Hi! I’m Erika Lyremark (Lira*Mark).

I’m a business strategist, consultant, and creative advisor with 20 years of experience helping entrepreneurs and online businesses figure out what’s going on, what’s not working, and what needs to change to move the business forward.

I especially love working with founder-led companies that are doing something interesting in the world. Companies with innovative ideas, a strong point of view, and leaders who aren’t afraid to think differently.

The work I love most is rolling up my sleeves and getting close enough to the business to see how the pieces fit together––or don’t. I’m great at helping teams strengthen sales, sharpen marketing, simplify offers, develop products, clarify positioning, create customer loyalty, build a stronger point of view, and create solutions that actually fit the brand instead of forcing it into someone else’s formula.

My experience includes:

  • 20 years of business consulting, courses, workshops, and group coaching
  • Helping thousands of entrepreneurs develop and hone their sales, marketing, positioning, offers, and business strategy
  • Co-creating a privately owned industrial commercial real-estate company and helping grow its portfolio from zero to approximately $25 million in assets
  • Working across acquisitions, financing, leasing, renovations, tenant relationships, marketing, and operations
  • Holding a real-estate broker’s license
  • Degrees in Apparel Design and Women Studies, with an emphasis on China Studies
  • Training in apparel design that taught me how to think structurally, engineer systems, and understand how changing one piece affects the whole
  • Graduate-level academic research focused on Western and gender ideology in Chinese Cultural Revolution memoirs
  • Growing an engaged audience through storytelling, including using my own stories online and on Instagram to communicate ideas, point of view, and business lessons
  • Authoring Think Like a Stripper, endorsed by Barbara Corcoran, Daniel Pink, and Tory Johnson
  • Being featured in Entrepreneur, SUCCESS, and Forbes
  • Nine years working as a dancer in the 1990s, which taught me grit, resilience, emotional intelligence, and how to persist through rejection and uncertainty

Think Like a Stripper was originally published in 2013 and is now being updated for a second edition.

Outside of work, I’m usually watching reruns of the original Gossip Girl, going out to dinner with my husband, admiring photos of Elo, my adopted orangutan in Indonesia, or indulging my longstanding obsession with skincare, beauty, and the brands behind them.

If you’d like to get in touch, you can email me here.

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Erika doesn’t just have a gift for business. She has an insane knack for looking at your business and your gifts, and knowing what you need to do with it all. And, of course, she’s famous for getting you to follow through. Plus, she’s the kind of person who’ll think of an idea for you and jump on the phone to tell you. Who’s that generous, and who still uses the phone?

– Laura Belgray, Founder of Talking Shrimp & Co-creator of The Copy Cure

Erika eats, sleeps and breathes BUSINESS. She can’t step into a salon, restaurant, or post office without insta-cataloging 17 ways the biz could be stronger, more irresistible, more elegant – and her instincts are impeccable. 

– Alexandra Franzen, Author, 50 Ways to Say You’re Awesome

What Erika dishes out is the stuff that makes a woman’s soul tingle, because she pulls out your truth and pairs it with her impeccable business knowledge. I don’t trust many people to give me business advice, because quite honestly, most of it is regurgitated materials that aren’t relevant to my soul — counsel that makes me either yawn or feel icky. But if you value your business and truly want to be the best at what you do, then you need to hire the best. That’s why Erika is my GO-TO GAL when I’m feeling stuck or just need a kick in the derrière. She’s one of the few people I will allow to french kiss my business.

– Tonya Leigh, Founder of The School Of Self-Image & School Of Self-Image Podcast

Erika is like ANNA WINTOUR – except for business. Inspiring. Immaculate Insights. Opulent Opinions. Amazing Taste. Drive & Vision! What she says resonates so much I take that as the final word (like Anna Wintour)!’ With most people who I look to for their opinions, I take their reactions & advice with a grain of salt, glean from it little tidbits that resonate, ditching others- but with Erika, what she say resonates so much I take that as the final word. Since working with her, I’ve streamlined my business, launched my program MirrorBrand (and it sold out!), spoke on a stage of over 1000 people in Las Vegas (despite struggling with a lifetime of stage fright). And I’m in the process of preparing my business to be able to be a new mom. How’d I manage to get all of this done? Erika has been instrumental in giving me the cojones, the laser focus, and the momentum to have gotten to the point in my business where I FINALLY feel clear, comfortable, and confident in my direction … poised and ready for whatever may come next. I owe so much of that to Erika- who is so generous with her time, energy, sage advice – and when needed … a swift kick in the a$$.

