Lead Into It
Lead Into It is your go-to podcast for real, actionable leadership insights—no title required. Whether you're leading a team, a project, or just yourself, host Sara Greco brings you powerful conversations with leaders from corporate, nonprofit, hospitality, the U.S. military, and beyond. Each episode delivers tactical tools, fresh perspectives, and lasting inspiration to help you lead with confidence in your career and life.
Because leadership isn’t about a title—it’s about action.
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Lead Into It
50. Owning the Room with Lydia Fenet
What does it take to command a room, bounce back from failure, and lead with true authenticity? In this episode, I sit down with Lydia Fenet—renowned auctioneer, bestselling author, and founder of her own agency—whose decades at Christie’s taught her powerful lessons in confidence, leadership, and owning your voice.
Lydia shares what she learned from auctioning without a mic, why humor is one of her secret weapons, and how she balances bold career moves with meaningful moments at home. We also dive into her tips for aspiring leaders, the importance of self-care, and what it really means to define success on your own terms.
Whether you're stepping into leadership or looking to reclaim your confidence, Lydia’s insights will leave you inspired to show up fully—exactly as you are.
Let’s keep the conversation going—connect with me on Instagram and LinkedIn, subscribe to my Sunday newsletter, or reach out at sara@leadintoitco.
Excited to be back with you!
You're listening to episode 50 of the Lead Into it podcast. Welcome back to Lead Into it, where we explore the heart of leadership through real conversations with people who live it out every day. I'm your host, sarah Greco, and today's guest is someone whose energy, confidence and authenticity are truly magnetic. Today's guest is someone whose energy, confidence and authenticity are truly magnetic. I'm joined by Lydia Fennett, an acclaimed auctioneer, best-selling author, podcast host and former global managing director at Christie's Auction House. Lydia's journey from intern to the top ranks of one of the world's most prestigious institutions is nothing short of inspiring, and now, as a founder of her own agency, she's redefining what it means to lead with power and poise.
Speaker 1:In our conversation, lydia shares how auctioneering helped her build her unshakable confidence, the leadership lessons she learned from navigating high stakes rooms, sometimes even without a microphone, and why authenticity and humor are her go-to superpowers. We also talk about the balancing act of being a working mom, the importance of self-care and what it means to define success on your own terms. Whether you're looking to boost your confidence, lead more authentically, or simply hear from someone who's mastered the art of commanding a room, this episode's for you. Let's dive in. Hi, lydia. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm so excited to talk with you.
Speaker 2:Me too. Thank you for having me on, Sarah.
Speaker 1:So what is really bringing you energy this week? What is just making you feel like you're thriving?
Speaker 2:Well, I feel like we are in New York and it is the cusp of spring, so we've been having this rollercoaster of weather and I feel like every day that there's a little bit of sun. It gives me hope that we are moving towards the spring and summer, so that is really helping me along, although today it was a whiplash and it's fully outside, so I think we're going to climb from here, but that is. That is where I'm getting my energy. It's just this, day by day. I think we're almost there. I'm a warm weather lover, so that's really what's the energy, more than anything this week.
Speaker 1:For sure, For sure, and we've been going back and forth with the crazy. It's like kind of chilly but then not chilly, and then it's like hot eighties in the afternoon. So you're wearing for cold winter in the morning and you're like but I did not dress for this 80 degree weather this afternoon.
Speaker 2:I don't need a sweater, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:So I'm so excited to have you on the show. I loved listening to you during the Female Founders Day and I took so much away from your conversation and what you shared with us, and so I'm excited to bring the audience along to learn from you as well, because I love your background, I love your history and I think your journey is incredible. Incredible, and also I see how applicable what you have learned through your journey is for leaders and kind of leaders to learn along the way and the skills that you have learned. And now that you share, you have a very interesting journey. How would you kind of describe your journey to where you are today?
Speaker 2:Well, I really like to say, at the core of everything, I'm an auctioneer, which is, for me, the sort of differentiator. For most people. It's such a very specific job and something that very few people actually interact with. So when I say that people are always like, wait, so you talk fast or you sell crazy things, or you sell horses or you sell art, it just kind of depends on where people come from. So I like to think that the job itself is, for me, the platform that's taught me many things that I can teach other people.
Speaker 2:So I worked for Christie's Auction House for over two decades and in that time I was not only an auctioneer, I also was a corporate executive and had worked my way up from an intern to a global managing director. I ran an international team, but the auctioneering, for me, was always the part that was exciting. No-transcript, you know things that you need to learn no one had told me and I feel like you know, I have two brothers, I have tons of guy friends and I feel like they do it so well. You know, it's always like, like, let me grab your hand and show you the way, and so that's really what I want to try to do for more women out there to say to them you can live the life you want and that can look however you want. This is what I've learned along the way and I hope it'll help you.
Speaker 1:Your story is incredible and I would love to hear a little bit more about your corporate executive experience and how that rolled into auctioneering, because if you're leading a team of international members as well as US, that's a pretty big deal and then to continue to do auctioneering and balancing the two, you probably have a lot of lessons learned from both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I think that it all started when I was so young in my career that even at the very end of my career people would be like this is insane, Like you have two full-time jobs, but because I started doing it when I was so young, it didn't really seem crazy to me. It still doesn't seem crazy to me that I leave my apartment at eight o'clock to go to work, you know.
Speaker 2:I get up at like 10, 30, 11, and my entire family is so used to it no one thinks anything of it. I mean, my daughters like take out my dresses as I leave the apartment. But you know, when I started at Christie's, I started in the events department and I was in the events department for 10 years and I ran it for the last six years that I was in it. I think that this is really a through line in my story. I love being a leader. When I get into a new committee or a board or whatever it is, it is a matter of time until I take it over, because I just love leading things. I always have, I've always wanted to be the captains of my team. I just feel like I love to inspire people. You know, I've run the marathon a number of times and even during my training runs, when I'm dying on a really long Hill, if I see other people who are struggling, I'm like yelling for them because I get such, I get such a rush from making other people feel inspired. And so, you know, when I was working in the events department, I loved that job. We were working the craziest hours, but the funny thing about it was, you know I was still young at that point. My husband was in business school in a different state, so I had sort of evenings to myself and that just for me meant like let's fill them with fun things to do. And so I would leave my job, my office job, between like 7.30 and 9 most nights and literally walk out the door and go straight onto a stage somewhere in New York City. So the back entrance of Christie's was on 48th Street, which is really a straight shot pretty much to the Waldorf on Park Avenue. So I would be on that stage in front of a thousand people, having just finished up, you know like telling people to, you know, thanks so much for coming to the dinner at Christie's, and then, like I was off to the dinner backstage, you know, jumping on the stage an hour later. So I kind of got into this routine of doing that and getting it was. You know I took a lot, but then it just increased tenfold over the years. You know it might've been like 20 the first year, 40 the next year, 60 the next year, and there was a point that I was taking a hundred auctions, sometimes taking two or three a night in New York. That for me was always the fun part, and then I would have to be at work at 8.30 in the morning and after I'd been in the events department for a very long time, I kind of saw this white space about the fact that people weren't really doing partnerships and it's a longer story, but it was a time when partnerships weren't really a thing.
