By: Ayeshah ‘Ice’ Somani

When Erin Snow tells you she leads with empathy, she means it in the most literal sense. She has built a life, and now a business, around the radical act of listening. But her approach isn’t the polished kind you read about in leadership books. It’s raw, lived-in, and unfiltered. It stems from being someone who has needed space, and too often hasn’t found it.

“I show up as I am,” she says. “And I encourage the same from those who walk through the door.”

Her path began in legal advocacy, specifically with survivors of domestic violence. It was there she began to understand the power of being heard, not just as a legal right, but as a human need.

“I worked with survivors who not only needed legal support but also desperately needed to be heard,” she says. “Again and again, I saw how being listened to changed how people carried themselves, even in the hardest circumstances.”

That experience would shape more than her professional skill set; it would shape her life. Years later, as she went through her own divorce and navigated family struggles, the same theme returned: the silence on the other end. The absence of a witness. Her childhood experiences had taught her what it felt like to carry emotions without a place to lay them down. That history eventually led her to create a space where others wouldn’t have to.

But if you ask Snow what prepared her most to lead, she doesn’t point to her résumé. She points to her own history. “My greatest strength is that I’ve lived this need myself,” she says. “I know what it’s like to feel silenced, judged, or ignored.”

Honest, Empathic, and Human

Erin is guided by three values: raw honesty, empathy without judgment, and accessibility. In practice, that means being upfront when something isn’t working, whether with a client, a colleague, or herself. “I want people to be upfront with me,” she says. “And I apply that same standard to myself.”

At the heart of her leadership is a question she begins every session with: “How do you want me to listen to you today?” That question isn’t just for others, it keeps her grounded. “It sets the tone, it gives the client control over how the space is held, and it reminds me to stay grounded in their needs, not mine.”

She’s equally clear about her own limits. “I maintain my own wellness by honoring my limits and being clear about what I can and can’t hold. That balance is what keeps the environment safe for everyone.”

This self-awareness and flexibility have become crucial as her business scales. She’s no longer just listening; she’s also leading a model that’s growing faster than people may realize. However, even with that growth, she knows her leadership will need to evolve in tandem with it. “As the business grows and the world continues to shift, so will the needs of my clients,” she says. “I will need to pivot, continue to listen, and lead by taking risks and thinking outside of the box.”

She adds, “I believe in this model wholeheartedly and want people to see me as its face and someone they can trust.”

The Risk of Starting Something That Doesn’t Exist

“I’ve taken something that didn’t exist and made it real,” she says. “Professional listening wasn’t a recognized service when I opened, at least not that I could find anywhere near me, and believe me, I looked!”

And yet, when people experience it, the reaction is often immediate and visceral. “Now, people come in and say, ‘I didn’t know I needed this, but I did.’ Hearing that affirms that the space I dreamed of creating is filling a real gap.”

It’s not just a business gap she’s addressing, it’s a cultural one. “I think Seacoast challenges the assumption that your only options are therapy or your friends,” she says. “It has shown people that there is a third path: a professional listener who is not judging, not diagnosing, not pushing advice.”

For Snow, listening is a form of care and a form of responsibility. “We live in a society that prizes productivity and solutions, but we rarely slow down to just witness each other,” she says. “Seacoast is showing that listening itself is an act of social responsibility; it builds stronger communities, reduces isolation, and teaches us how to hold space for one another.”

A Future Where Listening Is Everywhere

Her long-term vision is ambitious, but deeply grounded. She wants listening spaces to be as normal as gyms. “In a busy city, you can’t pass a block without passing a gym or fitness studio,” she says. “It should be the same for Listening Lounges.”

She’s open to franchising. She imagines multi-location models. But she’s also adamant about continuing to offer individual sessions herself. “I want to travel and teach people how to be better listeners and educate them on why this is so important, but also continuing my commitment to listen and be there for clients myself,” she says.

This is a chance to define an entirely new category. “Therapy and coaching are well-established, but there’s this massive in-between space that people are craving,” she explains. “Professional listening has the chance to become its own recognized option, and I’m excited to be on the front edge of shaping that conversation.”

Still, she’s clear-eyed about the most significant hurdle: public understanding. “The hardest part is education, helping people understand what this is and what it isn’t,” she says. “Many people immediately compare it to therapy or coaching because that’s all they know.”

To stay connected to the broader conversation, Snow regularly participates in panels and collaborates with like-minded practitioners around the world. “I connect with therapists who understand and support the need,” she says. “I found other ‘listeners’ in Canada and Romania, and we have monthly calls to talk about trends and the work we are doing.”

Beyond the Work

Underneath the founder, the advocate, and the leader is a person with her own rituals and sources of strength. “I’ve always been a lover of film and musical theater,” she says. “Both got me through some very tough times. Sitting at the ocean and just being quiet.”

But the part that matters most is the way she shows up at home. “Making sure every day that my kids know that I will listen to them and hold space for them,” she says. “It’s loving first and teaching second.”

That line doesn’t just define her parenting. It defines her. It’s the philosophy behind her work, her leadership, her mission. Erin Snow isn’t building a brand. She’s building a way of being.

And in a world so full of noise, she’s choosing to listen.