Raise your hand if you’ve ever bid at a fundraiser before?

I know I have and I’ve become fascinated with the concept and everything that happens in the background.

To tell us more about the world of auctioneering and share inside scoops, please help me welcome to The Influencers’ Connection Corner stage, none other than Chris Malizewski. As the owner of Hail Hail Auctions and Host of “The Appeal”, Chris will touch upon mental health challenges, the joys and trials of fatherhood, starting a new career, and the continuous process of evolving.

Why should you care? Because you never know when you might find yourself at a crossroads, needing inspiration and guidance to pivot towards a more fulfilling path.

Chris, a seasoned auctioneer, is now working alongside charities and nonprofit organizations to help raise funds, thus paying homage to the phrase “leading with kindness and hustling with heart”. Together with Syya Yasotornrat and as a team, we aim to make the most impact possible.

So let's get inspired by real stories of overcoming obstacles and embracing change, and learn how we can contribute to making a difference in our communities. You don’t want to miss this!

Hello. Good morning, good afternoon, good day to wherever you're tuning in from. So today's such a special day for me because it's not only a huge month where we celebrate those individuals whom we care about so much, fathers and all the other masculine roles in our lives, but it's also a reminder of, you know, we're almost halfway through the year. What good have we done in the world?

So this is so important. You know, this is always important. It reminds me of very powerful quote by Gandhi. And it goes, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. What about that Zia? Service of others. You know, we get so wrapped up in our own lives, in our own heads of things that we need to do, you know, feed the kids, you know, bathe the kids.

Feed the dog, feed yourself, right? That you tend to forget that there is an entire world out there that could use even just a little, even just a moment of your thoughts and time. Like it matters folks, for you to say, hey, how are you? It matters. So I love that quote and Gandhi just rocks. And you know how I feel about giving. So I'm a giver. Absolutely. And this is one of the reasons why collectively as a group, we bond, we vibe and we do.

Because we are creating impact as we move forward. So this is a question that I'm asking you audience today What are you doing today that is going to impact the future and your tomorrow for your communities and the world? So with that said guys, I would like to know where you guys are tuning in from I always love to say hi and give shout outs to the people who are you know religiously come every Saturday and join us because it's important This is a community of us connecting and coming together to do good

So with that said, I really want to jump in directly to our honoring the guest today. I'm so excited. Well, do we want to run the intro? yes, we can actually. Absolutely. Girl, you ought to practice. No, this is the problem. We start talking and talking. I love that. But yes, yes. Superstar, let's go ahead and do it. All right. Let's do it.

Welcome to the Influencers Connection Corner.

And dance and dance and dance and dance. I love it. See, yes, you are right. We may be out of practice, but it's OK. We got it. We got it. This summer. This is the way I say it. We are getting it. Yeah, so my goodness, I know I got carried away just because this person, my gosh, our guest of today's just super amazing. So many of the things that we've lived together, you know, together as a team when we've gone out to Nashville, we've done so many different projects together.

And I'm always amazed by his sheer just brilliance. Shout out Brilliant B Media. What what? Yes. I know, right? So we have grown together, you know, on his own. He's just super amazing. But when we come together, it's just we rock people's world. And I love that because it's all about how do we maximize our talents and put them together in order to

create greater impact in what we're doing. So without further ado, please, please, please help me welcome Mr. Chris Maliszewski, amazing brother, friend, confidant, whatever you want to.

There you are. Can't hear you, but there you go. I know you do know the most favorite part of your show is the and dance. Can we dance? And dance. All right. I had to I wasn't going to miss that chance to do that with you two. I had no choice. It's my favorite part. I love it. Well, thank you so much, Chris, for taking the time on this wonderful day to come here.

I know as a father that you are, we're celebrating you this month and you're an amazing stellar example of a role model of father. And now you know you have to go after this. So we thank you for your time, but tell us a little bit about yourself besides all the wonderful things that you already are doing out in the world and the people may already know, but we just definitely want to introduce you to those folks who don't know about you. Yeah. Well, first off Raquel and CEO, thanks for having me. I feel like I'm that little Nat in your,

and your you know what that you can't get rid of. You just kind of allow me to buzz around the two of you and I'm so appreciative because you both are so talented and just so inspirational to me and how giving you both are as well. So but yeah, thanks for having me. And for those that don't know me, my name is Chris Maluszewski. We're here most importantly to talk about my work and our work with Hail Hail Auctions. Most people on LinkedIn and and those that have been aware of what you're doing, Raquel or with I'm you know who I am.

may know me through the Walking Tall movement and some of our advocacy through mental health. But yeah, we're here to talk about raising money for good causes and what we're doing about that and pivoting and all of those good things. So yeah, I basically turned a bad experience into some good and pulled you two along the way with me. And we're impacting some really great organizations from a fundraising perspective. my gosh, absolutely. And this is...

