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Stories Behind the Door: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Thaddeus Campbell
Self-storage isn't just square footage — it's a booming industry powered by smart operators, bold investors, sharp brokers, and everyday people making things happen. Hosted by Thaddeus Campbell, Stories Behind the Door pulls back the curtain on the real players behind the deals, developments, and day-to-day grind. Every week, we sit down with the people who are shaping the future of storage and flex space — one story at a time. If you're in the business or thinking about getting in, this is your front-row seat.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 6 days ago32 min
Matt Engfer knew Cubby could be huge. His foundational values helped make it happen.
A frustrating rental experience with three storage units during an art-leasing venture showed Matt Gengfer that self-storage property management software was ripe for disruption . Today on Stories Behind the Door, I sit down with Matt Gengfer, Co-Founder and CEO of Cubby, to explore how relentless customer focus helped them build one of the industry's modern software pillars. Matt details how he and his co-founder started Cubby on January 1, 2022, spending their early months working the front desk, shoveling snow, and doing lock checks alongside on-site managers to understand operational pain points firsthand . We discuss scaling from a single 65-unit facility in Florida to securing a $63M investment round led by Goldman Sachs, and why Matt instills a Nick Saban-inspired ethos where losing a customer is completely unacceptable . Episode Highlights: The First-Principles Apprenticeship: Why Matt worked on-site at facilities before writing core platform code . The Bed-Stuy Crucible: Grinding 14-hour
- 1 weeks ago33 min
Alex Quezada fueled his storage growth taking massive action on lessons learned from Masterminds.
I sit down with Alex Quezada, Founder and CEO of Vault Ventures, to discuss creative deal acquisition, portfolio automation, and scaling commercial real estate . After 15 years in residential real estate, Alex automated his wholesaling company and transitioned full-time to long-term commercial assets . In this episode, Alex explains how he acquired multiple large facilities using creative seller financing and why securing long debt terms without balloon maturities protects operators far better than chasing short-term low rates . We also explore the operational advantages of pairing self-storage with small bay industrial flex, how tracking Return on Equity (ROE) dictates when to sell versus hold, and the vital business lesson of planning a partnership exit before signing an operating agreement . Episode Highlights: Creative Debt Structuring: Why fixed seller-financed debt over 10–20 years outperforms short-term bank financing facing balloon debt maturities <!----
- 2 weeks ago33 min
Remote Management Needs boots on the ground. Chris Terrigno is helping solve the problem.
Unmanned, remote self-storage is expanding rapidly, but remote technology stops working the second a physical problem hits the property . In this episode of Stories Behind the Door, I sit down with Chris Terrigno, the 22-year-old Co-Founder of Boots and Mortar, to discuss how his company is solving the maintenance problem for modern operators . Chris details how Boots and Mortar bridges the gap between digital property management and physical facilities by deploying background-checked, W2 technicians on recurring schedules for overlocks, unit turns, and repairs . We explore how their technician app and client portal give remote owners complete photographic visibility, how Chris dialed thousands of facility managers to hone their service offering, and how he applies John Wooden's classic discipline to build a high-accountability business while finishing his degree at Colorado State . Episode Highlights: The Missing Link in Remote Ops: Why unmanned facilities struggle with local handymen and how centralized maintenance protects NOI <!-
- 3 weeks ago31 min
He Mastered Public Storage's Playbook—Then Rewrote It | Darren Kelly
A career pivot driven by family in 2000 became a 25-year journey at the forefront of commercial self-storage . I sit down with Darren Kelly, Co-Founder and President of Right Move Storage, for an inside look at operational grit, distressed turnarounds, and agile PropTech execution . Darren takes us inside Public Storage during the Shurgard acquisition and the early rollout of centralized revenue management . He shares the brutal trial by fire after 2008, when he helped restructure a 70-facility portfolio facing 40 maturing loans, saving 69 of them and cementing his rule that every operational penny matters . We also break down how Darren stays ahead of institutional REITs today by splitting Right Move into Premier and Remote platforms, becoming the first to scale Storage Defender across his stores, and turning unmanned facilities into full e-commerce retail engines . Episode Highlights: <p id="p-rc_fb3e0d5ad9d4f9b5-306" data-path-to-node
- Oct 7, 202633 min
