We’re looking forward to introducing you to Erin Harrigan. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Erin, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Watching my adult daughters navigate their lives and career paths with determination, agility, resilience, and integrity. It brings me joy to know my journey served as an example to them, and seeing them thrive (in the ups and downs) is beautiful.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Erin Harrigan, a native Marylander and Terp alumna (class of 1990), and in my late 40’s, I followed God’s direction to translate my career in sales, team leadership, and relationship building into business coaching for high-achieving Christian women.
Through my private and group coaching, speaking, podcast, and writing, I help sisters in Christ to redefine hustle to navigate success with Jesus. I describe my work as the intersection of biblical truth and business acumen, and I’m most excited about my fourth book, publishing in early 2026, entitled Redefining Hustle: Navigating Success with Jesus.
I host the award-winning podcast, Redefining Hustle: Navigating Success as a Christian Woman, and my books include:
Pursuing Success God’s Way: A Practical Guide to Hustle with Heart (in print and audiobook)
The Redefining Hustle Journal: 90 Days To Define, Direct, Bring Discipline To, and Develop Your Business With God
We Lead: Building Connection, Community, and Collaboration for WOMEN IN BUSINESS, Volumes 1-3 (contributing author).
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
My relationship with Jesus has most shaped how I see myself, and that didn’t start until I was 46!
I was a driver, striver, and achievement chaser my whole life, from my first job at age 14 at Bob’s Big Boy in Camp Springs, MD, through college at the University of Maryland, climbing the corporate ladder, and starting my first business with a multi-level marketing company. I saw myself as both a leader deserving of leadership and a bit of an underdog with something to prove. My foremost priorities were recognition and money. Those were the things that defined who I was.
Notice all the “I” statements there.
Even as a wife and mother, I was driven by the quest for “more” to give our daughters the best of everything. Wanting a better life for our children isn’t a bad thing, except when the striving for more eclipses everything else. I had the evidence of outward success, but it was never enough to fulfill me or make me feel whole, secure, and satisfied.
At age 46, I asked a mentor why my success didn’t feel like I thought it would, and she said, “You don’t know who you are or WHOSE you are. You weren’t made to work this way, but there is a Savior waiting for your surrender. Do you know Jesus?”
That day, October 4, 2014, I looked up from being face down on the Berber carpet at what I thought was rock bottom, and surrendered my life to Him. That decision, and the ensuing relationship with Jesus, changed everything: the way I viewed every role I held (wife, mother, business owner, friend, sister, etc.), and how I showed up in the world. I learned that I am not defined by the world’s definition of success, by my achievements, or by my (or my family’s) productivity & impact. Only Jesus defines me, and in that, I see myself as His Word describes me: chosen, redeemed, fearfully & wonderfully made.
It is from here that I was called to teach other ambitious women what I learned with Jesus: to redefine hustle and navigate success with Him.
I understand my story will resonate with some and repel others. I don’t share it to win anyone over. I share it because there may be one person who is at their wits’ end, and my experience may bring them hope.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
Failure is part of success, not the end of success.
I’ve been fired twice in my life: My first job out of college at age 22, and my last corporate job at age 44.
The first time, I didn’t see it as a failure, because I was fired for saying no to the sexual advances of my much older boss, and I didn’t have a family depending on me and my income. I went on to find another job, and that led to a long career path in sales, management, and leadership.
But when I was fired at age 44, it was a hard failure. I’d worked hard, was exceeding company goals, and was the primary breadwinner for our family. Calling my husband from outside the corporate office to tell him was painful, though not as gut-wrenching as looking our daughters in the eyes and telling them. The waves of failure didn’t end that day, either. As we pursued a wrongful termination lawsuit for the next 18 months, I relived the day I was fired over and over. For a number of years beyond that, I still let the failure overshadow everything.
Yet in healing from that blow to my ego, my career path, and our family’s financial stability, I realized that I had a choice in how I viewed failure: I could let it hold me back or choose to see it as a catalyst for opportunities I may never have experienced. I changed my mind about failure and embraced this truth: failure is part of success, not the end of success. Failure is an opportunity to grow, to change, to evolve. Stop buying into the world’s lies about failure!
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Glorifying God in all I do, whether in personal life or business.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
When I was a kid, we grew up in and out of poverty, often not having enough food in the refrigerator, adequate heat in the winter, or air conditioning in the summer. As a result, my first long-term career goal was to make money to have enough food, heat, and air conditioning. But once I did that, and got a taste of having “more,” I pursued success to have the six-figure income, the proverbial dream house, and a nice luxury car in the garage.
I got what I wanted, but found that this outward success did not satisfy me. The next achievement was never enough. At age 46, I woke up to the emptiness, wondering why success didn’t feel like I thought it should, or at least not like it was portrayed in the high-achieving circles I operated in. I thought I just had to do more and “be more,” so I could have more.
Instead, a fateful and candid conversation with a mentor revealed that I was looking for validation, status, and fulfillment from myself, my achievements, and other people, when the only place to find the satisfaction and fulfillment I was seeking was in Jesus. That conversation changed what I wanted, and today, while I have some of those outward symbols of success, I don’t look to them to satisfy me or define who I am.
The question to ask yourself is: What do I truly desire, and why? What will getting what you want really give you?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://erinharrigan.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/erindharrigan
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/erinharrigan
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thehustlewithheartcoach
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@erinharrigan
- Other: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redefining-hustle-pursuing-success-as-a-christian-woman/id1455892487
Spotify: https://spotify.link/iBa2rDVg0Db
