Meet Dana Eriksson - Infuse Board Member
We’ve been looking forward to sharing more about the people behind the scenes at Infuse Tucson and are thrilled to introduce Dana Eriksson, a dedicated member of the Infuse Tucson board!
Q: Tell us about your daily life. How do you spend your days? Whether that is a career, job, multiple jobs, domestic roles, caretaking roles, and major hobbies:
A: I see my overall vocation as serving God by helping others feel valued, loved, and connected. This plays out in several important areas of my life:
As a wife and mom of two amazing kids, I believe part of my calling is loving my family and showing them their value. I try to do this by giving them my full attention, engaging genuinely with them, and helping them process the world.
Professionally, I have the honor of serving as the Director of Community and Connection for an eCommerce entrepreneurial community. Day-to-day, I'm logging into our online forum, engaging in posts, connecting members, welcoming newcomers, working on special projects or meetups, and responding to needs that arise. I see this work as creating spaces where entrepreneurs can find support, wisdom, and belonging as they build and grow their businesses. The highlight is getting together with members in person at our live events. The need for human connection and not feeling alone in the entrepreneurial roller coaster is so profound, and I love helping people feel truly included and welcomed.
I've also built a business focused on making thoughtfulness easier - helping people reach out to friends or colleagues to express appreciation, celebration, or encouragement. While I'm at a crossroads with this venture right now, I'm grateful for the journey and open to God's leading for what's next.
Beyond these roles, I feel called to share parts of my personal journey, especially around infertility and adoption, which is how our family was created. This experience can be incredibly isolating, so again, I find purpose in helping others feel less alone and seeing how God works even in challenging circumstances to create something beautiful.
Q: As a human created in God's image, how does your work reflect an aspect of God’s work?
A: As the Director of Community and Connection for the eCommerce entrepreneurial community, my work reflects multiple aspects of God's character. My role embodies providential work as I help create and maintain the infrastructure where entrepreneurs can thrive - helping to organize our online forum, connecting members with resources, and helping establish systems that allow our community to flourish.
Even more central to my calling is the compassionate work woven throughout my days. Just as God sees, knows, and cares for each person individually, I try to be attentive to the unique needs of our members - reaching out when they're struggling, celebrating their victories, and creating spaces where they feel truly seen.
This pattern extends to my family life as well. While I help provide for our family's tangible needs (providential work), I believe I most reflect God's image through compassionate presence. I try to tune into the emotional and spiritual needs of my husband and children, creating a home where they feel valued, understood, and loved unconditionally.
In both spheres, I see my work as participating in God's ongoing care for people, recognizing the divine spark in each person I encounter, and helping them connect with the resources, relationships, and encouragement they need to flourish.
Q: Where do you notice brokenness in your industry or specific role? What challenges make your work most difficult?
A: In our entrepreneurial community, I sometimes encounter the tension between individual ambition and collective wellbeing. Members sometimes break our community guidelines around self-promotion. Unchecked self-promotion can quickly erode the trust and authentic connection that makes our community valuable in the first place.
I also witness how entrepreneurial stress and isolation can manifest in unhealthy ways. Some members struggle to engage respectfully with differing opinions or approaches to business, especially when they're under pressure themselves. Or there might be an undercurrent of mistrust that can develop, perhaps making them feel like they need to have their guards up.
Impostor syndrome is another significant challenge I see regularly in our community. Many entrepreneurs, despite their achievements, struggle with feelings of inadequacy and fear of being 'exposed' as frauds. This holds them back from fully participating, asking questions, or sharing their journey. Some members find it particularly difficult to engage in spaces where they perceive others as more successful or further along. This creates a barrier to the very connections and learning opportunities that could help them grow.
These challenges make community-building messy. There's no algorithm for nurturing human connection, and no perfect solution to these tensions.
Q: In what ways does your work embody the idea that “work is love made visible”?
A: My work embodies 'love made visible' in how it creates infrastructure for human connection and belonging. When I welcome a new member to our entrepreneurial community, respond thoughtfully to a question, or connect two members, I'm doing more than performing tasks - I'm hoping to help people feel less lonely and more connected.
Entrepreneurship can be profoundly isolating. Small business owners carry unique burdens (like making payroll, navigating hiring decisions, and managing cash flow uncertainties), often without peers who truly understand these pressures. When entrepreneurs can find each other, share vulnerably, and receive guidance from those who've walked similar paths, we help remove feelings of loneliness and facilitate courage.
The love expressed through my work isn't always direct or immediately visible. When I maintain community guidelines that foster respectful dialogue, I'm showing love by protecting the environment where meaningful connections can flourish. When I notice someone hesitating to participate due to impostor syndrome and find ways to draw them in, I'm expressing love by removing barriers to belonging.
My hope is that I play some part in helping the entrepreneur who finds the confidence to keep going after a community discussion, the business owner who implements advice that helps their company grow, and the founder who forms friendships that sustain them through difficult decisions, all outcomes that may happen long after my initial work and far from my view.
Q: How could the local church actively support and engage with the work you do in your daily life and vocation?
A: When you're a person of faith, it's not a compartmentalized part of your life - it's foundational to who you are. It naturally permeates every aspect: your vocation, home life, relationships, and how you move through the world. I love that Infuse makes this direct connection, reinforcing that whatever work we do is part of our faith journey.
What's been especially meaningful about Infuse is how it helps people explore seeing their vocation through the lens of faith and frames daily work as meaningful service to God. This perspective empowers and reinvigorates when it's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day responsibilities.
I'd love to see more churches develop programs that help members connect their Monday-to-Friday work with their faith, particularly for those in less traditional ministry roles. Churches might also recognize entrepreneurship as a valid ministry calling - seeing the creation of businesses that provide jobs, services, and meeting needs as important work.
When churches validate entrepreneurial and community-building work as valuable expressions of faith, it helps people feel seen and supported in their unique vocational paths.
Thank you Dana for sitting down with us and for all you do!
