Meet Erica Snyder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Snyder.

Erica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Throughout my life, I have been inspired by my close-knit family. As a child, they fostered my creativity by taking me on trips around the United States to visit museums and historical landmarks, enrolling me into every acting, singing, dancing, drawing, improv class they could find and truly believing in me. I was always encouraged to “go for it” and always built up to believe I could do anything IF I worked hard enough for it.

My grandma gave me my first “job” and paid me real wages. She gave me small “loans” (which never required repayment) to start my many adventurous side business ideas which she whole-heartedly believed in with me. My dad flew me to Alaska for a month to live on the tundra at a fishing out-camp amongst the bears and wildlife. My mom made me start doing my own laundry in elementary school and worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Instilled in me was a solid work ethic, a true sense of adventure and passion for creativity and the arts.

In fifth grade, I tried out and got a star part in the school play as Little Red Riding Hood. It had a solo singing part which I didn’t realize was a big deal so I never mentioned it to my mom. I remember, as an adult, my mother telling me that her mouth hit-the-floor when I got up in front of the audience and, to her surprise, belted out a full-on song and dance, in character, with a country accent. Hahah! I still remember the words to that song! I put my whole heart and soul into anything creative, even as a young child.

My grandma was always like my Maya Angelou, offering the best of advice and the craziest stories. The greatest lesson I ever learned from her was, “Don’t ever make yourself small”. We all know that person, and it may be us, who diminishes themself in order to appease others. Whether it’s being that “yes” person when you want to say no, being passive-aggressive instead of voicing your needs or always putting your own dreams, goals and aspirations aside because you’ve made them less important than someone else’s.

We are responsible for either making ourselves small OR giving life everything we’ve got and putting our needs first. It means working hard and asking for what you want. It means doing what you love and not apologizing for it. It means having an opinion and making decisions. It doesn’t make you a bitch and it doesn’t make other people around you small. It allows you to value yourself and that is SO important. I don’t always live up to her advice, but whenever I find myself sinking into a small place, I remember her words.

The lessons instilled in me by my grandma and family carried me through horrific bullying in elementary school, through an abusive marriage and through a heartbreaking loss of a pregnancy in 2010. Through it all, I never looked at myself as small and so I never allowed any experience to break me.

When I was twenty weeks pregnant with my first child, I went for an anatomy ultrasound and found out that the little girl I was carrying had a rare and lethal form of genetic dysplasia that would ultimately take her life. I went into the doctor’s office excited to find out what gender I would be having and walked out with the weight of the world on my shoulders. When I lost my baby, my world shattered.

I swear the emotional pain I experienced was like pulling an elephant through a pinhole. I’ve always been one to speak my truth and the only way I made it through was letting people into my life and my story. I didn’t make myself small and in that, I found healing.

With the loss of my baby I knew I needed to find something to build myself and others up rather than wallow in my sadness. I reached out to several women I knew and we founded Ladies Involved in Volunteer Efforts (L.I.V.E.), an organization made up of women who wanted to give back to their community. Over the next few years, we raised thousands of dollars for charity, shoveled tons of rock for dog rescues, packed hundreds of lunches for the homeless, donated goods and services, adopted families and a whole lot more. I made lifelong friendships that I still hold dear to this day.

With L.I.V.E., I planned several large fundraising events and worked with local bands, liquor establishments and charities to raise money for some great causes. In that, my passion for event planning was born. I was offered an internship with a racy event in Cave Creek, Running of the Bulls. I managed media relations and several other aspects of the event.

It was my first really big event and my big break into a career in event management and marketing. Soon after the event ended, I received a call from the person I worked with on Running of the Bulls; she was moving and wanted me to apply for the position. Years of hard work in my free time paid off and I landed the job of my dreams at Downtown Mesa Association.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
With being a non-profit, we are not able to do all of the things we’d like to when it comes to events. If you want that special thing at that certain event you’ve either got to raise the money for it or give up something else. This industry is a money pit and it takes a lot of creativity to overcome financial obstacles. Also, not all events are home runs. We live in a metro area with a handful of other cities who are doing amazing things. We’re always competing with a multitude of other events going on at the same time. So, we’ve got to make sure that we’re always putting our best foot forward for our attendees and offering them something new and fresh worth coming for.