Speaker 2:If you were a company, you were a company, and the idea of cross-promoting with Christie's, which is the world's leading auction house, wasn't very appealing because people were like, no, we're the best, we don't need to be with other people. But the reality was we never really had enough money for events or marketing or the things that we wanted to do, and so it really, to me, was this untapped cash that we could leverage in order to have more events, more marketing possibilities, more campaigns, simply by getting other people to pay to do events with us. And so I started strategic partnerships for Christie's 10 years after I started and then I ended up running that for 12 years and you know, I think, if you think year over year, you know partnerships, strategic partnerships, like all of those things were building and growing during that time and it was something that we could really leverage, because Christie's was an asset right, we had access to the wealthiest people in the world, we had beautiful art, jewelry, any kind of memorabilia, and all of that can be leveraged, and so that's essentially what we were doing. And then on the side, on the other side, I was still running the charity auctioneering team plus taking all the auctions, and so you know all of that.
Speaker 2:To say that, now, when people say to me, god, you're so busy, I just think to myself like no idea. This this to me feels like a vacation. I only take auctions at night, I have a podcast. I mean I feel like I have the best life ever because I was such a grind for so long and then also have three children. So I mean, there are just so many things that I feel like the lessons learned are everything from. First of all, I truly believe if you want to do it all, you define your all and you do it, and that's going to look however it looks to you and as long as it makes you happy, don't worry about the white noise. You know some of the other lessons that I write about in.
Speaker 2:The most powerful woman in the room is you like, be so intentional about what you're asking for from the minute you start a job, because every dollar you make is based on where you start and the increments are not that high.
Speaker 2:So you have to ask for what you want.
Speaker 2:And that, for me, was a skill I learned on stage, you know, asking people for money night after night and getting really used to people saying no.
Speaker 2:And then I think, finally, more than anything, there's so many women who I know and have seen over the course of my life myself included, especially in the first decade who are kind of ambling along.
Speaker 2:You know, maybe they didn't have anyone ahead of them, their mom was a stay at home mom, or, you know, their mom volunteered a lot, but they didn't have a blueprint for what a career could look like and therefore they're sort of bumbling their way through. That's really how I felt, and what I would say to you is like, in the same way, when you walk into the office or when you walk into a job or you're setting a contract for the first time for any work, just remember that this is your career, no one else is in charge of it. And even if you work for a company and they're setting up all the rules, at the end of the day, that is not your path. You've got to figure out your path because no one is looking at it the way you will, so just don't ever forget that. Don't take your eye off the ball.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it's no matter what company or corporate or organization you're working for. Ultimately it's your life, it's the company organization you work for. Isn't your identity? You are your own identity and you can kind of cultivate that path and I I feel like that is being heard more and more. But it's a transition that's happening right now where people are realizing and coming from a military culture. I left the air force active duty and I was like I don't know what to say when people ask so what do you do? Cause I was so used to saying like I'm a public affairs officer in the air force. So people say like that's their first question, what do you do? And kind of built from there. And so I love hearing your story of kind of how you're cultivating your path, but that it feels good to you and that's all that matters.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's so true, and I think you know so many people over the course of their career look back and are like wait, what was I doing? You know, it's like it takes so long to get to a point where you stop to look around and think, wait, am I really using this for what it's being used for? Because at the end of the day, I mean I loved working for Christie's. I worked there literally more than half my life and when I think back on it, I think the one thing I could have done even more of is taken advantage of the resources they provided for learning and development. I think I was good about it.
Speaker 2:But I mean, if I were to go back now, I would treat it like I was getting my PhD. I would attend every single class I could. I would take care of every benefit I got, like all those things that in my first decade at Christie's I just didn't even know about, I wasn't aware of and became aware of the longer that I was there, the more I think about it. I'm like there are so many things that I could have done, that I could have educated myself on that they were providing that I just didn't ever really think about. I was like, oh, I'll go out for drinks with friends. I'm like I could have literally done 90 things there that I didn't do.
Speaker 2:And so again I would say to everyone take it all, because at the end of the day, as sad as it is, you are a number on a P&L for a company, and if there is a CEO change or a downturn in the market or, let's say, tariffs are thrown on everything and your business goes under in two days you're gone. So the only thing you can rely on is yourself, and so make sure that you're getting everything you can. And it's a reciprocal relationship, it's not a one-way relationship, and if you look at it like that, you will be surprised the day that they turn off the faucet and you're gone right. So just never forget that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and even if you are using those resources to be a PhD student while you're building your career, they're going to gain more from that, from you learning anyways. So it's not a selfish reason to do any of that growth. It is actually a very proactive to build that career for yourself and that background and growth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I also think that, even if it is selfish, at the end of the day, you kind of have to look at a job or the company that you work with as, like, you are getting paid the least amount that they can pay you to walk in the door every day. Nobody's going to give you more than you ask for, right? So that should always be the way that you negotiate there, not in an ugly way, just something to remind yourself of. And on that other side of that too, by educating yourself and getting all those things done the minute you decide to leave or they decide for you to leave. Whichever comes first, at the end of the day, you already are setting up yourself for success, whether it be in another corporation or whether it be something for yourself, which ultimately, in my opinion, is what everyone should be aiming to do over the course of their life, because you don't want to be someone else. Be your boss your whole life.
Speaker 1:Lead your own life.
Speaker 2:Lead your own life and set your own path, and just that way it doesn't matter what happens around you, because you're in charge.
Speaker 1:I love that. I'd love to transition into your journey into confidence and kind of hear more about how you came into confidence or if you feel like you've kind of built from a good foundation into the confidence that you have today.
