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Gain firsthand insight into how auction professionals can overcome growth barriers and use technology built by auction people for auction people, without losing the personal touch.
Bernard: Welcome to the Innovay Podcast,
a place for auction business owners who
have built successful operations but
now want to scale their companies and
leave a lasting legacy in the industry.
If you want more growth, less grind,
you've come to the right place.
Brandon Giella: Hello, and
welcome to the very first
episode of the Innovate Podcast.
I am so excited to introduce this show
to you because we are starting a very
exciting journey, an exciting story, and
it all begins with my very special guest,
Jody Amaya, the founder and executive
vice president of Innovate Technologies.
Welcome Jody.
Thanks for being on the show.
Jodi Amaya: Hi Brandon.
Brandon Giella: Today we are gonna
be talking about the very beginning
of our story, which will lead to your
story and how you began in the auction
industry and where we are today with
Innova and where we are going, especially
as we look at the auction market.
And what I want listeners to
keep in mind is to think there
is this auction industry.
You own a business and you need to scale
this business, and there are limitations
that are stopping you from scaling.
And so what we want to talk about is
what is going on within the auction
owners' world inside this market.
And there might be a place for
technology to step in and help.
So Jody, you are.
You are the auction world.
That is like your brain, your history,
the way that you're brought up,
the way that you have your, your
emphases, your skills, your background.
It is.
Thoroughly in the auction space.
You're not an outsider at all.
This is your bread and butter,
your whole life's work.
But what I want to hear from
you is, where did it all begin?
Take us back to the very beginning of
Jodi Amaya, and your emphasis, your,
your background in the auction industry.
How did you get started?
Jodi Amaya: I got started with my father.
C E Vaughn he was a person, a
salesperson at heart, and he would
buy and trade and sell, um, equipment
before we even had an auction company.
If he had something, he would later
turn around and sell it and he was
always trading and making a deal.
And so.
Summers, um, you know, when I was not in
school, I would run around with him, uh,
on whatever it was that he was doing.
And he stumbled across an opportunity
with Atmos Energy at the time, uh,
to auction off a few hundred lots.
And, um, so we did it.
Uh, we, he would not say no to business.
He would always say, Jodi you say
yes and you figure it out later.
And so that's what we did.
Um, we had this couple hundred lots.
We had no technology.
Um, we sat at a football
field in Kemp, Texas.
Um, I had like the, if you can picture
at the post office where you used
to slide all the, the post office
people would slide all their letters
into an al like these little slots.
And so we had these handwritten
lot tickets that had a description
of, with a lot number, and we
would put it in these little.
Post office things, and then somebody
would come to check out and I
would write it on a piece of paper.
And we did it all by, all by hand on
a little, um, you know, table, like
a concession table kind of thing.
Very small, very old school.
we had really great results.
And so, um, Atmos Energy asked us
to do it again and again and again.
Um, and that led to, um, me getting, uh,
contract jobs with other auction houses,
um, until eventually, um, I grew up.
And became an adult and had children.
And I went into the, uh,
real estate, uh, commercial
multifamily, uh, side of business.
But I would take my vacations,
um, or opportunities.
Uh, I would take off work and go work for
my family auction or for other auction
houses that needed help doing whatever.
And, uh, it just became a part of my life.
Um, but not until, um, I don't
know, my, my kids were probably
10 years old and as teenagers, 10
and 12 years old as teenagers, I
wanted to be home more with them.
And so I decided to quit my,
uh, my gig in real estate and
work full-time for the family.
And I never ever had a plan
of I'm gonna be an auctioneer.
And, um, then my father.
Um, also talked me into, um, going
to auctioneer school in 2008.
I'll never forget it.
Mike Jones.
I was one of the only
girls in the room there.
Well, there was a few of us,
but they weren't as timid as me.
I was very shy, very introverted.
I sat in the back of the room and Mr.
Jones.
Called me up right away.
And so that week, I think as I humiliated
myself, once you humiliate yourself bid
calling over and over in front of so
many people, they become your lifelong
friends and you just become numb to it.
However, I have not bid called
since I left there, but I
have, I am still an auctioneer.
Um, we like to call ourselves Kers.
That's, that's how it all started,
uh, which we can go into another day.
Um, I haven't gotten my team to
start calling me Colonels yet, but.
I'm still working on it.
So in 2008 I got my license, um, and
my family business continued to grow.
Um, we ended up selling, uh, to
a larger, um, auction company.
And then in 2020, um, uh, InnovA was born.
So I kind of transitioned from
auctions into technology, which
has always been a passion of mine.
And then, then InnovA was here.