the wonderful thing that, you know, once Golden Hearts unite, it's just like there's no other route but to actually create something that is like a super powerhouse, you know, super house, we want to call it powerhouse. But for me, meeting you through mental health advocacy, this is how we pretty much came together through the Walking Tall movement and how we launched, how we went out and started just pretty much inspiring other people to be able to talk.

be visible and talk about the vulnerability. There is power in vulnerability. And you know that I champion that. And so just coming together, you know, going to Nashville, well, Franklin, let's say, let's just shout out Franklin. But that was my first time, but living what we lived there and all the emotions and the impact that we saw that happened during those two and a half days. For me, it was just like, okay, this is it. This is where we need to be. And so just coming together as a team, then building off of that.

and then stemming into different directions. I'm just like, it's a no brainer. So how would me, one of the things that I've always admired about you is your sports background. So tell the audience a little bit about you and your, pretty much your relationship with baseball. Yeah. So I, I was fortunate enough. I earned a scholarship to play division one baseball at the university of Iowa for four years and loved every minute of it. Lettered.

all four years and, you know, I had a great time doing it, getting an education in the big 10 at a prominent, you know, Midwest institution was something I probably wouldn't have had happen to me if not for baseball. So I'm very thankful for the game. but even more so after that, I was able to start coaching. I was fortunate, our head coach at the university of Iowa thought I was going to be a good coach and whether he was right or not, I don't know, but I was able to do that for 10 years.

I coached for about three seasons at Valparaiso University. And then I was fortunate enough to be brought back to my alma mater, the University of Iowa. So 10 years collectively as a coach, four years collegially as a player and a lifetime of memories due to the game. And the game has given me so much, so much that the walking tall movement had it not been for baseball wouldn't have started because I wouldn't have met Todd Blylevin through our mutual connection because of baseball.

So yeah, it's not only helped me get an education, it's not only helped me have some great memories and stay in shape, but it's really helped save my life in many ways. Yes, absolutely. And we love that you shared so many aspects of that journey along with our audience and those individuals who know the Walking Tall movement and why it would start. Even though it may not be rooted in the most positive aspects of it, but the...

the positivity that we're infusing for the future. That is what matters in making a difference in people's worlds. And so that is really, like I said, for me, that's one of the differentiating factors of who you are and what makes you you and why you do the things that you do. But let's talk about this month. Let's talk about being a father. What does that mean to you? What does it signify and what is the hope for you in your children's future? Gosh, that's so loaded. And it's a great question because

You know, I think being a dad means so much to me and it always has, right? I have a daughter, Josephine, she's nine, a son, Lucas, who's seven. They're my best friends. If you're not following me on Instagram, that's kind of where I share who they are and the things we do. So that's kind of where you could check that out. But nevertheless, you know, after my experience of being in a mass shooting, right, it really opened my eyes to what fatherhood really is.

what I needed to be differently to them and who I needed to be for them. And so, as it is Father's Day coming up here soon, it's really eye -opening and exciting for me to now move forward as a single dad and create a new life for myself and for my relationship with my kids. But I just have the best time with them. They're just so freaking cool.

My daughter's made the all -star team in soccer and my son is playing baseball today and he's taken. I mean, it's just, it's just so fun to see him grow up and, you know, just be their biggest cheerleader and supporter along the way and do anything I can to raise them. Right. my gosh. Yes. You know, to me, that is something that we have similar in common now. You know, we're both single parents and you, you will know, you will see how much more you're really going to be in your kid's life in that.

just because every moment you want to savor, every moment you just want to take in and embrace it. And I have a friend who just says, you will never live this day again, so make sure that you take all the little things and put them back there in your photographic memory if you do, if you have one. So I applaud you, I commend you for leading by example. And because I know it hasn't been easy, but you are a trooper, you are an amazing powerhouse, and that's why we admire you.

So, but yeah, I'm so eager to see you evolve into this new chapter of your life. But now talking about new chapter in your life, how do you find yourself? Okay. On the auction floor. Like that to me is like, it just came out of nowhere. Yeah. Well, you know, actually it may seem like it came out of nowhere, but in fact it didn't. Right. So.

my previous, you know, after baseball, I kind of call that my first career, my first life. Like I said, 10 years as a professional in the game. then transition, excuse me, back home to the Chicagoland area and worked in parks and rec for 10 years. I worked for a really well -known park district on the North shore, the suburbs of Chicago. And, it was during that time, I created a fundraising event actually, we called a sports themed banquet.

