Erin Hirsch died on August 2, 2023, after striving to overcome cancer for more than 18 months. She was 64 years old. She is survived by her partner and spouse of 26 years, Alison Bowman; brothers Ken Smith and Tom Hirsch; her special Aunt Mimi – Margaret Mack-Thomas; and Maya, her Labrador retriever – happiest dog ever. She is also survived by her family of choice - her tribe, who have loved and supported Erin and Alison together, openly and freely.

A true California girl, Erin grew up in a number of SoCal cities - living at times with her Nana and Poopie on the beach in Malibu when not with either her mother in Downey or her dad in Redondo Beach. Her love of the Pacific Ocean began early in Malibu, swimming the waves and skimboarding. Her Poopie introduced her to tennis and she went on to become a state high school champion from Downey High School. While attending UCLA, Erin switched her sports focus to rowing, where she was part of the ‘engine room’, rowing for the varsity 8’s. Her time rowing there would remain a favorite example of teamwork to share with her many mentees and colleagues.

Erin began a stellar professional career as a route sales person for Frito Lay, quickly becoming a region manager. For the rest of her life, she would straighten chip displays everywhere and test freshness by squeezing the bags. She once chased down an armed hoodlum who stole a case of her inventory and made him give it back so she wouldn’t have to pay for it! While at Frito Lay, Erin switched gears from sales to human resources; aligning her passion for people, her degree in psychology and her love of business. She went on to Mars Incorporated, working for the petfood company, KalKan, before promotion to M&M/Mars. While at KalKan, Erin added an MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business to her toolkit. After several years at M&M/Mars, Erin’s career then progressed with top HR leadership roles at Torani Italian Syrups, Goodwill Industries, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Duty Free Shoppers division of LVMH, and Meow Wolf. In all of her positions, Erin’s roles as coach, strategic business partner, and mentor gave her great joy and sense of purpose. Those on the receiving end of her coaching were not always feeling the same at the time (tears were sometimes involved!), yet often credit her with driving their most significant career growth, personal development or accomplishments.

Erin was a lifetime and avid learner, especially in the fields of coaching, mental health in the workplace, worker advocacy, and personal development. She was working toward a therapeutic coaching certification during the time of her cancer journey, which would add a new set of tools to her kit for addressing mental health challenges in the workplace. Her hope was to combine her stories of recovering from cancer, of overcoming childhood trauma, and of living life fully with intention, with the vast toolkit she had collected, in order to help others.

When not working, Erin loved to vacation by the ocean, engaged in three of her favorite activities: sunbathing, snorkeling and listening to jazz. A round of golf or a pickleball match were her most recent sports forays – during which she always let loose her inner athlete to the surprise of the unsuspecting and the delight of her teammate.

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