We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Wade Terwilliger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Wade below.

Wade , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Palm Beach Modern Auctions: How We Break the Mold

At Palm Beach Modern Auctions, my partner Rico Baca and I have built a business on an almost old-fashioned idea: put people first—clients, bidders, and staff—and profits take care of themselves. That philosophy pushes us to diverge from prevailing industry shortcuts in three big ways:

1. Client relationships that last a lifetime

Most auction houses focus on single consignments or sales cycles. We design every touchpoint—whether a $500 print for a first-time bidder or a seven-figure collection for an estate—to keep collectors with us for decades. By offering flexible commission structures and occasionally “taking a little less,” we grow with clients through milestones: a first apartment, a larger home, a downsizing, or an inheritance. That long view consistently returns higher overall value—for them and for us—than any one-off, top-dollar fee.

Story that proves it: In our March 2025 sale a 19-year-old entrepreneur drove through the night with his father, eager to stock his fledgling 20th-century-furniture business. He won 13 lots—more than $20,000—but discovered at checkout that his bank had unexpectedly slashed his card limit. Instead of cancelling the sale, I took him aside, congratulated him on starting a business so young, and shared how Rico and I once scraped to keep our own doors open. Together we prioritized pieces, accepted a $10,000 partial payment, and—after securing our consignors’ approval—arranged a schedule that whittled the balance to less than $2 000 over the next month. He stayed in touch, met every deadline, and left with both inventory and confidence. That empathy-first approach cost us a bit of short-term margin but gained us a lifelong client.

2. White-glove service in a digital age

Many houses have gone “click-only,” limiting bidders to one platform, one payment option, or an impersonal help-desk bot. We keep the doors (and phone lines) wide open:

• Five ways to bid—in person, absentee, phone, or any of four online platforms

• Instant human support—our phone is answered by a real person; specialists send high-resolution photos, FaceTime walk-throughs, or schedule private previews on request

• Event-level atmosphere—valet parking, linen-draped tables, high-touch hospitality that turns an auction into a memorable experience

That blend of tech convenience and human warmth widens the buyer pool and lifts hammer prices—benefiting consignors and collectors alike.

3. A people-powered company culture

Where competitors trim labor to pad margins, we invest in legacy talent. Every employee—including part-time editors and photographers—earns a commission on gross hammer, not net profit, so the whole team shares in success. We have never laid off an associate or cut pay, even during the pandemic. When COVID shuttered showrooms, our staff rallied remotely to stage the May 2020 sale; the promise that “no one loses a paycheck” kept morale high and revenue flowing.

Result: low turnover, deep institutional knowledge, and a network of loyal clients who trust familiar voices year after year.

Why it matters

Taken together, these choices create a virtuous loop: experienced staff deliver concierge-level service; clients reward that service with lifetime business; and the company grows without sacrificing integrity. It may sound quaint in today’s algorithm-driven marketplace, but our steady year-over-year growth—and the thank-you notes we receive after every auction—tell us the model still works.

So yes, we’re happily out of step with the “industry standard.” We answer the phone, we know our bidders’ kids’ names, and we treat every lot like a gold nugget. That’s the kind of difference that keeps an auction house modern in the ways that matter most.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Palm Beach Modern Auctions — Our Story, Mission & What Sets Us Apart

Seventeen years ago my partner, Rico Baca, and I pivoted from very different careers—Rico was a sought-after Palm Beach colorist and I (Wade Terwilliger) had owned an environmental-engineering firm and sold waterfront real estate—to pursue a shared passion for 20th-century design. We began as weekend dealers, then opened Objects in the Loft, an 8 000-sq-ft gallery on West Palm Beach’s famed Antique Row. Press from Architectural Digest and other outlets spurred demand, and in 2008 we launched Palm Beach Modern Auctions (PBMA) to give collectors a dynamic, transparent way to buy and sell modern design and art.

What we offer

Specialty auctions in post-war & contemporary art, design, and luxury objects. Today fine art represents roughly 60 – 65 % of our annual hammer, with works by Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Keith Haring, and more.

Concierge consignment services for estates, divorces, galleries, and collectors seeking liquidity or refinement of a collection.

Auction estimates, private-sale brokerage, and collection-building advice—whether a newlywed filling a first home or a seasoned investor diversifying with art and design.

Problems we solve

Liquidity with dignity. We navigate emotionally charged moments—inheritance, downsizing, financial strain—while securing market-appropriate pricing and rapid payment.

Access for every budget. By offering multiple price points and five bidding methods (in-person, phone, absentee, plus four online platforms), we make collecting welcoming and fun.

Authenticity & peace of mind. Rigorous vetting and full-service marketing protect both consignors and buyers in a marketplace that can be fraught with risk.

What sets us apart

People first. From day one we decided PBMA would value long-term relationships over short-term margins. A recent example: when a 19-year-old entrepreneur’s bank reduced his credit limit after he won 13 lots, we created a payment plan with consignor approval—earning a client (and seller) for life.