We raised a bunch of money every year for the Park District Scholarship Fund. We had great keynote speakers, Fergie Jenkins, Dennis Savard, Ozzy Giehan, Mike Dicka, Chris Cellios, just Chicago legends. And I've been very fortunate to bring some great people in my circle, because of my baseball experience. And so conducted this fundraiser for the last five or six years at the Park District I worked at, raised anywhere from $30 ,000 to $50 ,000 in one night for the scholarship fund.

as things transition, right? I had to make another career change over the last few months. And while I'm passionate about walking tall and mental health, and that's still going to be carrying forward full -fledged, you know, I had to sit back and think, okay, what's next for me? What am I good at? What am I different at? How can I position myself not only that can better serve others, but that is really speaking and true to who I am authentically, right? And so I harken back on that experience.

of raising money at the park district I worked at. And then I would toil around. Some people would ask me to get on stage and do an auction here or there for a fundraiser. And I pretty well, I see it excelled at that. So, yeah, just sat back and said, okay, what's next for me? And, you know, just ran with it. I had a great mentor and Chris Hensley who sat me down and kind of showed me the ropes a little bit. And, now we're doing things different. You know, I think with hail hail auctions, we're not just an, I'm not just an auctioneer.

We're building a company to really serve other charities. I love that. You know why? Because it really does summarize everything that that it's evolving, how everything is progressing. And I know Sia, you got to see a little glimpse of like what Hail Hail Auctions is about. So do you mind timing in and telling us the audience a little bit about it? Sure, sure, sure. So look,

The thing about Chris, I just want everyone to understand, is he's like a big idea guy. Like I call, I'm a self -professed Tasmanian devil of a lot of like, you know, with my clients, but Chris like, is like outspins me. He's like way faster of a, like, I don't know what the, what other animal could be more of a Tasmanian devil than Chris. I don't know, a mongoose. I don't know. Cause I don't know. But that being said is this, hail hail auctions.

really has grown legs and Chris is so such a visionary that when we started talking about it, we kind of just fed off each other and he just kept saying, see, let's do this. Let's try this. Let's go with this. And it's grown into a wonderful collaboration and partnership between us and between Brilliant Media and Hail Hill Auctions, which is look, a lot of these nonprofits, these organizations are strapped enough as it is because their focus is fundraising for their community.

and that they're raising for, right? There's not a lot of, let's just say luxury of overhead administration for definitely smaller organizations to do it all. And that's where Hail Hail Auctions can really amplify, maybe augment a lot of these efforts. So Hail Hail Auctions is not just throwing Chris up there on stage. It's really a collaborative effort.

with folks from the Billion Brain Media team, which Raquel, obviously we know very well, but how else can we help these fundraisers be successful? So that's really ultimately, my brain just kind of goes, this is it, right? So yeah, no, Chris, when he invited me to Chicago, you guys, in May, and there's a reason why for those on LinkedIn, why I've been silent and just reposting, it's because I'm slammed from the amount of work that Chris has thrown our way.

from May. So yeah, I'm still kind of doing social media personally, but not really because that guy's keeping me hella busy. I see you laughing right now. You hate me, but no, listen, you said it right. Yeah. It's very easy. I don't want to use the word easy, right? It would be just as beneficial to me personally, if I just was an auctioneer, right? Like I could go and be an auctioneer for these events and move on and just be transactional.

and support them for one night. But that's not who I really wanna be. I wanna develop relationships. I wanna understand who some of these organizations are, what they're trying to do, their mission, and figure out how collectively we could put our talents together, Sia and Raquel, because you two are so kind to just believe in what it is I wanna do and therefore what we wanna do to better their mission. Because again, as Sia said, they're strapped.

And, and you know, Raquel, I know you're interviewing me or we're discussing me, but people should know like you've helped out too. So see, I don't even think anybody here on LinkedIn has heard this yet. Can you get that up? For those that don't know, I've been very lucky and hail hail auctions, fortunate to be a sponsor of the peanuts popcorn and cracker Jack podcast, which is a great friend of mine, Jeff Santo and his wife, Christie, we're a sponsor of that show.

They do great work. One of the top 5 % podcasts in the nation talking about the Cubs and entertainment and such and being a sponsor of that podcast is an honor of ours. And Raquel was so kind to do the voiceover advertisement, if you will. So, see if you play that. I will do. Hail Hill Auctions is Chicago's premier partner in rocking your fundraising goals. We strategize everything from one of a kind auction items to big time sponsorship acquisitions.