Dez Fortenberry shares a nearly decade-long learning curve in self-storage brokerage
When Desmond Fortenberry graduated from Florida State in May 2020, commercial real estate was in uncharted territory. Instead of waiting on the sidelines, he hit the road, dug through county GIS property maps, drove hours across the Panhandle to share coffee with owners, and built a brokerage career on old-school relationships. Now Senior Vice President at Oakside, Dez joins me on Stories Behind the Door for a fast-paced look at the ground-level realities of self-storage transactions. We break down how he transitioned from notepads and parcel maps to institutional brokerage under John Lindsey, why finding operational fat, like shaving $28,000 off a tax bill, creates real equity, and what operators must prepare for as commercial debt matures toward 2027. Episode Highlights: The Old-School Blueprint: Why face-to-face road trips beat CRM shortcuts when building real owner trust. The Power of Mentorship: What Dez learned about institutional deal-making after teaming up with John Lindsey. Creating Equity Through NOI: How cutting $28K in property taxes added over $460,000 in capitalized asset value. The Competitor's Mindset: Why treating peer brokers like tennis rivals makes everyone in the asset class better. The 2027 Horizon: Navigating loan maturities, balloon payments, and distress scenarios in today's debt climate. Whether you are actively trading assets or looking to protect cash flow against debt maturities, Dez's practical take delivers a clear view of modern storage brokerage. Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Dezmond Fortenberry Email: dezmon@oaksideco.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dezmon-f-8568038a/ Sponsor Shoutout: Sponsored by Kiwi 2 Construction. Wayne Woolsey and his team bring 30+ years of premier structural steel expertise to ground-up self-storage and small bay industrial flex builds. Head to kiwisteel.com during your planning phase to put their experience to work on your next development. Special thanks, as always, to Barry Sherman and the team at S3 Partners!
- Sep 30, 202633 min
Scott Chase has built a special storage operation by focusing on people
I sit down with Scott Chase, President of U-Haul of Eastern Massachusetts and Board Director of the Northeast Self Storage Association (NESSA), for a grounded, behind-the-scenes look at leadership, culture, and operational strategy within one of commercial real estate's legacy operators. Scott started with U-Haul nearly 30 years ago fresh out of high school, taking a part-time job behind the counter to support his young family. Over the course of three decades, he rose through field management and has led the Eastern Massachusetts market for the past 15 years. In this episode, Scott shares how U-Haul maintains an entrepreneurial, low-bureaucracy environment where executives are promoted from within, and operational decisions can be cleared in as few as three phone calls. We examine U-Haul's deliberate counter-cultural stance on rate increases: while major REITs leaned into aggressive Existing Customer Rate Increases (ECRIs) post-COVID, U-Haul implemented rate-lock guarantees and modest rent bumps tied strictly to property improvements to safeguard customer trust and retain long-term occupancy. Scott also breaks down how his team navigates Boston's chaotic September 1 university lease turnover, why technology must deliver tangible tenant value to justify its cost, and why regional associations like NESSA are vital for the independent operators managing 48% of the country's self-storage supply. Key Takeaways From This Episode: The Promote-From-Within Engine: How U-Haul cultivates deep loyalty and operational fluency by ensuring every leader has spent real time working the counter. Rethinking Rate Management: Why U-Haul rejected the REIT playbook of aggressive move-in discounts followed by steep ECRIs, opting instead for rate stability and long-term customer goodwill. Operational Humility: Why Scott still works front counters during peak move-in weekends to stay grounded in customer realities and lead by example. The Independent Operator Moat: How regional and state associations like NESSA protect local facility owners through localized legislative advocacy and operational education. Pragmatic PropTech Adoption: Why facility operators should prioritize technologies that directly enhance customer experience rather than adopting tools that only serve internal vanity metrics. Whether you operate a portfolio of stores or manage boots-on-the-ground facility teams, Scott's candor and thirty-year operational perspective provide a masterclass in people-first leadership. Learn More About NESSA: Visit nessa.org to get involved with regional self-storage education and networking. Sponsor Shoutout: This episode is brought to you by Kiwi II Construction. Wayne Woolsey and his team bring over 30 years of premier experience erecting structural steel for self-storage and small-bay industrial flex builds. Visit kiwisteel.com early in your planning phase to put three decades of steel construction expertise to work on your next ground-up development.
