From Badge to Gavel: Wade Leist's Journey to World Champion Auctioneer
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From Badge to Gavel: Wade Leist's Journey to World Champion Auctioneer

welcome to we live it the live a podcast

your source for livestock market

insights management strategies and real

conversations with those who don't just

work in the cattle industry they live it

here are your hosts tid Cordova and

Casey

[Music]

mayy well welcome back to another

episode of we live it the live ad

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in touch with the right person so on

this episode Casey we have a gentleman

that I've known for 20 something 20

years yeah 20 years uh waade uh is it

least or L people like to pronounce it

seven different ways depends on where

you're from but uh it's actually neither

oh yeah

that's why I did it I hope it's

something off it's something way

different let's go it's le le it is way

different it is way different I've

always called him least that's all right

I have really I mean I half my family

quit correcting people and just go with

it now so it's fine well Wade is the

reigning

2020 what are we in five

20242 LMA livestock auctioner Champion

um world champion oh wait excuse me

world champion yeah so Jay is

international he's world I don't know

what's better but I know you know but it

way Jay was also third the other day

wasn't he or something like or sixth or

something yeah there was a contest in

Texas yeah he come down and thought he

was going to you know clean up and end

up third yeah you know that's just

that's the way it goes down here in

Texas and boys from Montana he's going

to kill us maybe if he' had known a

judge or to it would help oh that would

have helped either that would have

helped or he'd have been sixth if he

it's only political if you lose right so

but we met at worldwide College of

auctioneers um back in 2004 in Mason

City Iowa actually done way better than

you he's done way better than me he has

done way better than me but uh anyways

we we formed a friendship there and we

talk about it a lot in this in this

indry it's about relationships and

friendships and this is one of them

that's been we've been friends for a

long time kept in touch over from

completely different world like yeah

like I don't think you can get any

further apart than where we're from cuz

you live in Wala walala Michigan or

something like that and then I'm South

Texas so so where where are you from

where what town are you live my

hometown's Boyne City and it's at the

very top of the lower Peninsula of

Michigan I'm three miles from Lake

Michigan we're surrounded by water and

golf golf courses and ski resorts and

handful of livestock too my own my

parents own a market up there in gayer

Michigan okay tell us a little bit about

yourself where you come from what you've

done what you do um just kind of fill us

in this kind of just informative we I'm

a farm boy I I grew up on a farm uh my

my parents my grandparents they had

couple hundred head of brw cows had a

big had a big uh stable of riding horses

that they leased out to summer camps and

stuff like that I went to uh high school

and I just I I didn't see a path for me

in the livestock industry or farming

industry I was just going to go to

college and get a degree in business or

something and go take off and do

something different and I was I was uh

lucky enough to get recruited to go play

some sports in college so uh went and

did that and come back and found myself

back is that like LaCrosse or something

no uh uh swimming can you believe no I

can't swim I can't swim with a lick no

uh football and baseball pretty

traditional yeah oh yeah very

traditional everybody's like did you

grow up playing or uh doing any rodeo

events like no no for you folks down

south brood cows are just like cows cow

it's cow c operations just you know

that's just dual purpose I'm like well

you know it's just it's an or thing

whatever you know so then what did you

do after college I mean what I went

right back to the farm I just I I went

to the farm and worked with my grandpa

for a number of years and uh I did

decide that since I went to college I

should probably put that to use so I

kind of had this uh side it was at that

time it was kind of a side gig I worked

in law enforcement part-time just had a

couple little city departments that

brought me on and I'd like fill in for

them couple days here and there and then

uh after my grandpa pass pass away I

went in law enforcement full-time for

about 10 years but kept the auction

industry always as that thing that was

like on the side that I would do so if I

was if I had a weekend offer whatever

there was probably an auction on it I

started doing a lot of charity auctions

and we started doing some equipment

auctions or kept doing some equipment

auctions and so I had the auction

industry working on one side and then in

2018 I realized it had kind of outpaced

what I was doing in law enforcement and

I wanted to dedicate some more time to

it quit hitting my head on the ceiling

so so uh so I just I I retired from law

enforcement and went into Auctioneer

full-time that's all it's like Super

Troopers there was a lot yeah yeah there

there was a lot of things that I did uh

in law enforcement that related to that

movie it's wild that like that's two

vastly different worlds well there was a

lot of similarities so the last three

and a half years that I was there I was

the I was the detective supervisor and

did a lot of uh criminal investigations

a lot of interviews and things like that

and learned a lot about personel alties

different types of personalities and and

what motivates people and what

rationalizations they use and that kind

of thing and I found that actually

there's a lot of human behavior that you

can study that helps you in the

auctioneering industry especially if

you're talking about you know doing a

room that's or doing an auction in room

it's got a thousand people like what

makes a thousand people respond to what

you're doing how do you you know what

words do you use words are important

like how do you how do you use those I'm

blown away I love this I did not know

that you did okay so so kind of give us

some examples of that like like where

like some different things that you've

done over your time I guess well I've

I've been in some big rooms where you do

you know maybe there's a thousand people

in the room for a charity auction and uh

just knowing that ahead of time you kind

of treat them like cattle really like

you put some pressure behind them and

then open a gate in front of them

they're going to go into it so if you

got a thousand people and you just let

them kind of have their own uh

experience and you don't have any

guidelines or any pressure on them

