Join Chris Maliszewski as he follows the inspiring journey of premier auctioneer, Chris Hensley, who has taken fundraising events from broke to bespoke in this captivating tale of resilience, hard work, and success.

Chris Hensley is a nationally renowned charity and benefit auctioneer. Chris has helped hundreds of non-profit charities to raise more money for their mission through gala fundraisers. Based in Chicago, Chris conducts gala auctions all across Illinois and the nation.

Chris believes gala guests should feel great while giving to a great cause. Before the event, he builds a deep understanding of the non-profit’s mission. At the event, his style is engaging, encouraging, energetic, emotive and fun. He connects donors to the impact they can make through the event. Auctions led by Chris are a celebration of giving to a charity’s mission. Watch as obstacles are overcome, dreams become reality, and luxury auctions are transformed into a lifestyle. Don't miss out on this uplifting story of determination and triumph!

Learn about Chris Hensley and BidRaiseBid.com

#fundraising #livestream

Hello, hello, hello. See, you know, I get excited when Pearl Jam things happen and they started their tour on Saturday. I got my dark matter hat on and my shirt. And, you know, obviously, hail hail auctions is attributed to my favorite song of theirs. And, you know, what we do here on the appeal wouldn't be possible if not for you. So as always, I just wanted to say thanks. Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure. You know, hey, look, people's.

Technology will always happen, but you know what? It's not life -changing people like seriously, so I'm glad you're you're a better mood after listening to intro Of course. Yeah, I'm always in a good mood. What is there not to be happy about we're alive and kicking the Sun is shining and you know, they peel wouldn't be possible without you and brilliant be media and hail hail auctions would not be possible without our guests today and

without his mentorship and his guidance, you know, and just his support and his encouragement over the last year or so as I've gotten to know him, you know, this idea wouldn't have come to fruition and I wouldn't be a licensed auctioneer and doing all the things I'm doing now. So I'm excited for you to get to meet and our guests to get to meet Mr. Chris Hensley. So Sia, why don't you take a back seat, bring Chris up and we'll bring you back on stage as we say goodbye. Awesome.

What's happening, man? I, you know, I don't know if you heard Sia's and my conversation before we brought you on, but I just can't say enough about you and the person you are and the friendship we've developed and the mentorship you've provided to me over the last year. You know, as, as fate would have it, right? I've been running a charity event for, for quite some time and using another great auctioneer who we're going to have as a guest on a future show.

But we had a committee last year and they wanted to interview a few auctioneers and the committee chose you. And little did I know a year later you'd be one of my better friends in life and one of my greatest support systems. So before I keep going and gushing about you and tearing up, Chris, why don't you introduce yourself and let folks know a little bit about you. Yeah, thanks Chris. So my name is Chris Hensley, you know, auctioneer. Love doing what I do. It's my passion.

You know, I tell people all the time, this is the thing that I'm best at in life. So when you see me on stage, that's as good as you're ever going to see me. I apologize in these next 30 minutes here on screen, probably not going to be my best, but you're going to see my passion for auctioneering come through for sure. And yeah, Chris, it's been, it's been so great getting to know you, you know, I think you and Sia and I all have.

music in common, you know, different flavors probably. I know you are nuts about Pearl Jam. I'm nuts about my own things, but I was actually going to ask you about that later on. So don't don't give up. I don't want the cat out of the bag. Yeah, it's a music for sure. Yeah. So happy to be on the appeal. Hope to come back again in the future and like talk shop and, you know, let's go. Yeah. No, listen, you know, and as we've gotten to know each other, you know, auctioneering is your passion, but it's not.

also your only career, right? You have a passion for raising funds for great causes 24 seven, whether it's on a stage for other great charities and you personally and professionally raise, you know, endless amounts of money for great work with Northwestern. So why don't you talk a little bit about that too? Cause that's just so admirable as well. Yeah, thanks Chris. So yeah, so I co -lead the Northwestern Memorial Foundation here in the Chicago area, you know, raising money to, uh,

to make what is an exceptional healthcare system even better. And yeah, we raised, you know, in the last three years, we've raised about $140 million a year. We're on a path right now to hopefully achieve about 200, $250 million a year. And you know, that's great. I love doing that because, you know, healthcare, I think it should be a human right. I think everybody should have access to healthcare.

