I first met Erin Rogers a few months ago through our mutual friend Brad Walsh — the only man in the Real 50 Over 50 community, and rightfully so, because he has interviewed over 800 women and defines what it means to be a true ally. From the very first conversation, Erin became one of my favorite people to think out loud with about life, business, and all the things.
Watch the Replay above. Here is a small clip
Overview
Erin left corporate in the middle of leading a massive bank acquisition — migrating clients and people over a single weekend — crossed over to a new company, and very quickly realized: what matters to me more than anything is people and culture. She woke up one morning and decided to certify as a coach. She did it during what she describes as the shittiest year of her life. Her daughter was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, her world was falling apart, and she built ERA Collective anyway. Not in spite of all that, but in some ways, because of it. Building the business gave her a glimmer forward when she couldn’t bear to look too far ahead. And her daughter? Healthy, gorgeous, amazing, heading to university. We’re all good.
What Erin has built in ERA Collective is grounded in something deceptively simple: culture is just actions and words being the same. She spent 25 years inside major financial institutions watching what happens when they’re not — and what becomes possible when they are. She works with mid to senior leaders, particularly women, on becoming more visible, more influential, and more themselves. She also coaches women returning from parental leave, which is a gap in how organizations treat people that she’s been quietly working to close for years. Her take: if you want to get that high-potential woman back up and running, give her a coach. The ROI is not complicated.
We also went deep on AI, specifically, what happens when wisdom meets AI. Erin is a Claude devotee and makes no apologies for it. Her argument is clear and worth sitting with: put me up against a 35-year-old and let’s see whose prompt does more. My prompt is bringing 25 years into this tool. That’s not competition. That’s a different league. She’s also started coaching her own 20-year-old daughter on this, telling her that if she’s not over-caffeinated from networking by the end of the week and getting sticky with people who’ll remember her, the analyst work she’s doing now will be gone in 18 months. The work that won’t go away? Storytelling. Human connection. The things companies are paying up to $400,000 a year for because they don’t have enough people who can do it.
Her Wisdom Bomb at the close said it all:
“Learn to advocate for yourself… and be brave sooner.”
Erin Rogers
Highlights
Building a business in the hardest year of her life Erin didn’t build ERA Collective from a place of ease. She built it while her daughter was in cancer treatment, while her world was coming apart. She talks about why she did it anyway — not as inspiration, but as survival. The business gave her somewhere to look forward when the present was too scary to stay in. This is one of the most honest things I’ve heard anyone say on this platform about why they started.
Culture is not complicated — until it is Erin’s definition of culture cuts through a lot of noise: actions and words are the same. When they’re not, trust dissolves. Full stop. She walked through what that actually looks like in practice — building champion programs that deliberately recruit the naysayers, not the hand-raisers; creating safe environments for conflict; the difference between engagement and communication. If you’ve ever sat in a company where the strategy changes every six months and nobody believes anything leadership says, this conversation will feel very familiar.
Why women over 50 have an AI advantage — and most don’t know it yet Erin came into the AI conversation with a brilliant point of view: our experience doesn’t make us slower, it makes our prompts better. Twenty-five years of knowing what questions to ask, what matters, what doesn’t. That is what you bring into the tool. She talked about what it means to stop hiding your prime, stop apologizing for experience, and show up as someone who uses AI and knows how to make it work. This is where wisdom and technology meet, and for women at this stage, it is a genuine advantage.
Erin Says…
“Good leadership is when your actions and words match”
Erin Rogers
Founder, Era Collective
About Erin
Hi, I’m Erin Rogers—founder of Era Collective.
I’ve sat in the rooms my clients are trying to get into. Over 20 years, I’ve led high-performing teams, built marketing and sales strategies that drive real results, and served on executive teams at organizations like EY and HSBC. That experience changes how I coach — I know what it takes to get to the table, and what it takes to stay there.
The constant through every role has been people — helping them find clarity, confidence, and momentum. My most transformative era began when I became a mom. Motherhood reshaped how I lead — it deepened my emotional intelligence, taught me to fiercely prioritize what matters, and showed me what a truly balanced life looks like. That season of growth inspired how I now help others define their own best eras.
Whether I’m coaching a leader through a career pivot or helping a business align strategy and culture, my approach is thoughtful, collaborative, and rooted in real-world experience. And when the work calls for it, I bring in trusted partners from the Era Collective network — assembling the right team for each client and project.
If you’re ready for your next era, I’d love to help you get there.[add bio]
Connect with Erin
Have a question for Erin? Drop it in the comments — I’ll make sure she sees it. And come back next Wednesday at noon ET, we have interviews booked months in advance. Or catch the replays.
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