Erin Peterson, the owner and publisher of Trending Northwest LLC, wants to be at the cutting edge of what people want to know about and are searching for in the Inland Northwest. 

Whether that be the best place to find sushi or a list of the best garden centers, Peterson wants to help others discover what the region has to offer and has created a multimedia platform.

“We get excited about these places that make our community special, and we want to share that with others,” says Peterson. 

Sarah Dahmen, president and CEO of Spokane Media Federal Credit Union, says that what makes Peterson a rising star is her ability to build a popular media brand in a short amount of time. 

“In just a few short years, Erin has launched a dynamic media brand that includes the widely read Trending Northwest magazine, an inspiring and uplifting social media presence, and a popular podcast that elevates and celebrates many incredible people, organizations, and businesses in our community,” Dahmen says.  

Pattie Strub, who has known Peterson for over 15 years, says her ability to overcome obstacles and transform her life from that of a struggling single mother to one of business success also makes her work noteworthy.

“She has the bandwidth of 20 people,” Strub says. “She’s always out there, she’s knowledgeable and good at bringing people together.” 

Peterson, 39, always wanted to be a writer but was persuaded to pursue other career paths that are financially more stable. Taking that advice, she became a teacher, like her mother. 

“I thought that’s what I was going to do until the day I retired,” she says. “But life had other plans.” 

In 2017, two years after Peterson and her husband Robert married, they began a food review page titled Spokane Culinary Arts Guild out of a desire to find and explore local establishments serving great cuisine.

 “The page grew exponentially,” Peterson says. “People were literally craving real information about local restaurants. … I suddenly became this local social media influencer, and I thought, 'wow, this is kind of fun.'” 

With the popularity of her page, Peterson reconsidered her career path. She had recently experienced some serious health issues, and doctors had discovered a tumor that she says had stopped her in her tracks. While she enjoyed teaching, it was hard on her body, and she decided to dedicate herself fully to Spokane Culinary Arts Guild. 

Peterson also began to write a food column for Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living magazine and eventually became the publication’s food and travel editor. In 2020, as the world took shelter during the pandemic, she and her friend Melissa Berry started the Trending Northwest podcast. Just like Peterson’s food review page, Trending Northwest grew in popularity and sparked the inspiration for expanding their presence beyond podcasting, to generating digital content with a focus on search engine optimization. 

“And then it just spiraled to this,” Peterson says. “We’re thrilled to see those next steps happen.”

Trending Northwest now has a staff of four full-time employees and two contract workers and has offices on the second floor of the historic Washington Cracker Co. building at 304 W. Pacific, in downtown Spokane. As previously reported by the Journal, Trending Northwest generates revenue through a layered multimedia approach that includes a mix of advertising revenue from regional sponsors, and sponsored content from brand partnerships. The quarterly print issue of Trending Northwest launched in January 2023 and has a circulation of 7,000.