Meet Erika Dickstein

Erika Dickstein doesn’t just build websites — she helps businesses find their spark and translate it online. As the founder of Spring Insight, she’s been helping associations, government contractors, and subject matter experts express their brands since 2012, turning client passion into digital strategy that feels authentic and alive.

Erika’s not “into” WordPress for WordPress’s sake — she’s into what it enables. She loves the alchemy of uncovering what makes a business special and transforming that into a site that captures its personality. In our chat, she shares her perspective on creativity, leadership, and the importance of dodging “juju vampires” (her term for bad-fit clients). Plus, she reflects on navigating a tough year, finding resilience in community, and how curiosity — and a good pivot — keep her moving forward.

What got you into WordPress and how long have you been using it?

I didn’t show up to WordPress with some great love story. What I am in love with is helping associations, government contractors, and subject matter experts create digital spaces that actually reflect who they are. These organizations need websites that express their expertise without turning into full time jobs to maintain. WordPress is simply the tool that makes that possible.

Over time, I found that WordPress gave me the flexibility clients needed and the structure I needed to keep things sane. It let me translate messy, expert driven content into something clear and navigable. And eventually I realized the build itself mattered far less than helping clients use their sites as strategic platforms. WordPress just happened to be the thing that didn’t get in the way.

So no, I’m not a WordPress romantic. I’m a WordPress pragmatist. It lets me focus on the real work: helping complex organizations show up clearly online and, more recently, making sure their sites are built in ways AI tools can actually understand.

What motivated you to start your own business, and what keeps you going when things get tough?

I didn’t start a business because I had some grand entrepreneurial vision. I started it because I kept seeing the same problem over and over again. Smart, mission driven organizations had important things to say, but their websites and messaging often made them look smaller, messier, or more confused than they actually were. Someone needed to translate what was in their heads into something the outside world could actually understand.

That kind of translation work is my sweet spot. Associations with multiple audiences. Government contractors with long sales cycles. Subject matter experts with big ideas and no time to explain them. I found myself more interested in helping them express their expertise clearly than anything else, and running my own company gave me the freedom to build the process I knew they needed.

So Spring Insight wasn’t born from a love of “running a business.” It was born from wanting to make complex organizations feel seen and understood online. Building websites, creating strategy, and now working on AI visibility are just the tools I use to do that.

What’s a hard lesson you learned running your business that’s changed the way you operate?

One of the toughest lessons I’ve learned is that not every client is my client. I’ve had a few juju vampires over the years. You know the type. They drain every ounce of energy and still insist the glass is half empty. Early on I assumed that if I just worked harder or explained things more clearly, we would get to a good place. Spoiler: we did not.

What I eventually realized is that fit matters just as much as skill. The work I do requires real collaboration. My best projects happen with organizations that want clarity, trust the process, and actually show up. When those pieces are missing, even the most brilliant strategy or the cleanest build won’t save the relationship.

These days I pay close attention in the early conversations. If someone is already radiating chaos or looking for a miracle instead of a partner, it’s a polite no. That boundary has protected my team, my sanity, and the clients who truly want the strategic help we offer.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten and how has it affected your business?

Jim Martin, a member of Admin Bar TABLE 5 (the BEST TABLE) is known for saying, “Measure backwards”. It sounds simple, but it rewired how I work.

Most of the organizations I support (Associations, government contractors, subject matter experts) live inside long timelines and shifting priorities. They often feel like they’re behind even when they’re moving forward. When you measure against where you wish you were, everything looks like failure. When you measure against where you started, you suddenly see the ground you’ve covered.

That shift shows up everywhere in my work. Whether I’m guiding a team through a web overhaul or helping them understand how their AI visibility is improving, I come back to that idea: look back, notice progress, then take the next step. It’s grounding, it’s clarifying, and it keeps the chaos from taking over.