“So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love” is the title of a book by Cal Newport, an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University. The basis of the book is that passion isn’t the driver of a great career; becoming an expert in your field is what will propel you to personal satisfaction.

Now why would I begin an article about attaining self-storage career goals by crushing the idea of professional passion? Because companies and customers generally pay people for what they know, not their fervency.

For example, I’m a huge New York Mets fan, and I’ve been one for longer than I can remember. Unfortunately, at this stage in my life, that’s as far as passion will take me. I’ll never be able to waltz into Queens, N.Y., and play third base for the Mets, nor will they take a chance and hire me to be their general manager. There’s no reality TV show or contest that will change that hard fact because passion doesn’t equal experience. (I still think I would make a great Mets manager, but opinions will vary.)

The self-storage industry is no different. Maybe you’re currently exploring how to get into the business, or you already work in the business and would like to take the next step in your career. Maybe you hope to own your own facility someday. No matter where you are along the self-storage job spectrum, it will take hard work and time to reach your next goal.

I recently listened to an interview with Bo Eason, a former safety for the Houston Oilers. After retiring from the National Football League, he decided to become a Broadway playwright. He went from the top of his former profession to the bottom of his new one. He moved to New York and went to every acting, performance and writing class he could find. At the time, Al Pacino was considered the best stage performer in America. Eason was lucky enough to get a meeting with Pacino, who explained, yes, Eason could become a great playwright and stage performer, but it would take 15 years to learn the craft.

Fifteen years later, Eason opened a one-man play on Broadway to rave reviews. He made it, but it took all that time to learn, practice and gain experience. If you want to excel in self-storage, your journey will be no different.

The First Step

If you want to break into self-storage management, first you must learn about it. You need to research what the industry is about, how it works, the necessary level of education, the skills you need, the technology with which you should be familiar, the company you’d like to work with, and who you’d like to meet.

You can start online. The Web knows everything, so all the answers are at your fingertips. Consider leveraging social media sites such as LinkedIn, and start making connections. Volunteer with your state self-storage association. These organizations are always in need of committed people to assist on different projects. Attend association functions. This will give you endless opportunities to meet people who come from all areas of the industry.

When networking, be prepared. Keep a résumé handy, be willing to talk about your goals, and be honest about your level of commitment. The self-storage industry is always hiring, and the need for great people is endless.

Moving Up

Once you’ve worked at a storage facility for a while, you might be ready to move to the next level. Many managers have reached this point and are eager for a new challenge.

The subsequent step is typically a position with the title of area manager, district manager, regional manager or some other label with a geographic measurement built in. The availability of these positions is much more limited. Larger companies may require a college degree, but that’s not always the case. Many companies will want a certain level of self-storage experience, but some might not require it at all. Every firm will want to know your level of industry knowledge, so use your time wisely and learn as much as you can while you’re managing a property.

The best thing you could find at this stage is a mentor, someone who’ll take you under his wing and teach you not only how the industry works on the outside, but how it operates behind the scenes. A mentor will show you how the world looks at our business, what employers want, and who you need to work with to learn various skills. He can also guide you through challenges so you’ll gain experience without exposure to excessive risk. If you can find the right person, it’s more valuable than any college degree.

I was lucky enough to find my mentor in my early 20s, and it has made all the difference in my career. If you don’t have a mentor, keep looking until you find someone who’ll take stock in your career and teach you. A great book on this subject is “Mastery” by Robert Greene.

Looking Toward the Future

Once you’ve achieved your area/district/regional manager position, the key at this stage is to gain as much real-life experience as possible. For example, if you oversee five self-storage facilities, you should know everything about them:

• How were they acquired or developed?
• How were they financed?
• How did the owner(s) decide on locations and unit mix?
• How did the company develop its policies and procedures?
• What’s the pricing strategy?
• What kind of person do you look for when hiring managers?
• What marketing strategies should you implement?
• What revenue-management strategies will you apply?

There are many other important concepts; this is just a sample. Your mentor will help you with these things.

Once you’ve put the years in at this level and gained the necessary experience, the next stage of your career is whatever you want it to be. Remember, be so good they can’t ignore you, and you can attain anything you want.