A personal struggle for me is not having a bachelor’s degree. When I graduated high school, I was seventeen. I immediately enrolled at ASU because… that’s just what you’re supposed to do when you graduate high school. I had NO idea what I wanted to do or study and bounced around from major to major. I moved out when I was eighteen and stopped going to school. There was nothing I was passionate about there and I was so young. My heart wasn’t in it. And show me the person that knows what they want to do in their life when they’re eighteen years old?? After I dropped out, I got full-time jobs to pay the rent and never found a solid reason to go back.

In this industry, the more actual experience and common sense you have, the better off you’ll do. It’s not about a certificate or whether you sat through four years of classes. If you have the drive and creativity, you can excel at anything. But we are living in a world right now where people have put so much emphasis on that single piece of paper and not having a degree is an automatic no-go for some employers.

In some cases, you won’t even get an interview. It’s a very lopsided way to be though because less than 27% of people have a job related to their degree and when you look at studies on what employers value most in an employee, 90% of it is attitude. Why do we put so much value in that single piece of paper when we are missing out on some really great, hard-working and passionate people?

Please tell us more about your work.
I work for the Downtown Mesa Association as the Event Manager. We are a 501c6 designated special improvement district who takes care of the downtown square mile in the 35th largest city in the United States. We work with the property owners, businesses and City of Mesa staff to create a vibrant, buzzing and attractive downtown area for people to play, live and work in. Downtown Mesa has come so far since I started here seven years ago. We’ve seen a huge revitalization and it’s only getting better.

When I started there were two places on Main Street that served alcohol. Now we have two, almost three breweries, Arizona’s first cidery and plenty of fun restaurants and shops right on Main Street. We’ve been dubbed as the “Miracle Mile” as far as places to brewery hop. We are also about to have some of ASU’s most innovative programs in virtual reality, film, gaming, sensory technology and more start right here in 2021. There will be few other places in the world more innovative than this campus. So, that’s very exciting. The best is yet to come!

With my job, I get to do what I love every day planning fun events for the community. From vintage markets to beer festivals to the biggest bike night in the East Valley, my job puts my passions to use on a daily basis. I love the work I do because I have the freedom to get as creative as I’d like with new marketing promotions and events.

Event planning is a form of art in which you get to see people experience what you create. I always hated going to an event and there being nothing to do, so I build fun elements into every event I produce. Whether it be watching live art being painted on buildings while you’re enjoying a cold beer, catching a WWE-style wrestling match at an outdoor festival, going back in time to see Goonies play on a big screen in an old theater or getting heckled by a comedian as you throw a pie in his face, you can always expect something exciting at one of the events I plan. I am always trying to push the limits.

I love to work with local artists to fulfill their dreams as well. In downtown Mesa, you’ll find over 30 murals painted by local artists, most of which were contracted by the Downtown Mesa Association.

My proudest moments are when we put on an amazing event and people from the community come up to us to thank us for helping their family to create memories they wouldn’t have otherwise had. I had those rich experiences as a child and I’m honored to be able to provide them for families in the area who may not have the financial means to do lots of things with their children. Our events serve a lot of the underprivileged community and seeing some of these kids who may not have all the material things in life but who are able to dance with a Disney princess at a storytime event or egg hunt at our downtown businesses or make gingerbread houses with their family… that makes all the difference.

 Also, looking out over our last Brew Fest in March with over 40 breweries and a packed street was pretty cool too!

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have tried to find my passion sooner. I spent a lot of years between high school and now in jobs that just paid the bills. That’s no way to live. I spent a lot of time sitting behind a desk pushing paperwork not realizing that there was something better out there. Looking back, those years I wasted were my chance to see the world while I was still young and before the responsibilities of being an adult were heavy. I didn’t have a mortgage or kids or a solid career. I could have dropped everything, hopped on a plane to anywhere and gone on a crazy adventure… but I didn’t.

I lived a monotonous life for years before I found what I truly love doing. I know now to always push the limit, always re-evaluate what it is I love and go for it. Now when I feel a little stagnant, I start creating in my mind. I start planning new events or projects and get creative, I’m blessed with the flexibility to be able to keep my career fresh.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.downtownmesa.com
• Phone: 480-890-2613
• Email: erica@downtownmesa.com

Image Credit:
Christie Captain Photography, Promo Sauce

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