Per Diem: Emma Bates

"I grew up in England and moved to New York City almost 7 years ago, after graduating from university in London. I ended up here via my career – I’ve always loved working in start-ups and New York had a lot more to offer in that regard. I also have never felt more at home in a place than I do here so I’m very glad I managed to get a visa and have been able to stay for so long!"

"My career has been somewhat untraditional. My degree is in War Studies and I always thought I would end up working as a lawyer or in the government, as I’m really passionate about social impact – my thesis was written on gender & sexual violence in regions of conflict. But while I was studying at university, I started a blog that grew into the hundreds of thousands of readers at one point, this was about 10 years ago now, so in the very early “influencer” days. This experience was my first exposure to the world of marketing and brand partnerships. I quickly realized I did not like building a ‘brand’  around myself, but I really loved doing it for companies. From there I joined one of the first creator networks, Whalar, where I led their influencer community growth – onboarding the first few hundred influencers to the platform. I then joined the travel brand, Away, when there were ~10 employees, initially spearheading their UK launch and then transitioning into brand partnerships (partnerships = one true love from a career standpoint). It was an incredible and wild 3 years of hyper-growth, I also met my now co-founder while we both worked there. That leads me to where I am now – co-founder of Diem, a new social search engine designed for women and non-binary people!"

"I am obsessed with jewelry and sparkly things, I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. The first piece of jewelry I received (and still have!) is a gold charm bracelet my grandparents bought me when I was born. Over the years, they (or my parents) bought me a charm to go on the bracelet. It’s so fun to look at all the charms now – some represent different stages of my life, like the harp charm (I used to play!) or the cats (because I LOVE cats). I’m wearing it in these photos, it’s one of my favorite pieces."

"I’m definitely someone who never takes off any of their jewelry. I have a lot of ear piercings and I sleep in all those earrings and rarely change them. I also always wear at least 3 rings. One is a silver ring that my Grandpa made for me. When he retired from being a surgeon he took up silversmithing and now he makes all sorts of creative, beautiful ornaments and jewelry. This one I always wear because I’m scared about losing it! I also almost always wear 2 necklaces. On occasion I’ll add in bracelets or more expensive pieces that I don’t want to shower in."

"I love buying jewelry for myself, I think it’s such a nice treat and while, don’t get me wrong, I love people buying me presents, it’s fun to buy yourself something special that will last a long time. I actually just bought a new ring from Aligierhi as a present to myself for closing our most recent fundraise – ironically the finger it fits best on is my wedding ring finger, so now I guess I subconsciously married myself to my company?! Which is honestly not far from reality! My favorite style is brushed gold or vintage gold jewelry."