You know, I know, you know, through your Walking Tall movement, mental health care is an important issue. I wish we as a society would look at mental health care like we look at physical health care. We don't yet, but we'll get there. Yep. And so, you know, the work that I do during the day is critical. It feeds my soul. And it's just this great dichotomy to have that long term kind of slow burn fundraising during the day.

And then this immediate gratification fundraising on Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights at leading auctions. Yeah. You said it best. The immediate gratification, right? Of the auctioneering business is so fun. And so before I give my take on it, how did you then, taking your passion for raising funds at Northwestern and doing great events and creating great relationships, turn that into, we call it a side hustle, but like,

I call it two careers, man, because like you're always working events and you're always raising money for auction for great organizations. So how did you become an auctioneer? Yeah. Yeah, it's a great question. So I built a gala for I used before Northwestern. I worked for the American Cancer Society and I built a gala called the Black and White Ball. And when I say I, I mean, you know, me and a team of people. But, you know, it was kind of my baby. And so this was in the.

a month before, two months before kind of thing. And it was like by the seat of our pants, we raised $120 ,000, right? But that was good enough and we secured a good chair for the second year. And then we secured this fantastic auctioneer who, if I'm your mentor, Greg Dellinger, the G -Man is my mentor, right? So Greg came and served as our auctioneer in that second year. And we went from like 120 in that first year to 360 in the second year. We went to 500 in the third year.

Um, and, you know, I sat in the audience and I've done this, you know, I've worked in nonprofits for years. So I sat in the audience watching auctioneers. Um, some were great, some were terrible. Um, and, uh, Greg was that great one. Right. And so, uh, you know, watching him was so much fun that I reached out to him and I said, uh, Hey, can we grab lunch? Right. And so we grabbed lunch and I said, you know, I'd love to do what you do. Um, and he, and he with.

You know, as if you know, Greg, you know, he's just the most encouraging, supportive, positive force out there. And he said, Chris, you should absolutely do it. There are more events than there are auctioneers. Right. And so there'll be plenty of work for you. Right. And so what did I do? I thoroughly ignored him for five years. Right. But then fast forward to 2016, I was at an event and the auctioneer was bombing, was bombing. Right.

My girlfriend leaned over to me and she said, this auctioneer is terrible. And she didn't know anything about auctioneering, right? And so I knew if like, if people who hadn't seen a lot of auctioneers in practice knew what a good one and what a bad one looked like that this was a bad one. And so I called the executive director of the organization the next week and I said, hey, you left a lot of money in the room. I think I can raise more money for you when you do this again. And to prove it to me and to prove it to you, I'll do it for free.

Let me help you feel great about giving to a great cause because when they feel great about it, they're going to give more money to it, right? I'll stop. I'll stop. I'll let you get a word. No, no. Here's what I was going to say. Yeah. You know, truly like if somebody were to ask me like, Chris, how did you become an auctioneer? Like I would say, listen to Chris Hensley because that's like exactly my story, right? Like I created my own event in my past employer raising money for a scholarship fund, the sports themed event and had

keynote speakers and lo and behold, you know, as I said earlier, as fate would have it, we chose you and Chris Cellios, who's a friend of mine, uh, was our keynote and the three of us were behind stage and I'll never forget it, Chris, you know, the three Chris's believe it or not, we're standing there and Shelley goes, man, you're really good on the mic and, uh, you looked me dead in the eye and you're like, yeah, you are. And I was like, you know what? I hear that every year. So every time I do my event, I do the same thing like Chris, why don't you do that more?

And I was like, ah, forget about it. I would ignore people. Right. And, uh, now here I am. So it's just so cool to hear how the stories of, of, you know, professions and passions come to be and in your own company now, uh, bid raise bid, you know, talk about some of the clientele you work with and some of the amazing options you've been a part of. I know there's some things that have to stick out. Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, so I, I fall in love with every one of the clients that I have. Right. Um,

You know, probably three, four times a year, I end up giving like part of my feedback to the client because I'm just in the moment motivated as, as the audience is motivated. I get just as motivated. Right. And so, yeah. So, so, you know, I've, I've been working with the clients, big and small for seven years now, you know, probably three years ago, we're coming right out of COVID.

I think I did about 25 events. Two years ago, I did about 30 events. Last year, I did 50. And this year, I just booked my 60th event for the year. So I'm doing this pretty much every Friday and Saturday night. Some Wednesdays and Thursdays as well, an occasional Tuesday and Sunday, that kind of thing. Mondays are the rare days for auctions, but they do happen. I've done one.