Matthew Van Horn is a member of the operation team at Reliant Management, a full-service self-storage management company specializing in management, feasibility studies, facility acquisitions and joint ventures within the self-storage industry. He’s also president of 3 Mile Domination, a full-service self-storage marketing and strategy company. For more information, visit www.storesmart.org or www.3miledomination.com.

A neighborhood association is closer to approving a self-storage development in Rio Rancho, N.M. The River’s Edge One Neighborhood Association (REONA) voted last week in favor of commercial plans submitted by Titan Development to build an Extra Space Storage facility. If approved, the project will be the operator’s first location in the city, according to the source.

The property at the intersection of N.M. 528 and N.M. 448 would contain three buildings. The parcel is west of Grande Vista Road, behind a Circle K convenience storage and south of Convergys, a call center.

“We didn’t come to a final conclusion yet, but we did agree to work with them and, at this point, there were four issues that needed to be negotiated,” said REONA Vice President Karen Boulanger.

The contentions include the building’s color, the use of bronze-tinted glass, maximum square footage, and the location of a wall separating the property from a residential area. “I think that Titan Development is very sensitive to the history of the property and really does want to work to a mutual agreement,” Boulanger said.

The land’s zoning was changed from residential to commercial special use in 1990, the source reported. In addition, two amendments were enacted in 1999 that allow REONA to attach restrictions on a commercial development’s access, architecture, building color, landscaping and lighting.

Although a date for a final vote has yet to be set, Boulanger told the source REONA members are in favor of the project. “Self-storage kind of connotes a negative look because, typically, a lot of self-storage has chain links that aren’t attractive; but they’re going to make it an attractive facility,” she said. “It’s really going to look like an office building.”

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space is a real estate investment trust that owns or operates 1,427 self-storage properties in 38 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico. The company’s properties comprise approximately 960,000 units and 107 million square feet of rentable space.

Founded in 1999, Titan provides acquisitions, development, construction and property management, and leasing services in the Southwest.

Update 4/19/17 – HHC and The Woodlands Development have opened the second of two self-storage facilities the companies planned for The Woodlands community. The asset at 32010 FM 2978 followed the College Park Drive location. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the College Park property, according to the source.

Both locations offer climate-controlled and traditional drive-up units, and feature gated entry, individual unit alarms and video cameras for security. Tenants also have free use of a moving truck and can purchase moving and packing supplies.

"The Howard Hughes Corp. understands that with the many new home opportunities in The Woodlands, there is a need in our community for self-storage,” Jim Carman, vice president of commercial development for The Woodlands Development, told the source. “We are proud to offer a quality product with a high standard in security.”

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2/10/17 – The Howard Hughes Corp. (HHC) and its wholly owned subsidiary The Woodlands Development Co. have entered the self-storage industry with two developments in The Woodlands, Texas, a 28,000-acre master-planned community near Houston. The facilities will be managed by CubeSmart, a publicly traded self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management firm, according to the source.

The newly opened facility at 6375 College Park Drive contains 654 storage units. The second site, along FM 2978, is scheduled to open in April with 784 storage units. Security features at both properties include a gated entry, individual door alarms and video cameras.

HHC owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the country. It was co-founded by Howard R. Hughes Sr. in 1913.

Founded in 1974, the Woodlands Development Co. builds master-planned communities in Houston. The communities include land, office, retail, residential and hospitality properties.

Update 4/19/17 – A Cook County judge denied the injunction motion from Northwest Side Unite to stop the zoning change to the self-storage development site on Northwest Highway. Though the April 13 judgment improves the status of the LSC Development project, the group’s lawsuit seeking to halt construction entirely is scheduled to be heard in Cook County Circuit Court on May 16, according to the source.

In denying the injunctive relief, the judge said the community group had “presented no facts indicating that an emergency exists or irreparable harm will result if an injunction is not issued by the court at this time,” the source reported.

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4/10/17 – A lawsuit challenging the city’s settlement agreement with LSC Development could further jeopardize the developer moving forward with its self-storage project on Northwest Highway. The lawsuit was filed on April 6 in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of several homeowners, a business and Northwest Side Unite, a community organization that opposes the project. It seeks to invalidate the earlier settlement agreement and asks for an injunction to prevent the city from taking further action on rezoning the site, according to the source.