Speaker 2:You know, I think I was a confident kid, Like I've always had a fair amount of confidence and I see that in my oldest daughter, like she certainly is a very confident young woman, and I think a lot of that had to do with my parents and their parenting style. They were never about, you know, don't try it, you probably won't get it. They'd always be like, yeah, try it, you're definitely not going to get it, but you should try it. You know they would sit as we just lost game after game and I'd be like I think maybe I'll just go to college for this sport. They were like, yeah, like I mean, you haven't won a single game in four years, but sure you know off, you go to your college, your college scholarship. But that that ability for them to just let me fail a million times over made me really fearless in doing things. And it's interesting, I think confidence ebbs and flows over the course of your life. Like you come into life with a lot of confidence, probably as a child, and then it's kind of knocked out of you, especially if you're a young woman, especially as you're sort of like working your way through the ranks, and so the more you put yourself out there and the more you try out for things, the more you raise your hand and put yourself forward, the more times you're going to hear the word no. You're going to get used to the word no and then you're going to stop caring that the answer is no and that, for me, is where confidence comes from.
Speaker 2:You know, I think even on the charity auctioneering stage I have an agency now of 13 auctioneers who work for me and I feel like their mom a lot of the times, even though I'm the same age as a lot of them, because they always text me when they get off stage. You know I've done 15, 1600 auctions over the course of my life and like there's nothing you can do to me on stage, and I told them all the worst stories of like the things that have happened over the years that they love and they always compare it when something goes wrong. And I got this long email from a woman who is one of my auctioneers this week and she was sort of going on and on about this auction and she said I kept thinking about that auction that you told me about that hadn't gone well and how this was similar and all this stuff. I was like, yeah, yours was bad, but mine was, I promise you. And I remember I said in the text to her I don't think you understand. Like if I had taken that auction in my first decade of auctioneering, I would never have gotten on stage again.
Speaker 2:But because I took it two decades in, I'd been through enough. So I knew exactly what was going wrong and I was like this is beyond my control at this point, like I can't take this on. Like I gave them all of the things that I told them that were going to go wrong and every single one of them did. And like I gave them the blueprint for success and they did not follow it. And that's how you end up with one bitter. So we had a good laugh over that. But that, I think, is how you gain confidence. I think you gain confidence by trying things that are wildly outside of your comfort zone and understanding that a lot of times it won't work out, but on the one chance that it does, you've gained a lot of intel and you've also steeled yourself up and gained sort of a Teflon shield.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and do you have one of those moments where you're like oh, I got this.
Speaker 2:No, but I see how it amplified my confidence in that moment. You train on a lot of the school auctions in New York City because a lot of the private and public schools have auctions. So you go and there are lots and the parents are very drunk. So it's kind of like anything goes, it's kind of fun. And I remember arriving in this gymnasium and this huge gymnasium everyone's talking and they're trying to get everyone to sit down but no one's sitting down and the bar is in the far back and everyone's congregating around the bar. It's like 300 people, it's not 10 people, and a gym just by nature is cacophonous, like the sound bounces, not great. And so I remember saying to them do you want me to quiet people, cause they were already like 25 minutes late, do you want me to get everyone to sit down? And they said, yeah, actually we have a dad. He'll just woof whistle. So he woof whistle People pay attention for 10 seconds. He's like we're going to start the video and maybe three people go and sit down.
Speaker 2:And I said people are talking and talking. And I finally said do you want me to go up there and try to make them stop talking and get this started so I can get home. And they said, yeah, just hop up on that stage and tell everyone to be quiet. And I said, sure, is there a microphone around here? And they said, oh, we didn't get a microphone, we just thought you were going to like, get on stage and do your thing. And I was like my thing, 300 people in a gymnasium with their been drinking for three hours, like what's the thing? I don't think I have the thing and would have been okay if it were a lot in a paddle raise or like one item in a paddle raise.
Speaker 2:It was like a 15 lot auction, which is a solid hour and a half. There wasn't, I mean I think there was like one person seated, like even in the beginning and at the end I mean it was just like me in an empty auditorium. And I mean I didn't even say anything to the event planners, I just ran out of the back door and cried all the way home and you know it was so awful and I just I never wanted to get on stage again. And then the next week I got a call for another auction and finally I was like, all right, the guy was really like, come on, you just take it. And so I went and took it and it was fine and it went well and it was good and it's kind of like getting back on the horse.
Speaker 2:But then the next time that I went in and there wasn't a microphone, first of all I would always ask. And then there was a time, like probably a couple of years later, when I went in and the microphone went out in the middle, and so it was like I'd already been through it and I was like using the tricks that I'd used in the last time to get them to stop talking, maybe once or twice. So I had a couple of tools in my arsenal but I wasn't like sobbing at the end of was my performance as good as it could have been? Okay, well, that is that for me is the important part. If I got on stage and I did everything I could, and I'm at a place where I know that those who would have worked if the organization did not uphold their end of the bargain, that for me no longer felt like a failure. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:So it was kind of like almost separating those two things. Like where did I find confidence? I found confidence because I knew what I was doing. So I think that's part of it. But then the other side of that was sort of taking the onus off of me being wrong 100% of the time if something doesn't go well going well, and saying like that was beyond my control, right. So that's kind of what I would think. When people are always asking me, like how do you become more confident, I'm like you have to almost analyze those moments, those bad moments, where you're like what happened? Like why didn't that work? Why didn't I get that promotion? Why did that horrible thing happen to me? Like what was that? And almost look at it objectively Like it's not even you, like if it was someone else, and then really understand, is there anything you could have done? Is there anything you could have done better? And then try to improve it, give yourself points to make it better the next time.
Speaker 1:And how do you cultivate these moments of confidence in the auctioneers that you lead, because it sounds like they encounter moments like these too. And so how do you kind of encourage them, when they have those moments of everything to seem to go wrong and I don't know what to do to make it better, balancing between what happened and what they could have done to improve it, and maybe what they can't control?
Speaker 2:I think two things. First of all, you know, I get feedback from the organization too and I think we're a lot harder on ourselves than they are on us, if that makes sense. So you know, I feel like I've also steeled them up with the things that used to really sort of ding me, which was the inevitable comment. That was a tough crowd. And I would always take that on as like oh, you didn't think that I could handle that. Or you know, it always to me seemed very personal when people said that and now I just say something like yeah, it's a charity auction, like there's never an easy one, you know. Or people will say that was a really loud crowd. I'm like no, that was not a loud crowd. You have no idea what a loud crowd is. That was a wonderful crowd. So I sort of say to them you almost always have to come at a place where it's not bothering you and really try to own that feeling.