- Sep 23, 202634 min
He knew it was wrong the day he got promoted. So he left Google! Now he's dominating storage data
I sit down with Ethan Gallowitsch, Chief Product Officer at TractIQ, for an inside look at how two former college lacrosse teammates teamed up to transform data transparency in self-storage. Ethan and TractIQ CEO Noah Starr spent their college years at the University of Texas at Austin as co-captains running their club lacrosse program, dreaming up business concepts on their apartment rooftop after graduation. While Noah pursued real estate acquisitions, Ethan ran an early startup before joining Google, where he worked on YouTube ad revenue systems and early LLM implementations. But when a corporate promotion made him realize he was climbing the wrong ladder, Ethan walked away to build TractIQ alongside Noah and their partner Marina. In this episode, Ethan shares the evolution of TractIQ from an internal underwriting script into an indispensable industry platform monitoring more than 72,000 facilities. We discuss why Noah stepped away from buying facilities to protect client trust, how the team adopted the philosophy of Unreasonable Hospitality to deliver sub-five-minute customer response times, and why real-time construction starts and CMBS debt data have become essential tools for modern acquisitions and development. Key Takeaways From This Episode: The Co-Founder Dynamic: How managing team budgets, travel, and logistics in college club sports laid the operational groundwork for launching TractIQ. Leaving the Corporate Machine: Why Ethan stepped away from Google after realizing corporate promotions failed to provide true entrepreneurial fulfillment. Eliminating Conflicts of Interest: The critical decision Noah and Marina made to halt their own facility acquisitions so TractIQ would never compete against its users. High-Touch Customer Success: Implementing "Unreasonable Hospitality" where engineering and product teams interface directly with clients daily via private group chats. Rapid Deployment Cycles: Why shipping incremental 10% improvements directly from user feedback consistently beats multi-year corporate roadmaps. Macro Insights on the Ground: Utilizing verified data—including nationwide construction pipeline maps, floodplains, and debt maturity records—to underwrite self-storage and small bay flex deals. Whether you are underwriting your next storage build or scaling a software platform, Ethan's perspective delivers an exceptional look at product discipline, speed, and founder alignment. Access TractIQ: Head to trackediq.com/tssr to check out the platform and access our listener discount! Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Ethan Galowitz Email: ethan@tractiq.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-galowitz/ This Episode was brought to you by: https://www.kiwisteel.com/
- Sep 16, 202636 min
Shon Bennet on the amazing growth of GoStoreIt and what's happening in Storage that made it possible
I sit down with Shon Bennett, Director of Business Development at Go Store It, for a deep dive into the evolving world of third-party self-storage management . Shon spent 14 years at Extra Space Storage, beginning behind the counter as an assistant manager before leveraging a decade of operational field experience to join their corporate third-party management division . Two years ago, Shon took a leap of faith to join COO Bo Agnello and help scale Go Store It into a national powerhouse . In this episode, Shon breaks down how Go Store It navigated the prolonged industry down-cycle and expanded its footprint to about 250 owned and managed locations . We examine the structural shift happening in third-party management, where mega-REITs are hitting concentration limits in primary markets and passing on tertiary assets, leaving a massive runway for tailored operating models . Shon also explains his philosophy on PropTech, using software and AI as targeted "NOS" rather than building an entire operation aro
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About Stories Behind the Door
Self-storage isn't just square footage — it's a booming industry powered by smart operators, bold investors, sharp brokers, and everyday people making things happen. Hosted by Thaddeus Campbell, Stories Behind the Door pulls back the curtain on the real players behind the deals, developments, and day-to-day grind. Every week, we sit down with the people who are shaping the future of storage and flex space — one story at a time. If you're in the business or thinking about getting in, this is your front-row seat.
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