So here we go.
Brandon Giella: Okay.
Okay.
I want to get into all of that.
What I love about this story is
you were at the very beginning.
You were in a football field with the
most non-technological setup ever, and
you had to do these things by hand,
and you had, it was very manual and it
was, you know, your, your limits were.
Basically what you could move with your
hands or move around a football field
or call somebody eventually, you know?
And so you've been there where you've
seen this technology progress along
the way, but you've also like come up
against these limits because it was yours.
I mean, it was your business.
You were growing and you were like,
there's gotta be a better way to do this.
And so you had this aha moment kind
of building this business over time.
What, what was that time where
you were like, you know what?
I think.
I think there's actually
better ways to do this.
I think there's technology that
can get involved here and help us
out and help us grow this business.
What was that, uh, maybe epiphany
for you or that aha moment or like
that transition to think differently.
Jodi Amaya: I think, um,
it's, it's strange to me.
I, I don't know how to express it.
Sometimes it's a visual thing that
happens for me, um, or something that
I hear or, or see, you know, when.
When you're in a room with a really good
auctioneer, a really bad auctioneer,
there's this energy in the room.
But I'm the same way with other processes.
My, my former team would tell you
that I used to say, let's take
technology out of it and just
look at it from beginning to end.
But then later when I started
to add technology to it,
I just thought of 'em as.
Steps.
So how many steps does it take to get
this thing done, whether that is creating
an invoice or how can we do it better?
What are our customers saying to us?
How can we automate that?
And I used every auction
technology software.
I say every, that must have been
every one, or the majority of them.
I used all of them over,
you know, 20 years.
Um, I'm gonna show my age at some
point, but over many, many, many years.
I used all the technologies and they were
very good at the time, and, but it, you
start to outgrow technology at some point
or your, your business has just changed
and evolved and the technology may have
not, may have not gone where you wanted
it to go or where you needed it to go.
So I started to create those list
of like, I would like to have
this, I would like to see this.
Not knowing that I was gonna build a,
a technology company someday, but that,
that's, that's how it ended up was
just going through it, doing it myself.
Frustration, grow, growing pains.
Brandon Giella: That's right.
That's right.
And so then it was, you know,
you're going through this product
management journey, if you will,
like kind of writing feature requests
Jodi Amaya: I didn't know that's
what it was called at the time, but
Brandon Giella: yeah, yeah.
And so now you're thoroughly in
this, in the technology world and,
and bridging this, uh, you know,
this legacy where you've come from
in auction and now into technology.
So tell me a little bit about innovate.
Um, but I, before I, I wanna be clear, you
know, this is not a hard sales pitch and
talking purely about innovate, but what I
want to get across is you are in the thick
of it doing and building these kind of.
You know, platforms that are super,
super helpful for the clients that
you've had and the clients, the
kind of, you know, problems that
you've been solving for many years.
Um, and then, and I want to kind of talk
about in this show, like how this market
is evolving and how owners can actually
be thinking about from a technological
perspective to help grow their businesses.
And so with that, tell us a little
bit about what you're working on
at Nno a and how you're seeing
this technology come together.
And then we'll talk about the,
the future state from here.
Jodi Amaya: Um, I wanna back up just a
second and explain, um, you know, my,
my needs as an end user is how I started
conceptualizing Nno A but it wasn't until
COVID that I was brave enough to go to
an investor and, 'cause I didn't have a
job, I didn't know what I was gonna do.
The world was changing so quickly.
Um, but I went to investors, um, who
are local Texas billionaires, um,
very fortunate to, uh, to, to have
that opportunity to speak to them.
And I poured out my vision of what
I was thinking, but my vision wasn't
just about the tech, it was about the
people that are involved in this space.
Um, like my family, most auction
companies or a lot of auction companies.
Are multi generational businesses that
work hard, that have a good business plan,
but are lacking sometimes in resources.
Or can I afford to go
out and build technology?
I'm intimidated by technology.
I know I need it, but I
don't know what to ask for.
I, I know that it's
important to my business.
I don't, I don't know how to
do all of that kind of stuff.
It's vulnerable, it's
intimidating, it's overwhelming.
There's a lot of things
that come along with that.
And so, but there was a need for it
if, if my company was growing and the
way that the world was changing with.
With a, our users adapting to
online services, then every
company was gonna need technology.
Every auction company is gonna need
technology in the auction business.
And we, we, we evolve with the economy.
We are our ups and downs.
Are usually positive
in the auction market.
We're very fortunate for that, so the
need for technology is not gonna go away.
But I wanted to come up with something
that would help our customers make
custom technology or configurable
technology, very affordable, but also
that it helps them grow their business.