Speaker 2:It takes time and, as I said, I've taken 1,500 auctions, 1,600 auctions. It's taken me time to get here, but I feel like they come to me because they know I'm a safe space, they know I will laugh with them, they know I will help them understand what went wrong and what could have been better, or ways that I can get out of things, things that I've learned of how to quiet a crowd without annoying them, how to move through something when no one bids at the first level. There are all these little tricks that I already have in my toolbox that I can pass along to them, and I think that makes them feel more confident. But it's also nice to just know that they can call me, and I'll probably laugh harder than anyone else. Oh yeah, that was bad. Let me tell you about another thing.
Speaker 1:Well, creating that safe space as a leader is incredibly important because they feel okay to have those moments of what might be they might consider failure or mistakes, and they take those as an opportunity for growth instead of tearing themselves down even further.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. And it is such an important part, I mean, in this day and age of like everybody's so perfect online, I mean it's always the best when you see someone who's like beautiful and perfect post that video where they get like knocked down, skiing, you know, and you're like, oh good.
Speaker 1:You're cute.
Speaker 2:You know, like thank God you have a sense of humor and I do think you know, even when you think about social media, the things that people often respond a lot more to are the moments of humanity. You know, it's great when people are doing well. I always want to see people doing well, but it's also fun to find out that someone didn't do something well and have them laughing about it, because that, to me, is the kind of person I would want to hang out with Exactly.
Speaker 1:It's just more approachable, yeah, tell me the bad story.
Speaker 2:Tell me this when I really went wrong. I think, going back to leadership, that's such an important part of it, because we can't we can't lead through a lens of perfection. You can want perfection, certainly, but I think what will endear you to people and what will make them root for you as a leader is showing them when things don't go well either. Right, and that can, that can show up in however you want to show that. But I've always felt, and I felt like when I ran my team.
Speaker 2:You know those moments where things were going awry, I would always say to people like, if something is going terribly wrong, let me be your first call because I will help you strategize how to get out of it. Do not let me be your last call when everything has gone to hell in a handbasket. You're not alone. You know that's what my job is to lead, so let me help you lead. I have that basket of resources and and I know how to make things that may seem like that may keep you up for weeks on our end. I can. I can shortcut that for you, so let me help you do that.
Speaker 1:You know, creating that pathway to help bring them to where you know that they have potential and you see their potential and you're like I you were just talking earlier about creating those navigation pathways and kind of helping people along, women along, especially. Yeah, exactly, we're kind of veering into a little bit about authenticity because we're talking about imperfection and it bleeds into leading into your authentic self. There's a story that you told a female founder saying it's also in your book where you kind of found your authentic self. There's a story that you told at Female Founders Day it's also in your book where you kind of found your authentic self on the auctioneering stage. You mentioned something about having the flu and kind of embraced that situation. Can you tell that story for the audience and kind of what you learned from that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, this for me. When we go back to talking about, I always talk about my first decade of auctioneering, my second decade of auctioneering. My first decade for me was, if you've read the Tipping Point, it was me putting in my 10,000 hours and I always like to think that this happened at that moment in my 10,000 hours where I'd completed them and this is what kind of came together. I had been out late the night before and I said in my book that I had the flu. But I don't know if it was really the flu. It doesn't make sense. It was a flu. It was a self-inflicted flu. Perhaps it goes to show you too. Even at that point I felt like I couldn't say that it worked because it would have been frowned upon when I was writing the books. But the reality was that I was not feeling well the next morning at all, like I thought I was going to die. I was very sick and I was sick pretty much all day and I'd been calling all the other auctioneers, but because most of the auctioneers were much older, they all had plans. It was a Saturday night. Everyone's like I'm sorry, I can't take this auction for you. It never occurred to me that I shouldn't take the auction. I've just never been that person Like I'll show up dying. I'm like I've got to go. I crawled to the Central Park Boathouse. It was sort of sitting next to the stage shakily just trying to like hold on. One thing I know from auctioneering is whenever I'm on stage I feel fine, like even if I want to die, and I can say this I took three, I took auctions during three pregnancies with crippling morning sickness, and I would get on that stage like Willy Wonka dropping the cane and doing a somersault, like I would be like oh hello, you know, it's like you get this big adrenaline rush. Up until that point I'd been barely alive. And so this put me to a middle place.
Speaker 2:I had always approached auctioneering in that first decade as what I had been taught to do when I trained at Christie's, which was really act like an elegant British man. It was the sort of gold standard at Christie's. The guy who led the whole thing was probably in his 60s or 70s and he was a remarkable auctioneer, like a beautiful auctioneer. And so we all adopted this language of using words like shall and you know these sort of like words that don't really occur when you're speaking to people and in art auctioneering it makes sense. I mean, you're selling things for $100 million. You want a certain level of gravity.
Speaker 2:In charity auctioneering you're selling stuff that nobody wants on stage late at night and like you don't need that. But no one really had taken those two styles differently, and so I got on stage that night and the first auction item was a dinner and cocktails at the home of one of our top clients and she was seated in front of me at the auction. But the other part that was so funny was that I had been seated next to her maybe five years prior when the guy I thought I was going to marry dumped me literally the night before and I was running the events department as we spoke about. So I showed up and, as often happened, if someone didn't show up I would sit last minute. So I was seated next to her and she was like so how are you doing? I started crying like immediately. I mean I'm talking five minutes into this lunch, which is going to be two hours and I couldn't stop.
Speaker 2:I'm so devastated. I had not seen it coming and I was just sobbing and she just couldn't have been nicer. You know, she's probably like 10 years older than me and been through this and was married and had a child. It was like on the other side of it she's like it's okay, sweetie, and it was like, you know, she's like giving me napkins, like helping with the tablecloth, and it was like wine, chocolate, like anything she could give us. I just couldn't stop crying.
Speaker 2:And when I stood up at that podium I was talking about the first auction item and I would have said something like a cocktail party for 10 people, you know, at the home of blah blah, blah, blah, and like this very elevated voice. And I said to the crowd like listen, I have no doubt you're going to have an amazing time at Jennifer's home. It's cocktails and dinner for 10 people. It's the top chef in New York. But, more importantly, I sat next to Jennifer when the man I thought I was going to marry dumped me and she nursed me back to health over an hour.
