Heartfelt Help With Easy Implementation

By Katie Tompulis

Lisa Barth-Chiappetta is no stranger to self-storage. She learned the ins and outs of facility management by lending a helping hand to her family business as she grew up. From an early age, BarthChiapetta recognized the significant role managers played in the success of her family’s facilities and how close involvement in their local community coincided with a positive customer and employee experience. Now co-owner and operator of Barth Storage, BarthChiappetta prioritizes community at the forefront of her company.

“We care about the community because the community is what made our business and kept us successful over the years,” says Barth-Chiappetta. “And it inspires our employees to be engaged, energized, and provide the ultimate customer experience.”

Before the idea of Charity Storage was conceived, Barth-Chiappetta had already begun to leverage her storage units for good in a manner nearly identical to the model the program would follow years later. Barth-Chiappetta brought her experiences with her own units and the nonprofits in her local community to the Charity Storage team to offer her support to other operators who had a similar mission of giving back.

“I work very closely with our local homeless shelter,” she says. “Over the years we would collect unwanted items from customers that they did not want

to dispose of. We started using some of our storage units and collecting the items that they did not want to help support families served by the shelter. They would have a family that needed some furniture so they would come into our storage units.”

Barth-Chiapetta goes on to say, “The community really helped me get that going and keep those units stacked for when the shelter had people in need. That is how I got into Charity Storage, because it was near and dear to my heart.”

Her background in the industry gave her unique insight into utilizing the space in her facility for a greater cause. “Any storage facility can donate a unit. It does not cost anything besides space. I am sure there is always a broken unit or a manager unit, or some units that are not being rented at the time,” Barth-Chiappetta says. “You may have a bunch of extra 10-by-10s or something like that at the end of the season, and you could afford to hand out one or two. Any storage facility can participate on some level. It is not difficult to have one unit lease available to hold these items and then sell them to donate to your local community through Charity Storage.”

Barth Storage advocates often for the ease that comes with the Charity Storage program. “It is a grassroots program that should be brought up more because it is so easy for operators to implement,” she says. “It is incredibly easy to collect a few items

to help raise money for causes critical to your community—in our case, the local homeless shelter.”

Barth-Chiappetta calls on two important actions facilities can implement to maximize their impact. “First, make sure your employees know about it and bring enthusiasm to the program,” she says. “Secondly, when someone is moving out and has unwanted items, your managers can help guide them to Charity Storage by telling them all about the program.”

According to Barth-Chiappetta, word of mouth is key to getting the program up and running at your facility. “Branding is the best thing to engage customers in the Charity Storage program,” she says. “I always make sure we have signage near doors and the elevators for customers to read and learn about Charity Storage.”

Charity Storage announced this year that they plan to send free marketing kits to facilities. These marketing kits are used for signage to have around your facility.

Lastly, Barth-Chiappetta encouraged every self-storage operator to embrace the power and means they have to give back to their local communities. “It is just one unit that you donate once or twice a year—that is all you need to make a difference to support local charities in your community.”

To learn more about the Charity Storage program, go to charitystorage. org today.

Charity Storage was conceived by Lance Watkins, who had first-hand experience with the storage industry and the reality television show “Storage Wars.” The late Barry Hoeven, founder of Westport Properties, co-founded Charity Storage, bringing many years of self-storage and philanthropy experience to the endeavor. Today, Charity Storage is an independent 501(c)3 national self-storage industry nonprofit that is supported by many self-storage owners, operators, management companies, industry associations, organizations, and vendors. Ninety percent of all funds raised are distributed to qualifying charitable organizations (60 percent to the charity chosen by the operator/ facility, 20 percent to Kure It Cancer Research, and 10 percent to the Self Storage Association Foundation [SSAF] Scholarship Program).

Charity Storage utilizes existing storage facility operations to raise funds to support charities throughout the United States. Donated and abandoned items are placed into a vacant unit and the contents are auctioned off on site or online, via Storage Treasures.com or other online auction platforms. Operators online with Storage Treasures.com can opt-in via their account dashboard today and start selling charity units immediately.

By Erica Shatzer

Within the self-storage industry, it’s common knowledge that a property manager can “make or break” a facility. Typically, those who “make” the site are best known for their exceptional customer service and attention to detail, as well as their tendency to take pride in the property they oversee.

Indeed, an all-star manager can become a facility’s greatest asset by attracting and retaining tenants while improving and/or maintaining the property. And the two runners-up for the 2021 Manager of the Year award definitely proved themselves to be the most valuable players at the sites they manage!

The first runner-up of the 2021 Manager of the Year award, Kameron Bishop, property manager at Life Storage in Gainesville, Fla., is a self-proclaimed “jack of all trades.” Before joining the Life Storage team more than two years ago, Bishop dabbled in several industries. Some of her previous work experiences include: 911 dispatcher, where she learned exceptional telephone skills; real estate broker, where she picked up some sales techniques; business owner of a bicycle shop, where she developed an aptitude for bookkeeping and customer service; janitor at a fairground as a teenager; and even nursing before becoming a stay-athome mom to her stepdaughter.

It was during her time as a stay-athome mom that she gradually entered the self-storage industry. Bishop, who knew the owners of the mom-and-pop facility in her neighborhood, offered to serve as a “fill in” at the couple’s self-storage site. They taught her the ropes, and that’s when the “storage bug” bit her, she says, noting that she felt like she had finally found a job that incorporated all her various experiences and skillsets. By the time her son was off to school, she was ready to be a full-time employee in the storage business, so she applied for a position at a Life Storage facility in Jacksonville, Fla., where she spent one year as an associate manager.

