Emma Silverman has a knack for knowing what makes life worth living. In her career and her professional life, she makes a point of investing wisely for the betterment of herself and others. The TMV investor and Astor advisor walks us through how she thinks about money and why:
Emma, hi! Please introduce yourself including your party trick.
I'm Emma Silverman. I am an early stage investor, a friend, and a recreational runner. Many people in my life want me to run a marathon but it’s not in the cards, I’m not interested.
My party trick is that I’m an exceptional hula hooper, and this is something that’s genetic. My mom won a televised hula hooping competition when she was growing up. I’ve won every single hula hooping competition I ever participated in, (a common bar and bat mitzvah activity). If I ever had to challenge somebody to a hula hooping duel, I am 100% sure that I would win.
We met working at Flamingo, so I know of your gifts. But will you tell our readers about what motivates you, workwise?
I am motivated by helping bring ideas to market that I think are valuable and important. I really love working with passionate, smart folks and helping them bring their visions to life. That's what motivates me at work, so I’ve spent a lot of my career in what I would call high impact spaces that have the potential to drive real meaning in people's lives. You might not necessarily glean that from women's shave (Flamingo) and coffee (True bird), but I think those businesses have the power to make small, incremental moments better and create joy in people's lives. Now, at TMV, I invest primarily in all things care: healthcare, elder care and childcare, financial wellbeing. This work is extremely meaningful to me, as is the opportunity to help ambitious and visionary founders change our care ecosystem for the better.
Will you tell us your money story? Including peaks and valleys?
I have always been aware of money and I’m very lucky that my parents taught me about it. Growing up, I had a small weekly allowance which was set to whatever my age was. 6 was $6, and so on. Half went into my pocket, a quarter went to college savings, and a quarter went to charity. At the end of the year, I’d pick the charity to donate to.
It was a really great lesson that you know, some of your money should be spent on candy, and some of it should be spent towards development. I cherish this very much.
In college, I studied creative writing and economics—unique combination—and I found it very interesting to think about how money moves. So I started asking bigger questions, how do I think about financial stability? How important is that to me? And frankly, these are still questions I’m making sense of, as the answers evolve over time depending on my goals, my risk tolerance, etc.
When did you start thinking about longer term goals?
I’ve always strived to balance short-term goals with longer term goals. Since I started working, I’ve prioritized saving for retirement and having an emergency fund to feel comfortable in my day-to-day. The specific balance has evolved over time, but these goals have remained fundamental from my time in consulting, to building businesses, and now as an investor.
As I’ve grown into my role as an investor, I’m continuing to think about my long-term financial health and investing in my future family. Beyond my work with early stage businesses, I’m always learning about the public markets and evolving my understanding of an optimized portfolio.
Do you have a financial advisor?
I haven’t been tempted to work with anyone yet because I really love managing this myself—leveling up my expertise in the space is meaningful to me. That said, this could of course change over time.
Same. It’s daunting at first, and then so empowering. So I have to ask, what do you spend money on?
Back to foundations, my health and my home. More than anything, I value my health. This means keeping my kitchen stocked with produce and healthy foods to snack on. And while I love to run, I did start to weave in strength training this year for longevity, so I go to a local pilates studio once a week. For me, loving my space is also important, and I prioritized finding an apartment building with a gym and a washer-dryer, because time is a limited commodity and so these are worth the investment.
I’m an extrovert, and I spend on experiences that connect me to people and the city I live in. Similarly, travel. I’ve never regretted money spent on a trip because I think it’s very cool to see different places with the people you care about. My partner’s family is Moroccan, and going to visit them last year was a very special experience.
On the “things” front, I take pride in feeling comfortable and confident in my skin—that’s just part of me showing up as my best self. I am a uniform dresser who will spend on high quality basics that last.
You talk about investing so holistically. To what do you attribute this thoughtfulness? More money or time? Just being smart? How did you give yourself permission to start thinking of your life as an investment?
I think it goes back to how I was raised. Knowing that I’m going to spend some of this on myself, some on others, and some for my future self, has positioned me to think about the significance of every purchase. If things don’t fit the model, they have to shift.
How do you talk about money in your “real life”? I’m sure at work, but what about with your partner?
One of the great things about being an investor is that as a team we have an open dialogue about money: we are fiduciaries, and our job day in and day out is speaking about money. Because I work on a close-knit, open team, I also enjoy speaking to my colleagues about our personal financial philosophies.
On a personal level, my parents are still on my Board of Advisors, and they an excellent sounding board as I think about the future.
I also talk to Zach, my fiance —we share a life. Over the course of our relationship, our money conversations have evolved: moving in together, making purchases together, and now planning a wedding together. I look to him for advice and support, because he’s my partner. He works in finance, so he gets it.
What’s the most cherished holding in your life?
In life? My people. If that’s a cop out answer, shoes.
Shoes, good. Now what about your investment portfolio?
In priority order: maxing out my 401k, maintaining a rainy day fund, and working more actively on my personal investment portfolio.
Is there anything else you want to share before we close?
I don’t have any projects to share, but I will say, it brings me so much joy to meet smart people who are working on exciting, interesting, high impact things. People really make the world go around. Through my job, I get to meet amazing people, especially women who have been so historically underrepresented in industries in which I invest.
*If you’re reading this, and you have a great idea, or just want a great new contact, reach out to Emma, she means it.