Speaker 2:So if you are currently seeing a therapist, give it to the organization. Go to Jennifer's and you will be patched up in no time. I've never felt better in my life. You know, something just like completely off the cuff. She was nodding and laughing and I was laughing and the audience, for the first time in 10 years, stopped talking to be like what on earth is going on, and so I kind of realized in that moment, like that it was such a split second. I just remember looking and being like my God, they're paying attention.
Speaker 2:And they're not just attention, like they're. They're like wrapped with attention. And so I realized that what I was going to need was humor. Like I have such a dry sense of humor. My friends and I just completely rail on each other all the time. It's like my siblings. I'm like I love making people laugh, I love laughing. I realized that was going to be something that I could bring. That was a tool that I had not yet put in my toolbox to bring out on stage. And so that entire auction I just leaned into that and by the end I was like this is like a game changer for me. It's so fun.
Speaker 2:And I say to people all the time we think that it's supposed to look a certain way, because we've seen it done like that, it doesn't mean that there isn't another way to do it. That's as good, if not better. And so you know, even when I left Christie's to start the agency, to start my talent agency, I say to people all the time like if you want an art auctioneer, call Christie's and Sotheby's. If you want the guy who's going to jump on a table in a blue bow tie with sequins all over him, different place, if you're coming to me or you're coming to me to find an auctioneer, you are going to get a combination of those two things the person on your stage will know how to own that stage, and then they will also have the technical skills that I learned at Christie's, that I can train them so they know that this is an elevated situation.
Speaker 2:This is not like someone jumping on your table screaming in your face different story, and so that's been for me. Like even defining that in that moment was really what that became. This is a performance. This isn't just an auction where I'm giving numbers back and forth. This is going to make you laugh. You're going to feel empowered and inspired and you're going to give money, and that's really what it's been ever since.
Speaker 1:What would you say to encourage people to kind of lean into that moment for themselves of authenticity?
Speaker 2:Well, when I was training auctioneers, and even with the auctioneers that I bring on now, I say to people, like if your best friend said, what is your best part of your personality, ask them. Like, ask them what they love about you so much and that's the quality you want to lean into. You know, not everyone has a crazy sense of humor. Not everyone has a funny sense of humor. Some people get really scared when they do certain things. But there's always something that people love about you, like there's a reason that people are attracted to you and that, for me, is always the thing that I want people to hone, to make them feel more confident because they're using their own voice. But also it's what other people like from you.
Speaker 2:So in some of my auctioneers they're not funny at all, but they are very earnest and kind. They have a humbleness about them that people love on stage, because when you're talking about a really serious issue or pediatric cancer, you don't necessarily want some cracking jokes. You want somebody who can really dial into that emotion and deal with that. So that's another part of what I do. It's like matching people with that. So I would say to anyone who's out there who's listening, it's like. What is it about you that draws people to you? And use that to find your authenticity in whatever you're doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I relate to this a lot because as a military member, we have this persona that we're kind of. We feel like we have to fit this commanding, super demanding presence where we take over kind of a room, and create that presence immediately. Over the course of my career I did that for like the first five to 10 years and then when I switched over to being an Air Force reservist, I was like I want to be me, I want to just kind of embrace quirkiness and yes, I'm wearing the uniform and yes, I'll be professional, but there's something about how I lead that I want to make sure that I feel authentic so that the airman that I lead, the team that I lead, feels like I'm approachable. I'm not necessarily a commanding presence, but they still respect me. There's not one way to lead. There's not one way to do your job.
Speaker 2:Right, absolutely. And again, one thing my mom has always said she's British and when we'd be like that's so weird, that's bad. You know about the way she would say something, or that she liked something. She said something. That's really stuck with me and I use it as a phrase all the time, especially when it goes it pertains to men and women.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm like it's not good or bad, it's just different. You know, and that was always when I approached being an auctioneer, especially as a young woman, in an industry that was really filled with much older men who were incredibly good at their jobs. It's not good or bad, I'm just different, and different can be fun, different can be interesting and dynamic. And until you've seen it, a lot of times it feels scary. And then when you have, you're like maybe I like that better, I just can't even. I just have never seen it done like that before and I feel like that for me is to this day still such a funny thing. But even I was.
Speaker 2:I was side stage this week where a guy who was holding a microphone said to me can you go get the auctioneer? And I said I'm the auctioneer. And he said can you? No, can you go get the auctioneer. And I said I'm the auctioneer and he said oh my God, I'm so sorry. And I was like no, it's okay. I mean, I've dealt with this my entire career, but even at this point you know, I've been doing it three years now I'm like no, I am the auctioneer and this is my 30th time here this year, but it was really funny yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I imagine, unfortunately, those moments humble you in a way. But you're like I'm here, I'm going to do my job exactly how I know it, and continue pushing forward and show them like, yes, I can own this stage and keep going forward, even though the person doesn't think I would be the auctioneer long that I felt like, oh, he must be really embarrassed to have not to have made that mistake.
Speaker 2:I actually didn't. I've gotten past that because I think I dealt with it for so long, like so many years of being like no, no, it's you know, it's me. I'm like, no, I'm the auctioneer, Like I'm getting on that stage I'm going to get all that money. Watch, you know, and it wasn't, I didn't even feel like just about to happen and I feel like that's where I've gotten confidence wise, over years of practice and, frankly, years of having to answer that question over and over again.
Speaker 1:But I was like now you know, and now you'll never forget. Yes, that's a very good point. There's also something you mentioned for the female founders day and it's also in your book the strike method. And I've taken this as my own homework to try to figure out my strike method. But I love for you to go into it and kind of tell the folks how they can embrace their strike method.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. When I was first writing my first book, my editor said something that I'll never forget. She was sort of like listen, you get a gold star, you work for Christie's. Tell us the story of how you got there as a girl from Louisiana. Like, tell us the story of a girl who lives in a small town in Louisiana, like you did, and is like I want a big life. I don't know what that looks, but I want a big life.
Speaker 2:And I was really trying to think about the best way to describe what it's like to walk out onto a stage when there are a thousand people staring at you, you have one piece of paper with three lines of copy and you have to make like $15 million. Like what does that feel like? Right, and how did I get here? And to me, when I was sitting, I wrote the first paragraph. I mean, I wrote the first chapter on a plane and I remember I was sitting there and I was like it's really starts in those 10 seconds before I get on stage. And you know I started the book with Lydia. You're on in 10 seconds and it's a countdown and I know from experience of having experienced that adrenaline rush so many times before. That's the adrenaline rush that cripples people right. For me, that's energy I'm bringing to the room. If you're a novice public speaker, it's like the part that makes you want to die. You're like, oh my God, I can't feel my body. Public speaker. It's like the part that makes you want to die. You're like, oh my God, I can't feel my body. And for me I'm like here we go. And so I'm trying to think about how I got to that place and how did I get to the place where I feel comfortable on stage and excited to get on there? And I realized it's really in that transition point.
