Benjamin: Fantastic. All right. Hey, Erica, how are you doing today?
Erica Pilatos: I'm doing very well, thank you! Just living it up in Las Vegas. It is a little warm today, though!
Benjamin: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from originally, and how long have you been living here in Vegas?
Erica Pilatos: I've been in Vegas since 2001, but I am originally from the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Benjamin: Oh wow, that is a ways away. What originally brought you out to Las Vegas?
Erica Pilatos: Family, actually. My whole family ended up migrating out to the West Coast, so we followed suit. But I've been visiting Vegas since the 1980s. Back then, we were practically the only kids on the plane coming here to visit family. One of my uncles originally moved out here and opened up the Sands casino, and he later went on to be a pit boss at Treasure Island. So Vegas has always been a part of our lives.
Benjamin: That is so cool. Treasure Island is a classic. Tell me a little bit about your own family and life out here.
Erica Pilatos: I married my husband here in Las Vegas back in 2007. Fun little fact, that same year, him and I actually starred on an NBC television show called The Real Wedding Crashers, which was executive produced by Ashton Kutcher and the team behind Punk'd. It was a wild experience. Together we have two beautiful kids; my oldest is 22, and my youngest just graduated from high school.
Benjamin: What an awesome story! Now, I want to talk about what you're building on social media. I see you posting quite a bit about a support network you've started for military families. Tell me how that came to life.
Erica Pilatos: Yes! My oldest son entered the Air Force about two and a half years ago. As my firstborn, leaving home was a major transition. With my daughter entering her final year of high school around that same time, I wanted to find a meaningful way to keep myself busy. I happened to connect with another local mom who posted in an Air Force group looking to meet up with other Air Force mothers in Las Vegas for coffee.
Erica Pilatos: We got together, put our brains together, and realized there was a massive need to support active military families. She actually has children serving across various branches of the military. When your kids are deployed or stationed far away, you can't always talk to them, which places a lot of emotional stress on families, especially the mothers. We decided to launch Las Vegas Military Moms. It started small, but it's gaining traction every single day.
Benjamin: That is incredible. What makes this specific space so important for the mothers?
Erica Pilatos: We intentionally designed it as a safe, private space specifically for mothers to vent, share, and find comfort. When a service member goes on deployment, there is strict operational security. You can't speak of it, you don't know exactly where they are, and you don't know when they are coming home. You can't carry that weight or share those details with just anyone. But as a military mom, I completely understand it. We offer that lending ear, whether it's getting together for a coffee or just reaching out to someone who might be feeling incredibly lonely.
Benjamin: You also mentioned building a wider group alongside the core group. How does that fit into your plans?
Erica Pilatos: Exactly! While the core group is strictly a private sanctuary for the mothers of our service members, we realized so many other people wanted to show up and give back. We have dads, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and patriotic neighbors who want to help. We don't want anyone to feel left out, so we just established a dedicated volunteer page.
Erica Pilatos: I actually just posted an update to our community saying that for all those who may not be a military mom, we still would love for you to join our volunteer page! We hope to have many opportunities coming up, and we absolutely can’t do it without the support of all of you. We're using that page to list all of our future community events and donation opportunities. We honestly want to hear everyone's creative ideas on how we can better look after our troops. Together, we can truly do anything.
Erica Pilatos: Our immediate goal for this summer is to leverage that volunteer network to assemble custom snack and hygiene bags. We've coordinated directly with a contact at Nellis Air Force Base, and they let us know that many of the incoming airmen arriving in town are exceptionally young and dealing with being away from home for the very first time. We want to hand them a little pack of goodies just to say, "Welcome to our city, we appreciate you, and we have your back."
Benjamin: That is an amazing way to bring the whole town together. Since starting this back in January, has there been a particularly memorable experience that stands out?
Erica Pilatos: Although we are relatively new, we recently had the privilege to speak at a Disabled American Veterans meeting. Even though our own children aren't veterans yet, hearing their stories and learning about what the veteran community goes through really struck a chord with us. Hearing about their struggles with healthcare or the sheer loneliness some face in elderly care homes puts everything into perspective. It reminds you exactly what these men and women sacrificed for our country. While there are wonderful veteran organizations doing great work, very few groups focus strictly on active-duty personnel here at home because deploying goods overseas is highly restricted. Our core focus is Nellis Air Force Base, letting these active-duty airmen know that the Las Vegas community is backing them completely.
Benjamin: Absolute respect to you for stepping into that gap. Switching gears to the lifestyle side of things, what is something you absolutely love about living the goodlife in Las Vegas?
Erica Pilatos: People might think I'm a little crazy, but I actually love the weather! Being born and raised in Chicago, I am entirely done with snow on the ground and sub-zero temperatures. My absolute favorite part of the year is our long springtime starting around March. I drive a Jeep Wrangler, so I throw the top completely off for months. If it weren't for my husband and daughter complaining about riding around in 110-degree heat, I'd probably leave the top off all summer long!
Benjamin: You're definitely the cool mom driving around with the top off! If you had a magic wand and could change one thing about Las Vegas, what would it be?
Erica Pilatos: I wish our valley had a deeper sense of community events and local support. Coming from the Midwest, every single summer weekend was filled with community festivals, local concerts, and massive farmers' markets that were completely free to attend. Vegas tries, but it often lacks that organic neighborhood culture, and everything is tied to a hefty ticket price. I served as a PTA President at an elementary school here for two years, and finding accessible, affordable family activities was always our biggest hurdle. Because so many local families work non-traditional hours in hospitality and the casinos, or avoid the peak summer sun, our scheduling is disjointed. Places like Summerlin host wonderful music in the park series, but they only do it in June and then stop. We have beautiful weather most of the year; we should be celebrating community events year-round!
Benjamin: I completely agree with you on that. Now, let's talk food. What is your absolute number one go-to restaurant in town?
Erica Pilatos: You might laugh, but our absolute neighborhood gem is Pancho's in Downtown Summerlin. My husband and I go there all the time. The service is exceptional, the food is incredibly consistent, and the drinks are fantastic. I'm Italian and my husband is Greek, so we cook massive, elaborate meals at home constantly. When we do go out, I like to keep it simple, a classic carne asada quesadilla at Pancho's makes me as happy as can be!
Benjamin: You can never go wrong with a great carne asada quesadilla. Lastly, since you are our featured cover star, give our readers a visual. How should they picture you living the goodlife?
Erica Pilatos: You can't miss me! I drive a bright, neon green Jeep Wrangler. The top is usually completely off, I've got my aviator sunglasses on, an Air Force Mom hat pulled down, and I'm inevitably wearing navy blue. My entire wardrobe has accidentally become navy blue over the last two years to support my son, with just a little bit of glitter and sparkle added to it to keep things fun!
Benjamin: Love the sparkle! If readers want to follow your journey or get in touch directly, what is the best way for them to do that?
Erica Pilatos: The best way is to reach out to me directly on my personal Facebook profile. Anyone interested or looking to connect can find me right here at Erica Pilatos. I welcome everyone to send over a message or connect with me there!
Benjamin: Perfect. We will ensure your name is linked so people can navigate straight to you. Erica, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and for everything you are doing to champion our active military families at Nellis.