they're going to stay and do what's best

for them as which is going to be talking

and and uh you know uh taking up their

their own time they're not going to

dedicate it to you so if you put a

little pressure and open the gate

towards something else and then give

them a reason to support something they

act in kind so I mean that's one of them

then if you're on the stage uh or even

in in the in the livestock industry uh

selling cattle like it you know it's the

word you use if I'm you know there's a

producer I I've had buyers say I don't

know why you explained them cattle so

much to me I know them better than you

do like yeah I know I'm not talking to

you though I'm talking to the producers

sitting right behind you I want them to

know that they got good cattle yeah I

want them to know they did a good job

you know mean yeah and that I mean that

does I mean whatever I I get wrapped I

love auctions and like like charity

auctions my wife and I go to like the

junior livestock auctions and things

like that we we decide that's where

we're going to give back our yeah our

money I guess you'd say is I mean this

has very always been very important to

me and so it got me to where I'm at so

we give back to there and I always go in

there and I'm like I'm going to spend

you know not very much or this much and

I always spend twice as much as I

thought I was going to yeah so $2 yeah

yeah yeah up from one but it's wild like

you you the way you talk about I mean I

guess probably really good auctioneers

probably get people to spend the heck of

a lot more obviously well if if somebody

asks you to do something if they ask you

to give or if they ask you to donate

there's always push back like would you

donate there's always a push back but if

you said something would you consider a

gift you know we'd all consider it yeah

next thing you know you're you're coming

forward with it yeah you know

so yeah that I don't know that kind of

stuff was really interesting to me and

then like I said talking to producers I

really feel like a producer is the one

that hires and fires you it it never

seems to be the barn owner it never

seems to be a buyer it's always a

producer and so if some if somebody else

uh doesn't like what you're doing and

wants to get rid of you and the producer

goes with you you'll probably be back

pretty soon you know so so making a

producer feel good making them feel like

they've done a good job and that they're

important to you at that moment that's

you know that's meaning meanful stuff to

me yeah that's pretty cool stuff pretty

good stuff yeah I'm just still I'm still

like the connection between the law

enforcement I mean it was blown away I

well he he was talking about criminals

and you kind of lit

up like I can read a room like well what

are we going to do now yeah what's going

on so so how long did you compete before

you won the World um how many did you

two years five years nine years n years

yeah so I persistent wen't you the yes

the first qualifier I went to was in

Florida in 2014 in October and I had

gone to the greater Midwest contest one

time and I kind of caught the bug like

man this is fun and and it helps you

improve uh go to a contest number one

you're promoting the industry number two

you have somebody that can give you an

unbiased opinion to say here's what we

liked or didn't like or here's where you

stack up amongst others and then I can

determine you know when they tell me if

I stacked up behind somebody else I can

I can look and see that what they did

differently that maybe I could work on

so it gives you a it really gives a good

portal to get feedback to improve so

you're saying you're a slow learner I

was yes I was a very slow learner but it

took steps so the so I went there 14 I

was able to qualify for the worlds um if

you're not familiar with that contest

they have three smaller contests that uh

the top 10 the top 10 finishers then go

to the world contest wherever that might

be but it's in June every year and then

the 31st contestant comes from the

Canadian contest the international one

at Calgary Calgary Stampede so anyway I

went to qualified the first year next

year I went back and I felt like you not

that it was a foregone conclusion but I

kind of had you know kind of been there

done that let's get this behind me and

I'll go qualify and go and went to two

qualifiers and and got kicked out of

both of them you know it didn't work out

and then uh then the third year I was

able to make it again but didn't make it

at a qualifier was able to make it at

the next one I think the I think the

fourth year it would have been like

maybe 2018 or something like that you it

was a little uh my path was was a little

more like I hoped it to be but it wasn't

until 2019 that I made the top 10 so

yeah it took me nine years to win it but

it felt like that that first there was

like first hurdle that took four years

to get over to make to to to get to

where you kind of felt comfortable going

to a qualifier and felt confident you're

going to make it then it took a couple

years of going to the worlds and feeling

like maybe I got a shot the top 10 then

it takes a couple years to go all right

I'm in the top 10 now I got a chance to

actually win it but uh that it

everything has to line up you might have

a good day and not have judges that like

what you did you might have judges that

line up with you and just not have the

right cattle or not have the right flow

like something didn't work right you

know and uh so looking back on it you're

like yeah nine years that's a long time

to to sit in and and subject yourself to

this and keep putting yourself out there

but I open I open doors during those

nine years you know there there was

there was opportunities that came

because of it I got better every year

because of it and so I it'd be a shame

if I won it in the first year or two

yeah you know because once you win it

are you done yeah yeah yeah then you

wouldn't be able to meet that you

wouldn't have that commer and and me all

the people that you've met all nine

years and I was actually there I I

didn't think about it until when you

started talking about it so it was in

Oklahoma City wasn't it yeah yeah so it

was in June My Wife puts on a conference

every year the American Meat science

Association and their annual meeting was

I mean it was right on the back side of

that so okay um I got there and I walked

in I mean yall they carry a huge gavel

right I mean this thing there was

somebody walking through there that had

that thing and I was like what's going

on they like this is a world champion

Auctioneer and I knew the madens pretty

well when I lived in torington so I got

to know those guys and realize what that

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for more information I think it's