Speaker 2:But I bring a gavel when I go on stage. So I walk out on that stage, I'm looking out at this huge group of people. There's a spotlight coming down. Video's just finished. Everyone's quiet. I have a gavel and I slam the gavel down three times and I've had people say things over the years that kind of stuck with me. I remember one guy said you know you should patent that move, because even if I'm in the bathroom, like in the middle of an event and I hear it had really become like my thing, it's like three. And then right after that I'd launch into good evening.
Speaker 2:Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Lydia Fennett. It used to be I'm here from Christie's, now it's. You know, I'm so delighted to be here and I throw in a joke and then it's kind of off to the races. But that gavel strike for me is like almost the moment where I transition into this, this person who's going to own the room, this person who's going to own the room. So I realized that I was starting to apply that to other parts of my life too, because for me, once the gavel hits, I don't turn around. I never stop from that moment on. So it's almost like where do I begin? And then off to the races.
Speaker 2:And so I say to people think about what in your life you have that you can grasp onto. That makes you feel confident from that moment on. And that could be anything from a mantra you say, it could be an action that you take. I think I said that the Female Founder Collective, a friend of mine, when I told her this was like I started doing underneath the table, tapping it like here we go right before I start a Zoom call or anything like that. And she's like I even find sometimes I like squeeze my palms three times to say here we go, coaching a woman for a long time who found a red stone on a beach and she just started bringing that. It was like her Dumbo's feather that she brought to all of her meetings.
Speaker 2:So I think it can be anything that you want and obviously it's all mental, like what you're doing is just mentally preparing yourself. And then on the other side of the strike method I say line up what you're going to say after that first sentence, because if you really think about public speaking, all of your adrenaline are good. Everything is leading into that first moment when you start speaking. And so if you have already lined up that line, the one that's right after it, you get to the point where the adrenaline starts to sort of dissipate a little bit and you're not as nervous. So you just have to get over that hump. So get your strike method and then line up the thing you're going to say afterwards. And that for me it's really the way you feel, confident, when you feel when you walk on stage, because you know what's coming.
Speaker 1:Right, it's the first step. It's like the first step of taking a marathon, opening up the fitness video. I remember when you knocked on the podium and I remember I was like whoa, that was loud. And I remember saying to my colleague right next to me that's one way to do it. It caught everyone's attention. It was very unexpected, even though we knew that you were an auctioneer coming in, and it got all of our attention. It was very wrapped very quick and you just rolled right into it and we knew that there was a good presentation coming up, because we could just feel the energy coming off of you for that and it set the whole tone for that presentation, for your speech.
Speaker 2:And I said to you guys that day many times I am speaking after lunch. You are tired, I understand I will bring the energy you need and then I need from you, you know, and I would throw in jokes so that you guys would react, because warm in that room there were a lot of people there, you know. It was like supposed to be seated. There were people everywhere and it was it for me. That was great energy. But it's also after lunch. People have eaten, they're tired, and so addressing that and not being scared of it I think is always an important part of speaking as well. It's like I get you guys, I've got you, I'm going to bring the energy and you can just sit here and watch and we're going to have a great time. And I'm going to call on you a couple of times so that you guys have to react. So I know you're awake or alive, but you know it's all good, I'm going to have fun regardless.
Speaker 1:And I took away that lesson very clearly, where I again I'm going to bring in my military experience, because we love PowerPoint in the military and it's like good morning, my name is Rank Name and I'm going to present to you blah blah, blah, blah, blah. Here is our overview. Here is slide one. And it is so draining and you drone on and when I saw what the possibility was and I've seen really good presentations, but I think what yours took away, or what I took away from yours in particular, was how simple you could carry somebody's attention. It wasn't anything super transformative, it was just words, jokes, your energy and very minimal PowerPoint slides just to come across with your message. Like it was just. It was very intentional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I you know people say to me they're like I actually am doing a speaking engagement for Deloitte in a couple of weeks and they were sort of like can you send over your slide? I was like for what they're, like we have to send them to risk management. It's like I don't know what they're going to get. I mean, these are literally four words on a slide. And she's like well, can you send over your speech?
Speaker 2:I'm like there is no speech, like I speak from the talking points and whatever it is that day, because when you give a speech, no one knows what you're saying except for you. So to me, the scripted speech which I used to, I will never forget. One of the first ones I did down in New Orleans. My friend, jane Scott Hodges, said to me afterwards she's like that was a great speech, you should do it without notes. And I was like what? And she was like, just try it once.
Speaker 2:Because honestly, you, reading from a script is so painful for everyone and it was such a good story that people were zoning out and I'd never been a speaker, I'd always been a charity auctioneer and I do nothing from notes. I might read like it's a vacation house in Mexico, and then the rest is like, whatever I see in front of me, whatever the people are doing and however we're going to get that bidding up. But and however we're going to get that bidding up, but it was the greatest tip of my speaking career because she's right, if you were reading from a speech, it is a very, very different thing. So I always think that the best speakers are the ones who you know. You put your five talking points and then just talk about those. You know the story. That's why you've been chosen to be a speaker. So what are you talking on? You have those as your reminder and then tell them what you know. That's in your voice, in your authentic voice.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I would be curious if you had any advice for those that might work for specific companies I mean military or very strict direct companies but they want to add their own authenticity, to create their own script, have their own strike method. What advice would you give to those that are kind of trying to form their personality in a company or organization that might have very strict policy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, listen, I think you can always bring your authentic self and you work in a company and that is its own ecosystem, so you have to understand that and you have to abide by the rules that are set so that there is a corporate culture. There may be a dress code, like all of those things. I can't tell you what that looks like for you individually, but I can say that if you are giving a PowerPoint presentation and you do need to put a couple of slides up there I mean, even for Deloitte, I had to send over a couple of additional points and I did it. And it's interesting because the more you give someone, the more they have to react to, and so I gave them the bare bones. And so I would say like, if you are the person who has to give a PowerPoint presentation and you know that there are specific things that you need to put on there, think about what you can take off.