And so yeah, you know, everything from like Special Olympics, Illinois that I absolutely love, you know, Amanda and the team over there, you know, to Mercy Home. I did them for the first time last year, doing them again this year. Catholic charities do their St. Nick ball with a thousand people. You know, the first year we, we went from 350 ,000 to 1 .3 million in fundraising. Last year we beat that with the Ricketts family as chairs.

You know, and so it just is like this most special and fulfilling job I've ever had. And I use the word job because I don't know what else to call it, but it has never once Chris felt like work, never once felt like work. Yeah, no, we, you know, I, I got done with an event a couple of weeks ago and as you and I do, we text back and forth, comparing notes and asking each other how the evening went. And, you know, I made a comment and it really has stuck with me, you know,

One of my past passions and it still is, and one of my past careers as you know, was baseball. I was fortunate to play collegiately and coach for a long time. And, you know, I like in getting on stage and knowing I raised a bunch of money for a great cause to, you know, throw in a seven inning jam, beating Illinois to go to the big 10 tournament. Like that rush of adrenaline, that, that competitiveness, but in a different light, knowing that you're doing it for good is like so.

So rushing, right? And of course, as you said, I have my own passions for mental health for various reasons with the Walking Tall movement. But knowing that I could use my skill set, as you do, and my personality and my energy to better others' cause is just so cool. Because let's face it, not everybody is outgoing as you or I. And so to grab that mic and get on stage and make a fool of yourself and ask somebody for...

$100 ,000 like not everybody's got those cojones. Right? Yeah. Yeah. How'd that happen? You know? Yeah, it just, you know, my granddad was a Methodist minister, so that probably had a lot to do with it. I think I got that DNA strand. You know, some of my buddies may be watching out there today. We used to play punk rock and post -punk bands in the eighties. You know, I had a black mohawk and all that kind of stuff. So I crave the stage, right? I love to be on stage. I love to, you know, meet people.

Um, you know, I like, uh, what I say is I get to go to 60 parties a year and for a portion of that party, I get to be the center of attention. And when I'm the center of attention, I get to help that organization advance their mission. Right. And so whether that mission is mental health or it's a school or, you know, it's, it's a disease that we're trying to battle against. Um, you know, uh, the, the, the more that I can bring, uh, the, the more money we have the opportunity to raise. Right.

Yeah, you're right. Like, real quick, I'll say you said it perfectly, right? Like our passion for music, right? Like you feel like almost you're on stage as a rock star, not that you have the full of such, but you could command the room and you're using that command for such good, right? And you do it so perfectly. So I wanted to, sorry, this could cut you off, but keep going. But I had to just drop that in. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, I, so,

You'll feel this also, and you probably have already. You'll know the nights where you nailed it, and you'll know the nights where you just weren't quite on. But God, I had this night just this past Saturday night. As you know, I was doing writers' theater in Glencoe, this incredible arts organization in Glencoe that not only brings the arts to their audiences at their theater,

but also takes the arts and arts education out to schools and out to kids who might not otherwise have art in their life, right? And kind of see that as maybe a possibility in their life. And so I got on stage after this incredible band was producing, was performing all of these, you know, great seventies hits. And I had to follow that and it was like, wow, this is like top notch production. And then I get up there and it was the performance,

of my life, brother. I mean, I literally, literally, I just got a phone call. This never happens. I just got a phone call from somebody who was at the event and they said, is this Chris Hensley? And I was like, yeah. And they're like, we were at the event on Saturday night for Writers Theater and I just had to call you and tell you, you were incredible, right? Now, this frequently happens in the audience, right? And you've seen this, right? You know, you get off stage and people just want to come up and say, thank you, you did great.

You were the best auctioneer I've ever seen, whatever. I call it crowd bathing. It's a, it's, I borrow that actually from Simon LeBond. He stands there on the stage at the, at the front of the show and the audience is just screaming at him. Right. And he's just doing this, just crowd bathing. Right. And that's my version of crowd bathing is going out to the audience and talking to people. Right. I think about it this way. I'm always on stage. I'm auditioning for at least two other jobs.

that event again next year, the event that I'm doing right there next year. And then all of the people in the audience, you know, we're talking to people who are, you know, we're raising money from people who are on boards, who lead organizations, all of that kind of thing. And so when they see you kicking ass for this charity, they want you to come and kick ass for their charity also, right? You and I are both, we're just handing out cards constantly. We're

