Heli Palsanmäki had already built his life in a detached house in Salo – there were dogs and a joint mortgage. However, Heli needed a change.
Heli Palsanmäki, 45, watches as the cameraman sets up the auction hall background for the cover shoot. In a milieu familiar from TV, the rows of benches are closely arranged and the tables are dripping with treasures to be sold the next day. Then The Finnish auction emperor –the program’s film crew arrives at the scene already in the middle of the day.
In ten years, Heli has gotten used to cameras, but not to the public.
– I don’t consider myself a public figure. It still amazes me when people come to take pictures together and ask for autographs, says Heli.
– I’m still the same girl from Salo, Heli reflects.
Heli does not give ready-made answers, but the stories follow each other. He remembers his childhood fondly.
Born in Kisko, Heli is the second youngest of the family’s four children. All four sisters were born three and a half years apart. Heli’s mother worked as a cafe worker, father as a warehouse worker.
– There was always a guy at home, because the age difference between our sisters was not big.
– And loving parents, Heli summarizes.
Heli has made spontaneous decisions in his life. PASI LEISMA
Surprising independence
Heli describes that he has always been shy and calm. In the last grades of middle school, Heli says that he tested his limits. The cigarette didn’t burn, and the middle ball didn’t taste good. Stretching the boundaries meant that Heli could not always be seen at home when he got home. It was so nice hanging out in the city with a group of friends.
– However, I understood that the boundaries were love, says Heli.
Heli moved on his own on a whim at the age of 18. He had just graduated from hotel and restaurant industry school.
– My sister moved in on her own – and she lived in her studio apartment for two weeks, until she stated that she didn’t want to live alone. It was boring to him. I said I can move there. I don’t know where that whim came from, but it started my independence, says Heli.
Heli has settled in Hirvaskanka, even though he had already built his life in Salo. PASI LEISMA
Jumping into working life happened just as quickly as moving in on my own. Even at the same time.
– I was told that anyone can join Nokia. I went for a job interview and the next day the work started, Heli says.
Heli worked at Nokia as an assembly worker and later at Aspocomp as a level inspector and clean room worker.
According to his words, Heli led a normal young person’s life – sometimes they were dating, sometimes they were single. In one respect, big steps were taken.
– We lived together, bought a detached house, two dogs – there was no station wagon in the yard, Heli laughs.
Heli has later reflected on a past relationship.
– Now that I’m older, I’ve only known how to love a person, says Heli.
Separation was inevitable for Heli.
– We were not on the same wavelength. I realized that I have to change myself and look at life again. I haven’t taken in animals since then, when I had to give up those dogs. It was a worse place than giving up on a man, says Heli.
Heli sometimes worked two shifts in a row. He came in for the evening shift during the day and took the night shift after. A single household required money. Heli has also always had a strict principle: do not live beyond your means.
In his former profession, Heli manufactured circuit boards. PASI LEISMA
Aki
During the six years he was single, Heli began to question whether he even needed a relationship. Heli had a profile on a dating site. She described that she is looking for a man who has “a sense of humor, thinks with his own brain, can manage on his own, and doesn’t fall in the wind”.
One was found. Aki Palsanmäki’s and Heli’s paths crossed on a dating website, the name of which neither can remember. Aki was really impressed by Heli’s picture.
– I had a Nokia phone in my hand, I was talking on the phone with black sunglasses on. Aki fell in love with that picture, Heli says.
A common note was found immediately, but the communication could have been more lively for Heli’s taste.
– Aki had just bought a computer. Her friend had said that all women are online these days. We wrote for a few days. Aki’s typing with the one-finger system was such that you had to wait for the answer, Heli says.
Soon the messaging changed to phone calls. Heli invited Aki, who lives in Saarijärvi, to Salo, but he had one condition. Aki didn’t have a profile picture on the site because he didn’t know how to add one.
Heli demanded that Aki’s friend take a picture and send it to Heli. The photo was sent to Heli’s email, and the invitation was still valid.
The couple, who met in the fall of 2005, got engaged on New Year’s Eve of the same year.
Big decision
Heli now has a lot of knowledge about domestic glass, although before his auction career he knew nothing about it. Copper pans are a trademark of the auction. PASI LEISMA
The couple settled in Salo. The following year, Akin Lauri-father died unexpectedly, and in the midst of grief, the fate of the auction had to be decided.
Again, the same Salo girl who decided to move in on her own in an instant, was ready for a big change. Heli suggested that he and Aki continue running the auction.
– I had no idea about any antique or domestic glass. I had seen mother and mamma have some Arabian dishes that were put out when there were birthdays or other celebrations, Heli says.
Work teaches its creator.
– Now they interest me. I could say that I have a pretty good knowledge of domestic glass. The auction has a wide range of items, and every week we meet new acquaintances, says Heli.
The Finnish auction emperor program made Heli and Aki familiar faces to the whole nation. Heli and Aki were warned from right and left about the disadvantages of publicity, but they decided to join the program regardless.
The program is already in its 16th season. In the first seasons, Heli excited the cameras and, according to his own words, was quietly in the background. With a familiar work group, Heli is naturally himself.
A long-term dream
Work is still important to Heli, but so are friends and family. When Heli wants to pamper herself, she goes to reflexology or a foot or facial treatment. Heli admits that pampering herself is not easy for her.
– Sometimes I blink so that no one sees when I enter the treatment room. I’m used to always putting others first and I thought that someone else deserved this more, says Heli.
Heli has recently been diagnosed with cancer, about which he can no longer speak a word. Heli looks brightly to the future.
– My dream has always been to establish a lunch restaurant or cafe. I like to bake and cook, says Heli.
Heli knows that right now is not the moment.
– Now it’s an auction, but if we ever put the whistles in the bag. However, Aki and I have a 10-year age difference. If Aki retires at 65, I will be 55. My retirement age is not then, says Heli.
They also dream of spending winters in the warmth of Spain.
– Charging the batteries is good, Heli knows.
Heli’s hair and makeup: Barbershop Cleopatra Äänekoski
Purple patterned shirt blouse and cover tunic: Zizzi