A hearing on the plaintiffs’ request to stop the zoning-approval process is scheduled for April 13, though it’s unclear if the lawsuit will cause further delay on the zoning vote. The city council zoning committee is scheduled to meet on April 12, but a hearing on the proposal hasn’t been posted to the agenda, the source reported.

The lawsuit claims the settlement agreement was an attempt by the city to skirt the normal zoning-approval process by requiring support from Arena and Scudiero before the community was properly notified of the project. “They basically bargained away the neighborhood’s rights,” Peter Stasiewicz, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told the source.

Arena held a community meeting to discuss the project two weeks after he signed the settlement in January and didn’t mention the agreement at the Feb. 9 meeting, the source reported.

Northwest Side Unite has collected more than 4,500 signatures opposing the joint project, and at least 80 percent of homeowners within 250 feet of the building site have reportedly signed affidavits opposing the plan. Many residents oppose the scale of the apartment building and self-storage facility.

Based on the settlement agreement, LSC Development could be owed compensation if the rezoning doesn’t go through. It would have up to a year to reinstate its original lawsuit, which claimed the company was in jeopardy of defaulting on a $6.4 million loan for the project due to downsizing its original plan and subsequent delays, according to the source. The company spent about $3.5 million acquiring the property and on the interior demolition work to the existing building.

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3/28/17 – The LSC Development self-storage project hit another snag on Monday when the zoning committee failed to vote at the end of a seven-hour meeting in which dozens of residents voiced opposition to the plan. Though the meeting was supposed to focus on the self-storage portion of the overall project, several residents raised concerns about the apartment complex that will eventually be built at the site.

After several hours of discussion, alderman Edward Burke asked for a roll call to see if there were enough committee members still present for a valid vote. When the number was short, the meeting was adjourned, according to the source.

Arena indicated he was caught off guard by Burke’s roll-call request and vowed to bring the project back in front of the committee next month. Arena also said Burke had expressed concern earlier on Monday that there was a “procedural” problem with the lawsuit settlement that requires Arena to support the construction plan. "This is a minor delay," he told the source. "We have a good project. We're going to make sure we've dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts."

During the meeting, dozens of residents said the project would be a blight to Jefferson Park’s small-town feel, the source reported. Though the public was specifically asked to refrain from discussing the proposed apartment complex, many brought it up when addressing the committee. Since the residential plan was first announced, residents have voiced concerns that the inclusion of low-rent tenants could increase crime in the neighborhood.

Full Circle Communities has proposed the mixed-income complex.

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3/22/17 – The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the rezoning of a 1.54-acre parcel on Northwest Highway to allow LSC Development to move forward with its multi-story self-storage facility. Under the lawsuit settlement, Arena and zoning administrator Patricia Scudiero agreed to support the zoning change to enable the storage project and eventually a residential development, according to the source. Construction on the storage facility is expected to begin this spring.

The plan for the site remains controversial, with about 100 people registering to speak against the project during the March 16 meeting. A petition with 3,000 signatures in opposition was also presented to the commission. About 25 people registered to speak in favor of the plan, including representatives from the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association and several community groups, the source reported.

Some residents said a 70-foot-tall self-storage structure wouldn’t fit in with the surrounding community, while others claimed there are too many storage facilities operating in the area. Some also believe changing the zoning to a dense community-shopping district sets a bad precedent for future development, according to the source.

Arena told the commission the project was in line with recently rewritten city code to encourage development near transit centers. The property is near the Jefferson Park Transit Center, which will receive a $25 million renovation in the next five years, the source reported.

The residential component to the overall plan wasn’t included in the commission vote. The development ordinance will be worded to prohibit any construction on the south end of the property and will have to be amended to allow the housing project, city officials said during the meeting. Such an amendment will require another round of public hearings.

