Erik hails from the home sock monkeys and Cheap Trick: Rockford, Illinois. He has followed several paths in life, including marketing researcher (phone survey-taker), packaging technician (bag boy), bartender and things an aspiring jack-of-all-trades would try. He lives in Palmer and teaches fourth and fifth graders at a school in Wasilla and is usually doing something to earn more college credit. He likes to make pizza and soup, but never at the same time.