Bishop did such an outstanding job at the Jacksonville location that she was promoted to site manager of a new, state-of-the-art facility in Gainesville. That Life Storage property opened on July 15, 2020, which also happened to be her one-year anniversary with the REIT.

Though she admits that the brandnew property and its high-tech features make it “easier” to sell, it’s Bishop’s commitment to the Golden Rule that keeps customers satisfied and leaving stellar reviews. “I put myself in my customers’ shoes,” she says, adding that

simply treating people as you’d want to be treated is the best kind of customer service you can provide. Obviously, her approach is working, as she managed to exceed 50 percent occupancy in merely 11 months.

“From working with vendors to identify areas for improvement at opening to taking on additional training courses to better prepare for the new challenges ahead, she did it all,” says Greg D’arce, an area manager for Life Storage. “Kameron possesses the ability to handle difficult situations with a practical approach while remaining optimistic and focused on the goal at hand.”

In addition to providing excellent customer service, Bishop promotes the Life Storage site every chance she gets, handing out flyers everywhere she goes and talking to everyone she meets—even outside of company time because she loves helping people and loves her job. In fact, Bishop is so “content” with her work-life balance right now that she plans to stay with Life Storage until she retires.

And Life Storage couldn’t be happier with Bishop and her desire to stick with the company. “Her dedication and commitment to grow is a shining example of the type of leaders we foster and promote,” says D’arce. “The success of our company relies on individuals like Kameron, and the contributions she brings forth each and every day do not go unnoticed.”

Dereck Conway, the second runner-up of the 2021 Manager of the Year competition, came to the self-storage industry from the hospitality industry more than 18 years ago. Conway, who was working as a maintenance manager for a hotel in New Jersey, actually trained someone for his position at the hotel who contacted him a few years later about joining the self-storage industry as a property manager. The rest, as they say, is history. Conway started his self-storage journey at Shurgard, where he was a manager in training before the company was acquired by Public Storage. After serving as a manager for Storage Bins, Conway was employed by Devon Self Storage until the facility he was managing was sold to Metro Storage. Then, it was back to Devon for another 13 years before joining Extra Space Storage.

He started at Extra Space as a manager for a property in Philadelphia, Pa., where he managed to reach 100 percent occupancy in 1.5 years. Once an opportunity arose in his home state of New Jersey, Conway put in for a transfer. He currently works at an 80,000-square-foot facility in Sicklerville, N.J., managed by Extra Space that opened in February 2020. In less than a year and a half—and amidst a pandemic—Conway used his lease-up magic to reach 90 percent occupancy, crushing the owners’ lease-up projection of 36 months to obtain that occupancy rate. This spectacular feat even enabled the owners to secure refinancing for the facility at a better, lower rate.

During the onset of the pandemic, Conway, who made reaching stabilization his mission, was filling up units at breakneck speed. Donning a face mask and running clipboards of paperwork to customers who were waiting in their cars, Conway was sometimes assisting five or six customers at once in the facility’s parking lot.

His dedication to helping his customers in any way possible, no matter the circumstance, is apparent in the sterling Google reviews his tenants leave; in fact, he received 330 of them in less than two years for an impressive, perfect average of 5.0 stars. Tenants and team members alike appreciate Conway for his professionalism, enthusiasm, sincerity, courteousness, and helpfulness.

Obviously, there is no greater satisfaction for A-plus effort than heartfelt praise directed to your employer. Here are two examples of the profound impact Conway’s had on his customers: In February 2022, one tenant writes, “Dereck is absolutely a wonderful and compassionate representative of your company. He has the knowledge and experience to assist with every aspect of the storage business. Extra Storage is very fortunate to have such a true gem of a worker here!” In March 2022, another says, “Dereck is a very friendly and helpful person. He has gone above and beyond and has truly made my first experience renting a storage unit a great one! Thanks for your understanding and compassion Dereck! You’re an asset to Extra Space Storage!”

“It’s all about how you treat people,” says Conway, who takes time to build

rapport with customers. He accomplishes this by listening to them, assessing their needs, and giving the “best customer service possible.” It also helps that he loves assisting customers, especially those who are going through tough times.

Along with devotion to his customers, Conway takes pride in the facility he manages, keeping it sparkling clean and inviting. “On one unannounced visit, we noticed that Dereck was using a mop to clean the facility,” says Chris Patton, one of the facility owners. “We immediately authorized the purchase of a commercial cleaner to assist him. Dereck always treated our store as his own and did whatever he could to keep it in A-plus condition.”

For all these reasons, it’s not surprising that Extra Space invited Conway to participate in the company’s advanced management program last year. And Conway was thrilled to take the course, which started in August, since his objective is to eventually “move up to the next level,” and possibly even own his own self-storage facility one day.

It’s plain to see why these outstanding MVPs were chosen for the 2021 Manager of the Year awards. With unrivaled, unwavering dedication to their customers and properties, they are more than deserving of a healthy round of applause—or three! Congratulations!

Erica Shatzer is the editor of Mini-Storage Messenger, Self-Storage Now!, Self-Storage Canada, and MiniCo Publishing’s annual SelfStorage Almanac.