awesome I wish I could chant like you

guys but like if if you're I mean like

so

what um so what things did you do to

like prepare for that I mean is there

practices that you would do or I mean is

it just one deal you went you're like wi

or lose and kind of go back the next

year man I you know IEP I always found

something to work on you know I always I

always took something out of that like

there's like uh um I I don't think that

you should fundamentally change like who

you are and what you do but I I do think

there's always something you can work on

and a big step for me was learning how

to talk um learning how to address uh

the audience when you're speaking behind

a microphone and you want to command

attention like that was a big step for

me when somebody finally finally showed

me uh what that sounds like and what

that looks like and what the what the

impact for The Listener is all of a

sudden I was like ah now like now

something has clicked like I we all we

all as competitors like just work on

that chant and that's what everybody

thinks we practice on that chant is like

20% of your score you know so it's what

was your appearance like what was your

Poise like um how clear were you um I

don't know I don't remember salesmanship

is is a big one and then one of the last

ones is would you hire this Auctioneer

well if you sit down and you grab

everybody's attention you hold it

throughout your entire run at the end at

as there as a judge is marking down the

score when they get to the end you're

going to you're you're going to gain

points there so if I work on my chant

and I have the best chant I probably

gain six points from everybody else but

then if I if if I've lost points and

everything else I'm they beat me by 10

you know so you you've got to gain

points across all those categories so I

would find something in a category and

go home and work on it work on it in the

car you know uh I don't know how many

road signs I used to sell road signs

like as a practice for umy bitting but

then I got to the point where it's like

I should be reading them so I would I

would work on enunciating a road sign

you know and just practicing how to say

things so I for me that's what worked

but you know everybody's probably got

something a little different and then

once it came time of the competition I

had to get it out of my head like I If

if I sat there and worked and worked and

worked on it and got something really

rehearsed it wasn't going to work very

good that makes sense work very it's got

to be natural right I mean that's kind

of with anything where it's just like

it's just kind of natural flow yeah so

when you won it this year did you figure

out I mean did you have were you pretty

confident going into the finals that you

felt like you were sitting pretty good

I I knew I gave myself a shot that's all

I knew you know and uh actually there's

a great picture that they captured I I

was the last person in the room to

realize it was me like I'm sitting

around the table my kids are like

bouncing up and down my wife's like

smacking me in the chest and I'm

like I'm still looking at everybody

else's table like who's going to stand

up and like celebrate you know and all

of a sudden I realize like oh we're

celebrating that's that's my voice out

here that's pretty cool yeah I I I did

not recognize it and then then the

Applause started and I couldn't hear the

name or anything you know and I'm I was

just so caught up and looking around the

room to see like who I was going to go

slap on the back this year that's pretty

cool you know but I knew I'd give myself

a shot but that's it but you got to be

careful with those things because you

know in competition there's 31 guys

there and they all came to win it and

one guy gets to and you can get a broken

heart you know you gotta yeah know how

to yeah you got to know how to win you

got to know how to

lose I I got some really good friends

out of that deal yeah and that's the

same way in the livestock I mean I tell

people all the time like when we're

going these stock shows and things like

that I mean we're going to lose more

than we're going to win so go hang out

with who you want to lose with exactly

you know and if you do win and

everybody's proud of you it's it's a

pretty cool deal yeah but uh then you're

around a bunch of

losers exactly yeah that's

true so what's the uh let's talk about

some different auctions you've sold

because I think those I mean that's

pretty neat too because you probably

gotten yourself into all these different

things what's probably what's the most

expensive thing you've ever sold

outside of awe earling in the north yeah

yeah it would have been yeah it would

have been uh you know 15 loads of uh of

eight8 cattle you know coming through

all all way between eight and eight and

a quarter the other day I think they

bring 293 or something like that you

know just outstanding cattle and that's

a lot of money but outside of that some

