Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Erika Frost of Arcadia

We recently had the chance to connect with Erika Frost and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Erika , we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
I think a lot of people are secretly struggling with their mortality and letting fear quietly run the show. No one really wants to talk about death—or what it means to really live. It’s like we’re afraid to admit how much fear shapes our choices, how often we stay stuck just to feel safe. But what if we actually let go of fear and got honest about what matters most? I think life would look a lot different. Fuller. Braver. More real.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Erika Frost—grief guide, death doula, Reiki master, hypnotherapist, and the creator of Rise & Thrive, a 7-week healing journey designed to help people reconnect with their voice, purpose, and the deeper parts of themselves they may have forgotten—especially after loss, trauma, or major life change.

My work is rooted in the belief that healing doesn’t have to look like perfection—it can be messy, spiritual, body-based, and deeply human all at once. After surviving my own near-death experience, losing my mother at a young age, navigating complex trauma, and walking through more loss than I can count, I realized I wasn’t here to just “get through” life—I was here to help others remember who they are beneath all the noise and grief.

I currently serve as the Bereavement Coordinator at THEMA and Maggies Hospice, where I’m working to unify and modernize grief support across multiple branches in Arizona. I also support families as a death doula, creating sacred space for end-of-life transitions, legacy work, and emotional closure.

My approach blends energy healing, nervous system regulation, subconscious integration, and soul-level guidance. We don’t bypass pain—we meet it with presence, integrate it with care, and let it reveal the gifts underneath.

Right now, I’m continuing to grow Rise & Thrive, collaborate with wellness partners, and share more of my story through writing, teaching, and guided meditations. Whether I’m sitting bedside at the end of life or helping someone come alive again after deep loss, my work is about truth, tenderness, and soul.

You can learn more at www.erikafrost.com.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that thought I had to earn my worth through overgiving and holding it all together for everyone else. She got me through a lot—but I don’t need her to lead anymore. It’s time to trust softness, spaciousness, and self-honoring instead.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me how to fully surrender—not in a spiritually bypassed, “love and light” kind of way, but in that guttural, on-your-knees kind of letting go that only comes when you’re at the tipping point of losing everything. I’ve faced the possibility of losing my home, my belongings, my stability—and in that raw space, I learned to trust the mantra: I trust the process, even though I can’t see the path forward. Success never asked that of me. But suffering cracked me open to something deeper—faith without proof, and strength rooted in softness. I don’t believe we have to suffer to grow—but for me, those moments stripped everything away and brought me face-to-face with a deeper truth I might have missed otherwise.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe in the afterlife—not as a theory, but as something I know in my bones. I’ve felt it, witnessed it, and walked alongside it too many times to question its existence. But if you asked me for proof, I wouldn’t be able to hand you anything tangible. It’s not something I can measure—it’s something I remember.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
If I laid it all down—my name, my roles, my belongings—what would remain is the unshakable essence beneath it all: my light. Not the kind you perform or polish, but the kind that’s been forged through loss, surrender, and starting over more times than I can count. It’s not ego—it’s what’s left when everything else gets stripped away. It’s the part of me that keeps showing up, even when I’ve been brought to my knees.

And I believe we all have that light. That raw, steady truth beneath the noise. Sometimes we don’t see it until everything else falls away—but it’s there, waiting to be remembered. That’s what stays. That’s what’s real.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.erikafrost.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikafrostofficial/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikafrost44/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErikaFrostOfficial/