By DEBORAH BEHRENDS

Indiana Correspondent

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Amy Whistle was a freshman in college, studying for a degree in social work, when she decided that someday, she wanted to be an auctioneer.

"My roommate was from a small town in western Kentucky and her dad was an auctioneer," Whistle said. "I went home with her for a weekend and we stayed out later than we should have, so he got us up at 6 o'clock on a Saturday morning to help with a personal property auction."

Up to that point in her life, she had never experienced an auction – and she said this was a big one, an estate with “tons” of personal property. "I stood back that day and I remember thinking, 'One of these days, I'm going to do this.'

"There was a carnival-like atmosphere with food, and people were seeing other that hadn't seen each other in years. It brought the community together. People were talking to the adult children selling their parents' estate, sharing stories. It was extremely emotional, but it didn't seem sad to me at all. There was nothing negative about it.

"As the day went on, I remember watching the family members and seeing them loosen up. I realized it's as much in the field of helping people as anything. And I just feel like that's what I was called to do – to be a helper in whatever capacity," Whistle said.

That was in 1992. After earning an associate's degree in social work, she went on to attend nursing school and then drop out when she met the man who is now her husband.

Fast-forward a few more years, and she was a stay-at-home mother who realized she was a "helicopter mom" and was "making horrible little humans.

"It wasn't that I didn't love them. I really did not see they would benefit from me being at home all the time with them. A lot of us beat ourselves up and it probably was not as bad as I thought, but I felt like I needed to let them get away from me,” she explained.

While volunteering at the local YMCA, Whistle struck up a conversation with Chrissy Kurtz, a member of the team at Kurtz Auction. Her husband, John, is one of the owners of the firm. Although the office had no women working as auctioneers at the time, she said Martha Kurtz Williams was one of the first women licensed as an auctioneer in Kentucky and one of the first members of the Kentucky Auctioneers Assoc.

Even now, women are not commonly found in the profession. The National Auctioneers Assoc. membership is 17 percent women, according to Erin Shipps, director of publications for the organization.

Although the idea came out of left field for Whistle's husband, Troy, she said he was supportive. A chat with John Kurtz, with whom she shared the story of how she became interested while in college, provided the information she needed for the next steps to realize her goal.

"It was a God thing – one of those moments when I feel like I didn't have my hands on the reins at all. This horse is just going to take me where I need to go, so to speak," she said.

Throughout 2004, she helped out at a number of Kurtz auctions. Her first day in the office was Jan. 3, 2005.

"It was slow going," Whistle said. "At the time, there were nine or 10 other auctioneers, all males. They had females as support staff and one Realtor. I didn't fit in with the support staff, but the guys didn't know what to do with me, either. I had to earn their respect.

"This is a commission-based job, and me coming in made the slices that much thinner. I wasn't a threat, but they were definitely going to make me work for what I earned," she said.

She attended the Missouri Auction School in February and said it was one of the scariest things she's ever done. "There were about 85 people in the class and only seven or eight women. I had to get up every day in front of people and work on a chant, and then come back to my workplace where people had been doing it forever."

Whistle said the first time she stepped into the auction ring at a real estate auction, she was exhilarated. "There were lots of days that I cried because I didn't feel like I fit in, but I felt like I needed to finish what I started."

Whistle feels fortunate to have been mentored by John Kurtz and Mike Melloan. "Mike was the only auctioneer that would let me work a sale for a while, but they all came around eventually. They realized I made their job easier because I wanted to work."

And today, she can't imagine doing anything else. She said her daughter Kelsey, 17, is planning to study ag business and wants to be an auctioneer.

"I felt so guilty for not being the perfect stay-at-home mom, but somehow it helped to make her a stronger woman,” Whistle said.

By the same token, she believes she set the bar for the women in her son Mason's life. At 20, she said he recognizes and looks up to strong women. Her children also learned what a supportive husband looks like.

"He would come home and cook because I had an auction or I had to meet someone to talk about an auction," Whistle said of Troy.

"It's been a struggle, although I hate to use that word. I had to earn everything I got and there's nothing wrong with that. Something I've been able to teach them is you have to earn what you get; very few things will be handed to you."

In the end, she likened her career to a relationship: "Sometimes you hate it, but you would never walk away from it."

She likes being able to help people find solutions and to spend time with older folks. "They want to tell me stories and I love hearing those stories."

Learn more about Kurtz Auction & Reality and read about Whistle's education and certifications at www.kurtzauction.com