Dynamic Sister Duo Bids Up Profits for Charities

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

What's up and welcome to a brand new week of "Side Hustle School." This is your host, Chris Guillebeau. I am so excited to feature something that we have never talked about before on the show. 765 episodes in. This is the side hustle of being an auctioneer. What is the auctioneer life like?

How much do you get paid to do it? How can you get qualified to do it? And how do you get the gift? Now, not only that, this story actually features two people, a dynamic sister duo. And this dynamic sister duo bids up profits for charities.

These sisters harness a unique skill to help organizations get in on the auction. Right, the auction, like the action? And they're called the auctionisters. Okay, I didn't make that one up myself. That's actually what they go by.

So stay tuned. Can I get 10 seconds? Can I get 20 seconds? How about 30? Do I see 30?

Okay, I see 30 seconds and sold. That story will be here in 30 seconds. [Music]

One night around 1 a.m., Katie Fitzsimmons received an urgent phone call from her sister, Missy. Missy said, "Buckle up, Kate. "I figured out our future." Let's back up a little.

Katie and Missy grew up working in the family landscaping business. Katie now works full-time as director of student affairs in the North Dakota University System. She's also a mother to two young children. Her sister, Missy, is a Jill of all trades working mostly as a radio and event DJ in Bozeman, Montana. On this particular evening that inspired the late night phone call, Missy had been DJing a charity event.

And there she watched a female professional auctioneer walk in and own the room. Missy recalls, "She was unbelievable. "When it was all said and done, "she had raised $350,000. "This was in Bozeman, Montana. "In 40 minutes, it's unheard of." That auctioneer had walked in, did her piece, walked out, and then jumped on a plane to go home.

Meanwhile, Missy had been at the event for 12 hours, setting up her gear, playing music, emceeing, warming up the crowd, and then loading out all of her gear after midnight in the snow and cold. And that's when it hit her, "You know what? "I wanna be the auctioneer." So that's how it started. She called up Katie at 1 a.m. that night after bringing her gear home, and told her with determination, "You and I are gonna be auctioneers." That was a bold statement, of course, but she turned out to be right on the money.

Katie had years of experience in the nonprofit sector, as well as higher education, and enjoyed fundraising for good causes. Despite having zero experience in auctioneering, it seemed like it could be a good fit. But wait, let's back up one more time. What is the art of auctioneering? Auctioneering is like stand-up comedy mixed with selling, mixed with supporting a worthy cause, at least in the case of charity auctions.

And the sisters first step was training. So they signed up with the Missouri Auction School, which prides itself as the Harvard of Auctioneering in St. Louis, Missouri. By the way, side note, you're listening to the Harvard of Side Hustle podcasts. It's also the Community College of Side Hustle podcasts.

We are equal opportunity. Back to the Missouri Auction School, it's a one-week in-residence program, cost about $1,500 per person, plus food, hotel, and airfare. Now Katie and Missy were not the typical students at auction school. Every other participant came from families that had been in the auctioneer business for generations. Most of them would go into livestock auctioning or estate sales, which is a totally different world from charity work.

The sisters were also in the minority in another way. To get a sense of what the one-week auction school entails, check out the YouTube video that we're gonna link up in our show notes. It is an amazing, awesome video. Katie and Missy will be easy to spot. They're the only two women there.

On the third day of auction school, Missy happened to get a call from a contact back in Bozeman, wanting to book the two sisters for their first ever live auction event. The client was a nonprofit group that helps female entrepreneurs. It was the perfect first gig. They had minimal expectations and they wanted to support women, especially women in a male-dominated field. That side hustle was now officially in business, and they dubbed themselves the auctionisters.

The first gig went well, and they learned a lot. Since then, they've done 40 auctions between them, and they work together whenever possible. They raise money for charities, organizations, scholarships, political groups, individuals, and specialized causes. In 2018, Katie did 17 events, some of them on her own, some with her sister, and she typically charges a flat fee per event, around $300 when working locally in Bismarck, and other events that include travel have paid up to $2,500. So far, Katie and her sister have raised over $1.2 million for charities in just over two years.

Startup costs were approximately $2,200 per person. This included that auctioneer training, licensing, and a few nicer outfits to wear at events, and they were both able to recoup the startup costs within the first year of the hustle. For Katie and Missy, every event is an audition for their next gig. Each appearance on stage typically generates about one to three calls for another opportunity. So they're essentially doing lead generation while getting paid.

So did they hope to do this full-time one day? No, not really, but that's not the goal. Katie has a family, she doesn't wanna be away from home too much, and the auctionisters are a great example of a side hustle. It's fun, it's meaningful, they get to use this unique skill, they've learned a lot along the way, charities raise a lot of money, and they're getting paid. So you could say their auctions speak louder than worse.

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Well, last week I wanted to start a marimba rental business. We did this story about this guy who was running out marimbas, and I was like, I wanna do this. There is no reason in the world why I should go out and stop what I'm doing and start a marimba rental business, but I just thought it was fun. And now I wanna be an auctioneer. So this video that I mentioned on YouTube is amazing.

I watched it like two or three times. We're gonna link it up on the show notes. I would highly encourage you to check it out. Nothing's for sale, it's just like a behind the scenes of how the auction school works. And so many different ways to make money.

Episode 765, never really talked about becoming an auctioneer. Again, it's the perfect side hustle for them because it's not about necessarily quitting your job to go full-time in this. You can be a full-time auctioneer, some people do that. There's a lot of travel involved. But for them, they just like the idea of doing something different and using their skill to benefit charities.

And also, as mentioned, it's a very male-dominated field. So for them, they actually saw it as a benefit to go into that field and be able to stand out and just present a different perspective. So good for them. Congratulations, Katie and Missy. Super fun business, love what you guys are doing, and we wish you all the best.

All right, listeners, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Today's show notes, we're gonna link up the auctionisters, just in case you're in Bozeman, Montana or North Dakota, or want to hire them to come to you, come and check outside of school school.com/765. If you got a comment or question for the show, just give me a call on the Hustle hotline. That number is 8449 Hustle or 8449487853. Thank you so much for listening.

You're a rock star. Let's get the week started off well. Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School," the Harvard of "Side Hustle Podcasts." [Music]