real estate you know I don't I don't

remember exact I don't remember all the

exact numbers and stuff but some real

estate you know probably it's like a

charity auction I mean what was what

would be highest thing you ever sold oh

I sold tickets uh to the Detroit Lions

they were like Club level tickets or

something was four tickets and you got

to walk on the sideline which at a lot

of those charity auctions those

especially around Detroit like they'll

bring 4,000 8,000 something like that

well the owner of the Lions uh her and

her husband was sitting in the in the

seats oh wow and so there was a little

bit of you know some corporations kind

of showing off and those brought 45,000

for four tickets to a Lions game wow

which they couldn't give away 10 years

ago that's what I was about to say I'm

still I'm still a you know '90s Cowboys

fan and I think about the Lions and they

weren't very good then but I imagine

they were a lot better now oh yeah well

we got T Dan Campbell Texas native to

come up and start showing them how to

play there you go what's the what's the

weirdest

thing

uh I I guess I haven't gotten into a lot

of weird things but the one thing that

sticks out I was asked to do a deer

farmers of or what is it called Michigan

deer Farmers or something like that they

had an association I didn't even realize

that people Farm Deer but there's deer

Farmers Association and then there's

like a United one all over the country

well they had one in Michigan they asked

me to come sell their um I don't know

Ben I guess benefit or a pack auction

type thing whatever it was they're

raising money for their

Association and I I didn't like they

told me went to be there and I showed up

they hand me the catalog and I look at

it and I'm like this is all deer Seaman

so I'm going to sell deer Seaman like

for the next two hours to Deer Farmers

how do you talk about that it was I

didn't know what to talk talk about it

you

know so what you're saying is your

speeches weren't very long they were not

very long nope I just said Lot number

three let's go here we go next SL near

Sean in

Michigan what's the cheapest thing

you've

solded uh uh some Consignment auction

somebody use or something I think we've

all sold bolts I think we've all sold

those dollar boxes you know those at

auctions and uh we hopefully we're

cutting our on it we're not doing it uh

uh for a whole career but yeah those

things man they can be tough you got a

you got like one of those old uh hay

wagons there and there's boxes of uh old

dish and tupperware and you're like take

them all yeah and like empty yogurt cups

that they were using you know instead of

throwing them away they put them in a

box slot sometime and and but that that

table is surrounded by uh you know the

the gray-haired women and they wanted

that box you better not throw it in with

that box and sell both of them at one

time I just want the one box you know so

they'll teach you a little patience and

a little bit of customer service all at

the same time yeah all at the same time

so well what all barns you I mean you're

selling quite a few barns now that's and

I guess that's good to keep up with the

markets and kind of know this deal and

one of the reason we reach out and and

had you come along was was your exposure

and your your in the industry you're

you're getting out there you're you're

selling more you're doing more things

and you're being able to keep up with

the market maret on a weekly basis so so

how many barns are you selling now I

sell on a Monday I'll sell the United

producers Barn in Michigan it's about

two hours south of me you share that

duties with uh yeah I can't remember his

name what's his name tall yeah he's yeah

he's a little I think he's eight foot

tall yeah he's pretty tall it's my buddy

Jimmy Lambert he's one of our he's one

of our reps here and he does a

tremendous job he's he's a very good

Auctioneer as well he did some

announcing on the first sale announced

the lots and stuff first time I ever

heard him sell I was like who is that

yeah they're like is Jimmy I said that

ain't D there's no way can't do that he

barely can

walk but no Jimmy's a great he called

while to go I should have just made him

stay on for the yeah I should put him on

speaker uh so I saw that sale my dad

sale is my my parents own a market and

Gaylor may I said that earlier probably

they that sale is on a Wednesday but so

going back to when I left law

enforcement in 2018 I decided like I'm

going to put my head down and just

concentrate on auctions and I and I

planed on maybe building up um some

equipment uh sales or building up some

more real estate stuff and I was going

to put my head down and there was going

to be no distractions and I got a call

by a guy from Iowa who owned the barn in

Mitchell South Dakota and I was in a big

hurry you know I was I had a kid on each

arm I'm trying to go to an appointment

and here's this phone I thought it was

probably a telemarketer or something and

