What if it’s not a glass ceiling that’s holding you back,
but rather a sticky floor?

From high-achieving ceiling breaker and sticky floor survivor, Erica Anderson Rooney introduces the SNAP method, a neuroscience-backed method for altering the subconscious beliefs that hold us back.

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    The Power to
    Clean Up Your Sticky Floors

    Have you ever struggled with impostor syndrome, perfectionism, fear, or burnout?

    Success and fulfillment have always been the goal, but you find yourself stuck, making it impossible to move forward.

    Women face unprecedented challenges in the workplace and find themselves staring up at the glass ceiling. But what if it wasn’t the glass ceiling that was holding you back . . . but rather your own “sticky floors”—those limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors that are within your control?

    Erica is a sticky floor survivor. As a high-achieving ceiling breaker and C-level leader, she masked her struggles to everyone around her—even herself. From feelings of being an impostor to using wine to cope with burnout, it wasn’t until she was faced with the shocking reality that she could lose everything that she stared down her deeply held beliefs about being a “perfect” wife, mom, and executive. Ultimately, Erica was able to snap out of her sticky floors and find fulfillment, and uses her stories to help other women navigate their paths to success.

    Snap Out of Your Sticky Floors

    Download the Values Exercise

    Advanced Praise

    “With raw authenticity, Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors explores the unseen barriers that hold women back, offering a road map for personal growth. Erica’s story is a rallying cry for every woman seeking to conquer self-doubt and redefine success on her own terms.”

    Tricia Montalvo Timm, author of Embrace the Power of You: Owning Your Identity at Work

    “Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors digs into the unseen barriers that hold women back and often aren’t talked about, shedding light and giving hope to all the women who have stayed small and quiet for far too long. If you want to conquer self-doubt and redefine success, this is it!”

    Kelsey Pumel Woods, domestic violence survivor and advocate, TikTok star, and entrepreneur

    “As a successful woman who’s faced her own share of limiting beliefs, I understand the impact of ‘sticky floors.’ Erica Rooney’s four-step science-backed SNAP Method is a practical and powerful way to transform your mindset so that you create the life you want.”

    Mel Robbins, CEO of 143 Studios, New York Times bestselling author, and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast

    “Erica’s book is a testament to the transformative power of embracing your potential and challenging the status quo. Her science-backed approach cuts through doubt, empowering you to shatter invisible barriers. For anyone stuck on their own ‘sticky floors,’ Erica offers a clear path to the life you envision. A must-read for the ambitious.”

    Emma Green, CEO and founder, Your CEO Mentor

    “We talk a lot about glass ceilings. But we don’t talk nearly enough about sticky floors. I love how Erica shifts our focus, energy, and power to the people, places, and programs that propel us forward. Through her proven method, you will notice the glimmers of the sticky floors exponentially more than the traumas involved in the broken glass ceilings. And that leads to sustainable, transformation change. That is how we hype women.”

    Erin Gallagher, CEO and founder, Ella | Hype Women, executive producer and host, the Hype Women podcast

    Meet Erica

    Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Chief People Officer, wife, mom, entrepreneur, and fitness fanatic.

    Erica Rooney is a leadership expert, AI educator, and Chief People Officer with over 15 years of experience shaping workplace culture and advancing women into positions of power. She is the author of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors, and the AI Gap: Women, AI and the Next Great Leap Forward, where she explores how bias in training data is shaping the future of work and why women must be a part of building what comes next.

    She hosts the Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floor Podcast, and co-hosts AI Voice or Victim, translating complex AI concepts into practical, human centered insights leaders can actually use. Known for bridging the gap between tech and trust, Erica helps organizations and individuals understand that AI is not neutral, it is trained, and what we choose to build today will define who gets access to opportunity tomorrow.

    Erica is the founder of HER Collective, a fast-growing leadership community designed to help women rise and stay in positions of power. HER Collective is the only community for women that sits at the intersection of leadership, women, and AI, accelerating career growth at scale.

    She lives in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina with her husband, Dan, and her two children, Hudson and Halle. She enjoys running half-marathons and reading historical fiction novels.

    Press & Media

    Erica is available for interviews, speaking engagements, and book-related events.
    For more information, download Erica’s Press Kit here. For all media, speaking, or event enquiries, please email: hello@ericaandersonrooney.com.

      Stay in Touch

      Follow along on Instagram for tips, tricks, and freebies
      to help you shatter your glass ceiling.

