Shawn Madden was born in Lusk, Wyoming in 1954. Immediately, Shawn was exposed to life at the sale barn from his father - Joe Madden, who owned and operated the Sale Barns in Lusk and Wheatland, Wyoming. Shawn grew up working for Joe and made his auctioneering debut at the Wheatland Sale Barn. Shawn later attended Casper College where he participated on the Rodeo and Basketball Teams. He then transferred to the University of Wyoming. After College he pursued a career in Real Estate.
In the early 80's, in addition to real estate, Shawn went on to join his brother, Lex to help found Madden Brothers Auctions. Through machinery sales, state sales and anything else they could find, their business began to flourish. One of their first signature sales was selling out Del’s Yellow Hotel Brothel in Lusk, Wyoming, which was picked up on the wires on the UPI and AP nationally.
In the late 80's Shawn and his brother, Lex were employed by LW Maxfield at Torrington Livestock Markets as Auctioneers and Ring men.
Shawn Madden | 2024
Torrington Livestock
They were offered the opportunity to run their own facility at Stockman's Livestock. They successfully ran Stockman's until their merger with Torrington Livestock Markets in 1991, At which time they entered into partnership with Mike Maxfield and Oliver Dicken. Shawn and lex acquired sole propriety of Torrington Livestock Markets.
Through their ownership they successfully marketed over 400,000 head by direct auction, video and country sales annually. Torrington Livestock Markets annually ranked in the top 10 of cattle marketed in the United States. When asked by the Torrington Telegram what the secret was to their success, Shawn credited it to 15 years of hard work and overcoming struggles on those long hard days.
Shawn competed and won the World Livestock Auctioneering Championship contest in 2001. To this day, Shawn along with his brother Lex are the only brothers to have won the Contest. When looking back upon their illustrious career, Shawn says, “Your word is your bond; (those) are our types of agreements. Which seems to be a bit more of a rarity in this world today.”
Today, Shawn enjoys spending time with his three daughters, Cassie Brandl (Jeremy), Emily Madden and Tawnee Madden and his Grandson Madden (Jack) Brandl.