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2/16/17 – LSC Development LLC appears poised to move forward with building a self-storage facility in Chicago after settling a lawsuit it filed against the city. The suit was filed after the city cancelled LSC’s construction permit just one day after issue. LSC intends to build a five-story facility at 5150 N. Northwest Highway, where a seven-story mixed-use development is also planned, according to the source.

LSC filed suit against the city last April after buildings commissioner Judy Frydland voided its construction permit at the urging of alderman John Arena. Though LSC obtained the permit in accordance with the property’s M1-1 zoning, Arena later had it changed to B1-1, which doesn’t allow self-storage, the source reported.

Under the developer’s original plans, the self-storage facility would have been converted from a former Archdiocese of Chicago food-processing plant and taken up the entire building site. Arena reportedly wanted to halt the project because it didn’t include any residential component, according to the source.

Though details of the agreement haven’t been released, LSC is now expected to build the storage facility on the northern half of the parcel and later sell the southern half to a residential developer, the source reported. Last month, LSC filed a zoning application to allow for self-storage and an unspecified residential development. The new plan calls for a 100-unit apartment complex. The old food-processing plant will be demolished.

The new mixed-use plan for the site is expected to generate much higher tax revenue for the city, according to Arena. “The agreement will increase the property-tax revenue for the space from a projected $135,000 a year from adapted reuse [of the existing building] to an estimated half a million annually from the combined storage, retail and residential. More than half will go to our schools,” he told the source. “We are pleased with this outcome, which is a much better deal for the taxpayers and local residents than what was initially proposed.”

In its lawsuit, LSC indicated it was blindsided by the zoning change and alleged it was never notified by the city before officials filed the rezoning ordinance. LSC challenged the voiding of its construction permit and sought damages.

Cook County, Ill., Circuit Court Judge Sophia Hall dismissed the lawsuit earlier this month after the city and developer settled out of court. LSC will have up to one year to reinstate the case if there’s a violation to the agreement, the source reported.

Based in Barrington, Ill., LSC specializes in industrial parks, office complexes and self-storage facilities. It also owns and leases nearly 700,000 square feet of industrial and office space in Aurora, Barrington, Chicago, Elgin, Harwood Heights and Libertyville, Ill., according to the company website.

Self-storage manager Jennifer Moss Autrey was sentenced to conditional probation and ordered to pay restitution for her role in a string of thefts at Millennium Self Storage in Beaumont, Texas. Autrey pleaded guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity in which she routinely alerted cohort Cory Wayne Dreymala over a six-month period when tenants had moved potentially valuable belongings into units at the 7th Street facility. Dreymala also pleaded guilty to the same charge and received a five-year sentence, according to the source.

Dreymala, 40, was first arrested in connection to the case in December 2015 after he was reportedly caught on video breaking into units at the storage facility. Police continued to receive reports of burglarized units after Dreymala was freed on bond, but the security cameras at the property were disabled in those instances, the source reported.

Investigators determined Autrey, 46, enabled the burglaries by notifying Dreymala when she observed tenants storing potentially valuable goods. Dreymala, potentially assisted by others, would then break into the units and haul off valuables in the facility’s moving truck, detective Tina Lewallen told the source.

“[Dreymala] doesn’t have a vehicle,” Lewallen said. “He would use the [storage facility’s] truck, load it up, drive it to a vacant lot, roll up the back of the truck and literally sell right out of the truck.”

Dreymala was also involved in selling antique furniture online, according to Lewallen.

In a statement to the source last year, Dreymala maintained he was homeless and paid by Autrey under the table to help clean up the facility. He said Autrey told him the units from which he took goods were abandoned and asked him to clean them out.

The burglars broke into the spaces near the tops of the units but had to cut the locks off the doors to remove large items like refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers, according to Lewallen. When Dreymala was arrested a second time, he was in possession of a “large quantity” of items stolen from the self-storage facility, Robert Scott, assistant district attorney, told the source.

Dreymala faced up to 10 years of incarceration for the third-degree felony charge. Autrey was given probation by Judge Larry Gist on condition she pay restitution to the victims. The value of the stolen goods is estimated in the six figures, according to the source.

A third person, Anders Jensen, was arrested in connection with the theft ring but had his case dismissed.

