The auction profession is sufficiently challenging that it is rare to find someone who does not love their job. They exist but find themselves soon unburdened by business. The rigors of client negotiations, auction set-up and the stress and turmoil of auction day tend to separate the wheat from the chaff in our profession and despite the hardships this Thanksgiving Day again finds thousands of auctioneers across the nation thankful for their industry.  It is often repeated and widely held that the Auction Industry is recession proof. While this is a great quote to throw out in auction school the facts are that while the industry fairs better then say the yacht building business we are people too and economic disorder affects us all. That said auctioneers are by in large thankful this day for the robustness of their business and the opportunities found in both good times and bad.  

As for me I am thankful for those who walked with me as I found my way in the practice of Auctioneering. While Auctioneering may seem like a natural fit I was the last to catch on. In the summer of 2002, after my father passed away, my mother and I were attending auctions locally in Van Wert County and after a day spent at a particularly fun and engaging farm auction my mother commented that I might be a good auctioneer. At the time I was a mediocre engineering student at The Ohio State University so the thought of being a good anything was intriguing.

At the charity/fun auction that was the culmination of the September 2003 Class of The Ohio Auction School, one of our instructors took me aside and spoke quietly but with conviction, “You were born to do this, you were born to be an auctioneer.” As profound as those statements are today, I will confess they had little immediate effect. But like a seed planted in the cold of winter it was an idea whose time would come. For despite the success and enjoyment of auction school the rigors and demands of engineering school seemed the safer and wiser bet and it was back to that dark mine that I returned.

It took meeting my wife for me to recognize my life’s work and for it to become clear. It was not a sudden realization that auctioneering was the more than just a Sirens song but it was realization none the less. So today I am thankful for the paths I have taken and the paths I should have taken sooner and for those who walked with me even when I was going the wrong way.