➕ Follow along while I build my second startup Doozi publicly... The next Tiktok for travel.

I’m Erica — a creator, entrepreneur, and storyteller helping people break the rules they were taught to follow… and build lives that actually feel like theirs.

Over the past 4 years, I’ve created raw, real, and radically honest content that’s generated nearly 1 billion impressions, built a community of over 300,000, and sparked conversations around self-worth, shame, failure, and freedom.

In 2020, I met my now co-founder Gillian on Bumble BFF (true story). 

Our friendship & love for travel took us all over the world.

We both lost our businesses last year, and this brought us closer. We bonded over loss, reinvention, and the fire to build something better. 

Now we’re building doozi — the next big social media app for travellers and creators. 👀

We’re building in public. Sharing the messy middle. And showing up every day to create something that gives people — especially creators — the power, opportunity, and visibility they’ve earned.

This isn’t just a business. It’s a movement.

If you’ve ever felt like you needed permission to post, speak up, or live your life differently, I’m here to say: you don’t.

💌 My content is about starting before you’re ready, rewriting your story, and overcoming adversity.

Entrepreneurship is a ✨doozi✨

With love,
Erica

📬 Sponsorships + collabs: hello@ericarankin.com
➕ Follow me everywhere @acceptingerica

Erica Rankin

I started my first business in 2019 with zero business experience.

No background. 
No roadmap. 
Just a lot of belief and a lot of fear.

Back then, I hated being seen.
If someone pulled out a camera, I’d shrink.

I thought it was better to be seen as capable but never actually heard.

I had no idea that building a business would completely change who I am as a person.

Entrepreneurship gave me a voice.
It forced me to speak up.
To make decisions.
To be visible- even when it was uncomfortable.

It built my self-confidence in ways nothing else ever has.

But the biggest thing it taught me?

That every single one of us matters.

You don’t need a massive audience or a huge exit to make an impact.

You can change lives through conversations, vulnerability, leadership, and simply showing up as yourself.

Yes, I respect the wins.

But what I respect even more is the inner work it takes to get there.

The resilience.
The self-awareness.
The growth required when things don’t go as planned.

Entrepreneurship isn’t just about paving your own way.

It’s about becoming someone who can walk that path.

And that version of you?
That’s the real reward.

- a girl who doesn’t hate being seen anymore

🫶

Disrupting the creator economy. | Content Creator | Co-Founder of Doozi & Doozi Marketing ✈️📱

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I don’t brag often on here but I wanna brag for a second ;)

We have over 1300 users and our app isn’t even launched.

And over 5000 people on our email list who want to be creators.

We have worked really hard these past few months to onboard travel creators, and I just want to slow down and acknowledge these numbers.

We had the idea of doozi exactly a year ago.

Now we have a full-time tech team, an investor, and community of creators & users who are helping us build from the ground up.

And the app is launching THIS MONTH.

I think my favourite part of entrepreneurship is seeing the evolution of an idea, into an actual product.

Let this be a brag post, drop something in comments you’re proud of!!!! 

🫶🫶🥳🥳

I love Canada BUT I CAN’T STAND WINTER! 🥶

I must escape!!!!

First flight of 2026 (of many). ✈️

Headed to Mexico for the next month to continue building doozi with my co-founder Gillian.

We’ve been working remotely over the holidays but it’s so much better to be in person building.

We’re testing our app internally right now and it’ll be pushed publicly THIS MONTH!!!!

We also invited one of our creators to spend a week with us which is going to be so fun - she’s been like a friend to us as we’ve been building.

It’s early AF but I am soooooo stoked for this year, it feels like last year was the warm up.

This year is go time.

Happy weekend!!!!!!! ❤️

(And yes, I’m rocking a full hot pink doozi sweatsuit, LMK if you want one maybe we’ll drop some 😉)

I made a big mistake when I was building my first business:

Prioritizing the business.

…and nothing else.

Skipped meals.
Minimal movement (besides 10 hour kitchen days).
Ate poorly.
No morning routine.
No night time routine.
Abusing caffeine pills.
Neglecting relationships.

All of this did eventually lead to me hitting a wall.

I don’t regret it; because it’s the only way I could learn that it wasn’t sustainable.

Building my second startup, I now:

Get in movement everyday.
Eat mostly whole foods (but still get in a sweet treat every now and then). 
Don’t skip meals.
Don’t abuse caffeine (although, I do have more on some days than others).
Take time to myself each morning & before bed.
Make time for the people in my life.

You don’t have to sacrifice your health to be successful.

Some seasons are going to be busier than others - no doubt.

But you can’t take care of business if you aren’t maintaining the engine that runs it (aka YOU).

We’re trying to get rejected 1000 times this year.

While building our startup, doozi.

Why?

Because rejection means you’re trying. 

And the higher that number is, the more likely you are to reach your goals. 

We called 6 different people asking to go on their yachts for free (to make videos). 

5 of them said no… and one actually got angry 😅

But the sixth one was a maybe.

That maybe led us to a yacht.