Derrel’s Mini Storage Inc., a Fresno, Calif.-based self-storage operator, has settled an employment and housing discrimination case with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). The case involved former employee Charlyn Foote, who was pregnant when she and her husband, Kyle Foote, agreed to be resident managers at a Bakersfield, Calif., location. Under the settlement, Derrel’s agreed to revise its policies regarding the onsite housing it provides to facility managers, according to a DFEH press release.

“We commend [Derrel’s] for agreeing to adopt new policies that ensure facility managers are able to safely work and live on site with their families,” said Kevin Kish, director at DFEH.

The department brought the case against Darrel’s, contending its business policies would have banned the baby from housing during hours of operation and on weekends. The state maintained the policy violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which protects the rights of Californians to “seek, obtain and hold housing without discrimination based on familial status, and to seek, obtain and hold employment without discrimination on account of sex,” the release stated.

Derrel’s asserted the FEHA doesn’t apply to employer-provided housing issued as a condition of employment and argued business justifications for its policy. After an unsuccessful attempt to mediate the claim, the DFEH filed suit in Kern County, Calif., Superior Court.

The state announced it had reached a settlement on Monday. “This was an important case to confirm that the FEHA extends to all housing in California, including housing provided by employers to their employees as a condition of employment,” Kish said. “A policy prohibiting children from the business premises, including onsite housing, during operating hours, made it extremely difficult for parents or guardians with children to work as facility managers for [Derrel’s]. The revised policy allows facility managers the same freedoms all residents should have in their home while addressing [Derrel’s] business concerns.”

Derrel’s operates 58 self-storage locations throughout California, including 17 in Bakersfield. The company’s portfolio comprises more than 11 million square feet of net rentable square feet in more than 72,000 units.

Trey McGirt, whose family owns four Monkey Junction Self Storage facilities in North Carolina, is looking to build an artists’ consignment, crafts and gift store near one of his facilities in Wilmington, N.C. He’ll host a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. on April 25 at the Monkey Junction property at 5044 Carolina Beach Road to discuss the project.

The parcel at 5119 and 5123 Carolina Beach Road is less than half a mile from the storage facility and near a Walmart. McGirt will develop the project with his father, according to the source.

In a letter to adjacent property owners, McGirt explained he’s seeking conditional zoning-district approval from New Hanover County officials to move forward with the development. He also noted traffic wouldn’t be impacted by the store because the area is heavily commercial. “It’s an available location that’s suited for these styles of businesses, with the size of the property and dimensions,” he added.

The store would be similar to Blue Moon Gift Shops on Racine Drive and The Ivy Cottage, a home-décor consignment retailer on Market Street. It would also be of the same quality as the family’s storage properties, McGirt said.

Monkey Junction operates three facilities in Wilmington and one in Leland, N.C. In addition to traditional storage, the properties offer vehicle storage, truck rentals, and moving and packing supplies.

A self-storage auction buyer found an inactive grenade on Monday while sorting through the unit contents he purchased at Safe Harbor Self Storage in Valparaiso, Fla. The device was stored in a canister, according to Thomas Nalovic, who purchased the unit for $500 on Saturday.

Emergency personnel from the Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal team at Eglin Air Force Base were called to the property at 550 Valparaiso Parkway at 2:30 p.m. to investigate. The grenade was X-rayed and found to be non-explosive, according to the source.

The device also contained a “blue spoon” or safety lever, indicating it was likely a training grenade. Such products can be purchased from military-surplus storage, the source reported.

Nalovic said he was looking for “treasure” when he came upon what appeared to be a powered-sugar canister. “I opened it excitedly, and it was even more packed inside with paper towels. I cleared those out and I saw a grenade,” he said.

Nalovic handed the canister to his wife, Dr. Jennifer Fortune, who put it down slowly. He then called police, who in turn phoned the disposal team.

 

Self-storage manager and first-time attendee Diana Espinoza expected to pick up a few ideas at this year’s Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, April 10-13. But by the second day of the event, she already had a legal pad full of notes and “to-dos” to implement at her Climate Self Storage business, with four locations in New Mexico and Texas.

“I already had my eyes open as a manager. But now I have a broader view of what needs to get done,” Espinoza says.

