We know a lot of you folks want to become experts in everything you do. At face value, it’s not a bad sentiment. It’s great to be educated and learn everything you can about a topic. But it can also be limiting.
You can’t be an expert on everything.
When it comes to storage, this was a lesson I learned early on. There will always be people who are better and more knowledgeable on a topic than I can ever be. And that’s a good thing! I’d rather let someone use their talents in areas where I’m not as strong, so I can focus on what I am good at.
What’s really important is how well you can build a team.
This week, I want to introduce the people on our storage team and highlight their skills and experience that make them so valuable to our projects.
Why Your Team Matters More Than Anything
Scott Meyers, Real Estate Investor
Scott has been in real estate since 1993. He owns and manages facilities with over 6,000 units and is always building more across the country. Scott is the Owner and Executive Director of Indiana’s largest Private Small Business Incubator, a 200,000 sq. foot facility with 120 tenant-clients, designed to help small businesses in the start-up phase.
Most importantly, Scott is the founder of the Self Storage Academy, the largest self storage training, mentoring and mastermind organization in the country. Scott is also a member of the Self Storage Association and received his Certified Self Storage Manager Designation through the National Self Storage Association in 2007. Needless to say, when it comes to storage, Scott is the expert.
Anne Williams, Real Estate Broker
Anne has worked in self storage for over 18 years, in a number of different capacities, including as an acquisition analyst, lease manager and in sales and operations.
In addition, Anne is an accomplished real estate broker who specializes in the acquisition and disposition of self-storage assets. She provides advisory services to her clients relevant to operations, market conditions, capital markets and economic trends.
She is also a professional mentor to real estate investors and brings invaluable wisdom and guidance to our team.
Mary Stryker, Advisor
As my wife, Mary brings a unique perspective to our team. She is amazing at helping people tune into their passions and reach their dreams and goals. Mary supports our team as an advisor, by bringing encouragement, common sense and support to make our projects possible. Read more about Mary.
Shannon Deckard, Administrative Assistant
Shannon provides administrative support to SAO and truly fills a number of roles within our company.
Luckily for us, Shannon is extremely well-versed in self-directed accounts and how they can be utilized in real estate investing. She has also handled hundreds of transactions with custodians on self-directed accounts.
Shannon is also an investor in her own right. She personally owns rental properties in Indiana and Missouri. In addition, she has participated in joint venture lending investments to flip homes in Alabama. Shannon is meticulous in making sure all the small details of our projects are present and accounted for. Read more about Shannon.
Natalie Ness, Investor Relations / Marketing
Natalie has been my right hand for over 17 years. She helped me build our orthodontics practice with three different locations and now works with SAO in investor relations, marketing, commercial investments and many, many other roles.
She is also an investor herself in short- and long-term lending, and titled properties. Natalie has an exceptionally keen eye for locating opportunities for our investors. Read more about Natalie!
Ivee, Virtual Assistant
Ivee provides exceptional organizational skills including email management, internet research, lead generations, building/updating our CRM, and helping the SAO team efficiently manage time.
Jennifer Copper, Storage Structures
Jennifer is our point of contact with Storage Structures, one of the largest companies nationwide specializing in the construction of self storage facilities.
Ken Hays, President, Silverwood Construction
Located in Gardendale, Alabama just 10 miles from our project site, Silverwood Construction is one of the most experienced commercial construction firms in the nation.
Josh Boyd, Developer
Josh has ample experience as a self storage owner and developer and is assisting on our project.
Derek McCarty, Lead Engineer
Derek is one of the leading engineers in the country on self storage. He works at LBYD Engineering in Birmingham, Alabama.
Charles Sowell, Landscape Architect
Charles has specific experience in landscape architecture in the storage industry.
Randy Britton, Architect
Randy is a talented architect who has worked with Ken Hays of Silverwood Construction on several projects.
Dylan Taylor, Property Manager
Property management is vitally important in real estate.
Dylan works for Extra Space, which operates 1,500 self storage facilities around the country, half of which are owned by the company. Dylan is highly experienced in the self storage industry and understands how to quickly lease up properties, especially in the Birmingham area.
Manuel Coe, Virtual Assistant
Manuel is Scott Meyers’s virtual assistant in the Philippines who makes sure our checklists get completed, due diligence is done, meetings are organized, paperwork is secured and property filed, and plenty more. He is truly the nerve center of our group.
We Are Better Together
The most important thing I want you to take from this article is becoming part of and building a tribe. Becoming a part of Scott Meyers’s group allowed me to put this team together. I would have never found these people without them. It would have been impossible.
The building of this team is what makes lenders interested in investing in our opportunities. It makes it a safer proposition for investors to bring their money into because the people we work with are experienced and credible.
Yes, you want return on your investment, but just as importantly, you want return of your investment. With a team like we’ve put together, you’re going to get both.
You are going to get return of your investment AND you’re going to get return on your investment.
If you missed our previous post about why you should add self-storage to your investment portfolio, here’s a chance to read it now!
If you want to learn more about our team, building a tribe or our investment opportunities, we’re here.