I think of these people as hardworking
people that are using multiple tools
that does not make them efficient.
They come to me and say, Jodi, you know
everybody you know, or you this or that.
I, who, who can I hire or can I hire you?
And I try to explain to them, I
understand the importance of people,
don't get me wrong, but what if we
can make your employees happier?
Feel more accomplished, balanced,
meaning they get to balance a
personal life and their business life.
They're not there till
midnight before the auction.
We can make those people more effective
and grow your business with technology
that we can build in logic and automation.
And after we do that, if you still
feel like you need more people, great.
I'll refer you some.
But I know that Innova is a good
partner, that we can help our
customers move forward and build
something that, um, is worth, worth
what they're building monetarily.
You don't want to build this business
and not be able to own the assets that
you're building, be able to, uh, create
value in your company and so that your
legacy has something to live forward with.
Brandon Giella: Hmm.
Tell me to emphasize that a little
bit more where you're saying, uh, to
own the assets and build a legacy.
Like why is that important to you?
Why, why did you highlight that?
Jodi Amaya: It's important because I,
I truly believe in the marketplace.
The marketplace added value.
It took my small family business.
And allowed me to go globally.
But what happened in some ways, if you
make a purchase at Amazon does, do people
know Brandon or do they know Amazon?
And if you're trying to get your brand
out there and your customer service, then.
And, and if you want to say, as a
company, I have 10,000 bidders, I
have 50,000 bidders, and if I wanna
go open up a business right next
door to you, now you're sharing all
those bidders with the marketplace.
Do you want to bring those people over
to your white label and own that data?
A true white label where you
own the data that you can do
whatever you want with that data?
You can resell it.
You can build AI into it.
You can create logic from it.
You can do all kinds of things that
creates your business asset value.
If you say to somebody, come buy
my company, what is the worth of
your company when you don't own
assets other than brick and mortar?
Brandon Giella: Hmm.
This is a really important point.
I know we're gonna have future episodes
on this, but I, I wanna highlight that
because this is, if you're building
a business, you're building a legacy.
I love that word that you used.
It is essential that you have.
The assets to be able to own and sell and
do what you want with them because there
is a limit to the marketplace growth,
or there's at least some trade-offs
that you have to make, which is fine.
It it is great to start
there and it's great.
That's how you grow, you know,
in the, in the beginning stages.
But at some point, yeah, you need
something that's gonna, that's gonna help
you, you know, scale past that limit.
You're gonna have these
trade offs at some point.
Jodi Amaya: I agree.
I think the marketplace absolutely
has value, but let's look at
what your business plan is.
I think everything is about my customer.
Innovate is a hundred
percent behind the scenes.
We are a technology partner, um,
but our name is not everywhere
we are about our customers.
And, and that that's our,
that's our goal is to sit down.
We do consultative selling.
Uh, we say, what is our customer's goal?
Where are you trying to get and
how can we help you achieve that?
Brandon Giella: That's great.
That's great.
Okay, so with that context in mind,
tell us a little bit about innovate.
Just again, not a, you know, not a
sales pitch, but just, you know, what
are the things that are important?
You guys when you're, you're seeing
the problems that you're solving
in this market and the marketplace
in this industry, and the kind
of things that you're emphasizing
in your product going forward.
Jodi Amaya: Absolutely.
So we, um, NNO a has many different
products, many different services, but
we are an all in one solution to run
an auction company from end to end.
We have, uh, retail customers as well
that just do retail, but really my
background is in auctions and how to
move inventory to revenue quickly.
So where I like to do is when I meet
with a customer to do a demo, I ask
them what are their pain points?
What are they looking to solve?
Is it cost, uh, of, of their
technology every month?
Is it that their inventory
has bad descriptions?
Is it what exactly is going on with them?
And so I can solve that.
Problem with what InnovA does.
I have no doubt that we can
fit most customers needs now.
We will continue to evolve in our
technology, um, as we move forward
so that we can fit more customers
in the future, but we are focused
on our customer specific needs right
now and the things that we can solve,
that we can solve their problems.
Brandon Giella: Yeah.
Awesome, awesome.
And so you've got, uh, there's
like simulcast technology.
There's a back office, there's
kind of a front office.
You've got the different like, um, uh.
Guess components or processes that
are part of an auction business that
can make it function like you're
Jodi Amaya: Absolutely.
We have the back office product that
is your CRM, your inventory management,
your accounting, your event planning,
your cataloging, your, um, e everything
from beginning to end, but it is also,
um, Connected to your storefront so
that you don't have to have as much
upload, download time, renaming photos,
doing all those different things.
