Thirty-one-year-old Erica Rew has become one of the most recognizable faces in Lake County’s small business community.

The founder and market coordinator of Whimsy Market and bartender for A Top Shelf Bartending and Catering has a full schedule by anyone’s standards, but for Erica, each role reflects the same purpose of building community and providing for her daughter.

Erica’s defining moments came back-to-back. In 2018 she lost her father, an experience that reshaped her perspective on life, responsibility and family. A year later she welcomed her daughter, a turning point that helped her to grow into her strongest self.

“It both tested and pushed me to be the best version of myself,” she says.

Whimsy Market, a non-profit specializing in vendor markets and small business community support, is the heart of her professional story. Erica has grown what started as a small idea into an event series that brings vendors, families and entire communities together.

“I love that it connects so many amazing people and businesses,” she says. “I only hope it lasts for a long time.”

Her greatest challenge of becoming a young single mom while launching a business was also her greatest accomplishment.

“It tested me in ways I didn’t think I could survive,” she says.

Raising a child while growing a new venture forced her to be resilient, resourceful and steady. It also shaped her leadership style, which based on support and collaboration.

Erica hopes to be remembered for making a difference.

“I hope that years from now, I’m thought of as someone who built something meaningful by creating the foundation of a community and small-business-driven group of people who thrive on working together,” she says.

Her motivation is her daughter.

“My daughter is the reason I get up and give my best each day,” she says. “My only goal in life is to give her a parent she can be proud of.”