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Automotive Lifestyle
AUTOS: The Belle Of Barrett-Jackson
Amy Assiter lives the auctioneering life as one of the most-visible – and popular – people at the collector-car events.
Amy Assiter and her champion-auctioneer husband, Spanky Assiter, are the star couple of Barrett-Jackson's auction stage. (Photo: Tom Jensen)
Her husband is an International Champion Auctioneer, but when she walks into a Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, she can steal his thunder. She's beautiful. She has the voice of an angel. And in the collector-car world, she rules the small but elite kingdom.
Everywhere Amy Assiter walks, people stop, stare and ask to take her picture. Her public is drawn to her like a moth to flame; her slight drawl, energetic smile and home-spun persona make you want to learn more about her.
Her teen-age daughter thinks she has a cool job. And she does.
Amy Assiter auctions off some of the finest cars in the world for Barrett-Jackson four times a year in Orange County, Calif.; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Las Vegas, Nev., as well as the company’s ultimate auction in its home town of Scottsdale, Arizona. In essence, she asks bidders to open their wallets and shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a car they'll rarely drive, and they do it because she's just so hard to ignore.
She's also a rarity in the auctioning world. When she first started auctioneering, approximately one percent of the work force was comprised of women, though now it is probably around eight to 10 percent, according to Assiter.
Her road to auctioneering was a somewhat bizarre journey – Assiter was a commodities broker before taking that leap of faith.
"I don’t do well in offices with women," she laughs. "It was real fun when the market was open and when it was active, but for the most part it was kind of boring."
Her office was in the Oklahoma City National Stockyards because her family ran cattle through the there. Coincidentally, there was an auctioneer who was quite famous in Oklahoma because of his rhythmic chants during his auctions. His name was Ralph Wade. She didn't know it at the time, but he changed her career path.
"When the markets were closed, I'd go over and sit in the barns on Monday,” Assiter said. “He knew my background of speaking and singing, and he said, 'Why don't you let me train you?"'
She thought about it for six months and finally agreed.
"In high school, I did do a lot of drama, public speaking and singing," she explained. “It (auctioneering) marries all of those."
In two days, she had the basics down. The basics of auctioneering are starting out slow with the “chant” of bid increments in dollars. The faster the chant, the better. Add those unintelligible words you hear in an auctioneer's chant – called "fillers" – and you have a distinct personality.
Assiter said the rhythmic chant's purpose is "to motivate and give the (auction) momentum and energy to the process."
Make no mistake, this is hard work. One auctioneer who had just finished his work on stage in Scottsdale was visibly exhausted when he walked into SPEED's Social Garage. His face was flushed and sweaty and his gait was unsteady. Technically, he had just run a marathon, with his voice instead of his legs.
Assiter said the environment of the auction changes the intensity of the preparation prior to each event. Scottsdale is the perfect example of extreme preparation.
"You've go six days straight, on your feet, using your voice for 15 hours a day, and it's extremely dry," she explained.
"We have the best of humidifiers in our rooms, we travel with steroids for our vocal cords, antibiotics because you get run down and you start getting sick, and we also use high-powered mouthwash."
Despite the high technology involved in Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auctions, it wasn't always that way. Assiter says that contracts between Barrett-Jackson and its auctioneers were done the old-fashioned way, with "just a handshake."
"This is Spanky's 22nd year, and there were was no contract until about three or four years ago," she said with a warm smile.
Besides being an auctioneer, Assiter is a singer. She sings the National Anthem before each Barrett-Jackson auction day, making sure to acknowledge all of America's veterans in attendance. She recently released a CD of her own country-music selections.
She is also a true patriot. Assister has her own charity, called Mission Freedom Children (missionfreedomchildren.com) that provides “funds needed in order to aid issues faced by the children of wounded or fallen military.” All proceeds from her CD sales go to her charity.
Not surprisingly, Assiter is a multitasker and very competitive, probably as a result of growing up with all brothers. She and her husband, famed auctioneer SpankyAssiter, are madly in love with each other and have a beautiful home in Texas. She even has two "Budweiser" Clydesdales on their property at Cadillac Ranch on Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas. When she and Spanky are not working, they vacation at their ranch.
