Heroes in Business - Dan Dotson Interview

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

Dan Dotson of Storage Wars reality TV show is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio show amfm. Dan talks with David about how he got into the family business from the age of 11. Taught by his grandfather, he left school regularly to find auctions to participate in. He also talks about how during taping of the hit show he suffered a near fatal health issue. 

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Alliances Heroes. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities and startups, where our heroes in business align. leaders, celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. That's right. Thank you so much, Money Radio. That's right. This is David Kogan, and this is the Eliance's Hero Shows. This is about today's heroes, those that are builders, those that are doing something for the community and today's lineup is absolutely amazing we have the finalist for the pillsbury contest and she's

appeared on the food network we also have the ceo chief experience officer of the premier new york style pizza place that's right nypPD. We also have Tex Nista. She graduated, get this, graduated with her master's degree in tax at the age of 21. Unbelievable. But, without further ado, our first hero on the show. You all definitely know him. He is the star of the hit reality TV show Storage Wars, Dan Dotson, who can be reached at StorageAuctions.net. Now, Dan, you're the star of this hit TV reality show. My family and I always watch it, Storage Wars, which is on A&E.

You're the auctioneer of the show. How in the world are you able to talk so fast, and where did you learn it from? Those are great questions, David. First of all, just thank you for having me on your show. I really appreciate it, because I have been an entrepreneur forever. Matter of fact, my mom, my dad, my grandfathers, my great-grandfathers have all been self-employed entrepreneurs thinking outside the box to make their money. I started auctioning. My grandfather was an auctioneer, and I used to spend a lot of time in Arkansas.

And when I was 7 years old in 19 – when I was 11 years old in 74, I asked him if he would teach me how to do it. And he cried like a baby. And three weeks later, I was an auctioneer, and I have never looked back since then. And it's just practice, you know. It's just numbers. I used to ask my grandfather, I said, God, you know, if I ever sell something for $10,000 or $100,000, that's going to be very intimidating to me. And my grandfather said, you know, whether it's a nickel or it's $5 or $50 or it's $5 million, it's all relative. It's all just numbers.

So as soon as you get the dollar out of your head and realize that it's just numbers and you practice enough, then the numbers all kind of become automatic and you can spend your time as a professional auctioneer looking at body language and thinking about the items that you're selling and the positive up points of those and things that will make it easier to get people to get off their hands and bid. So I learned from my grandfather and my mother. So you're at the age around 11 years old, right? And this is when you did one of your first auctions. That's truly amazing and courageous to do it in front of people at such

a young age what do you recall me it's gotta be yeah it's gotta be what so so so tell us about that the memory that you most recall from your first experience that really damn shaped who you are today it did you know it's all about making choices in your life and it's all about facing your fears. And at 11 years old, my grandfather had been teaching me for three weeks and I heard my name on the radio. We're doing a big auction down on the Buffalo River in northwest Arkansas. And I see my name in print right next to my grandfather's. It's got a comma. It says auctioneer by Dan Dotson. And I am stoked and I am right next to my grandfather's. It's got a comma. It says Auctioneer by Dan Dawson. And I am stoked, and I am ready, and I have been practicing.

I have been practicing every minute. And finally, it's my turn. And Grandpa puts me up on top of this table, and he introduces me. And there's, I don't know, there's like 150 people there. And everybody was silent as mice. And he introduced me, and he told me to hit it, and I opened my mouth, and absolutely nothing came out, and I was terrified. And he got a little frustrated, and he goes, Dan, you know, he like to reintroduce me and try to prop me up and told me to go for it. And again, I opened my mouth, and nothing came out. I was terrified.

And then something, he got pissed off, really. He just said, you know, do this or get down and all to it. And I knew right then and there if I didn't face that fear at 11 years old, then I would never do it again. And so I just started sputtering and spattering. And I actually sold this antique dress or the first item I ever sold for $325 and took took forever and the people were very kind and nice and and it gave me the confidence that i needed to uh to do it for 42 years now dan that's amazing and you could reach dan dotson at storage auctions dot net storage auctions with an s dot net and you're listening to alliances heroes on money radio Radio AM 1510 and FM 99.3.

Are you a hero in business? Go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. So the first episode of Storage Wars airs on TV. You see yourself and your incredible wife, Laura, who is also one of the stars. What's going through your mind as you're watching this? It's just, it was really ironic. It's just kind of a trip.

You know, it's like you're in a dream. You're looking at yourself, and then you try not to look at every flaw and everything that you do wrong and every sound that you make wrong you're you know i critique myself in life and i critique myself on tv so i just i just quit doing that right away i i got over that probably the first or second episode and just said you know i am whoever i am and and i am going to be whoever i'm going to be and i'm just not going to even pay attention to that camera luckily laura and i had been putting cameras around us for a year and a half before Storage Wars actually, you know, was Storage Wars. Original Productions was the third

production company that we had actually signed a contract with and they were the ones that finally got it right. Everybody else was getting it wrong for, you know, so we went through about a year of going through production companies and networks and, I know so we went through about a year of going through production companies and networks and i mean we went through 27 different networks and production companies before we finally found something that fit correct but you didn't give up and now it's a huge success you could reach dan dots in the auctioneer storage auctions dot net he is the star of storage wars that airs on tv and you genuinely look like you're thoroughly enjoying what you're doing and you must be having said you've done it for over 40 years what motivates you though what drives you you know i like the attention i like um i like i like the

the art of the negotiation. It's kind of a fast negotiation. I've got something. You want it. Your buddy over there wants it, too. And I think it's worth a certain amount of money. What do you think it's worth? And does your buddy agree with you?

And let's just not mess around and figure out what it's worth right now. Okay, that's what it's worth. Now we move on to something else. And so I just kind of like I get really bored really quick. So I just need to, you know, keep things moving fast. I just like it. I like the attention. I like the method of auctions. The best method in the world to get a fair market value on anything on the planet is to put it in a well-advertised auction and figure out what it brings because it is absolutely 100% what it's worth at that very moment in time. And you can go in front of God or a judge or anybody and say, that's what it was worth that day.

And so, I mean, I just love it. I just love it. It's been very good to me. The best gift that anybody ever gave me in my life was the gift of auctioneering that my grandfather gave me. It's in your blood. He would come out to California and watch me in my life was the gift of auctioneering that my grandfather gave me. It's in your blood. He would come out to California and watch me in my 20s and 30s, and he would critique me, and I would keep trying to improve.

My mid-30s, he finally came up to me, you know, I was almost 40, and he says, you know, I think you're a better auctioneer than I was, ever was. And so that was a big compliment coming from him. And, you know, I had the, that, I had the, uh, I, I got to meet the man that taught him how to auctioneer when I was a kid. Um, his name was Detman Mitchell and he taught my grandfather how to do it in, in the mid forties after World War II. And, and, uh, so he got to see me and that little man had told my grandfather,

he taught hundreds of people in Northwest Arkansas and Missouri how to auction here. He said, that kid's got more potential than anybody I've ever taught or anybody I've ever seen. I never forgot that. That always motivated me. Dan, absolutely amazing. You're a hero. Anyone that could be on a reality TV show auctioning

items for the high bidders to sell, entertaining others at the same time, having a passion for what they do, doing it so long, not giving up, going through all 27 plus production companies to get it aired is certainly a hero. And Dan Dotson, star of the Storage Wars, certainly is. StorageAuctions.net, this is David Kogan with E-Liances.