And then you, uh, can still work with your
third party marketplaces if you choose to.
And we will build your white label brand.
Uh, we have an e-commerce site, we have
inspection apps, we have mobile apps.
Um, we have.
Many different services for virtual
ringman, buyer conversion services,
all, all types of different things.
Brandon Giella: That's great.
That's great.
I love hearing it because like I said,
you know, you've been there, done that,
and you just know where all the pieces
are that really slow a business down
and so you guys are, are working on
automating a lot of that, which is great.
Jodi Amaya: I'm excited to
tell people I, uh, inno a has
not done a lot of marketing.
Uh, we started going to trade
shows more this past year just
for people to know who we are.
Um, and I think we're a little
bit different in that way.
We're kind of under radar, so not a
lot, not everybody knows what we do,
but we strategically planned that.
Um, so that we, we have several
large customers, um, that we wanted
to make sure that we're happy with.
Our end-to-end solution.
And so now this next year, I want people
to know who we are, what we're doing.
We're starting this marketing campaign.
Y'all are getting me on camera.
It's not my most favorite thing in
the world, but I can talk about NA.
All day long.
Uh, so I'll get on camera for those
things, but I love all my bid callers who
can take all the energy and do all those
things for me, and I'm behind the scenes.
But for innovate, I will do most things.
So I, here I am.
I love what we do.
I, I, I'm very passionate about our
customers and, and what we have to offer.
Brandon Giella: That's great.
Yes, I can confirm the, uh, the convincing
it took to get Jodi on camera to, to do
this microphone or to do this podcast.
So it's, it's been a great thing.
Uh, okay.
Well, I'm excited to
keep telling this story.
So before we wrap up, Jodi, can you
talk a little bit about where you
think Innova is headed in the next 12?
Months, 36 months, you know, give
us like the three to five year plan.
Like what are you guys working on?
Where are you pointing your ship,
as it were and, and, uh, and
what you're building and, and
hoping to achieve in the future.
Jodi Amaya: Um, my goal is to be
known as the industry solution.
Um, we want to service, um, auction
companies from their end-to-end
solution, from, and, and that
means their accounting, their
customer management, which is
their bidders and their consignors.
To their storefront.
Um, the way that their, their brand
looks to help bring customers to brand
independence so that they can manage
their company, they can set their goals.
We're helping them and confirming
that they're reaching their goals.
They're outgrowing.
More than what their
goals have been set we're.
We are a business solution, not just an
auction solution, um, that we want to help
and manage and partner with our customers.
I want, um, our customers to be the ones
that help us grow, that I don't have
to do a ton of marketing, that my us,
my customers are speaking for us, and
that, um, we, we want to be known as the
industry provider and solution maker.
Brandon Giella: That's great.
That's great.
You heard it here first.
If you're listening, if you're
a customer, get on this show.
Jody doesn't want to do it anymore,
Jodi Amaya: No, I, I'm happy to do it if
they sit right here next to me
and I'll talk to you all day
long about innovate and my team.
My team is amazing.
My QAs, my bas, my engineers architects,
I call 'em all now, my auction babies.
Because they go to auctions and they
know this stuff backwards and forwards.
So when you hear the, the saying, you
know, built by auctioneers, they may not
all be auctioneers, but they have been
living and breathing this for years.
Um, they, they come up with some
really great and clever solutions.
Um, I would love to show it to anybody
that wants to take a look and, and I,
I challenge you against some of the
smartest people in the room for sure.
Brandon Giella: Amazing.
Amazing.
Okay.
Final word.
What do you, what do you hope that
people take away from the show?
This story from getting to know you and
innovate, what, what is the takeaway for
them to, to keep in mind for this show?
Jodi Amaya: I want you to call me.
I want it.
I want you to talk to me, and I wanna show
you what Innova is about so that I can
then have you believe that Innova is the
trusted partner to help set your business
goals and help get you to the next level.
Brandon Giella: Awesome.
Awesome.
Well, if you're listening,
please go to innovate llc.com.
That is where we are gonna have all
kinds of great resources coming out
very soon, including this podcast
and sign up for our newsletter.
Take a look at our blog,
get to know the team.
We are excited for you guys to jump in.
Please leave questions, comments,
wherever you see this podcast and
hopefully we'll be able to feature
that sometime in the future.
So Colonel, thank you
for being on the show.
We are, we, we are grateful.
I'm learning the auction
industry one, one step at a time.
Uh, so I'm excited to get to future
episodes and we will see you then.
Jodi Amaya: Okay.
Thank you Brandon.