Erica Rose isn’t a stranger to reality TV. After being on shows like The Bachelor and Below Deck: Sailing Yacht, Erica knows what makes for good TV, and that what viewers might see isn’t always reality. We spoke with Erica about her law practice, being a mom to daughters Holland and Aspen, and, of course, that infamous tip.
Erica, everyone knows you from reality TV shows like The Bachelor and Below Deck: Sailing Yacht, but they might not know that you’re also a mom of two little girls. How do you keep your balance?
Well, I think it really helps that I started my own law practice. But at first, when it was just me, I was like, Okay, I did this to give me more flexibility. But I was working like around the clock. And then my husband left his job and became law partners with me in 2020. So that way, I think it’s like really the way that we find balance, because he takes the kids to school in the morning and goes like straight to the office. And he can work really late and that kind of thing, because I’m the one that always picks them up. And so we balance it that way. I really think we make a great team that way.
When I started my law career, I was working at a different firm. And I went back to work when my youngest was only two months old. I had someone else drive her to school. And then by the time I got home from work, they would be asleep. It made me so sad. So after six months working there, I realized I had to change something about it. Now, I’m able to have the balance of being able to work and still spend time with my girls.
Let’s talk about this reality show that’s in the works. What’s going on with that?
So there are two different ones. The first one is something that’s been in the works since September, October. A producer reached out to me that’s been involved with other shows like The Real Housewives of Dallas. And she told me that at first she was reaching out to me about that. And so she’s trying to put together a show about like Houston lawyers that are also moms and which I think would be really cool. Because yeah, whether it’s a working, you know, a married mom or a single mom, it doesn’t matter. It’s still such a balance. So that’s one concept. And then another one is kind of like, sort of like a judge show concept. But there’s more to it, but I can’t really elaborate into it. But it would be not like the typical courtroom thing, which has been done before, so it’s something new.
And if it doesn’t work out, then I might eventually try to produce my own thing about our own law practice, our lives, and balancing it all. I’m letting other like production companies and producers kind of do their thing, just because I have so much else going on. But at this point, I feel like getting into production would be something I’m interested in, especially because you can have more control over showing things in reality versus like being appearing on other shows you have no control over the edit and that kind of thing.
And I would think too, you would probably have more control over scheduling and stuff like that, which is something that a working parent definitely needs.
Yeah. And it’s so funny because my kids always tell me they want to do TV. I did this Inside Edition thing when Aspen was one and Holland was like three. And it was just a mommy makeover story. So they both got to be involved with it. If I were to do a legally mom type of show, they would really like being a part of it, because that’s their personalities. They’re both very theatrical, and they enjoy making videos and doing things like that.
Are you concerned about having them on a reality show, because sometimes people can be cruel.
Yes, I definitely feel protective. Even last time when I was on Below Deck that just aired last month, people were saying when I posted a picture of my daughter, like, “Oh, no, I feel bad for them.” Or “Hopefully they’re getting a better role model than you”, based on the charter trip. And it was really hurtful, because, first of all, so much of it was editing, I was actually really polite the entire time. And it was just based on like the different people in the crew wanting to get ratings by saying things, but I didn’t do anything negative. And, you know, no one should comment about someone as a parent, unless they’re observing them as a parent. It would be a way to say, “Look, I’m a really good parent!” but also I just think that it would be fun memories for us. It would be very seldom, though, because the kids have busy schedules, too.
Let’s talk about your law practice, because it does blend into your personal life as well.
I had an interest in family law and had gotten into that even before I became a mom. My daughter Holland’s father is from a previous relationship. She was born in LA and her dad’s a family lawyer in LA., and so we met working together at a family law firm. When I decided to not be together, I moved back to Houston, and I decided to take the bar exam. Although he and I worked things out, in terms of his visits and all that stuff, I found the court process kind of difficult to navigate even though I’d already graduated law school. And I felt like lawyers that hadn’t been through their own custody situation didn’t really know what that felt like. That really inspired me to focus on child custody. So a lot of my clients feel really comfortable with me when they’re going through their own custody situations because I let them know that I’ve been through it and so I’m not judging them, plus I can relate to the anxiety that they’re feeling.
This was your second time on Below Deck: Sailing Yacht. How would you compare the experiences?
When I went with my girlfriends, it was a different experience. And it was just fine. And there was kind of like a Real Housewives trip where there was girl drama in between other women and me and each other, but it was all in a good, fun kind of thing. And so then this time I felt like it was a completely different experience. I didn’t anticipate this because I never have done something like this with my husband before. And in real life, he’s a very likable guy. But I didn’t expect that people that it would be edited the way it was, because we actually had a nice time on the trip.
This was the first time that I’ve ever been blindsided watching something. And we thought we had a great time, you know, so it was just really crazy. It took us by surprise, especially the second episode we were on. I didn’t realize how it would impact me more when it was them not just attacking me, but really like insulting my husband, even more than me, and then trying to say that it reflects on us as parents when of course it doesn’t. So yeah, it definitely felt different this time. Different cast members, and even the captain have reached out to us and reached out to my husband and just said, you know, “It is reality TV.” So some of the mean spirited comments they said, they are kind of, you know, they’re kind of encouraged to say, because really, the show is about the captain and his mates, you know? Yeah, so they need drama, and we were chartered to have this season. So there hadn’t been enough drama in between them yet.
You know we have to talk about the tip.
Captain Glenn went on Watch What Happens Live and talked about it again. He said that part of the reason he thinks we didn’t want to tip as highly this time, which he was right about, was that last time my friends and I left them such a great tip. And we were like, “Oh, we were so nice to them. They’re going to only say the best things about us.” And some of them still said really negative things about us on their interviews even before we got on the boat, and I was really surprised.
I mean, truly we’re on a yacht for two nights that we pay to go on. $6500 for two nights on a yacht is a good tip actually. As primaries, we were the only ones that tipped I think a different group of friends did after the trip ended. They said they reached out and sent their tip in. But the point is that in real life, that’s actually a very appropriate tip, if you calculate it out, that’s more than 20%. You know, they just wanted it to sound like it wasn’t.
But then you know what’s real and what matters.
That’s true. Holland said something to me that made me really happy. She’s like, “Mom, I really look up to you and admire you!” My younger one says, “I want to be a lawyer too,” because they want to just be like me. I don’t know if they mean it; who knows because kids change their minds all the time. But I think it’s cute. And I think I’m being a good role model for them to show that you can still work and be really involved as a mom.