HailHail Auctions is your VIP, very important partner that you need to maximize your fundraising. Head over to hailhailauctions .com and be sure to tell them, Santo Asentia. HailHail Auctions is where money raised is loved saved. Woohoo! Now you can get voiceover expert resume. my gosh, y 'all. Let me tell you that this was such a fun project and it's just

I'm so honored, Chris, thank you so much for thinking of me and how I can give back using my talents. I'm like, I've never done one of those, but let me try it. Speaking of talents, this is where getting to know the two of you has really benefited me behind the scenes. I always said, and I say a lot anytime I make a silly post on LinkedIn or anything like you two are my big sisters, you keep me in line, you support me, you're real with me.

and I've been able to understand, you know, building baseball teams as I have, or being a director of recreation. I, I feel like I'm pretty good at understanding people's talents and their expertise and what drives them. And, you know, Raquel, I've recognized so much in you so much so that I'm trying to encourage you to get your auctioneer license because I really think, the world needs somebody like you to stand on a stage and.

be different, right? Like I'll say it, there's too many guys like me that are auctioneers, right? We need to diversify this industry. We need to speak to the heart of what organizations are and who they want to represent and bring this industry differently. So not only are you our voiceover expert in house, but we're going to be getting you on a stage soon, I feel like. And this is the beauty. So again,

the growth, the exponential growth that I've experienced over the last, I would say, year. It's been intense, but it's been so rewarding. And so just to add to that, you know, the fact that we can be able to come together on a stage, and it could be a global stage, even though we can be impacting from Houston, Texas, from Chicago, Illinois, it doesn't matter, but it can be, you're on a global stage now. How can we contribute back with our God -given talents and just

really make an impact for our communities. And so, you know that's where my heart lives. That is what the language my heart speaks, is how do I give back? And so, yes, this is gonna be a new partnership that we're forming. So you'll see Raquel soon enough on stage as an auctioneer along, you know, kicking it with Sia and Chris as well. Yeah, it's, and you know, the good news is, is right, not only,

Will we bring you into the fold? But we're working with other people as well. Great talent that has a knack for being on stage, is a performer of sorts, but also has a heart of gold. You know what I'll say in being in this industry for the short time I have, right? It's lucrative, right? You're working very hard for charities, but there's a lot of transactional individuals, and that's what we're trying to change.

and partnering with somebody like you, Raquel, and of course, Sia being the mastermind behind it all, and podcasts, and media, and working with good people is what I wanna do. I said it a couple days ago, and excuse my French, but I don't wanna deal with shit people, and I'm just not. And so, working with good people, with good hearts, with good work ethic, who wanna change the world through their work is who I wanna align myself with, and I've found the two best partners so far, and you both.

now you gonna make me cry and then see if you're doing your makeup. I think the challenge for you is is there an episode you don't cry? That's true. Actually, I should try to make her mad. I'm really good at that, too. Aren't I like, let's not get her to cry. Let's get her to get mad. Yeah, that would be very difficult. But, you know, speaking of charities, man, I want to give a shout out to a couple of the charities and the people whom we know in that world.

For example, Peter from Rayo de Sol. my God, Peter, I am so glad that we're gonna come together and really make things happen for Rayo de Sol in Nicaragua. I also wanna shout out recently, recently I met up with Dr. Juan Osorto who gifted me this beautiful thing. I don't know if you can see it, but it's friends of El Salvador and y 'all know I'm from El Salvador. So that's a really deep down in my heart. So check him out. I will be posting about them. So shout out to you and everything that you're doing for.

are women and children in El Salvador. Anyone you would like to shout out, Chris? Gosh, where do I begin? I know. But the truth of the matter is, is right. That's why I believe LinkedIn is a great platform to build a business like HailHailAuctions, because everybody who we're working with is authentic, right? And we can really provide a benefit to each the charity that we're serving, as well as those that we're networking with and bridge relationships and bridge donations and do things.

individually that can uplift so many, you know, whether it be in Texas, Illinois, we'll have you and so, you know, Raquel, you're doing it already. You're you're networking with the right folks and meeting, you know, some people who are on boards and own charities and things of that sort. So it's only natural for you to figure out a way to use your talents to raise money for them. But yeah, the charities, gosh, I've worked with so many, I would hate to miss one. All I want to just say is I love all of our partners and

things are growing well and booking fast for fall 24 and already booking into 25. So now is the time to reach out and get to know me and Raquel and see what we can do for you folks. Because we're having a lot of things and we just want to help. Yes, and that is the beauty. That is where the beauty lies when you're able to actually enjoy your passion and what you do and then decide you're putting bread on the table. Like, my gosh, that is...

that's what everyone really wants to achieve in life. And that is one of the goals that as professionals, as soulful people, we really want to be able to find a way to fuse those things. And I think you found the perfect way in your world, Chris. And I'm just following in your footsteps. And I just think that you're such an inspiration to so many of us that there is a way when there's passion, do not lose hope. So I mean, I love it.

not being a mental health advocate, not being a charity fundraiser. If nothing else, people are inspired by what I hope is my resiliency and my positivity through a pretty bad experience and something that knocked me on my ass. And so, yeah, I hope to be an inspiration, but not for some of those reasons, just to prove that like you can, you could go through something pretty bad and still be in something pretty bad, but also thrive and excel provided you have the right support and you're willing to accept it.