We're getting phone calls, we're getting emails. I saw you at this event, I saw you at that event. You were the best auctioneer I ever saw. Like, could you come and do our event? The biggest problem that I have is that I can't get, I can't be in two places at one time, right? And that's where I come in. That's where I come in. And, and, and that's, as you said, you know, from your mentor with the G man telling you that there's more events than auctioneers, right? Like I'm, I'm proof of that. And,

I've developed some great relationships with some awesome organizations myself, you know, second city canine rescue. We just did a $266 ,000 for, and, uh, you know, I'm being flown all over the place right now for, for Beto duty, you and you know, that's just the kind of guy you are because you know, likely I'm going to do a great job and they'll be my clients urine and you're out, but you know, you're going to do a great job for your clients and you can't be in two places at once. So why wouldn't folks like you and I team up and help each other and in turn help great causes and.

You know, I want to just kind of change the subject real quick because we have some amazing, amazing folks chiming in and some great business owners. I want to ask you, there's some folks asking questions as well, but I want to ask you a question and talk a little bit about in your experience, you know, doing 60 events a year now, the brand recognition that businesses can create by donating to auctions or answering events, right? I think it's such a missed opportunity for local business owners.

or for entrepreneurs to donate their services to local charities, not only do they get the write -off, but they gain exposure into a network for their services that they've never had exposure to. So talk a little bit about how that works for businesses, because that's been one of my passions of becoming an auctioneer as well. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think there's this great opportunity for us auctioneers and nonprofit organizations to kind of create synergy.

In communities, right? You know, you talk about Windy City, K9 Auctions, you know, or K9 Rescue. You know, like when companies sponsor that event and their guests are sitting there seeing that, you know, this car dealership or, you know, this, you know, spa, you know, is this local business that's supporting this local nonprofit. They're like, these people are loyal to Windy City.

And now they're going to be loyal to that sponsor because the sponsor is supporting this organization that they care so passionately about, right? You know, so you want to, as a business, you want to connect your brand to passionate people who are willing to, you know, go to the ends of the earth to support you. And when you can support the things that those customers are passionate about, they're going to become passionate about your product and your service and your business. So I think it's one of the most effective ways to get your business out there.

And it's very low cost also. Yeah. And in many cases, if you donate a service as an example, if you're a coach of some sort and you're an entrepreneur or you're a masseuse of some sort and you donate your services, that's a write off for your business. You gain access to a new client. And if you're an expert and you do a great job in your industry, you're going to have a client for life like you would as an auctioneer. I do now. So, you know, that's part of the services that I know I provide. And.

Talk a little bit about some of the other things that you provide with bid raise bid, aside from just being a general auctioneer. Yeah, so event consulting, because I've attended so many events, I've built a gala myself, I've walked in the shoes of the people who are planning their event. And so I know exactly what they're going through. I always like to say also, when it comes to the day of the event, I am there to help you.

I'm not there to be a diva. You're not there to care for me. I don't need a green room. I don't need a makeup artist. You know, none of this kind of stuff, right? I do. I do. I do. I mean, clearly I need a makeup artist, but you know, I'm going to wear makeup. Right. So, um, yeah. So, you know, I'm there to help maximize your event so that you can raise as much money as possible so that you can't steward.

your donors as much as possible. And that stewardship begins immediately when they raise their paddle, right? And so, you know, I'm in the audience mixing it up. I'm giving high fives. I'm giving fist bumps. I'm complimenting people on their shoes, their hair, their dress, their makeup, whatever, right? To make them feel great for being there tonight. You know, because look, they could have just as easily stayed home and watched reruns of Malcolm in the middle, right? But they chose to be here instead, right?

They're here helping this organization raise money. And so, you know, help them feel great about it. When you help them feel great, they're gonna give more money, they're gonna raise their paddles more, and they're gonna come back next year. They're gonna create this viral buzz about your event that's gonna make more people want to come to it. And so, you know, are we the like, are we the most important part of the event? No, but are we a critical element of it that helps people feel great?

Absolutely. Yeah. And speaking, you know, here's a here's another great question that was asked and you and I always laugh behind the scenes about this as well. You mentioned being a critical part of an event, and I absolutely agree with you. But how often and I've already experienced this myself in many conversations, do you hear from organizations, charities? Well, you know, we had a volunteer auction here or, you know, we're just going to have somebody's dad do it. And as you said, in your own organization, right?

when you were running your Black Tide Gala, I think as you said, the amplification of the giving with a professional like myself and yourself is instrumental and the small cost that we do input on an organization is well spent. And so talk a little bit about that experience and that philosophy as well. Yeah, well, for starters, like that small cost, one, I try to keep it as low as possible, right? I try to respect what my talent is.

