This is the number one question people ask me after they see me in action at an event. The short answer is: I grew up in the industry. My dad is the founder of a successful national auction firm that specializes in commercial real estate and business liquidations. I started working auctions at the age of 10 helping my dad with bidder registrations, bid spotting, clerking, and eventually answering the phones at his office every summer to earn my mall money.
I knew with every ounce of my being that I never, ever wanted to be an Auctioneer. Funny how that turned out…
To be honest, I was a little insecure that my dad was an auctioneer. Mostly because people assumed that he was either selling cattle out in an open field or haggling people for old ironing boards and silverware at an estate sale. It was hard to explain that he actually wore a suit and tie while standing in a hotel ballroom selling dozens of real estate assets for millions of dollars at a time (that’s how they did it in the old days-now they just post everything on their app and people bid with a click of a button).
But beyond the insecurity I experienced as a child, I found real estate auctions very impersonal and, at the time, not particularly engaging. My Dad built an incredibly successful business (that my husband now runs and shares ownership in…yes, I’m also married to an Auctioneer) but it wasn’t the business that I was drawn to. I was always more interested in what my mom did for a living, which was managing a huge team for a commercial office space leasing company…the original shared workspace concept. Not because of the job, but because she got to work with so many different types of people! I loved hearing the stories of her workday every night. I loved the way she helped her clients troubleshoot and problem solve and how she managed her team. She’s a people-person, as am I.
From a very young age, I’ve had a deep love and passion for human connection. This includes every form of interaction from close friendships to the stranger you meet in a grocery store…from entertaining audiences on stage (I was a theatre kid) to deep philosophical conversations with a friend. I love to make people laugh; I love to challenge people on the way they think; and I not-so-secretly love to create space for people to cry (don’t worry I’m usually crying with them). I’ve always been drawn to human emotions-to cracking someone open through humor, through hard conversations, or through a deep sense of empathy and understanding. I’m a humanitarian in its truest form.
And after a 15 year career in service-based hospitality, starting as the front desk girl in a Golds Gym to working every front of house position in a restaurant, to running and managing a boutique hotel, to selling for the Marriott, I finally found my way back to where it all began for me: the auction industry.
I was back in Atlanta after leaving my sales position at the Marriott and my dad invited me to a benefit auction he had volunteered to do for an organization called The Global Village project, an incredible school designed for refugee girls. I decided to go with him and little did I know, this event would change the entire trajectory of my career.
The mission was incredible! The girls were so powerful! The energy in the room was vibrant! I felt myself truly come alive!
And yet…
The event was less than smooth!!!
It was held in a school gym, the registration lines were long, they were serving a chaotic potluck style dinner, using a karaoke machine for their sound, and the volunteers and board members were running around like headless chickens. WOW. My little Marriott-groomed hospitality body was having an absolute MELTDOWN.
The moment we got back into the car I started spilling to my dad about what could have been done differently to improve the event, which I believed would have helped them raise more money. I didn’t know a thing about fundraising, but I knew A LOT about guest experience and how this impacts the transactional mindset.
Let me ask you: how many times have you ordered that extra drink, decided to get dessert, decided to upgrade your room-essentially spent more money-because you felt comfortable, cared for, enjoyed your server or bartender, and felt GOOD in the environment you were in? And on the other side-how many times have you walked out of an establishment having a Pretty Woman moment knowing that you would have spent more money had you been treated differently?
My dad sat and listened to me ramble off a dozen things they could have done differently and then he encouraged me to tell them how they could improve. So I did. That was in 2015.
April of 2026 marks the 11th year in a row that I’ve been the Auctioneer for the Global Village Project. What started as an “I care about your mission” phone call spiraled into a full blown career. This year their event will be held at Zoo Atlanta in their formal ballroom with a plated seated meal, an incredible production company, and they’re projected to raise half a million dollars. What a blessing and a joy it’s been to work with them, my first client, through my (and their) more than ten year journey!
For me, being a Professional Fundraiser isn’t just about the evening gowns and the fast talking (although those parts are really fun!), it’s an avenue for me to connect with humans in an authentic way, to make them laugh, to educate them about something that’s important, and to create a space for them to connect so deeply with the mission that not only do they feel compelled to give, but they feel invited to stay engaged with the mission for years to come.