Mm hmm. And may I say this? Doesn't he know how to say things and make him pretty and everything? This is one of the things that I've admired of you because, you know, my sometimes I say my English is not that very good looking as a joke, but just the way you're so eloquent and I'm like, yeah, yeah. Just watching you work behind the scenes has been so inspirational. And just I take from your tips I take from your mannerisms because they are. I mean, they work and I love it. So but anyway.

I think we had a question, Sia. I definitely know this is a short program today, but I definitely want to be able to address some of those questions. Got some fans out there. Mr. Chris. look who that is. Well, shout out my man. So here's the cool thing about auctions, right? We can auction anything. There's two types. There's a silent or alive. The silent would be one where people are putting their bids on a piece of paper. It's a more of an elongated period of time where

you know, attendees to events and such. And that's more so Mark, where you'll get your sports stuff, your smaller memorabilia items, sports tickets, concert tickets, et cetera. And then on a live auction stage, that's more of your big ticket items, you know, where people would have trips, people would have experiences, sometimes, you know, really high end memorabilia, art pieces, things of that sort. But the other cool thing about a live auction charity fundraiser is what they have what's called an appeal or a paddle raise. And that essentially is just

I'm on stage enticing, encouraging, energizing the crowd to raise their paddle at a certain dollar level as a straight donation. They're not getting anything in return as they would in an auction. And that's where it's a lot of fun and a lot of magic happens where people are raising their paddles, you know, at different dollar amounts and the crowds going bonkers and I'm yelling like a madman. And I think on Monday I told Cia, I think I said, baby on stage, we're doing it baby or something. I don't know what I said.

yeah, it's a lot of fun, you know, different ways to raise money and, whether it's a buck or a million, you know, to me, every cent goes to the good cause. And so, just working as hard as I can every night for those good organizations to raise us, as much as we can. So with heart, that's what we're calling it. I love it. That's yeah. See ya. Well, no, what I was just going to say, what I was just going to say was that the thing about auctioneering is it is so

Human element oriented right? It's really all about your connection with the audience whomever you are whether you're an mc rapper singer Whatever if you can connect with an audience you can say anything and and get away with it So when you said baby at the you know cure epilepsy event, which you know Even axelrod and lieutenant governor of illinois was in the audience I thought it was hilarious and you heard a lot of laughter by the way I was in the back of the room. Of course. They put the riffraff in the back, but

You have everyone engaged. I think it's that sometimes you gotta shake people up a little bit just to get them stable again, right? Because we have walls that we put up and whether even if we're at a charitable event, even something of like that, that scope of that gala, people still have their walls up. And I really liked your philosophy, which is, look, I'm going to go big. I'm going to get people uncomfortable and then I'm going to make them comfortable. And then once you get people comfortable, they trust you because now they're like,

I've entered a safer space with this individual. So shout out to you, Chris, because you have that gift to do it. And Raquel, you too. And I think that where I think other auctioneers or aspiring auctioneers could really take a leaflet, a note, whatever you want to call it on that, because it's not rocket science, but there is a science to it to get the most out of it. Right. Anyone

can be an auctioneer. Let's be honest. The question is how much can you get out of the donors that are there to support a cause? And so, yeah, no, that's what you got to lead with. Yeah, you know, two quick things. You know, a lot of how I live my life really was is the principles of the walking tall movement, right? Approachability, vulnerability, etc. Those

those tangible skill sets, those characteristics play very well into being an auctioneer, right? I just come by it honestly. Like I tell you like, here's what we need. Here's what we're trying to make. Here's who I am, you know? And when you just get to the heart of the matter, right? Like people will trust you more. And so whether it's really talking about mental health or asking people to donate to another good cause, if you're just yourself and you can connect, you know, wonders can happen, you know, and it's, it's,

It's just a lot of fun. You know, it's almost a performance, you know, and Raquel, that's why I think you'd be so good and your singing talents and all of those things. Plus, you know, you have a skill set that I don't that I would imagine. I guess I know a ton of charities throughout the nation need and that's someone who could speak many languages as you. Right. Yes. And that is the avenue that, you know, the point of perspective that I'm looking at it from, because how can I maximize the usage of my Spanish and the Portuguese? Right. And how can I

impact more communities using those talents and or skills, a skill set. But the one, the other aspect that really drew me to it is, yeah, it's just really just being yourself, you know, in a more refined way, but just naturally being yourself, putting yourself out there, entertaining. Well, we already know we already do that. This is who we are as individuals in our real lives. You know, like, this is what I tell people, what you see is what you get in real life. This is me. And people are taking it back because social media has done such a horrible job and really

making people look like a facade or, you know, wearing two faces. I don't know how you want to call it, but I'm like, no, this is what you get. You almost have to work. You almost honestly, I feel and I'm going to say one more thing about Hill Hill Auctions. But to that point, Raquel, you almost have to work harder on social media to prove to people that you are who you say you are. Like it's like, you know, I literally have posted pictures of myself crying on LinkedIn. Right. And like