Um, and, um, yet while leaving the nonprofit with the ability to put as much of those dollars to work as possible. And so you'll find that, you know, I, I'm, I'm at the low end of the charity auctioneer price range. Um, you know, and I do that not because I don't think that I don't bring more value than anybody else, right? I've sat in the audience and watched the most expensive auctioneer in Chicago do his thing. And I can guarantee you that I do as well, if not better.

than that most expensive auctioneer, taking nothing away from him, right? He's a great auctioneer, but I don't think there's a reason to charge triple what I charge, right? I think that these nonprofits, you know, many cases smaller nonprofits, that when they raise a quarter million dollars, that's life changing for their mission, right? They're able to do different things that they're not able to do without that money, right? And so, you know, so that's one piece of it. The other piece that I'll say is,

I think that what you and I bring to an event, it more than pays for itself, right? I'm confident of that in fact. So if I charge four or $5 ,000 for an event, I'm going to bring you 20 ,000, 30 ,000, 50 ,000 more than you would have. I'll give an example. I took an event over a couple of years ago from a different auctioneer.

Um, and that year before they raised 175 ,000 in the moment, right? Just a paddle raise and live auction. I took the event over roughly the exact same architecture for the event and we did a quarter million dollars. So that's $75 ,000 difference. Right. And I was $3 ,000 cheaper than that other auctioneer. And again, taking nothing away from that auctioneer. There are a lot of great auctioneers out there, right? They're probably seven, eight, nine.

really good charity auctioneers in the Chicago market, right? And you're not gonna go wrong with any of them, right? But you're gonna get people like you and me who believe passionately in the mission of the organizations that we work for, who don't overcharge and who bring these other ideas and their energy and all of that, that helps the organization raise more money than they would have otherwise. And certainly to your point, more money than they would have raised with a volunteer auctioneer. So.

You know, if your goal is to raise $100 ,000 and you want to use a volunteer auctioneer, you might do $100 ,000. But if you brought one of us in, you'd probably do 140, right? And you're going to pay us three or four or 5 ,000 bucks, right? But it's worth it because you've got, you know, $40 ,000 more than what you would have gotten with that volunteer auctioneer. It definitely makes a difference. And here's why it makes a difference. That volunteer does it one time, right? You and I, I've done.

hundreds of auctions, right? I've worked with hundreds of organizations over the seven years that I've done this. I've built auctions, I've built galas myself, so I know exactly what you're going through, when you're going through, what you need to be thinking about, right? And so I become that partner, that advisor, that consultant also, that helps you see around corners and make sure that your event is gonna be even more successful. Yeah, no, you said it best, you know, in that instance, I experienced it already, you know,

having done a paddle raise a couple of weeks ago and having had the opportunity to have three people in the audience raise their paddle for $7 ,500. And at the end of the night, the organization said, we never had anybody above five, right? And all of a sudden here we go and we expedited the gifting that night. And it's just such a fun opportunity. And, you know, yeah, real quick, though, hold on real quick because we're going to wrap up in minutes. We can keep going. But there's two other big points I want to get to. But go ahead.

Yeah. So, so I always when, when folks say like, we want to start our paddle raise at $5 ,000, I say, let me try at 10 ,000. Right. And let me own it also. Right. So, you know, I could say, Hey, well, when we were talking about setting up this event, Chris and I said, you know, Chris told me we should start at $5 ,000. But I said, let me try at 10 ,000. Right. And so is there anybody out there that superhero that champion that can be that

first gift that could put that paddle in the air that can lead us off strongly here tonight, right? And inevitably, probably 40 to 50 % of the time, somebody raises their paddle at that big number, right? And that super charges the entire evening, right? Everybody then thinks about elevating their game. If you were gonna give 100, you get 250. If you're gonna give 250, you get 500, right? And so on and so forth. And so there's two events I wanna talk about. One was,

North Shore Country Day and and I'll talk about the organizations that I support because I I dare any auctioneer to go try to get these events from me, right? I do such a good job that I'm certain that no other That's good. Okay time out time out time out time out. That's to my point. That's to my point, right? And so You know speaking of my competitiveness, right? Like you and I in essence are a competitor, but we're not

