Dan Newman.

• Position: OFF THE CUFF - Alaska Premier Auctions and Appraisals

The new refrigerator for employees at Alaska Premier Auctions and Appraisals has a video screen on the door. That's not just because co-owners Dan Newman and Nick Cline like to pamper their staff; the fridge door becomes one more place to display security monitors watching the eclectic stock of merchandise.

Newman spent a decade in marketing and sales for KTUU Channel 2, and he says those skills transfer to auctions. He used to deal with mattress stores one day then cars the next. Now he deals in taxidermy liquor, firearms, furniture, paintings, knickknacks, and office surplus--none with set prices. A "salesman through and through," Newman decided to monetize his motormouth by training at Missouri Auction School, specializing in charity benefits. He opened the auction house in 2018 and is its principal auctioneer.

Items enter the shop mainly because of the Five Ds, he explains: death, divorce, downsizing, departing, and developing fundraising strategies. His Anchorage warehouse is crammed with reminders of lives gone by. Newman hopes his business will become his lasting reminder: "I like the thought of building something that outlasts and is greater than myself."

Alaska Business: What's your best attribute and worst attribute?

Dan Newman: My best, I would like to think, is my ambition. Having the drive to want to succeed, want to do better, want to do good. That, and maybe a little bit of charisma mixed in helps pay dividends in the long run. My biggest detriment... getting complacent, getting lazy, being comfortable.

AB: Is there a skill you're currently developing or have always wanted to learn?

Newman: Learning how to be a business owner. I think that is a skill in itself, and every day I try and learn something new, either about the business or the people or whatever systems and processes.

AB: What do you do in your free time?

Newman: I like watching movies. That is one of my escapes... Hanging out with the kids at their different sporting activities... Motorcycles in the summer... Snowmachines in the winter.

AB: What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

Newman: I've gone skydiving. I've driven a Lamborghini around the Las Vegas...