… we also got to drive a rolls Royce by having the ~audacity~ to ask.

All I want to do is inspire others to go after their dreams no matter how ‘crazy’ they may be.

We had investors belittle us and tell us what we’re doing is impossible.

But we’re going to show them how wrong they are.

 Right, Gillian Gallant?

“You’re not crazy, you’re just first” - Jamie Kern Lima 🫶

I’m gonna ruffle some feathers with this post…

We could have made a 100,000 dollar mistake last year.

(Well not actually because we didn’t have 100k LOL)

An agency was quoting us over 100k to develop the most BASIC version of our app doozi. 

If you’re a startup, spending this much money on your MVP is duuuumb.

Frankly, I don’t think agencies should even be creating MVPs.

I think so many founders (not just in tech, but many industries) waste so much money trying to perfect their first product. 

Truth is, you’re going to pivot so many times and your MVP will evolve as you obtain product market fit.

Be scrappy and get that first product out into the market.

Hear back from customers/users and make sure you are NAILING what it is they want/need.

Once it’s solid, then you can reinvest.

Just my 2c.

What do you think?? 

(And yes that’s real money I’m holding definitely not fake money with emojis lol) 😎

Apple rejected us.

… and it delayed our entire launch.

It wasn’t the WORST thing but it was definitely frustrating (especially around the holidays lol).

What was supposed to take a few days took over a month.

We're been pretty quiet on social media.

We didn't want to be promoting an app that wasn’t available, or spend all our time in marketing instead of the tech/app itself.

It's been a grind building our first tech company doozi BUT after six months of putting our heads down, it's almost here. 

Gillian and I cannot wait to unveil doozi to the world in the coming weeks. 😱🫣

Let’s dooz this. ✌🏼

As a digital nomad, I’d rather spend time on a beach than fighting with a wonky platform.
 
Wix just dropped Wix Harmony, their new website builder that combines AI and manual editing all in one place.

It builds an ENTIRE WEBSITE with just one prompt - business functionality, infrastructure, security and all.

Then you can take over and customize as much as you want, with additional help from AI when you need it.

If you want to see for yourself, you can try it here: wix.com/harmony 

#WixPartner

I connect people via content and handshakes.


ABOUT ME:
I entered the content business kind of by accident. In a news writing class during college, we were given an assignment to cover a local event of some sort on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I found a weekly business seminar held Tuesday evenings in the basement of a church. The topic of this particular seminar was about how to negotiate during a job interview. I wrote up the news story, and at the same time I handed it into my professor, I also placed a printout of the article on the desk of the editor-in-chief of The Upper East Side Resident -- a local weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 60,000 (this was back in 1991, when these papers still existed in print format.

Two days later I received a call from the editor-in-chief, who said he'd love to run the story, and asked if I'd like to write some more for them. There was no pay, but I'd get bylines for my portfolio.

While I only received a B-grade on my assignment (still a bit sore about that), those clips got me my first real publishing job, which led to the next opportunity, and the next, and so on, basically until my current role today.

Over the past 28 years or so, I've been in the business of content, particularly business-to-business content for the retail, foodservice and consumer packaged goods industries, working my way up from assistant editor of Foodservice Director magazine up to editor-in-chief of Progressive Grocer Independent, which I launched about 10 years ago. I also launched the Connected Consumer Summit, a retail technology conference. 

Now I create content for ECRM, a company which increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the buying and selling process for retailers, foodservice operators, pharmacy and medical markets and the suppliers who service them via our private, pre-scheduled face-to-face meetings and attached services, as well as via our digital product discovery platform, RangeMe.

Categories:
- Beauty
- Healthcare
- Grocery
- Foodservice
- GM
- Pharmacy

My role is to create thought leadership content that keeps ECRM engaged with its existing customers, and of course helps extend our brand to those buyers and sellers not yet familiar with us. This content runs the gamut -- blogs, videos, social media posts, speaking, podcasts, panel moderation -- you name it, I've done it.

I'm an avid practitioner of Gary Vaynerchuk's philosophy of creating and sharing lots of regular content that delivers value -- for entrepreneurs, retailers and suppliers across all retail categories.

Joseph Tarnowski

Stuck inside because of the snow? No better time to catch up on some of our video interviews! Click the link in the comments to visit the ECRM & RangeMe Youtube channel!

And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any updates!

Recent posts include:

➡️ Driving in-store sales with TikTok: with Emilio Smeke of Industrias T.TAiO 

➡️ How to know when it's time for a brand refresh: with Dave Korinek of Pearl Resourcing | CPG Brand + Packaging Design 

➡️ Driven By Purpose: Isaac Shapiro of Cleanlogic's Multifaceted Effort to Help Those with Disabilities

➡️ Why Thanks! Naturals Founder Harley Sutton wants to TikTok Live 24/7/365

➡️ NielsenIQ's 2026 beauty trends to watch: With Katie Hazlett 

You'll find about 2,000 videos on the channel, including interviews with buyers, brands and industry experts!

I connect people via content and handshakes 📝🎥📸🤝

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