You guys know that I cry. That's the way it goes. Right. People are like, yeah, this guy wants attention. No, I'm just me. Right. Like, and I hope through whether it's raising money or mental health, like people could just understand that being your better self, your authentic self is going to serve you so much. Well, so much better. Right. And, and then the other thing, okay. So transitioning off the life talk in my soap box, hell hill auctions, you know, it's not just an auctioneer company, right. And that's where I think we.

are bringing our hearts to the matter. We care about these charities. We want to uplift them. We want to support them as best as we can. We don't want to be transactional. So what we're trying to do is really invest ourselves, our talents in social media management and podcasting and my expertise in fundraising and building campaigns and ways to leverage connections and really being a robust service to some charities that we believe in their missions because

Once again, we're not just gonna serve any charity. We're not here to take a check. We're not gonna be transactional. We gotta learn about your mission. We gotta learn about your people, where the money's going. Like there's a vetting process here because my name, our name is on it. And I wanna make sure that we're really doing good in the world. Otherwise I'm not doing anything. my gosh. Yes. Well, see, that's why you speak my heart's language. And you know, out of all of the languages of the world, you chose to speak the truth. And I love that. I love that because

So many people go through this life in a very robotic way. I understand we all have to make money. We all have to make a living. We all have mouths to feed. But at the end of the day, why do we lead with that transactional mindset? It's not conducive to that positive end. For some, it may, but does it really feed you at the end of the day? Does it feed your soul? And that's how I approach anything that we touch, anything that we impact, any project that we do.

join is because what is the value the community is getting? Are we giving enough or are we giving more back or is this how is this structure? So, you know, we always take pointers on those things. However, we lead with kindness, we lead with the heart and that has proven to stand the test of time. And I love it. I love it. But anyhow, your shirt, I wanted to ask you about your shirt.

yeah. So if you don't know, this is not the rap group. This is not the rap group. it's the national wrestling Alliance and our good friends over there. If you're not familiar, you know, early on, I guess last year, summer last year, about a year ago now, the walking tall movement partnered with the national wrestling Alliance. We raised a bunch of money for, Cooper Roberts. it was called HP cares for Cooper. And so.

you know, I will forever be indebted to Billy Corrigan and Joe Galley and Kyle Davis and all the guys and friends over at the national wrestling Alliance. Not only have they helped the community that I was a part of, you know, endorse some trauma, but, they're doing good and they're really trying to build the company. And for those that don't know, I love professional wrestling. I'm wearing my whole Kogan hat again, authentically me. but, yeah, so we're just supporting, you know, the national wrestling Alliance, everything they're trying to do.

I've been fortunate to do some work with Billy and Chloe and I just think the world of them. So yeah, that's my NWA shirt. It's not easy E and ice cube. Sorry. Yeah, but no. my gosh. They're a good time as well. Heck yes they are. I love it. I mean, come on. This is some good music. So you both are such music fans. Like y 'all, y 'all can talk for hours on bands and I'm just like, I don't know, but I'm learning through you guys. You know, you're

huge pro jam, but this event that you guys went to a few weeks ago, my gosh, like it must have been, I don't know, like music galore. Well, see, as your job picked up off the floor yet from that week and meeting Billy and Rick Springfield. Well, okay. Look, people's, I had to wash my hands. I did shake hands with Billy Corgan, who is who don't, who people don't know is a lead singer of smashing pumpkins. and if you see that picture, I just put it up. He's the,

first guy on the left and I was going to say the bald head and I just realized not because there's another one. You could be talking about me. What are you? stop it. Stop it. Stop it. All right. So, no, here's the thing. What I think is really fascinating where you have a value proposition, especially with hail hail auctions. Okay. It's not just being an auctioneer standing up on stage, but it's your network.