Assiter also has a tendency to let her hair down when it is least expected.
"I went through a drive-through one time with (my two step-sisters) at McDonalds and they dared me to chant my order," she laughed. "And I chanted my order."
Everywhere Amy Assiter walks, people stop, stare and ask to take her picture. Her public is drawn to her like a moth to flame; her slight drawl, energetic smile and home-spun persona make you want to learn more about her.
Her teen-age daughter thinks she has a cool job. And she does.
Amy Assiter auctions off some of the finest cars in the world for Barrett-Jackson four times a year in Orange County, Calif.; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Las Vegas, Nev., as well as the company’s ultimate auction in its home town of Scottsdale, Arizona. In essence, she asks bidders to open their wallets and shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a car they'll rarely drive, and they do it because she's just so hard to ignore.
She's also a rarity in the auctioning world. When she first started auctioneering, approximately one percent of the work force was comprised of women, though now it is probably around eight to 10 percent, according to Assiter.
Her road to auctioneering was a somewhat bizarre journey – Assiter was a commodities broker before taking that leap of faith.
"I don’t do well in offices with women," she laughs. "It was real fun when the market was open and when it was active, but for the most part it was kind of boring."
Her office was in the Oklahoma City National Stockyards because her family ran cattle through the there. Coincidentally, there was an auctioneer who was quite famous in Oklahoma because of his rhythmic chants during his auctions. His name was Ralph Wade. She didn't know it at the time, but he changed her career path.
"When the markets were closed, I'd go over and sit in the barns on Monday,” Assiter said. “He knew my background of speaking and singing, and he said, 'Why don't you let me train you?"'
She thought about it for six months and finally agreed.
"In high school, I did do a lot of drama, public speaking and singing," she explained. “It (auctioneering) marries all of those."
In two days, she had the basics down. The basics of auctioneering are starting out slow with the “chant” of bid increments in dollars. The faster the chant, the better. Add those unintelligible words you hear in an auctioneer's chant – called "fillers" – and you have a distinct personality.
Assiter said the rhythmic chant's purpose is "to motivate and give the (auction) momentum and energy to the process."
Make no mistake, this is hard work. One auctioneer who had just finished his work on stage in Scottsdale was visibly exhausted when he walked into SPEED's Social Garage. His face was flushed and sweaty and his gait was unsteady. Technically, he had just run a marathon, with his voice instead of his legs.
Assiter said the environment of the auction changes the intensity of the preparation prior to each event. Scottsdale is the perfect example of extreme preparation.
"You've go six days straight, on your feet, using your voice for 15 hours a day, and it's extremely dry," she explained.
"We have the best of humidifiers in our rooms, we travel with steroids for our vocal cords, antibiotics because you get run down and you start getting sick, and we also use high-powered mouthwash."
Despite the high technology involved in Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auctions, it wasn't always that way. Assiter says that contracts between Barrett-Jackson and its auctioneers were done the old-fashioned way, with "just a handshake."
"This is Spanky's 22nd year, and there were was no contract until about three or four years ago," she said with a warm smile.
Besides being an auctioneer, Assiter is a singer. She sings the National Anthem before each Barrett-Jackson auction day, making sure to acknowledge all of America's veterans in attendance. She recently released a CD of her own country-music selections.
She is also a true patriot. Assister has her own charity, called Mission Freedom Children (missionfreedomchildren.com) that provides “funds needed in order to aid issues faced by the children of wounded or fallen military.” All proceeds from her CD sales go to her charity.
Not surprisingly, Assiter is a multitasker and very competitive, probably as a result of growing up with all brothers. She and her husband, famed auctioneer SpankyAssiter, are madly in love with each other and have a beautiful home in Texas. She even has two "Budweiser" Clydesdales on their property at Cadillac Ranch on Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas. When she and Spanky are not working, they vacation at their ranch.
Assiter also has a tendency to let her hair down when it is least expected.
"I went through a drive-through one time with (my two step-sisters) at McDonalds and they dared me to chant my order," she laughed. "And I chanted my order."
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