Claude Silver, the world’s first Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, believes that showing up with heart and humanity is the key to unlocking greatness in people. As a leader, she sees it as her job to infuse empathy into every aspect of the organization. As a speaker, podcaster, industry trendsetter, and LinkedIn influencer, she’s now inspiring other leaders to do the same.

Claude has proven time and time again that empathy fuels growth. With her as Chief Heart Officer, Vayner has grown from 400 people to a global team of 2,000 with offices in 11 countries. Claude also helped lead VaynerMedia—Vayner’s foundational company—to be named the Breakthrough Media Agency of 2022 by Adweek.

At a young age, Claude was repeatedly told she thinks too much with her heart — something she has now learned is her superpower. This evolved into what she calls “emotional optimism,” a concept that anchors her heart-first leadership style and is at the center of her new book, Be Yourself at Work.

Thinking with her heart led Claude to start an outdoor adventure and surf company in San Francisco, become an Outward Bound instructor, and spend years studying transpersonal psychology, positive psychology, and Buddhist and other spiritual traditions. Before joining VaynerX, she was also a global advertising executive at JWT London, JWT San Francisco, and Publicis London.

Claude has received Campaign US’s Female Frontier Award and Adweek’s Changing the Game Award and speaks at major national and international conferences and corporate events. She’s been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and The Wall Street Journal, and interviewed on dozens of leading podcasts.