Erica Wheeler

Trainer, Speaker, Songwriter
Creative Mentor and Sense of Place Advocate 

Meet Erica (Offical Bio)

Erica Wheeler is an award-winning singer-songwriter, a TEDx speaker, a professional development trainer and a creative mentor. As an interpretive skills trainer, she works with museums, parks, and historic sites across the US – helping staff boost their storytelling skills and hone visitor engagement techniques. She has worked extensively with the National Park and has supported 45+ sites to date. Master the art of balancing information and experiences in programs.

As a keynote speaker, she often talks about tourism, a sense of place, stewardship and storytelling. As a musician, she has 6 CDs to her credit. Her music has charted in the top ten on Billboard’s Gavin’s Americana Chart, and she has been interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered.

Erica also runs creative writing workshops and retreats. Her framework centers around using a “sense of place” as the gateway to creativity, curiosity, belonging and identity.

Throughout her career, she has helped people find and craft the stories they have inside them. Her work is dedicated to helping people find deep personal connections to places so that both people and places can thrive.

Singer/Songwriter

Creative Mentor

Interpretive Trainer

Keynote Speaker

Educator

  • I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. My Dad was a journalist, and my Mother owned several gift stores, specializing in Scandinavian gifts and American Crafts. I am the youngest of four. One of my brothers is an investigative journalist for the Washington Post, and the other two do things with computers I don’t understand.

  • I am based in the hills of western Massachusetts and live with my partner of 25 years. We live in a 125-year-old house beside a rushing stream surrounded by dairy and sugar maple farms.

  • I wanted to be a wildlife field biologist. In high school, I was a big bird nerd (thanks Audubon Youth Group!) The summer before college, I was awarded a scholarship through the National Science Foundation to live in Colorado. I lived in a ridgetop cabin (by myself) and studied marmots and pikas. The summer before that I went on a 30-day Biology Expedition with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Wyoming, where I learned many lifelong skills.

  • I do not have a favorite National Park, but I’m often asked that question! I love them all! Each one has something amazing and significant to explore. I’ve given training at over 45 NPS sites, from Hawaii Volcanoes NP to Independence Hall.

  • I’ve opened shows for many of my favorite songwriters. Shawn Colvin. Indigo Girls. Ferron. Bill Morrissey. Greg Brown. I’ve played at many of my favorite festivals: Telluride, Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, and Winnipeg Folk Festival.

  • A few things I love: Small towns. Agricultural fairs. Froggy Bottom Guitars. Soaking in natural hot springs in the mountains of the west. Museums. Historic sites. Hiking and sleeping near mostly intact ecosystems where bears, wolves, cougars, and the buffalo still roam.

A little bit more about me…

Interpretive Training

For parks, museums, heritage sites, and mission-based organizations whose work involves connecting people and place.

Creative Writing

For the curious seeker to published authors who love exploring ways to bring their stories to life and long for a meaningful writing practice.

Community Events

For community organizations, conferences, public and private events, seeking to inspire meaningful connections, celebrate connections to ourselves, our places, and each other.