Erika has always been in love with animals from an early age and knew she wanted to be surrounded by them in life. She started her canine career working in kennels and grooming facilities. Then, she became a dog swimming instructor in Potomac, Maryland. She taught dogs how to be comfortable in the water and helped many dogs discover a newfound love for swimming. She has also walked dogs on and off for six years.

In 2023, Erika moved to a rural area of New Mexico for a year, and that is where she adopted her first dog, a German Shepherd named Umi. After moving back to Maryland, Erika discovered that she was too embarrassed to walk her dog around the neighborhood due to Umi's reactivity to cars, dogs, bikes, and people. She began studying training videos and literature to learn better techniques to figure out how she could help Umi. After Umi made some progress, Erika decided that she was up for another challenge. She decided to adopt a fearful and under-socialized dog from the shelter. She has thoroughly enjoyed helping her rescue, Mipha, come out of her shell while also learning some better manners! Erika enjoyed working with her dogs so much that she knew she wanted to become a dog trainer for the rest of her life to help other dogs.