Eric Yaverbaum is an American businessman, writer, bestselling author, and the CEO of Ericho Communications, a New York-based public relations agency. A career public relations professional, Yaverbaum has represented Domino’s Pizza, IKEA, and H&M. He also co-authored Public Relations for Dummies with Robert W. Bly.
Yaverbaum began his career in 1982 while still a college student at American University. His first client was Matthew Lesko, an American author and infomercial personality. In 1985, at the age of 24, Yaverbaum co-founded his first public relations agency, Jericho Communications, serving as President from 1985 through 2006, when the company merged with LIME public relations and promotion, an MDC partner company. During that time, he spearheaded the “Walk A Mile in My Shoes” campaign to advocate for increased spending on stem cell research. He was also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, a global leadership movement of chief executives. In 1985, Yaverbaum organized Strike Back, a citizen’s action group, to protest the pending major league baseball strike. The goal of Strike Back was to unify fans and give them a means to vent their frustration, as they prepared to strike back for each day that the players went on strike. In 2007, he founded Ericho Communications, through which he founded Tappening with Mark DiMassimo to promote the use of reusable water bottles; Tappening bottles were named one of 2008’s hottest products by Good Morning America. He and DiMassimo also collaborated on the “Read to Vote” initiative during the public debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act, seeking a public pledge from members of Congress to read the legislation before acting on it. Yaverbaum’s PR agencies have worked with IKEA, Vitamin Water, TCBY, Progressive Insurance, Subway Sandwiches, Tae Bo, Trillium Health Products, Bell Atlantic, American Express and Sony. He has written for The Observer, HuffPost, and the Washington Post, among other outlets, and has been a regular guest for both Fox News and MSNBC. In April 2020, Yaverbaum was profiled in Entrepreneur where he was noted for his leadership approach and crisis management expertise while leading his New York City public relations agency, Ericho Communications, through both the pandemic and his own COVID-19 diagnosis. Yaverbaum was featured on the July 2020 cover of Entrepreneur magazine.
Philanthropy
Motivated by his former wife’s suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, Yaverbaum founded the “Walk a Mile In My Shoes Campaign” which asked caretakers, patients, and friends to donate a pair of worn shoes in an effort to stop President George H.W. Bush from vetoing legislation supporting stem cell research. The “Walk A Mile in My Shoes” campaign successfully helped push increased spending on stem cell research through the House, which led to Yaverbaum being named one of the heroes of public relations industry by PR Week in 2006.