We understand the industry and we have to bring different things to the table. And, you know, we don't want to go on too much longer. So I'll let you talk about one of those events, but I also want to just get your, your, your feedback on, you know, how the industry is changing, right? Here's what I'm doing with the appeal. I don't know that any other auctioneer in the Chicago land area is doing this. I have a great production. I have a great production team behind me with brilliant beam and see who you met.

creating shorts for these organizations that I want to amplify the giving to. Nobody's doing that in the Chicagoland area, right? And so we have to find ways to be more creative. And I want to get your opinion on that. In a lot of ways, you're helping me and other auctioneers elevate our game as well, right? So thank you for doing what you're doing. You're bringing this new energy into the charity auction space in Chicago. And eventually, I think we're going to do that around the country, right? Together. That competitiveness, I love it.

One was they said, start at 10 ,000 on the paddle race. And literally 30 minutes before I went on stage, I convinced them to let me try at 20. We had three, three gifts at $20 ,000. That's $30 ,000 that they would not have raised because those twenties would have all been $10 ,000 if I'd started at, at that level. Um, and the other level, the other event was, I said, you know, I said, started at 10. I said, let me try. I just have a feeling on this one. Let me try it. 25. I had a guy stand up.

And he looked like money, looked like Gordon Gekko, right? You know, suit, silver hair, everything. And he asked for my microphone and I've learned never to give your microphone away, right? But I trusted the moment, because he was sitting next to the board chair. He took the microphone and he came up to the stage and he said, I haven't talked to my wife about this, but I know where her heart is. We're going to give $500 ,000 to this organization, right? $500 ,000.

It was absolute gold. The audience stood up. There were tears, everything. He handed the microphone back to me. I looked out to the audience and I said, folks, there were 300 people. I said, folks, don't think for a second that that $500 ,000 gift lets you all off the hook. If anything, super charges what we are here to do tonight. And we ended up raising $850 ,000 that night, right? Yeah. And I want to talk about real quick.

Yeah, I had an I had an opposite experience, right? So behind the scenes, you know, the organization, well, maybe 5000. And I said, Listen, I'm not afraid to fail. I failed many times on a baseball field, and I'll fail many times at an auction. I said to the executive director, what's the most donation the hot the largest donation you've ever received in a panel raise in your history as an executive director? They said 10 ,000. And I said, Well, I'm going to set the record for you tonight. So we raised it, we go to the panel raise. And I said, Who's going to give me $10 ,001?

and damn, not a panel was raised, right? And so I moved on and I ended up getting, you know, what we got that night. But it's okay to fail when you're on stage as we are, because if we don't ask, we're never gonna get to your point, right? That's exactly the point. That's exactly the point, Chris, yes. You know the answer if you don't ask, right? Yeah, that's it. And it looks a lot better for a guy like you or I to get turned down than the executive director or the volunteer dad.

who's gonna start sweating through his shirt, like, you know, because he's nervous and he's gonna fail. So it's just been such an honor, you know, and we have great people in the crowd, you know, just checking in, Raquel Flores from Houston and Patty McNabb from New York, and we had Soaring Profits from Canada, great friends that I'm excited for you to meet, Chris, because they do great work in their communities, and I know you and I together, you know, while we are...

you know, working as hard as we can individually in the Chicagoland area. We have aspirations to do things together nationally and, and we're going to, we're going to achieve that, you know? And so to meet these people is going to be an honor for you. And I just want you to, to take the floor real quick, let people know where they could find you, contact you to book events. I know you're, Hey, it's good for me. You're booking in the May of 25. I'll ride your coattails. Right. And, and it's going to work in both ways eventually, you know, you're, you're going to be, you're going to be super booked also and you'll throw things my way too. So.

Um, yeah, and so my website, you know, there's a, I just put a sizzle, a reel together last year with a good buddy of mine, Ben Boyd. Um, and, uh, you could see that video on my website. It's bid raise bid .com. Um, you could find me on probably most active on socials on LinkedIn, just Chris Hensley. Um, and, um, I, I mean, I'll, I'll give up my phone number as well. It's 6 3 0 7 5 0 1 0 4 5. Um, text is always best. Um,

But yeah, I mean, however you wanna contact me and wherever your organization or your event is, I know this is true for both Chris's on this call here, that we will go anywhere, we'll get licensed anywhere so that we can do auctions and help nonprofits raise a ton of money. That's it, exactly right. So, see, if you don't mind, I wanna bring yourself back up. I want the three of us for just a few seconds to talk about our true passions in music.

