MORGANTOWN — For Whitney Wade, auctioneering runs in her blood.
“I think Whitney’s probably a 30-year-old at mind in an 18-year-old’s body,” said Thomas A. Wade, Whitney’s father and owner of Wade’s Auction services in Morgantown. “Most people that meet her just can’t believe she’s so young and so knowledgeable and attentive.”
Now 18, Whitney can be seen up on stage rapidly calling bids out to the auctioneer house’s crowds; however, she isn’t new to the business. Her time with her family’s auction house began about a decade ago.
Whitney began helping out with the family business when she was about 8. She remembers her parents taking her to auctions and she was never shy when it came to talking to people in attendance.
From then on, Whitney never let her age get in the way of pursuing the passion she developed for auctioneering.
At 14, Whitney’s older brother, Tommy Wade, prepared to attend the Mendenhall School of Auctioneering in North Carolina. Although applicants typically must be at least 16 years old, Whitney and her father didn’t let her age deter her from attending.
“I said, ‘I’m here. I’ve got my camper, I’ve got my wife and my dog and our two kids and I want my daughter to go to school’,” Thomas said. “We persuaded the owners to let my daughter go.”
Whitney was granted permission and graduated alongside her brother. Soon after, she eagerly started out working behind the scenes to ensure everything ran smoothly during auctions.
Whitney also found ways to use her skills early on to help others. Although not old enough at the time to receive an auctioneer license, she was permitted to hold benefit auctions. One of her first benefit auctions was at Suncrest Middle School to fundraise for one of the school’s teachers who had been in a car accident.
“I was really, really proud of that, that I got to help them out,” she said.
She officially earned her auctioneer license when she turned 18 and began making her voice known up on stage.
Although she enjoys all the auctions she works with her family, some have been particularly memorable for her.
“We just did one, I didn’t particularly sell at it, but I was there clerking,” she said. “We did a tobacco store liquidation sale and we sold thousands of bongs, things like that. It was very weird.”
Being one of the youngest faces — and fast-talking voices — in the business as well as being a female in a male-dominated industry has its challenges, but being confident in her abilities and skills has proven key for Whitney.
“[People] think I don’t know what I’m talking about or they don’t want to take advice from me,” she said. “But, I think they’ll get used to me, now that I’m up there auctioneering.”
Striving to always improve her skills, she is working to earn her real estate license, which will allow her to auction properties. Whitney also plans to attend West Virginia University this fall as a business student.
Although she will be working hard to earn her degree, Whitney has no intention of leaving the family business. Looking to the future, Whitney is looking forward to some day taking over for her father.
“I’m excited for when me and Tommy, my brother, someday take over the business because we get along so well,” she said. “I’m excited to see what new improvements we can do as a new generation coming up.”
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