      • Last night, the table was full. Two hours of real conversation, social media strategy, AI, and the stuff nobody says out loud about either. A room of women who showed up for each other and meant it. Huge thank you to @saypenn for co-creating this with me, to @honeygin.marketing for the visibility talk that had everyone taking notes, to @gracefullygoldennc for her beautiful permanent bracelets that had everyone talking, and to @dfstrianglenc for reminding us what “lift while rising” actually looks like in practice. That rack filled up fast, and every piece is going to a woman walking into the interview that changes her year. The questions in that room told me everything. This isn’t the last HERSAY. More soon! #LiftWhileRising #HERSAY #WomenInAI #DressForSuccess
      • Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      • Be honest. You have talked yourself out of more rooms than anyone has ever kept you out of. I almost did it with my podcast. Then again with my book. When the offer came to write about women and AI, my first thought was not "yes." It was "who am I to write this." I am not technical. I came up through HR. Every reason to wait for a more qualified version of me to show up first. She was never coming. There is no qualified-enough fairy who taps you on the shoulder and says you are allowed now. I said yes scared, and then I figured out the seat on the way up. This is the whole P in my SNAP framework. Pivot. Which is a polite way of saying: do it terrified. Not once you feel ready. Ready is a story your nervous system tells you to keep you exactly where you are. What seat are you currently asking too many questions about? Get on. Figure out the rest in the air. #WomenInLeadership #CareerGrowth #ExecutivePresence #WomenWhoLead
      • The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      • One night, a room of powerful women asked AI to show what it thought they looked like. Not one image looked like them. That was not a glitch. The system worked exactly as designed, trained on data that was never neutral. AI is quietly becoming the authority layer of work, the infrastructure deciding who gets seen, hired, promoted, funded, and amplified. The women missing from the data pay first. I am taking this to the SXSW stage with Kristin Thomas @kristinthomas_ , founder and CEO of Marble Collective @marblecollective . We are two women working opposite ends of the same problem. Our session is called “The Authority Layer: Getting Women Seen in the Age of AI”, and community voting is open now through August 23. It takes about a minute and it genuinely moves who gets picked: Click this link: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784144721773001SgVY 👉🏼Create a free Panel Picker account (30 seconds, that’s the platform SXSW votes through) 👉🏼Hit the little heart to the right of the session title 👉🏼Leave a one line comment on why this matters to you ✨That comment carries more weight in SXSW’s scoring than the vote alone, so please do not skip it. And while you are there, my Moms Meet Up session is also on the ballot this year: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784140325045001pjHT — would mean the world to get your vote and a comment on that one too. Thank you for helping us get in the room @marblecollective @joinhercollective
      Last night, the table was full. Two hours of real conversation, social media strategy, AI, and the stuff nobody says out loud about either. A room of women who showed up for each other and meant it. Huge thank you to @saypenn for co-creating this with me, to @honeygin.marketing for the visibility talk that had everyone taking notes, to @gracefullygoldennc for her beautiful permanent bracelets that had everyone talking, and to @dfstrianglenc for reminding us what “lift while rising” actually looks like in practice. That rack filled up fast, and every piece is going to a woman walking into the interview that changes her year. The questions in that room told me everything. This isn’t the last HERSAY. More soon! #LiftWhileRising #HERSAY #WomenInAI #DressForSuccess
      View Reel on Instagram
      @ericaandersonrooney
      @ericaandersonrooney
      •
      Follow
      Last night, the table was full. Two hours of real conversation, social media strategy, AI, and the stuff nobody says out loud about either. A room of women who showed up for each other and meant it. Huge thank you to @saypenn for co-creating this with me, to @honeygin.marketing for the visibility talk that had everyone taking notes, to @gracefullygoldennc for her beautiful permanent bracelets that had everyone talking, and to @dfstrianglenc for reminding us what “lift while rising” actually looks like in practice. That rack filled up fast, and every piece is going to a woman walking into the interview that changes her year. The questions in that room told me everything. This isn’t the last HERSAY. More soon! #LiftWhileRising #HERSAY #WomenInAI #DressForSuccess
      2 days ago
      View on Instagram |
      1/5
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      @ericaandersonrooney
      @ericaandersonrooney
      •
      Follow
      Tomorrow night, the table fills. HERSAY: Lift While Rising. August 26, 6-8PM. An AI strategy. A visibility play. A rack of clothing that’s about to change someone’s interview. Three names you didn’t know you needed, sitting one seat away. This was never going to be a big room and that was the point. Last call. No replay. No second seating. DM me if you would like to join us at our table.
      5 days ago
      View on Instagram |
      2/5
