enough to understand them.
I noticed that my colleagues were highly skilled and cared deeply about their work, but most were incapable of fully holding their own emotion and therefore unable to hold the emotions of others. I realized there was a big gap in what was being taught to technical leaders, myself included. I knew that skills often categorized as “soft” — connection, empathy, vulnerability — are actually the most difficult to learn and are key to creating leaders who make an impact in their personal lives, their company’s, and the world. I had been ‘dipping a toe’ into my career as an author, speaker and coach since 2017, however, I fully transitioned out of my engineering position and into my current role full-time at the beginning of the pandemic.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
- Vision – Vision is required to sustain you through all of the ups and downs you’ll experience as an entrepreneur. I also believe that it’s ok for the vision to evolve and change over time. As the captain of our ship, we have to have a clear vision of where we are going and be able to adjust to the storms that will come our way.
- Persistence – The storms will come. Patient persistence is one of the qualities that separates the entrepreneurs that make from those that don’t. It will get tough. It’s going to look different than you thought it would. Having a clear vision of the ‘what’ and letting go of the ‘how’ is often the way to weather the stormy seasons we find ourselves in.
- Consistency – Success is less about the big flashy launches or one time offers and more about showing up every day, every week of every month. As entrepreneurs we need to take consistent action, daily, to see long term success.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
Adding digital resources is a priority in the near to immediate future as I’ve already hit the limit on what I can do personally. Building my team of coaches and facilitators isn’t out of the question either, down the road. I’m a firm believer in holding the vision tightly and letting go of ‘how’ it’s going to look. We never know how things will unfold and if we become rigid on ‘how’ something needs to look, we can miss opportunities and end up holding ourselves back.
How have the pandemic and Lockdown affected you or your new business?
After walking the line between a corporate career and my own business for 4 years, I took the leap of faith to invest in myself and go all in on my own business right in the middle of the pandemic. At first, the pandemic shut down all training and in-person events which was concerning. As a mother of three teenagers who suddenly found themselves at home trying to log into online classes, I was grateful for the slow down in my own work so that I had time to support them.
As we all figured out online school and virtual meetings, slowly I began to see that companies were interested in training their leaders and moving to online development activities. It seemed like the perfect time to try going out on my own and I haven’t looked back. By April 2021 I was booked out until September and as of July 2021, I was booking into Jan 2022.
Some of the lessons I’ve learned operating during the pandemic with three teenagers attending online school and a husband working from home are:
- Invest in the good internet – speed and reliability are key to successful operations!
- Prepare snacks and lunches as if we were all leaving for the day – it limits the chaos in the kitchen at lunchtime!
- Routine is good … and it’s also nice to have a nap. Listen to your body and what it needs to thrive. It won’t look the same day today, so don’t force it.
- Rest and play are a part of creativity and productivity. Make time to laugh, disconnect from electronics, spend time in nature and do nothing. It will pay you back dividends when you do return to the work.
Everyone is experiencing this pandemic. Everyone’s situation, perspective, and experience is different and no one’s is more important or ‘right’ than the next person. Be curious instead of passing judgement when things look different than you might expect.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
I believe in the power of both teaching and coaching. Leaders need to learn new skills however this isn’t achieved in a classroom. In order for leaders to have empathy skills available in the moments when they need it the most, they need an environment where they can safely practice. I am different from my competitors because I focus on one foundational skill – empathy – and I provide an environment that provides both knowledge and skill-building for maximum impact.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
- Trying to do too much at once. I now can see that I spread myself too thin and focused on way too many things at the beginning. Choosing one offer, or one product line would have allowed me to test, refine and improve the offer until it was successful and would have allowed me to find that success more quickly.
- Not asking for help when I needed it. I’m someone who learns best by doing, however, there were a ton of moments in the early days (and they still happen today) where I knew I was in over my head and didn’t know what my next move should be. Asking for help sooner and surrounding myself with other entrepreneurs who could support me and hold me accountable would have also sped up my success and reduced the times I felt frustrated and overwhelmed.
- Not paying attention to the money sooner. I had this belief that because my business initially wasn’t my main source of income that the money didn’t matter. I didn’t plan strategically expenses and monitor and track revenue. Since going full time into my business and it being my main source of income now, I have no choice but to look at the numbers regularly. I believe that had I had an eye on this sooner, I likely could have made the transition sooner than I did.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
- Believing in myself. As a corporate employee for over 2 decades, I wasn’t sure I had what it took to start and build a business on my own. I’m not like so many other entrepreneurs who knew this was their calling from the time they had their first lemonade stand. (Living on a farm I never had a lemonade stand, I raised steers as my first source of income!) I invest heavily in 1:1 and group coaching and consume various self-development courses, books, and podcasts to work on my mindset and skills as an entrepreneur.
- Marketing. Marketing still makes me break into a cold sweat if I’m honest. I have no issues talking about my work 1:1 or during in-person networking situations. It’s the online space that I struggle with. I have accepted that this isn’t my strength and hired support to keep me moving forward in this space. From branding to a virtual assistant, having the right team in place is critical to overcoming this challenge for me.
- Overcoming the Overwhelm. Being an entrepreneur can be extremely overwhelming if you let it. There is always something else to learn or do or know. From technology to marketing, industry trends to new knowledge, there is always something asking for your attention!! Building a practice of mindfulness has helped me quiet the overwhelm and keep moving forward consistently. My mindfulness practice is a combination of quiet walking – without music or a podcast in my ears – meditation and time in nature.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
- ActiveCampaign – CRM and Email Marketing
- QuickBooks – keeping the money flowing
- Google Suite – ability to connect with all the contractors in my business and keep stuff organized.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
My calendar and a timer!
- Everything goes in my calendar – time to answer emails, times to write, times to think, time to walk or workout – everything!! I have a bad habit of overcommitting myself so having everything in my calendar helps me visually see what I’ve got going on and manage expectations when new requests come to me. I also only put 3 things on my to-do list each day. If more things come up, I either move a to-do to another day, delegate the task to someone else or re-prioritize it (possibly delete it). This way I can get done what needs to be done and feel accomplished at the end of each day.
- I use the pomodoro technique and an app called FLOW to stay focused when doing deeper work. If I’m working on a course design, or workshop or keynote speech I will set up 30-minute working increments and 10-minute breaks. I make it a point to get up from my desk during my breaks so I am refreshed and refocused.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
- The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins (book)
- How to Own the Room by Viv Groskop (podcast)
- The 90 Day Year by Todd Herman (course)
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
Feedback from existing clients and conversations with new leaders are what fuel my passion to keep going. When it feels hard or overwhelming, one interaction with a group of leaders or a single client can make all the difference in turning my thoughts around. I know that teaching people how to lead with empathy is my calling, it’s why I’m here.
What is your favorite quote?
“When you’re going through hell, keep on going”
– Winston Churchill
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
You are worth the investment … start today! Surround yourself with people who believe in your vision and who challenge you to keep going. The best time to start was a year ago, the second best time to start is today!
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best place to find me and learn more about my impact in the world is by visiting my website at www.erinthorp.ca. I hang out on Instagram and LinkedIn as well.
Founder Interview: Arun Sardana – How to Overcome Fear & The Definition of Success
