Fast-talking professional
uses her skills to aid others

Canby - When JillMarie Wiles chants, she's not among robed monks. "Tweeny two dollabid. Nawthree naw three tweeeny three dollabid. Naw four naw four tweeny four dollabid." and on it goes until she sells the item to a high bidder.

Wiles, 36, is a top-grade professional auctioneer. She won an international auctioneer championship, women's division, in a competition in Boise last year.

The title is an example of her commitment and intensity. Besides operating a business -- Beneficial Auction Services -- Wiles is a frequent volunteer for children's causes, including once sky-diving to raise funds and growing hair for children who need wigs. In her spare time, she roars off on a motorcycle to participate in drag races or on vacation trips.

"It keeps me grounded to keep things in perspective," Wiles said of her community involvement. "It taught me to slow down and be nonjudgmental. When I auction, I have to make decisions at lightning speed. Volunteering balances my life out."

It took a dramatic career change for Wiles to become an auctioneer, a profession dominated by men.

"Ten years ago if you had told me I would be an auctioneer I would have asked what it was," she said. At the time, she was managing the cosmetics department at Nordstrom in downtown, Portland.

But after she and husband Tim Stuart, a real estate broker, moved to Canby and began attending antique auctions in 1993, Wiles was fascinated with the rapid-fire method of selling goods.

"As I watched what was happening, I saw it as a brilliant method of marketing. A bid caller makes people compete for the highest price rather than marking the price down as I had to do sometimes at Nordstrom."

AUCTION SCHOOL

Wiles quite her job in 1994 and went to auction school in Kansas City, Mo. About 10 percent of the students were women.

"I was overwhelmed at first in trying to learn the auction chant," she said.

When she returned to Canby, her husband made an audiotape for practicing. It simply was him saying "yip" again and again several seconds apart - just enough time between yips for her to chant indication of a bid.

Her first work was for Steve Van Gordon, who operates an auto and machinery auction near Canby. She did her internship there for two years, and then went out on her own to specialize in benefit auctions for nonprofit organizations. Wiles still works periodically at the auto auction.

She's as good as it gets," Van Gordon said of Wiles' work and community involvement. "She can hold her own with anybody."

Wiles has no regrets about switching to auctioneering even though initially "everyone thought I was crazy. I went from a marble floor with a piano playing to working on the ground next to a forklift in an auction yard."

Her work often isn't indoors at a hotel or in other comfortable surroundings. The highest bid she has taken at a benefit auction was more than $10,000 for a private jet trip to a golf tournament.

CHILDREN'S CAUSES

Wiles is a member if Kiwanis and Toastmasters and an avid supporter of Locks of Love, Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis. She's frustrated with how slowly her hair grows. She wishes she could provide more then 10 inches each year to be cut for a wig for a child with permanent hair loss.

"My purpose in life is to support children's causes as an international philanthropist. I would like to go worldwide with what I've learned," she said, noting that Kiwanis is in many countries.

A lot of her volunteerism is close to home. Wiles said the best part of her week is Wednesday when she volunteers at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.

"I play games with children, or take a sibling to a play room to give a parent a break. I have learned so much about myself coloring with an 8-year-old."

Wiles has even showed up to volunteer on her wedding anniversary and birthday, said Pat Franko, Doernbecher volunteer program coordinator. "She has a gift to connect with people of all ages," said Franko. "She continually goes outside her comfort zone."

Maggie Hubbard, president of Canby Kiwanis, met Wiles at Canby Christian Church where Wiles was working an auction benefiting a Mexican orphanage.

"She puts her heart and soul into whatever she contributes. She has so much enthusiasm to get people to participate," Hubbard said. "She is highly sensitive to community needs. But she has humility and isn't in it for the recognition."

HARLEY TO DRAG RACES

Wiles loves excitement.

She skydived to raise funds. "But I only needed to do that once," she said.

She began taking her Harley Davidson to drag races in Woodburn and Seattle two years ago. "I'm getting better at it," Wiles said.

She's not a daredevil," Stuart explained. "When she began riding a motorcycle, she took a class to learn about the dangers. She rides for the freedom, not for the adrenaline rush."

Wiles and Stuart go for long motorcycle trips annually. Three years ago they covered 7,0000 miles in 18 days. Last year, they left Sept. 10 for Alaska but couldn't cross the Canadian border just after the Sept. 11 East Coast terror attacks. They settled for a drive through Washington and Oregon.

"If I see something that intrigues me, I can't ignore it," she said. "There are not a lot of things that scare me."