This year’s show at the Paris Hotel & Resort drew nearly 4,000 professionals from worldwide to learn, network and share information about an industry that’s enjoying a massive wave of success. The biggest self-storage event of the year included seven specialized seminar tracks, seven deep-dive workshops, an International Program, sessions in Spanish, roundtable discussions, several networking events and vendor presentations. It also included two days of exhibits by more than 180 product and service suppliers.

The 2017 expo was attended by people from all 50 states as well as seven Canadian provinces and nearly 30 countries. It boasted more than 1,400 first-time attendees.

“We’re extremely grateful to all of the presenters, exhibitors and attendees who participated in the biggest international self-storage expo ever,” says Troy Bix, vice president of ISS. “The overall experience was the best I’ve ever been a part of.” 

Getting Schooled

The ISS Expo has always provided outstanding education, but this year’s platform drew record crowds of professionals seeking to advance their skills. They had access to more learning opportunities than ever between 45 seminars, seven workshops, roundtable discussions, two open-forum Q&As and more. Nearly 100 total presenters provided guidance on all things self-storage.

The show opened with three workshops on development, legal issues and marketing, with the Development Workshop reaching a new attendance record of more than 300. Students included new investors as well as existing owners looking to grow their portfolio.

Day two launched with an “Attendee Welcome & Orientation” that served as a primer for show participants to help them maximize their experience. They learned how to navigate the show, where and how to download the expo mobile app, which events were “can’t miss” and much more. From there, they funneled into one of five seminar rooms focused on building, management, investing, ownership and marketing. In the late afternoon, they got their burning questions answered at the annual “Self-Storage Q&A,” where several folks won great prizes.

The program continued on Wednesday with tracks focused on finance, management, marketing, ownership and technology. Espinoza particularly liked the seminars on legal issues and emergency preparedness. “Being a supervisor, it’s important that I’m aware of the legal stuff so I can let the other managers know about the do’s and don’ts,” she says. “I learned about the steps we need to take in case of an emergency. It was very helpful.”

After the conclusion of seminars, attendees rubbed elbows with peers and experts during the show’s nearly 30 roundtable discussions, with topics ranging from portable storage to solar energy to tax-saving tips and much more. After an afternoon of exhibits, the day’s learning ended with the Self-Storage Legal Q&A, hosted by industry attorney Jeffrey Greenberger.

The show’s education lineup ended on Thursday with four specialty workshops: Legal Learning Live (taught by Greenberger), the Management Workshop, the Owner/Operator Executive Workshop and the all-new Sales-Skills Workshop. More than 150 storage operators participated in this comprehensive session, which provided a plug-and-play sales system to help them boost conversions and generate more revenue.  

Reaching Across Borders

With approximately 150 international attendees representing nearly 30 countries, it was important that the ISS Expo provide activities to appeal to a global audience. All show participants had access to a full-day International Program this year, which included eight sessions on self-storage around the world. Regions of focus included Canada, Europe, Latin America and many others. A comprehensive panel which broke into roundtables for more intimate discussion covered Africa, Australia the Middle East and further areas of special interest.

Spanish-speaking attendees also had their own program this year, with three seminars in their native tongue. Held on Tuesday, 1-4 p.m., it included a close look at the Latin America self-storage market, a case study of success in the region, and a debate focused on facility development.   

Exhibits to Explore

Though the expo hall was expanded this year to include more booths than ever before, filling 26,000 square feet of space, the floor was completely sold out. More than 180 companies, including 25 first-time exhibitors, displayed their wares, answering questions and providing demonstrations. An overflow area just outside the main hall included seven companies.

“The caliber and breadth of this year’s vendors was remarkable,” Bix says. “Our attendees were eager to meet with these companies, and the booths were packed.”

For Fay Smithhart, manager of My Self Storage in Gonzales, La., the expo hall provided a valuable opportunity. “I was able to talk with vendors and meet them face-to-face. This interaction was very helpful,” she says. According to Smithhart, the experience is a must for any existing or would-be storage professional. “Everyone should attend the ISS Expo. And owners would be crazy not to send their managers to the show so they can learn more about the business.”