I was a little short and as he short

with him and as he explained to me like

what he was looking for I just I give me

a minute I got to text somebody and

cancel this appointment and put the kids

down in the put some toys in front of

them and talk to him and he was offering

me a job to go to Mitchell and so they

sell two days a week they sell on

Wednesday and they sell on Thursday

Wednesday be way ups and Thursday's

feeder

cattle and my world changed when I took

that opportunity like the just seeing

the different the differences in the

markets and the differences how Catt are

raised the differences in uh the the

sheer number and quality of the cattle

now we don't there's no mistaking it we

have good cattle in Michigan there's a

there there's a number of producers that

who do a tremendous job but seeing it on

the sheer quantity of them and then how

to Market them differently um in that

part of the country was really an eye

opener and it it opened a lot of doors

and that Market's now been sold my good

friend Jared Herman owns that he

actually Cherokee Oklahoma too so a

typical week for me is to go uh down to

St Louis Michigan on Monday and sell

their sale get on a plane Tuesday

afternoon be in sou Falls Drive to

Mitchell sell Wednesday Thursday fly

back Thursday night or Friday morning

and uh then I'll have some different

auctions on Friday or Friday or Saturday

and then there's a few barns that I get

the opportunity to go up to if uh if

they need help or they got a big sale or

if they

just just haven't seen me miss me or

something I'll go to harri at South

Dakota and sometimes I can go to

Aberdine and and down to Cherokee if if

Jared's got something big going down

there so you get kind of a a feel for

the the different markets and makes you

a little more comfortable I I was never

so nervous when I when I won the

championship you know they send you

around the country doing appearances at

markets if Market calls they got a

special sale they want the the world

champion there you go sell that sale and

the first couple times man there's a lot

of pressure on this I can't screw up cuz

they they don't set you up there when

you're kind of getting started on a

couple of Sword offs and maybe some old

cows and stuff like no no they we'll

have the house guy do that we're going

to bring in uh 13 loads of cattle and

you're going to you're going to start

right then and you can't screw up but be

going to different parts of the country

and uh just you know it it really helped

me I said it once before if I could have

gone on this two or five years ago I'd

have won this contest a long time ago I

remember the first time I called him had

him come down fill in video

cell where we kicking along there he I

mean he fit right in he just Dove right

in there and got right after it we

started the beef Dairy crosssection and

he he come sits down and I I start that

first set of beef Dairy Cross C he goes

to say it and he

goes what' you say I said 350 he

went a pound a pound I sell the damn

cattle yes 350 a pound he was like okay

and he they bring 410 or something like

that he like started him too low I did

but he thought he was like I was

thinking

20 oh yeah I'm like I'm giving you a

little run to room to run he's like he

wouldn't say it I was like 350 he was

like are you sure boss come

on so well and uh that's one of the

differences in markets too you know

there the beef on Dairy was getting was

really had really taken hold before that

and and there was a large market for it

but we weren't seeing the numb so at

home uh there was a little discount for

beef on Dairy because you could get a

ring full of Holstein steers the beef

onary they sorted off there might be two

or three or something yeah in your area

it's it's really I mean there's a couple

big players up there now that have that

have taken a bunch of that stuff over

and I think they're a lot of I don't

know how they're they're marketing that

but you get out in California it's a lot

more Consolidated and kind of in fewer

hands and then and in Michigan I know I

was up there not that long ago and it

was it's just interesting there's lots

of little different Pockets um of of

places where they've got them but it's

interesting that the statement you made

because it just really resonated me with

me of watching the different ways that

we and it kind of ties in with that the

different ways that we produce cattle

we're talking about Mitchell South

Dakota and the same way with me I mean I

I grew up in Weatherford Texas went to

school at Texas Tech and then my first

job was in Scotts Bluff uh Nebraska and

torington Wyoming and then getting

associated with those guys um and

learning I mean Sean Madden's one of the

first guys I met when I went out there

and um in that area which I think he won

the Worlds at some point too there yeah

Sean and Lex both did I mean I got to

know those I bought my first lot from

Shawn and I out traded him on a fence