Speaker 2:You never want to have more than three bullets on a PowerPoint presentation. Also, make it light. It doesn't need to. You should not be reading from your PowerPoint presentation. It should be like a moment where you touch on it and then you turn back to the crowd. Because, again, going back to engaging a crowd or leading a crowd people are. You don't feel like you're being inspired by somebody who's reading something that you can read too? Right Like now, we're both reading all 90 points from my PowerPoint presentation and look, it's lunchtime. You've done literally nothing. At that point, it's like tell me in your own words why I need to know this and how you've come to learn this. Those are always, in my experience, like that's the most interesting way, because storytelling is the way that things are passed down, Like that's the best way to that's the best way to learn.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it carries everyone's attention way better than reading off a PowerPoint slide.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so painful.
Speaker 1:I'd love to kind of dig maybe a little bit behind the curtain of your life and I would love to ask a question about, like what do you wish somebody would ask you, based on your experience, that you have not been asked regularly or haven't been asked at all.
Speaker 2:You know, I think that a lot of what I've done has been covered, but I think the questions that I always like the most are sort of similar to the one that you asked earlier about. You know, tell me something that didn't go well, because I do truly believe that that's where the learning happens. You know, I do think that we all try to make it look glossy because it looks better and it feels better to do that, but the reality is, it's always those pain points where we learn, and those are the questions I'm always happy to be asked. You know, what was? What was the time where you fell flat on your face on stage? Or you know I mean, I could tell you that story which would make you howl with laughter where I had taken an option for seven years and it had always been at the same place with the same group, and they had a new CEO and he emailed me and asked me if I could come take it again and I said yes, and then, probably a week before, I said okay, just to make sure it's still the same. He's like oh no, no, no, no, we're doing it totally different. We're doing it at Tavern on the Green. It's a standing tent. You know it's going to be vertical, so you'll be at one side of the tent, meaning like one lengthwise all the way up. And he's like and there are probably about like 10 speeches before you go up and no, there's no seating. And so I was like if you were a charity auctioneer and you were listening to this and you already know this was not going to be a success. And I said to him this is what I will tell you you need people to be able to sit during an auction, otherwise they're not going to pay attention. You need an auction to be early, otherwise people are not going to be like everything. Please, even if there are speeches, they should be short. Give them a break to come back. Like anything you can do, just don't have it. After a lot of talking he was like well, that's just the way we're going to do it. I was like well, I have given you all of the things.
Speaker 2:And so the evening started by the second speaker. The CEO had gotten on stage to try to quiet the crowd because it was so loud. They were already talking when he was up there and he was up there and he was trying so desperately to get them to stop talking for this honor. He broke a glass with a spoon, like that's how hard he was hitting it. That was speaker two. By speaker eight, I would say there were probably like eight people still paying attention. He dropped a crystal award because he was so frustrated that nobody would talk Speaker 10. So by the time I got up, speaker 11, there were probably two people who were paying attention and we had one woman bid One, and again, I would have felt really badly about it a decade prior, but I literally was like you know what this one was?
Speaker 2:100%. I told you every single thing that was going to go wrong. I could have literally called this from the minute it started. There were also separate rooms where people could go. So, frankly, everyone had just moved into the other room because they couldn't afford it. Yeah, so that was, and that was probably five years ago.
Speaker 2:So I tell that to the auctioneers. I'm like I promise you you likely will never have anything worse than that, but I think it's important that they know that it can be really painful and bad and there are things that happen and even despite everything and all the years of experience, there's nothing that can be done, and things like that, for me, are always important to talk about. So to answer your question, like asking about the things that don't go well is as important as asking about the good things like asking about the things that don't go well is as important as asking about the good things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and like every time, just the second time, I've heard these stories and I appreciate hearing them, just because it creates a humble experience and it makes you, as a leader, very approachable. But also I relate to you because I'm like well, obviously I've made mistakes and it's nice to see other people make mistakes, but it's not. It's also seeing those situations that you cannot control and you're just like well, I'm here, I tried and I'm going to do my due diligence and that is all I can do. I did the best I can.
Speaker 2:Exactly Like I'm going to try, but there is legitimately one person here who's can Exactly Like I'm going to try, but there is legitimately one person here who's who can even see this taking place.
Speaker 1:So you had mentioned that you are a go, go, go type of person and you thrive and do all that, and you have three kids and a family and do your. It sounds like you travel quite a bit, both before and currently. How do you recharge and rest to prepare yourself for those either sprints or marathons?
Speaker 2:You know, there are a lot of different things that kind of go into my schedule. Now I feel like what's really important for me is when I am not in those what I call sprints where I'm about to go into one. That's basically six straight weeks of travel and auctions and all those things. Right now I'm not in one of those. So it's about being home, it's about being with my kids, it's about going to bed on time, and on Saturday I am a go-go-go person, and even my daughter.
Speaker 2:We did a Gilmore Girls marathon because it was pouring with rain and my oldest daughter and I were just snuggled in bed watching Gilmore Girls, which I never, ever do. That Like I never watch TV during the day. I just find it to be such a waste of time. And it was funny because she was like you're so not good at being lazy. I'm like, I know, but I'm really. I look at I, look at me. I'm actively trying to be lazy. You know, I'm really I'm not even out of my pajamas yet like super lazy today, you know.
Speaker 2:But I don't think that I need that to recharge. I mean, if I'm exhausted I will fall asleep. You know, I can nap, nap on the floor anywhere. I'm a great 10, 15, 20 minute napper, for sure, and I employ that strategy whenever I need it. But I don't think that I need to recharge in the way that people think you know you need to read a book for 10 hours, like I don't need that and I never have.
Speaker 2:So it's really for me about being intentional for the people around me, and recharge for me means filling up my cup with my family and being there with my kids Like that's the stuff and seeing my friends and, you know, having a glass of wine at lunch with a friend on a Thursday because I don't have to be on stage for the next five days, and that's that to me feels like a real luxury, because I in May like there's none of that, it is picking up the kids from school, getting on stage, getting up in the morning, getting ready for the auction tonight you know it's.
Speaker 2:And then I would say that the final thing for me is like my priority is always exercise, because I I function better when I am exercising. If I don't exercise, I get tired, I get grumpy, like all of those things, and that for me is just a discipline, like anything else. You know, I, I make sure, even when I land from a flight, the first thing I do is go for a run, even if it's like 10 minutes, I'll just get my body moving. Just that for me, is like a non-negotiable, because I know I function better if, if my body is like in good shape?
Speaker 1:Yeah, is there a moment in your career where you recognized that this was the type of recharge that you preferred or needed, or have you kind of always been this way?
