Meet Erica Reitman | Biz Coach for Future Icons

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Reitman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I’m not sure why, but risk-taking seems to be built into the operating manual of my brain. I think it’s mostly because I’m deathly allergic to doing things the way everyone else in my industry is, and so “standing out from the crowd” has just become the baseline from which I always aim to start from. And while I do find this way of showing up in the world more comfortable for my bizarro brain, it’s also served as an incredible marketing tool for me as I’ve grown my businesses as an entrepreneur. Taking a risk has become almost synonymous with doing things differently for me, and because this has always been something that’s comes naturally, I think it’s made a huge difference in helping me connect with clients who feel the same way in both my biz coaching practice and with our agency. It also just helps me make this entrepreneurial life of mine feel way the hell more fun.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’m a break all the rules, “let’s disrupt as many industries as I can” biz coach who launched the first-of-its-kind biz empire building agency for entrepreneurs: The Icon Agency. Our agency combines 1:1 business strategy coaching, DFY services and project/team management to help our clients create the dreamiest version of their lives and their businesses–often the one that they’re afraid to say out loud right now. We basically help each of our clients brainstorm *exactly* what they need to do in their business to create those multi 6 figure/7 figure foundations, and then with the resources of our agency, we do it entirely for them. I’ve never seen anyone else in our space offer a similar package, and the response thus far has been incredible. I was an interior designer before I was a coach/agency owner and a marketing director for many years in corporate America before that. Something that I have always really excelled at in my career and noticing holes—or opportunities—and then coming up with clever ways to address them. With my biz coaching clients I call this concept “give the people what they want.” So often as business owners, our customer or clients are constantly asking for us for a certain solution or product…and, shockingly, so many of us simply say “no…sorry.” I’ve built my entire career by figuring out what people *actually* want and then coming up with the easiest/most clever/most profitable way I can to give it to them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, first I would put them up in our fab mini-compound Airbnb in Northeast LA: https://airbnb.com/h/bungalow42 I would def have them time their trip for either the 2nd Sunday of the month [Rose Bowl flea] or the 3rd Sunday of the month [Long Beach flea] as vintage shopping and thrifting is my love language. On either a Thursday or a Friday when they were in town, I’d make them get up super duper early with me so that we could be in line by 7am at Courage Bagels [I lived in NYC for 15 years, but Courage’s salmon roe bagel is something that I regularly dream about]. We would spend a day in Malibu going to Matador and then have lunch at Tony’s Taverna. I’d take them to Grand Central market downtown, after a morning visit to the flower market [which is another fave spot to hit up]. We could walk around Highland Park [which is super close to our Airbnb] and have a slice at Town Pizza as an appetizer and then have dinner at Joy. We also couldn’t miss Jugos Azteca for some fresh juice and super yummy tacos [we live part-time in Mexico City, so I have STRONG feelings about my tacos]. I would, of course, need to take them by Erewohn for a ridiculous $17 smoothie and either to the Grove or the Americana for the basic b LA mall vibes [I much prefer the Americana because it’s always less crowded]. I always think it’s super fun to see a movie at the Cinerama and Astro is one of my fave diners, even though the food isn’t *that* amazing–all of their seats are booths and I just absolutely love the vibes there.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Three weeks before 9/11, I met my husband Greg in New York City….and we’ve been together ever since. He’s been my #1 cheerleader [pom poms and all] during my entire corporate career, but especially since I decided to become an entrepreneur. We’re now business partners, and I truly believe that this partnership is 100% responsible for all of the incredible growth and success we’ve seen over the past few years. I love him more than the second season of White Lotus, black and white cookies and the Rose Bowl flea market [i.e. that’s A LOTTTTTT in my world].

Website: icon.agency

Instagram: instagram.com/ericareitman

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericareitman

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ericaretman

Image Credits
Olivia Steuer