that went on that place so uh but they

you know just seeing the difference me

like I didn't know what irrigated Farm

irrigated pivots were at that time so um

cattle raising and then you think about

like going to South Texas oh man and

it's it's so it's so vastly different

and if you're an Enthusiast and you're

not just doing this for your job you're

an Enthusiast and you love the industry

it's so cool how you can see how

different different parts of the world

and that's the backbone of what we've

built this thing on you know I mean the

I remember the first time I ever went to

a Sell Barn that weighed them before

they sold them yeah I was I don't know

2021 19 or 20 right in there somewhere

and dad sent me to barn out it wasn't it

just out little west of Waco and I get

in there and start buying cattle and

like man I got this all I'm looking up

there and when they wear out the r the

way I'm like that that was bad I'm to

move all these things around about 2

hours into it Dad calls and back then

you had to go outside and get on one of

them um Hall phones you know so I was

talking to him he said well how you

getting along I said I don't know I got

them all big he said how you got them

all big I said what do you mean I just I

can't weigh one for to save my life he

said dummy they weigh them before they

come in the ring I was like oh that's

what that is p looks pretty even

hey for those of you that don't know you

get in a South Texas they don't weigh

the cattle ahead of time they only sell

them one at a time one at a time and

most people do not understand and like I

didn't understand that I mean I'm

telling you four years ago or five years

ago I've got some customers in South

Texas and I went down there and hung out

uh at a couple barns it was like Nixon

or something and I'm sitting in there

and I'm

like I don't care if you had a draft of

30 head coming in there at one deal

they're going to sell them one at a time

yeah and then sell the C away the kettle

afterwards and I said that to this guy

and he thought I was the biggest idiot

in the whole world he's like you never

been to a sailb barn before I'm like

I've been to some of the biggest ones in

the country I've never seen them weigh

the cattle after you buy them yeah you

weigh them it's l it to be three after I

mean you're you probably be buying one

in the ring and the one you bought three

times ago is just getting on the scales

I mean it's yeah it can get kind of

tricky I that was a big thing stuck it

out one of the one of the the two things

I really I remembered most about Tai

when when uh from auction school was

number one is he said that they he had

to guess the weight on the cattle before

they were sold which I was just

completely weird to me and number two he

invited me down to hog hunt I was like

well yeah that sounds like a lot of fun

he goes yeah you just go and catch them

by the legs I'm like I'm out you will

not see me in South Texas grabbing a

wild board back always running a bunch

of dogs when we was young and can still

do all that now you use a now we

use helicopter yeah took some guys down

south the other day on the helicopter it

was fun now see I'd do that yeah yeah

I'd do that but yeah the world's a I

mean it's it's crazy how much different

it is from different locations and this

business get to take you around that oh

man and it's awesome to see the

different things I mean you can go down

south and buy one at a time spend 10

hours in a barn and buy 200 or you can

go north of the Red River and sit or

even go out west Texas and set into bar

and buy 200 in one draft I mean it's

just total different it was uh I mean

you're talking about an eye opener the

first time I went to Mitchell uh they

put me you know he he was kind of the

owner at that time was kind of walking

me through a little bit of the process

and and let me watch the the guy and Sh

me cuz he knew that I'm just wasn't that

exposed to it and then when I sat

down after I'd sold a few drafts they

cracked the gate and run in a load of 11

weights I was like okay and I went to

start and he no no no did it again did

it again did it again I sold I think it

was 18 loads of black or black white

face steers well they had the option

they could take like you know four loads

here or four loads there four loads

there or two and two or whatever I don't

remember exactly how we Market them in

that day but at the end of it there was

like 18 loads and they weighed within 25

lbs of each other I mean they totally

different you know and then he's like

offer a dime like we do dimes that's not

in my vocabulary so I had to had to kind

of relearn that and then he then he'd

wonder why I'd screw up the first number

I'm like cuz now I'm trying to think on

like you've given me six numbers now to

work with and I'm now I'm trying to

remember what the last number is I

forgot what the first two

were oh that's good St it was quite an

experience quite a learning experience

