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

Debbie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk that absolutely held the biggest emotional reward was trying stand up comedy for the first time in the summer of 2013. The reasons that got me to the stage aren’t important but the fact that those five minutes changed the course of my life are what matter the most. I vividly remember walking up the stairs from the basement to the stage and thinking, I might not make it. I might actually pass out on this stage and never ever take a risk again. Thankfully I didn’t pass out and thankfully those five minutes filled me with passion, determination, confidence, and the understanding that I would absolutely be ok. I went from doing stand up comedy to creating comedy/education shows along with emceeing events. I was then asked to speak on various topics, and in 2016 I decided to combine my love of non profits, speaking, and bringing people together by way of humor, and so I went to auctioneering school to become a professional benefit auctioneer. I have never looked back. The world of auctioneering is male dominated with roughly 23% of auctioneers identifying as female and even fewer identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Represenation matters and it’s important to me to show others within my community that there is a career path to be carved out within the world of auctioneering.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a professional emcee, humorist, and a licensed benefit auctioneer. I work mostly with non profits and schools to build their fundraising events and then once we have created a powerful fundraising event, I help them raise money from the stage. I also work as an emcee for a wide variety of events from music festivals to comedy event to corporate conferences. I am not the typical auctioneer that many people think of when they bring forth the image of what an auctioneer looks like or how an auctioneer acts.
I am most proud of the fact that by using heart and humor I am able to connect with all types of audiences. I spend countless hours learning about the organizations I partner with so that when I am on the stage representing their organization, the guests don’t know if I work for the organization or if I am an ‘outsider’. So many non profits host fundraising events because they have done so fo years and it’s what their industry expects. I help these organizations take pause and really think about the reason they are wanting people to gather, what is the true purpose, and then from there we work to create something magical for their guests.
True success is when a non profit makes more money than they thought possible AND when guests leave feeling great about what they gave, and their time spent at the event. We want guests to leave as ambassadors for the non profit and we want the non profit to raise great money so they can continue doing the best work possible for the communities they serve.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I will always be grateful for the fact that most of my new clients are referrals from existing clients or they come from someone seeing me at an event and reaching out to chat about their upcoming event. It is such a joy to know that the partners I work with trust me to not only work with them on their events but trust me enough to refer me to other groups.

While I do advertise, I spend most of my time nurturing these existing and new relationships.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2013 I was a stay at home mom, who just found herself in the middle of a sudden and surprising divorce. I had left a wonderful job at a non profit and had been at home with our children for a few years so going back to my previous job wasn’t an option. I was scared and felt hopeless and my self esteem took a major hit. That is when I decided to try something that felt scarier than the scary thing I was experiencing in the hope that it would take my mind of off what I was going through.

Looking back I realize what terrible advice that is and I would not recommend it but at the time it is exactly what I needed to move me through a very dark period and into something that would truly be life changing.
I decided to try stand up comedy and fell in love not only with using humor as a way to connect with audiences but also with the endless possibilities that opened up because I decided to take a risk for five minutes, on a stage, over 10 years ago.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.debbiescheerspeaks.com
• Instagram: debbiescheerspeaks
• Facebook: debbiescheerspeaks
• Linkedin: debbiescheerspeaks
• Youtube: debbiescheerspeaks

Image Credits
marilee.co