White-glove, boutique experience. Valet parking, catered previews, linen-draped tables, real humans answering the phone, and a team ready to FaceTime, email hi-res images, or host private walk-throughs.

Employee-centric culture. Every associate, even part-time photographers, earns commission on gross hammer; PBMA has never instituted layoffs or pay cuts—even during COVID—because deep expertise and continuity drive better results for clients.

Marketing reach. With my background in economics and marketing, we push every auction beyond standard listing blasts: print ads in not only local newspapers but also in The New York Times, google Adword campaigns, online advertising, free print catalog to bidders and others expand bidder pools and boost hammer prices.

Proud moments & milestones

Record-setting themed auctions such as Studio 54: The Steve Rubell Estate, Karl Lagerfeld’s Tiziani Archive, Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s personal notes and photographs, and James Dean’s leather jacket.

Growing PBMA from a 20th-century design niche into a globally respected auction house where blue-chip art now constitutes the majority of sales.

Cultivating a loyal clientele who begin with a modest print and, years later, entrust us with seven-figure collections—proof that people-first pays dividends.

Bottom line: PBMA exists to make the art-and-design market more human. We marry rigorous expertise with genuine hospitality so clients, bidders, and staff all thrive together. If you value transparent advice, lifetime partnership, and a touch of Palm Beach flair, we’d love to welcome you to your next auction.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

A lesson in resilience: the spring 2020 auction that almost wasn’t

March 2020 should have been a routine lead-up to our final sale of the season. Instead, COVID-19 swept across the globe, Palm Beach went into lockdown, and overnight every revenue stream we depended on vanished. Rico and I are not heirs to deep pockets; we built Palm Beach Modern Auctions from scratch, reinvesting each commission back into staff, marketing, and catalog production. Facing a sudden shutdown felt like watching seventeen years of sweat equity evaporate. I’ll admit it—there were tears in front of the team at a meeting before we closed the doors.

But that vulnerability sparked something extraordinary. We told our eight-person staff, “Help us stage one more sale and no one will lose a paycheck.” They repaid that trust ten-fold. Specialists catalogued from their kitchen tables; the photographer shipped lighting kits home; our IT lead rewired the bidding platforms so we could broadcast a livestream sale from an empty gallery floor. Clients embraced the change—virtually previewing lots via FaceTime and bidding from four online portals instead of the usual in-person paddles.

On May 30, 2020, the gavel fell on what became our most-watched auction to date. Hammer totals met pre-pandemic estimates, every consignor was paid on time, and—while major houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s were cutting salaries and furloughing staff—every PBMA associate kept their full wage and commission.

That sale proved three things we now hold as doctrine: transparency invites loyalty, a cohesive team can out-maneuver any crisis, and small businesses with big hearts can thrive even when the playbook doesn’t exist. The experience still fuels our confidence today: if we could pivot a white-glove, people-centric auction house to 100 % online in eight weeks, we can weather whatever the market throws at us next.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

Close call: the “midnight run” that saved payroll

Right after the lockdowns hit, we faced a brutal math problem:
• No auction = no revenue
• No revenue = no payroll
• Forty percent of the art for our season-ending sale was stranded behind shuttered doors in New York City.

With galleries and apartments locked tight, a normal art-shipper couldn’t legally travel, and New York was in full crisis. Canceling the auction meant furloughing our staff and breaching consignor contracts—a potentially lethal blow.

The cash reserve
Rico had the foresight to withdraw $50 000 in cash—enough to cover payroll and essential overhead—while banks were still operating on shortened hours. That gave us a tiny window to act.

The midnight plan
Rico phoned a trusted shipper who was willing to make a single overnight run into Manhattan. The plan sounded like a scene from a heist film: drive an empty truck through deserted streets, meet gallery managers at side entrances, load crates in alleys under cover of darkness, and head straight back to Florida before new checkpoints went up.

Execution
• Paperwork: We drafted emergency manifests and letters of authorization so the driver could pass police roadblocks if questioned.
• Cash on hand: The cash paid for fuel, tolls, hazard bonuses, and immediate crating fees—no banking delays, no credit-card hiccups.
• Team on standby: While the truck rolled south, catalogers set up home photo stations and copywriters queued condition reports.

Outcome
Three days later the truck backed into our loading dock. Within a two weeks every piece was photographed, described, and uploaded to four online platforms. The May 30, 2020 auction went live, met its presale estimate, and—most importantly—funded the next payroll cycle in full.

Had that midnight run failed, PBMA would have missed payroll for the first time, risking staff departures and consignor lawsuits at the worst possible moment. Instead, quick thinking, a cash cushion, and unwavering trust among our crew turned a near-death scenario into a defining victory—proof that nimble, people-first leadership can keep an independent auction house alive when the odds say otherwise.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.modernauctions.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/palmbeachmodernauctions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modernauctions/