another one of them awkward silence

moments no I figur he's got something

smar thinking I'm blown away that I

think this guy learned his chant sitting

in a a Super Trooper

car like like scanning people's you know

do like doing catching speeds at 900

p.m. in some place in the middle of

Michigan there was there was a number of

times that uh the like you so we'd

record interviews with people who are

like traffic stop or something like that

you'd have that and I'd forget to turn

the the mic off and then um you know

maybe they'd want the recording the

prosecutor want the recording or

something you know and then they I'd get

an email back like please turn your

camera off so we don't have to listen to

you Auctioneer for the next 10 minutes

after you talk to that speed like when

they slow down yeah ored I just bored

and I started

practicing oh well guys it's been fun I

appreciate you coming on Wade I uh thank

you for all you do for the industry I

mean because y'all are uh a voice be for

the industry when you when you win that

title you do have to travel around and

and be a spok spokesman for the industry

and we thank you for all you do um if

there's a young guy out there that wants

to do this that's inspiring to do that

what's the easiest thing to do is they

go knock on a barn uh go knock on the

door um door of the barn get to meet the

owners and be willing to do anything

because you've got to build a

relationship uh there I'm I'm teaching

at a couple of auction schools and uh I

get asked that question every time and

and I it it's hard to it's hard to

explain if you don't understand the

background of it but you're going to

need to build a relationship because the

market owner is responsible for every

one of the every one of those hooves

that come through the barn and every one

of the producers that that sent them

there responsible for the buyers

responsible for the for the for getting

the sellers paid getting the phone calls

from somebody whose cattle sold an hour

after they thought they were going to

and they're not happy about it getting

the maybe maybe having to protect the

market you have all of that going on and

yet somebody comes out of auction school

they're 24 years old they knock on the

door and say I'm an auctioner I'd like

to work for you they're not going to

hand those keys over to you very quickly

you've got to build that relationship so

be ready to do something go learn how to

sort the cattle learn what learn why

they're why they're sorting one out

learn why when you sent 10 head in they

sent eight of them back you know like

get get figuring those things out and

then build that relationship and

eventually and it might it might be a

month it could Dan Clark did that for

like 10 years before they gave him a

shot you know he's one of the best

auctioneers in the history of lifestock

auctioneers if you know him from Winter

South Dakota he's tremendous it took

like 10 years he just patient just stuck

it out then finally they they they put

him in there he had some other

roadblocks but um if you know him he'll

tell you about him but that uh um that's

you've got to build that relationship

cuz they have to be able to trust you

they got to be able to trust you with

any any business yeah you got to be able

to want to get down get your hands dirty

and and start at the back and then come

there's that is a problem nowadays with

a lot of young people they think they

they can just slip in there and start at

the top that ain't how it works in this

industry you got to you need to put some

mud on your hands and some and grunt

work in the back before you can come to

the front so be hungry yeah be hungry

for a can you I mean if if somebody's

got a thousand head sale like how much

money is going out that day how much

money is that market responsible for

yeah a couple million dollars you know

and then you're in you know then you're

going to just you're just going to turn

that over to somebody that said they

went to Auctioneer school like you've

got to build that

trust once again thanks for being on uh

thanks for having me there's a it's

always a joy to visit with you because

you never know what's going to come out

but um once again thanks everybody for

joining in and watching uh we live it

podcast um uh I'm going to tell you one

more time because I've been told to tell

you one more time hit subscribe um as

you're watching on any platform

um we do from the bottom of our hearts

thank you thank everybody for supporting

us for supporting this idea we want it

to be an educational um and a fun fun

event for all of us um but you know we

just want to educate you if you have any

ideas of what uh we could do next or

what we could talk on next or who we

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shoot Katie an email or get on live-

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information to us there so thank y'all

we live it and God bless

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