– Sarah Ashman, Creative Director & Style Maker

‘Erika played a crucial role in establishing our YouTube channel. Her contributions were indispensable, extending from brainstorming the vibe, devising creative concepts, shaping the channel’s aesthetic, curating the imagery, and crafting the opening and closing segments. More importantly, she made a dedicated effort to grasp our company’s core mission and vision––making sure that the content we discuss in our weekly videos align seamlessly with the impact we want to make through our channel. We also enlisted Erika’s services to streamline our offerings and product suite so we could concentrate on our strengths and let go of the rest. Her assistance has significantly simplified our business operations and facilitated growth at a manageable pace, making sure both new and existing customers receive the attention and care they deserve. We also got her help on our rebrand. She made sure all the components played nicely together from the graphic design, to the messaging, to the copy on our website. She skillfully extricated us from an outdated brand identity and guided us towards a future-facing, revitalized brand. Erika isn’t just my business coach, she’s truly a creative powerhouse, and a permanent part of our creative team. If you’ve got wild creativity, and have outgrown the paint-by-number approach that most business coaches offer, Erika is the ideal collaborator to bring your creative visions to life.’

– Sally Haughey, Wunderled

‘Other coaches (might) keep you accountable. But Erika will make you brilliant. She will sashay into the depths of your brain to uncover what is lust-worthy about you, your ideas, and how you work. Be careful: you will likely start getting turned on by your own business when this happens. Your customers will too. Hang out with her for a while and you will inevitably become clearer and more decisive. In business, and in life. Having her in my back pocket over the past year is the reason why my work is the sharpest it’s ever been. As I write this, I’ve just closed a multi-five figure contract with a perfect-fit client who loved my work so much that she decided to book 5 more projects in advance. It’s rare to find someone who is both business-savvy and creatively-minded. Erika is just as much about the bottom-line as she is about making sure that your business feels fun, creative and totally original to you. So stop being bored. Stop being small when you know you’re meant for something big. Work with Erika. You’ll be so glad you did.’

– Natalie Taylor, The Missing Ink

I’ve invested literally millions of dollars in the coaching field-founding funder of The Institute of Coaching (housed at Harvard’s Medical School McLean Hospital), funder/publisher of The Coaching Commons and many more. So I know what I’m talking about when I tell you that Erika is a complete original in the field of coaching. I’ve never encountered another coach remotely like Erika and her kick-ass approach.

– Ruth Ann Harnisch, President of the Harnisch Foundation

Erika is actually a fucking genius.

– Paul Jarvis, Author, Company Of One

Erika is absolutely fearless when it comes to money. Having it, creating it, and letting it flow. On stage at Spark & Hustle, Erika energized the crowd with her whip-sharp observations and no-bull attitude, all wrapped into her seemingly endless supply of hilarious stories. If you want to ditch your money anxiety and forge a healthy relationship with your financial worth, Erika can help you with her street smarts and a huge dose of compassion.

– Tory Johnson, #1 NY Times Bestseller of The Shift

Working with Erika was mind blowingly awesome. I have worked with quite a few business coaches, consultants, mentors and muses over the last 20 years of running my own business, and none have inspired the changes in my business that Erika has. Within 10 minutes of our call Erika had turned my ‘small business’ into the makings of what I like to now call ‘My Perfect Empire‘. In the year since that phone call I have taken my perfume line from a small time operation, to being carried at Anthropologie, and featured in Refinery 29, Allure, Daily Candy, Redbook and People Stylewatch! As long as I am in business I will be depending on Erika to take me to the next level.