Right. as I want to shout out Paul Deitch, you know, your network is your net worth, right? he likes to say that on LinkedIn and, Hi mom. It's look at, we love you too. Love you too. I'm sorry. It's more important. That's adorable. No, no, no, no. No. So all I was going to say is this is the thing that I think people need to understand is when you're raising funds for events, for your organization, it's

It relies very heavily on the goodwill of the people that we've surrounded ourselves with and so the fact that you have Happened to be friends with Billy Corrigan and I'm a massive smashing pumpkins fan you have made me an like an eternal fan of you because I got to shake hands and I had a conversation and I got to attend the premiere of Adventures in carny land which is on the CW eight episodes you guys if you guys want to check it out and it literally is a story of Billy buying

NWA National Wrestling Alliance. He's passionate about wrestling and he wanted to bring this league back same same you guys as our passion with fundraising and giving our time to causes. I'm not a millionaire. I don't know about you guys. So I can't just throw money willy -nilly. So I have to give my guy So I'm gonna just preemptively warn everyone that's listening right now is like look

You know, you're going to see a shift of me like posting on like fundraisers and charities. It's not because I benefit from it. I mean, it's it's these charities are going to benefit from it. So I'm warning everyone in advance, at least from see his perspective and brilliant media, you're going to see a lot of posts of like, hey, if you can spare either time or you can spare money or you can spend, you know, sharing to your network of people who have time and money, then please do. That's all we can ask. So that's my plead. It takes one.

connection. That's all to change somebody's lives. And I've always said that. Yeah. Well, it's taken two because I met you both. Whatever. It's taking Chris Rick Springfield to grab me and hug me. Okay. Look, people Rick Springfield freaking touch the shoulder. Sting touch this shoulder. So I have the dirty shoulders on earth because I have yet to wash either one of them.

It takes random relationships to get those connections you never thought you would and that is the root of all things that we're talking about with you know with you like hell was the connection corner, right you just never know what these types of relationships are gonna get all of us and You know everyone that's on that's chatting with us. You guys all know this too. Well, so I'm gonna get off my soapbox here, but this is if this is at the heart and root of authenticity, right

Networking with intention without ulterior motives, right? We're not trying to make money off of each other We're trying to uplift one another and yes, of course people if you end up working together or you start engaging other people for services That's natural but but if you're doing it in a way where hey, let's be really truly rooted in appreciating and valuing each other Then the money will follow absolutely

And I say, listen, you know, as it relates to raising money for other charities, right? I don't feel bad about collecting an invoice. We shouldn't feel bad about making money provided we're making one cent more or one dollar more for the organization that needs it more. Right. Right. We all have needs and there's nothing wrong with that. But as long as, you know, with fundraising, you know, hail hail auctions, and I particularly keep that mindset, you know, the sky's the limit and we'll we'll serve as many organizations as we can. But.

It's going to be limited because again, we're going to give full attention and we're going to be invested in those organizations. It's not going to be transactional. It's not just going to be me stepping on stage, auctioneering and leaving. Like you're going to get this, you know, for good or bad, but, there'll be a lot of good, of course. Absolutely. my gosh. All right, ladies, I got to run because he's got his last baseball game. I'll let you do your thing. We have to finish more of this later, but I love the both of you. Absolutely. The crazy.

but I gotta go see my kid play baseball. I love you, Chris. Thank you so much. Love you guys. Thank you. Bye, Chris. We'll find more around about him and him taking his time. Like I said, you know that that's a stellar father. That's a role model. I mean, I just, I love this guy. He's, he's amazing. But guys, this is what it's about. I'm so happy that, you know, that we were able to dig deep and down into the intricacies of what actually auctioning does and what it does.

for how it changes lives for other people, for individuals, for philanthropies, for communities. And I see my daughter in the comments and I'm like, some of those organizations that are out there who are helping individuals like her, people, children with dreams and aspirations, and it's inspiring to be able to give back and be part of that effort as well.

as we give back to communities. But before I forget, I know I've been seeing so many of you in the comments. my God, I just want to name everyone, but I do want to wish a very, very, very happy, happy, happy birthday. Nick, we see you in the comments. Happy birthday. Feliz cumpleaños, mi hermana. We love you. We haven't chatted in a little bit, but we will catch up. And then, you know, it's just, it's amazing. I saw Steven, I saw Randy. Thank you so much, Dr. New.

My gosh, it's so many of y 'all mark market Zen sandwich. Yes, I think that we were pre -recorded by the way, you know, we don't do it that way sir We love to be live. We love to be interacting with our audience just because that's where the essence of the authentic feel is and Y 'all know I don't do anything else but authenticity. So hey We love you. But yes, so there is a question one last question and I know we have to wrap up but

I am just so, I'm excited girl. Like my heart is so full from all the possibilities and all the opportunities that are unfolding themselves in front of us. And I'm like, yes, let's go help. Yeah, no, 100%. So we're real quick. Shout out Jane Long and Denise Bachman as well. Love you ladies. But since that I had a question, which I thought, I thought was a really good one. I just want to share it real quick because I think it's a great way to close it out too. Right. So, you know,

like humanoid in front of another humanoid, not the passive online auctioning, but in person, you really only have maybe four days a week, maybe four days a week to actually do this, right? So four to 200 days basically that you can auctioneer. So if you've got 30 ,000, I think it's like 60 ,000, but anyway, I'll just say 30 to be, you know, not exaggerating. You've got 30 ,000 charities. If any of them decide that they want to do a live person event.

and you only have 200 days that you can actually be effective. I mean, you could try to do two auctions a day, like one in the morning, one in the evening. Okay. That's still not enough. There is a shortage of auctioneers out there to raise and do good. And think about this, you guys, some people are like, my God, you're constantly begging for money. Think of it. How many people have spent and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars on GoFundMe for a situation that made the news?

