We recently connected with Lydia Fenet and have shared our conversation below.
Lydia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?
YES YES YES. I live for vacations, but as an entrepreneur it can be hard in the midst of my busy schedule to carve out that vacation time. Now that I own my own business, I approach work trips like a mini vacation. I travel so much it would be easy to dread it, but that is a wasted opportunity. I travel 80+ days a year for work and pleasure so I have a ton of tips for making every work trip feel like a vacation. No matter where you are headed, plan ahead to ensure you have time to do something you enjoy. When I travel to a city where my best friends live, I stay with them instead of a hotel so that we can spend free down time together whenever possible. I always bring my running shoes to take a jog or take a call while walking around the city so I don’t feel like I am flying in just to fly back out. I never eat in my hotel room, I always venture out and sit by myself at a restaurant and work from there so I get a sense of the town where I am staying. Uber drivers are a wealth of information for the hottest places in town because they usually pick up and drop off all over the city. Plane time is found time so make a list of things you need to get done and spend time checking things off that list while you fly. A vacation starts the minute you walk out of your every day into an unknown place – for work or for pleasure. Shift your mindset to treat every trip like a vacation and don’t squander a minute of it. You will be surprised how that small mindset shift can make every trip more fun.
During the busiest times of the year, I make a concerted effort to “prioritize my priorities”. I say no to unnecessary meetings, focusing my time on family time and business-critical items so I return to my work life refreshed and ready to give my all. I’m a firm believer in the power of travel, which is why I designed the Claim Your Confidence Retreat. By giving women permission to relax, step away from their daily life, and enjoy renewed focus in a serene setting, the program leverages the benefits of adventure to start guests’ New Years on the right foot.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In my junior year of college, I was studying abroad at Oxford when I read a Vanity Fair article about a collection of Princess Diana’s dresses being sold at Christie’s Auction House. I was totally captivated by the story and immediately wanted to work at Christie’s… I applied for the already full internship program at Christie’s, and continued following up with the internship program director until she added a spot for me to join the program. I worked for over two decades in a variety of different roles until I became a Global Managing Director for the company. In addition to my day job, I also spent 70-100 nights a year onstage as a charity auctioneer representing the company around the world. During those years I realized there was an opportunity to combine the more elegant, refined type of auctioneering seen at an auction house with the more performative, over-the-top world of charity auctioneering. By using the traditional skills of the auctioneer with an improv-based approach infused with wit, humor, and relentless positivity, I developed my own style that differed from other auctioneers working in the charity auctioneering field. This style has helped me raise over a billion dollars on stages around the world, and command the stage at the biggest non-profits in the world: Robin Hood, Tipping Point, the Naples Winter Wine Festival and the Elton John Aids Foundation.
After my time at Christie’s, I began a new chapter as the Founder and CEO of the Lydia Fenet Agency, which represents and trains best-in-class auctioneers. Auctioneers were historically male, and their style was similar to the art auctioneers you might see on TV: formal, measured and very serious or totally over the top (jumping on chairs, standing on tables, running around the room like they had fifteen cups of caffeine). I wanted to give non-profits another option that matched the elegance of the bidders in the room, but also made it so much fun that they couldn’t help bidding. I love to discover new talent and bring fresh auctioneers to the table. While being a woman wasn’t viewed as an asset by others earlier in my auctioneering career, it ultimately became my biggest asset because I was different from everyone else, and totally memorable. I learned to command a room in a different way. Not better or worse, just different.
Along with advising Lydia Fenet Agency auctioneers, I have also written two best-selling books: The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You and Claim Your Confidence. I speak at hundreds of events and inspire men and women alike to find their confidence, land their dream job and ask for exactly what they want. On my podcast, Claim Your Confidence, I chat with powerhouse guests – including Glenn Close, Allyson Felix, Nate Berkus and Marc Murphy – about their journeys to confidence and share tips with listeners to help them live the empowered lives they want.
In January 2025, I will host my 2nd annual Claim Your Confidence Retreat at Hamptons resort Shou Sugi Ban House. The weekend is an intimate and inspiring gathering designed to help attendees set intentions for the new year and build their confidence from the inside out. The intimate nature of the retreat allows guests the space to support one another on their individual journeys to wellness in a five star resort.
Currently, I’m writing my third book. My first book, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You, has been optioned for television by Hulu. Outside of my busy work life, I am a mom to three kids navigating life in New York City alongside my husband of thirteen years.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
In my more than two decades at Christie’s auction house, I built a reputation as the world’s most highly sought-after auctioneer by becoming the authority in my field. It is easy to look at someone who is successful and think that it happened overnight. That was never the case for me, and rarely the case for my successful friends. I have spent over a thousand nights on stages of every size perfecting my skill as an auctioneer. I know the industry inside and out because of time spent practicing on stage. If I wanted to continue as an auctioneer it would have been easy, I could have continued taking auctions, but in order to truly build a brand I had to think about how to expand my reach and network. In 2019 I published my first book, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You, which was the first step in solidifying my reputation as an authority in the auctioneering field. That allowed me to build on my skills as an auctioneer and expand my brand. I became a keynote speaker, motivating others and teaching skills I perfected as an auctioneer: public speaking, negotiation, and confidence in every facet of their lives. This led me to write my second book, Claim Your Confidence, and launch a podcast with the same name. I am currently writing my third book to build upon the brand I have built and create more opportunities. I have single handedly raised over $1 billion dollars for more than 800 organizations across my career, and I know that a large part of this success is due to my willingness to show up and do the work. Last year I launched the Lydia Fenet Agency, a talent agency representing best-in-class auctioneers who I have trained over the course of my career. Hiring a trained auctioneer can boost fundraising revenue by 30%; but many charitable organizations find it cost-prohibitive to book top-tier talent. The Lydia Fenet Agency – in its first year alone – has raised over $100M for charities worldwide.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My journey to confidence has not always been a smooth one. Like many others, I was taught to downplay my opinions early in my career which was something I had to unlearn as I got further along in my career. As I gained more confidence in my skill as an auctioneer, I realized that by keeping my opinions to myself, non-profits were making decisions about their auction that was ultimately keeping them from hitting their fundraising goals. Time and time again, the event organizers wanted the auction to take place after dessert, which meant that guests would have left by the time I took the stage. I knew this was a mistake, because fewer guests would mean fewer bids and less money raised. I had seen it happen for almost ten years as an auctioneer. But at that point I wasn’t confident enough to disagree with them. After a particularly bad auction one night where the speeches went far too long and the inclement weather meant the crowd was already smaller than we hoped, the auction did not come close to the fundraising goal. It made me realize I had to use my voice to impact change. Since then, I’ve made a point to trust in my expertise and speak up when I know my insights have value. I haven’t taken an auction during dessert since that time, unless there is a valid reason to do so. I was resilient in the face of doubt and came out on the other side a stronger, more confident auctioneer and businesswoman who has raised over $100M for nonprofits to date.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lydiafenet.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydiafenet/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydia-fenet-839a413/
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/claim-your-confidence-with-lydia-fenet/id1647588906
Image Credits
Michael Blanchard, Lydia Fenet