      Be honest. You have talked yourself out of more rooms than anyone has ever kept you out of. I almost did it with my podcast. Then again with my book. When the offer came to write about women and AI, my first thought was not "yes." It was "who am I to write this." I am not technical. I came up through HR. Every reason to wait for a more qualified version of me to show up first. She was never coming. There is no qualified-enough fairy who taps you on the shoulder and says you are allowed now. I said yes scared, and then I figured out the seat on the way up. This is the whole P in my SNAP framework. Pivot. Which is a polite way of saying: do it terrified. Not once you feel ready. Ready is a story your nervous system tells you to keep you exactly where you are. What seat are you currently asking too many questions about? Get on. Figure out the rest in the air. #WomenInLeadership #CareerGrowth #ExecutivePresence #WomenWhoLead
      @ericaandersonrooney
      @ericaandersonrooney
      •
      Follow
      Be honest. You have talked yourself out of more rooms than anyone has ever kept you out of. I almost did it with my podcast. Then again with my book. When the offer came to write about women and AI, my first thought was not "yes." It was "who am I to write this." I am not technical. I came up through HR. Every reason to wait for a more qualified version of me to show up first. She was never coming. There is no qualified-enough fairy who taps you on the shoulder and says you are allowed now. I said yes scared, and then I figured out the seat on the way up. This is the whole P in my SNAP framework. Pivot. Which is a polite way of saying: do it terrified. Not once you feel ready. Ready is a story your nervous system tells you to keep you exactly where you are. What seat are you currently asking too many questions about? Get on. Figure out the rest in the air. #WomenInLeadership #CareerGrowth #ExecutivePresence #WomenWhoLead
      2 weeks ago
      View on Instagram |
      3/5
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      @ericaandersonrooney
      @ericaandersonrooney
      •
      Follow
      The job that changed my life was never posted anywhere. A woman I had worked with two roles earlier said my name in a room I was not in. That was it. That was the whole mechanism. Most women are told to apply, optimize, follow up. Almost nobody tells you that the roles worth having move through relationships before they ever hit a job board. So in February, Stacey and I built a room in the Triangle where that could happen on purpose. Every woman in it was vouched for by another woman. They walked in as strangers and walked out with clients, referrals, and introductions to the things nobody posts. We are doing it again. August 26, 6 to 8pm. Come sit at our table. Details at the link in comments. Who said your name in a room you were not in? Tag her. #HERCollective #WomenInLeadership #RaleighWomen #TriangleNC #CareerGrowth
      2 weeks ago
      View on Instagram |
      4/5
      One night, a room of powerful women asked AI to show what it thought they looked like. Not one image looked like them. That was not a glitch. The system worked exactly as designed, trained on data that was never neutral. AI is quietly becoming the authority layer of work, the infrastructure deciding who gets seen, hired, promoted, funded, and amplified. The women missing from the data pay first. I am taking this to the SXSW stage with Kristin Thomas @kristinthomas_ , founder and CEO of Marble Collective @marblecollective . We are two women working opposite ends of the same problem. Our session is called “The Authority Layer: Getting Women Seen in the Age of AI”, and community voting is open now through August 23. It takes about a minute and it genuinely moves who gets picked: Click this link: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784144721773001SgVY 👉🏼Create a free Panel Picker account (30 seconds, that’s the platform SXSW votes through) 👉🏼Hit the little heart to the right of the session title 👉🏼Leave a one line comment on why this matters to you ✨That comment carries more weight in SXSW’s scoring than the vote alone, so please do not skip it. And while you are there, my Moms Meet Up session is also on the ballot this year: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784140325045001pjHT — would mean the world to get your vote and a comment on that one too. Thank you for helping us get in the room @marblecollective @joinhercollective
      @ericaandersonrooney
      @ericaandersonrooney
      •
      Follow
      One night, a room of powerful women asked AI to show what it thought they looked like. Not one image looked like them. That was not a glitch. The system worked exactly as designed, trained on data that was never neutral. AI is quietly becoming the authority layer of work, the infrastructure deciding who gets seen, hired, promoted, funded, and amplified. The women missing from the data pay first. I am taking this to the SXSW stage with Kristin Thomas @kristinthomas_ , founder and CEO of Marble Collective @marblecollective . We are two women working opposite ends of the same problem. Our session is called “The Authority Layer: Getting Women Seen in the Age of AI”, and community voting is open now through August 23. It takes about a minute and it genuinely moves who gets picked: Click this link: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784144721773001SgVY 👉🏼Create a free Panel Picker account (30 seconds, that’s the platform SXSW votes through) 👉🏼Hit the little heart to the right of the session title 👉🏼Leave a one line comment on why this matters to you ✨That comment carries more weight in SXSW’s scoring than the vote alone, so please do not skip it. And while you are there, my Moms Meet Up session is also on the ballot this year: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1784140325045001pjHT — would mean the world to get your vote and a comment on that one too. Thank you for helping us get in the room @marblecollective @joinhercollective
      3 weeks ago
      View on Instagram |
      5/5