A dog that got abandoned and I'm not diminishing the dog Do not do not what I'm saying though is is even if you were just to donate a dollar a day To a charity that dollar times a million people matters Absolutely, even if it's a hundred thousand fifty thousand ten thousand five thousand you guys it matters to everyone so Auctioneering I think has a limitless opportunities, especially

for people like Raquel who can speak multiple languages and cater to audiences that may have not been reached prior. There's a lot of affluent minorities out there that may or may not be speaking English. Like look, this is just a random text or random factoid that I read the other day, which is the Chinese people have been buying up real estate left and right. There's money here, Saudi Arabia, okay, there's money.

You don't think we can't hold an auction in Arabic in Chinese Mandarin, right? Like, come on, folks. So anyway, that's all I know. No, but that is the answer to that, Sincerra. It's limitless. It's really there are endless possibilities of what we can do with that via that route. And for me, more than anything, it's creating a greater impact. I have a fervent desire to just be able to create the biggest impact that you can think.

in all sectors and impacting lives in the most positive way that's possible. And if I can be conducive to help with that, heck yes, you know, I'm going to be hail hail auctions. I'm going to be there. That's what I like. I love to say it. We're going to send you straight to hail hail. my God. I love how much fun we have. You all should see. Yes, this is about at the end of the day. What can we do together? But we have so much fun, genuine.

fun, you know, camaraderie, just collaboration. There are so many wonderful and beautiful things that have been born out of collaborating with you guys along these year and a half, you know, I would say almost two years, that I've been on this journey. There are so many more that I cannot wait, wait to explore. For example, I literally just went to a networking event here in Houston that was literally like Adrian Liel.

Shout out to you, my brother. I saw you in the comments Dolores Townley from the Rockets, from the Houston Rockets, Elizabeth, also you. I mean, good. I mean, like I said, send you send you lots of love. Ray lit, like, thank you so much for the invitation. It's like VIP treatment. Like, I love it. I'm just like, yes, give me more of those just because we have so much opportunity to meet so many individuals who are key leaders here, you know, in our in our city, Houston. I'm talking about Houston, but we're talking about everywhere in the world.

Alison, I met you in person finally after years of being virtual. Andrea Stapp, my God, there's so many of you guys. IBM was present, Dell was present, Logitech was present, 3M was present, like so many individuals fusing sports tech. We had such a blast, no joke. And just the diversity and the inspiration that I took away from that is just like, I want more, I want more. So before we close out, shout out to Reno Dudley. I had a wonderful conversation with you.

Dre Brown, my God, the talk I had with you and about Dove and woo, I'm gonna get, you know, just super inspired, but there are so many possibilities, guys, and this is just for, it's up for grabs. If we don't take the opportunity to put ourselves out there, we're never gonna be heard. So what do you have to lose? That is my thing. What do you have to lose if your voice is able to amplify?

the voices of many behind you who are scared and fearful just to talk, then you know that you are being a leader. You know that what you're doing is impactful. So why do you not do it? This is what I tell people, just go ahead and do it. People are gonna judge you regardless, but at the end of the day, my fear or the weight of me not doing anything and staying stagnant outweighs the fear of actually putting myself out there.

So that's why on a daily basis, I continue advocating for individuals. I continue advocating for Latinas, for women, for children, for men, for everyone, because I have love to give. And it all boils down back to love and kindness. Okay. Before I get, before I get off on that, I know we got to go, we got to go, but thank you so much guys. And I hope that you walked away and you took notes and that this inspired you to venture out, to create something new.

To just be able to explore at the end of the day if you don't put yourself out there No one's gonna hear you. So with that said guys, we will check back with you in a couple weeks We'll have another stellar for Father's Day a stellar program and stellar panel And I'm so excited to look forward to it. And if we don't talk back then, you know in the future We love you. Just know that we're here connect with one another in the comments. This is worldwide

It's global connections and I'm always one message away from you. So remember, we love you, we are here and we're never alone in this journey. Okay, hasta la vista.

for joining. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe and follow us for the next episode.