 Julie Wray, Perfume Designer, Olivine Atelier

Erika is like Seth Godin, only with great hair and a mad sense of style. She observes. She notices. And she turns her one-of-a-kind views on business into entertaining stories and actionable insights her clients can actually apply in their day-to-day. When you enter Erika’s orbit, you immediately feel heard, seen, and valued.

– Kira Hug, Conversion Copywriter


I’m not much for going along with the crowd. I prefer to figure things out by myself and I eschew most of the ‘popular’ wisdom. But I made an exception a few years back when my dreams of turning over a new professional leaf just couldn’t be put to rest any longer… and EVERYONE was raving about Erika. How great can she be? I wondered. One call with her revealed the answer. I knew instantly I had stumbled upon a rare talent: someone who could not only see my (and others’) brilliance but could draw it out AND somehow get me excited about being in action, without the associated fear. I’d swear by my firstborn son that she sprinkles magic fairy dust in the air before getting on the line with her clients and students. You just can’t be in Erika’s presence and NOT make tons of progress in your business. Within months of meeting her, I was able to transition from a 20+ year career plus a ‘side hustle’… to turning that ‘side hustle’ into a lucrative full-time business that has sustained me ever since. NO ONE else had been able to help me do that—not even the big name guru types I’d worked with before.

– Helen Hunter Mackenzie, CEO, Hunter Mackenzie Group

Erika has an intuitive mensa-like grasp of business. And coming from a corporate background (Chanel and Tiffany), I wanted to work with someone who understands what it takes to succeed, in a creative and compassionate way.

– Holli Thompson, Author, Discover Your Nutritional Style, CHHC, CNHP

I consider Erika one of the most impactful mentors that I’ve had in business. During my time working with Erika, I was extremely creative. Incorporating her techniques into my business acumen resulted in crazy momentum!  My sales figure tripled over my target during the time that I was working with her. Erika gets business. She gets sales. And she gets what people want in the marketplace.

– Tracy Matthews, Bespoke, Fine Jewelry Designer & Founder of  Flourish & Thrive Academy

I swear by her guidance. Erika keeps me focused, grounded, and doesn’t put up with any of my favorite excuses. She always takes the long view of my business and while she encourages me to experiment, she also manages to keep me out of shiny object syndrome. Did she have me at stiletto? Naturally. And although I was skeptical at first–shouldn’t I be able to boss myself around?– I’m over that now. Way over.

– Lela Davidson, Author, Blacklisted from the PTA & Creator of Portfolio

It would be impossible to overstate how much Erika’s sharp insights and coaching have helped me. During one call she helped me create my signature offer, The Exceptionelle CMO—a move which took me from hustling for $300 sales to having more than $11,000 of (easy) retainer income. That kind of revenue stability and income growth has been life changing. Erika’s ideas and marketing acumen are stunningly simple and amazingly effective. Working with her has had a better ROI than I could have ever imagined.

– Hunter Niland Welling, Marketing Consultant for Luxury Service-Based Brands

I was a business owner of almost 14 years, organized, self-motivated and successful. What was I thinking? I had just made the decision to close my business, pursue another, and I couldn’t get over this intense feeling that I needed to get ‘whipped’. My intense feelings were soon relieved. Erika has this amazing ability to invite us into this secret world where we immediately feel at ease, at home, inspired and loved. Whatever level of business you’re at, Erika creates an uplifting environment where friendships are made, business relationships are formed and work gets done! I was deeply supported through a life-changing business transition from Erika, and I could never put a value on what I learned and absorbed working with her. Worth every penny. Worth every minute. Erika is forward thinking and on the move.

– Lorri Weisen, CEO, Ahnesti

I love working with Erika Lyremark because she has my back and doesn’t pull any punches. BUT she definitely pulls for me to succeed. Erika is genuine, whip smart and brilliantly intuitive. She uses her unique combination of skills to guide me in finding confidence in my own. Erika’s programs are heads and shoulders above any other program I have tried. Waaaay above. I am #grateful to work with her.

– Susan Burns, Global Business Strategist & Attorney