In 1999, when she became one of the first women to qualify as an auctioneer, Marian Tolich could be forgiven for thinking that she was just going to be the first of many.
Twenty years later, she’s still pretty much the only one around.
“Barfoot & Thompson were very brave to take on a woman,” she says. “It was a very conservative market place back then. You would still get people seeing me and asking ‘could we get a man’. There used to be one other woman in Auckland [real estate], I think a couple in Christchurch and one in arts auctions. A few in Australia, but not common in the rest of the world.”
Beginner auctioneers come through the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, with many testing their chops in the National Auctioneering competition. Tolich mentors young women heading into the competition, but they are few and far between.
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“I did my first competition in 1998, and it was very scary. I remember being interviewed for Top Half [televison show] I was a rarity,” she says. “Novices use the competition as a way to test the waters, but I think it’s more scary than a normal auction.”
Her advice to newbies is to be yourself. “Don’t try to be like a male auctioneer. I remember trying to wear black suit and trousers, be very stern.
“That didn’t work. Now I wear lipstick and heels. I feel I can be a little bit cheekier, I can get away with a bit of banter and use what I’ve got - I’ll talk about a beautiful kitchen for the husband to cook dinner, a person shed not a man shed.
“I haven’t had any complaints,” she laughs. “As you get more experienced, you can read the room.”
As a real estate agent back in 1989 - Tolich celebrates 30 years in the business this year - she thought auctioneering looked like fun.
“I had a loud voice, I’d done drama classes. I thought ‘I’m a smart-arse with a loud voice, that’s all I need to do!’”. She learned that her trade is more than knowing the numbers and the story of a house (she meets with clients ahead of the auction to get a better picture of the property).
“Auctioneering is interactive. You have to get people to do stuff.”
Tolich says that auctioning properties has increased from around 15 - 20 percent of sales to more than half, with Barfoot & Thompson department doubling from three to six auctioneers. She wonders what will happen when there is no next generation of auctioneering women coming through the ranks, maybe that women are worried that public speaking is “worse than death”.
As a single mum for 25 of her working years, and now hands on grandmother, she’s found the industry’s flexible hours suited her. She’s also built a name around the charity circuit, volunteering her time for both charities supported by the company and many others - Hospice, local schools and, recently, The Aunties, working with women leaving domestic violence.
“I loved that, the nicest people to deal with,” she says. “People are so grateful to make $5000, compared to some charities that are after $500,000.”
Tolich proudly carries the Instagram handle #auctiongoddess endowed by a workmate.