Because, you know, like we said earlier, part of being an auctioneer, and I've named my company Hail Hail Auctions after the greatest band ever to be known, Man, Pearl Jam, and my favorite song, and Steeus loves music, and Chris, you do. So Chris, why don't you start us off? You follow a band like I do and talk a little bit about your...

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've got a couple bands, you know, I grew up in the eighties. I'm 54 years old. I was born in 70. So, you know, 83, 84, 85, God, like Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths. You know, just some of the greatest music I think ever created came out of that like mid eighties time span. I've got these this cast of friends, my brother, John, my buddy, Michael, my buddy, Bradley, Patrick, Chad.

We all played instruments, played in bands together, grew up together. And so music is like the fabric of my life, man. I mean, you hear a song and it puts you back in that time, puts you back with those people. It just special, special thing that music does to your soul. So yeah, how about you, Cia? I know Chris and Jim, old Jim all around. I knew you guys were gonna hit it off. I knew you were gonna hit it off, Cia.

Oh yeah, no, totally. Like we are similarly aged. I'm not quite 50 yet, but I will be in August and we are going to look funny. You should mention it. We're going to see echo on May 8th. So echo in the bunny man. So I do have a concert crew that we all go and it is so much fun thinking about. And I just, it's about experiences, right? What you guys offer as auctioneers, it's not just simply, I'm going to show for more money. It's people like to feel.

that excitement that they're actually contributing to something, right? And getting those endorphins pumped up and getting that adrenaline going for them, it is something that is someone who's experienced and trained like you guys are can get to it faster to make people feel good and to remember the experience. And I think all three of us collectively with rock and roll background, it becomes a show. This whole fundraising event becomes an opportunity to communicate.

And like any concert, we all like to woohoo, right? So you guys are rock stars. I'm like, I'm loving it. So that's my two cents of this conversation. Well, I love your girl jam this summer also right here in Chicago at Wrigley field. Oh, well, dude, listen, speaking of, I want to just give a quick, uh, shout out. So, uh, you guys both know my work with the walking tall movement and my passion for mental health. Um, you know, I actually am going to Seattle the last week of, of may.

to work with First Responders and shout out to Untamed Coffee Company and Mr. Brady Hubler and his wife Carrie and all the work they do in that community. But it just so happens I was able to organize the trip when Pearl Jam is playing two shows in Seattle. So I'll be able to go to those and work as well. And then, you know, of course my love for Pearl Jam runs deep. 65 shows in September is going to be a big month. I'm going to Wrigley and Fenway and Ohana and...

I've been lucky, you know, in life to meet some great people and have mutual friends of some of the band members and been backstage and, you know, just had conversations with, you know, my rock icons. You know, I should show a photo. Not too many people have a picture with their hero in music, Eddie Vedder, and their father, and their father's hero in music, Pete Townsend. So I know my dad's watching and I got a picture literally of me, Eddie Vedder, my dad, Pete Townsend, Billy Idol.

It's crazy, right? And so music is ingrained in me. It's a part of who I've become and Pearl Jam and their fan base is a charitable fan base. And that's ingrained in me. And that's why I started HailHailActions. And Chris, I just want to say thank you because if not for the support and the guidance, encouragement you've given, man, like I wouldn't be in this position given the last few years I've had. So I love you, man. And see, I love you. And you know why I said yes. You asked. You asked. Yeah.

Yeah, I'd like to do that. And that's what Greg Dellinger did for me. So I'm just repaying the favor, paying it forward. Yeah. And I'll and I'll be honored to pay it forward to somebody else because I really think this is a great industry for folks like us who are outgoing and giving back in nature and see you are one of those folks too. And I'm just honored to have you on my team. So with that being said, check us out. Hail, hail auctions dot com. You can follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn.

Tick tock. I should give a huge shout out to Jen Kaufman, another one of our team members who does amazing work on our reels and social media. Um, so please connect with her. And then some of my great friends, you know, Raquel Flores, who I mentioned in her influencers connection corner, Towsie brands and Janice Okren, uh, Jody Lamb and, uh, structure your settlement. Soaring pro the list goes on and on Mark Reed in Japan. We just have such great support worldwide, Chris. And I know you will now too. So.

Um, it's been a great conversation and, uh, let's get back to our Monday. So see if you don't mind roll that outro.