Speaker 2:I've always been like very, very high energy my whole life, Like I really do push myself. I just I don't even know where that comes from.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think, I was raised with three siblings and we're all pretty competitive, so I think that maybe there's a part of that. But I also, as I said earlier, like I've always wanted a big life and there's also an understanding I guess, just having lived in New York for long enough and met enough people successful that to live a big life takes a lot of work. And when I was at Christie's doing, you know, 90,000 things at the same time and having babies and all of that stuff that for me was, it was just like a nonstop hamster wheel, and COVID was the first time I hadn't been in an office since I was 21 years old. You know, I my life revolved around running back and forth to rock center until I was 20, like from the age of 21 until COVID, and that was really the first time that I had to really learn to be still. You know, everyone's like sitting with their stillness and I was sitting with my stillness and I was like you know, I really hate being still.
Speaker 2:As it turns out, I was actually right. I love being busy. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm like, and when this ends, if this thing ever ends, I am going to be like you've never seen anyone, and I think that's right. You know, I definitely feel like that time for me was just such a time to really think about what I wanted in this next chapter of life and and really to be able to go after things with abandon. So I don't think I actually needed to recharge in my twenties and thirties. I think I just had even more energy then and now the recharging for me is really just about plugging in with my family and being with them as much as possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that was very interesting for me because I think that people each person's individual when it comes to what it takes to recharge, but we hear these things about self care and you feel almost guilty for not doing some of the things that are quote unquote self-care. And so really understanding what fills your cup and like leaning into whatever that is, and you could tell that for your daughter over the weekend, refilling her cup was spending time with her and watching Gilmore Girls and leaning into that and so, even though that might not have been the recharge for your cup, you knew that it was for her, so you knew, but in a way that would fill your cup because you're feeling her. So it's just it's good awareness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I also think you know and to your point about wellness there, there's been a certain amount of acceptance in my life in the past, like five or six years, that there are just certain things I don't want to do. You know, my sister is a huge yoga person and she's always like come to this yoga class with me and I'd always be in the yoga class. Like this is taking forever, Like all I want to do is go for a run, or. But now I found tennis, which is something I played when I was little and that for me, feels like full self-care. You know, I can't get enough of like hitting balls into things just as hard as I can, and that feels so great on every level. And so I'm like you know what I'm not going to try to do? Yoga I hate it.
Speaker 2:I don't want to do it anymore. I'm going to do really cool, fun activities that make me feel exhausted, because I love that feeling.
Speaker 1:And that's, I mean, it's good self-awareness, and you don't have to do yoga and you can do whatever feels good to you, exactly, exactly. Would you be open to a quick rapid fire session of four questions to do just like quick and we can learn just a little bit more about you? Sure, so first question is what is one word you would use to describe yourself at 25? Fearless, fearless, fearless. I love that. What is your favorite way to start the day?
Speaker 2:I love it when I get up early before anyone else in my house and I get a huge cup of coffee and if I'm writing to sit and write and if I'm not writing, to turn on like the local channel one news in New York City and just find out what's going on here. The most random thing. I don't think I actually learned anything, but it's just. It feels so indulgent to have that time in the morning by myself. That's great. I love that you watch the news. I know I'm like it's like I literally turn on channel one and then I switched the today show at seven and watch like the first five minutes and then, as my kids, I get them up at seven and then, as they're getting up, I'm like watching and then when they come out I turn it off?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's cute. What is a book that you recommend often?
Speaker 2:Gosh, I have a lot of books that I recommend. Often I love any book by Alexa von Tobel on finance. She writes really, really, really interesting books for women who need to read a little bit more about finance and just to learn in a way that doesn't feel scary. I love Candice Nelson's book about how she built the Sprinkles Cupcakes empire. I just think it's like a great fun read and I also think sometimes business seems scary and then you find something that has a passion and has turned it into something else and I thought that that was a really great book. I would read my friend Mary Giuliani's books all day and all night. They're amazing. Her latest one is called their short stories how to lose friends and influence no one, which has to be the great title of all time about confessions of a previous people pleaser, I think it was the way she said it. Yeah, All of those are really fun books.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's fun. And then, who is someone that made you feel seen early in your career?
Speaker 2:I had this wonderful boss named George McNeely who was almost like a work husband to me and he was just such a fun person to be around because he was up for anything and he really empowered me to try a lot of different things, like he never. He was always kind of a little bit, I think I don't know what the word would be, I think he was. He liked the fact that I was so fearless and he was kind of always up for it. I'd be like I think we should do things in Brazil. He was like okay, and I would plan all these things in Brazil. He's like I'll come to Brazil with you. I'm like great, and so we would go.
Speaker 2:So I would say, george, and then there was an amazing woman named Lauren Short who ran the events department when I worked at Christie's and she was so kind and really set the tone for me for the rest of my working career, because when I was an intern she treated me like I was the director of the department. She always made me feel special. She always invited me to everything after work. I mean, I knew all of her friends and to this day I'm still in touch with her and anytime I hear her voice. It just like always, brings me back. She would like invite me to her apartment with her friends for parties and stuff, because I didn't know anyone, and so whenever I had interns, I always like tried to make them feel like they were a hundred percent part of the team, and have kept in touch with a lot of them ever since.
Speaker 1:If there was one thing that you would love the audience to leave with today, what would that be?
Speaker 2:You guys just please go live the life you want. It doesn't last forever and if you're not doing that it's such a waste. Just go and do what you want to do, don't worry what other people think.
Speaker 1:Just have a great life Well thank you again for coming on the show. Where can people find out more about you?
Speaker 2:Have a great life, well, thank you again for coming on the show. Where can people find out more about you? So I live on Instagram at Lydia Fennett, so feel free to follow along. You can see all the fun events that I go to and all of the auctions, and there's always something interesting on there and then you can read the Most Powerful Woman in the Room is you, or Claim your Confidence. And then I, too, have a podcast called Claim your Confidence that I do with Rockefeller Center, so feel free to listen to that. It's basically just talking to women about their confidence journeys at the highest levels. So some really interesting guests over the years.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for sharing all your stories about confidence and authenticity and the story of your journey through Christie's and to where you are today. It's a joy to listen, a joy to talk to you, and I look forward to everyone hearing this podcast interview.
Speaker 2:Thank you, sarah, such a pleasure to be on.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to another episode of Lead Into it. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean a lot to me if you would leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help future listeners. If you want to learn more about the podcast or me, go to leadintoitco. That's leadintoitco. Thanks again.
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