Freddie Silveria is owner of FSA Auctions. Look at those blue eyes on this happy dog named Baklava! (Photo by Fred Greaves, expanded with Adobe)

Young Professionals: Freddie Silveria

Meet the rising stars who are leading the Capital Region from the heart

Back Article Jul 14, 2025 By Dakota Morlan

Freddie Silveria

Owner, FSA Auctions

This story is part of our July 2025 Young Professionals issue, photographed at Bradford Animal Shelter. To learn more about adopting at Bradford, click here.

Freddie Silveria has charisma. Asked about his craft, he erupts into the exuberant cadence and gesticulations of an auctioneer, unfazed by the surrounding cafe patrons. But he also knows the art of silence, and he’s not afraid to sit in it. “It’s about presence,” he explains. “The easiest way to engage is silence, and it’s powerful.”

It’s a duality he’s mastered through over a decade of speaking among disparate audiences of rowdy teenagers and high-powered professionals. For Silveria, 35, life has always been twofold. His mother, Gena, who was vibrant and doting in his early childhood, was hit by a drunk driver in 1998. As an only child, Silveria took on much of her care through years of compounding medical and financial crises, until her passing in 2017. He had to grow up fast. “When I went home, it was really hard,” he says. “My mom was in pain all the time.” School and extracurriculars were an escape, and Silveria happily dove into theater and leadership roles.

His love of public speaking was sparked at the age of 9, when he was asked to speak to the crowd about a pig he was showing at the Placer County Fair. “I loved the feeling,” he says. With this in mind, he attended Sierra College and Sacramento State, always staying close to his family in Roseville, and he graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California with a degree in communications. His idol was Tony Robbins, known for his dynamic motivational speeches, and Silveria wanted to do that for youth audiences. “I was just feeling this burning desire for a career where I was making a difference,” he says.

“You gotta feel the room. That’s what being a professional fundraising auctioneer is about, and that’s what clients and nonprofits see with us.”

After a post-college stint at PepsiCo, a golden opportunity came: He was approached by Learning for Living founder Phil Boyte, a public speaker and creator of widely implemented youth programs like Breaking Down the Walls, which Silveria would sign on to facilitate. Over a decade later, he’s still involved in that work, traveling to gymnasiums nationwide to share a message: “It’s hard to hate someone whose story you know.”

Silveria’s introduction to auctioneering was a fundraiser for the Francis House Center in Sacramento, which he volunteered to facilitate. Needless to say, he was hooked. In 2017, he attended the World Wide College of Auctioneering in Des Moines, Iowa, and that same year he launched his one-man business, FSA Auctions, raising funds for nonprofits, schools and charitable organizations (in English and Spanish).

He’s continued his education each year and is the only benefit auctioneer in California with a coveted CAI — a Certified Auctioneers Institute designation — which he earned through an intensive three-year program at Indiana University.

Silveria spends most of his weekdays consulting with clients for their fundraising events, and the rest is go time. It’s easy to get swept up in his energy during a paddle raise. He once auctioned off a $5,000 glass of tap water (with lemon) for the American Red Cross and a $1,200 head of cabbage plucked from the garden at Twin Lakes Food Bank in Folsom. “You gotta feel the room,” he says. “That’s what being a professional fundraising auctioneer is about, and that’s what clients and nonprofits see with us.”

FSA recently welcomed a second auctioneer to the team — a talented mentee named Rachel Piety. Another approaching milestone is $100 million raised by the end of 2025, much of which has gone to Capital Region organizations. “It’s been a wild ride,” Silveria reflects on his success, from thriving through the pandemic with virtual auctions, to his many accolades. “I love what I do.”

A “proud Rotarian,” Silveria trains other benefit auctioneers throughout the country and is president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals California Capital Chapter.

Going home keeps Silveria humble and his heart open. He currently lives with his dad, Fred, who is undergoing chemotherapy and who he calls his “absolute world.” It’s not lost on Silveria that he’s raising money for causes that support families like his own.

“I’ve lived that,” he says, thoughtfully. “I’ve lived it for a long time.”

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