Speakers

Jason Allen

Jason "Jay" Allen began his real estate career in 1997 performing feasibility studies and evaluations. He's well-versed in all areas of self-storage investment, management, marketing and consulting. Since 2004, Jay has worked for residential and commercial real estate brokerage firms, brokering deals for residential, land development, multi-family and self-storage. He's co-founder of Performance Self Storage Group Inc., which helps owners improve their facilities' performance by using Gen-Y marketing techniques and instilling effective onsite operations.

Linnea Appleby

Linnea Appleby is president and chief operating officer of StorKwik Self Storage, the self-storage division of Florida-based Flagship Properties Investment Group. StorKwik is a national operator with locations in several states. Linnea has been involved in the self-storage industry since 1998, with a 27-year background in management and finance. She is a contributing writer to Inside Self-Storage and a frequent speaker at industry tradeshows and events.

Anne Ballard

Anne Ballard is founder and president of Atlanta-based Universal Management Co., which manages a portfolio of 40-plus self-storage facilities in 12 states. Anne is a former president of the Georgia Self Storage Association and now serves on the board. She co-authored the original copyrighted rental agreement for the state and assisted in two changes to the state self-storage statute. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and the author of “The Hat Lady Speaks: Marketing Self-Storage.”

Marc Boorstein

Marc Boorstein is a principal and co-founder of MJ Partners Real Estate Services and its affiliates, MJ Partners Self Storage Group and MJ Partners Capital Services. He has 20-plus years of real estate experience and has been involved in more than $1 billion in real estate transactions. He represents self-storage operators and institutional investors in the acquisition, disposition and financing of portfolios and single-assets nationwide. Marc is a regular speaker at self-storage conventions and a published author.

James Bratton

James Bratton, CEO of MST Constructors, has more than 30 years of experience as a licensed general contractor and is a licensed realtor and real estate developer. He started building self-storage in 1973 in Dallas. During the industry’s early years, he worked with engineers nationwide to help develop the cold-rolled structural systems used today. Partner and operator of various commercial properties, James worked with the larger real estate investment trusts to develop self-storage prototypes and has completed several award-winning projects.

Jim Chiswell

As president of Chiswell & Associates LLC, Jim Chiswell has conducted countless project-feasibility studies for clients building new projects, and created acquisition due-diligence reports for clients purchasing existing facilities. He's a contributing columnist to Inside Self-Storage, a faculty member of the Self Storage Training Institute, and a moderator for Self-Storage Talk. Jim is a past member of the board of directors of the Self Storage Association, and a past president of the New York Self Storage Association.

Dan Dotson

Dan Dotson is the co-founder and advisor of American Auctioneers, which launched in 1983. In the 1980s, Dan operated an auction house in Riverside, Calif., for more than a decade. The auction house specialized in collectibles, pottery, porcelain, dolls and furniture. Dan’s current auctions include self-storage, estates, business inventories, equipment, legal/foreclosure auctions, fundraisers and appraisals. Dan and his wife, Laura, manage up to 3,000 auctions and appraisals annually.

Kim Evered

Kim Evered is a senior marketing manager for self-storage at G5, a provider of local marketing solutions. With more than five years of digital marketing experience, Kim has a proven track record for helping self-storage properties get found online, generate more qualified leads, convert more leads into new customers, track marketing performance (including offline) and optimize to the marketing sources with the best return on investment.

Andrew Fawcett

Andrew Fawcett is president of Accent Building Restoration Inc. (ABR), which specializes in the cosmetic remodeling, upgrading and maintenance of self-storage facilities. The company has 17 branches across the country. Andrew has worked in the construction industry since his college years. Prior to starting ABR, he worked for Sherwin Williams and Dutch Boy paints for 11 years, holding positions that involved architectural and industrial coatings, working with architects and facility managers, writing specifications, and managing a contract flooring center.

Mario Feghali

Mario Feghali is co-founder and chief operating officer of SpareFoot.com, an online self-storage marketplace. A true "Internet nerd," Mario has grown the SpareFoot network from one site with a few thousand visitors to 100-plus websites with more than 80,000 monthly visitors. With an extensive background in psychology, statistics and analytics, Mario helps thousands of self-storage facilities generate more tenants online. He writes frequently about free tools that help facility owners track their results and increase traffic to their own websites.

Scott Frank

Attorney Scott Frank is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Scott A. Frank, P.A. in Boca Raton, Fla. He has extensive experience in real estate law, representing clients in acquisitions, dispositions, development, financing, commercial leasing, land use and community association law, as well as a broad range of expertise in general corporate matters. Scott also represents self-storage owners and operators in the acquisition, construction, permitting, financing and management of self-storage facilities in Florida and the Northeast.

John H. Gilliland

John Gilliland is CEO and founder of Investment Real Estate LLC, Investment Real Estate Management LLC and Investment Real Estate Construction LLC. Gilliland served as president of the Pennsylvania Self Storage Association from 2002 to 2006, and is a member of the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania Self-Storage Associations. He was elected to the board of directors of the national Self Storage Association in 2003, and served as chairman in 2007. John owns 14 facilities in Pennsylvania.

Chuck Gordon

Chuck Gordon is co-founder and CEO of SpareFoot.com, an online third-party directory for the self-storage industry. Chuck led SpareFoot.com from its launch less than two years ago to become a leading online source of tenants for self-storage facilities. SpareFoot pioneered the pay-per-rental model for online leads under Chuck’s leadership and is on the cutting edge of Web-based technology solutions. He’s also a regular contributor to Inside Self-Storage.

Jeffrey Greenberger

Jeffrey Greenberger is a partner in the law firm Katz, Greenberger & Norton LLP, where he focuses his practice on commercial real estate with a concentration in self-storage. Jeff assists operators in the design and implementation of legal policies and procedures and operational issues. He's the legal advisor to several state self-storage associations and a featured speaker for national and state self-storage tradeshows. He's a regular contributor to Inside Self-Storage and an instructor for the Self-Storage Training Institute.

Neal Gussis

Neal Gussis is a managing director in the Capital Markets Division of The Corvus Group. Neal has been involved in securing more than $1 billion in debt for commercial properties during his career, primarily focused in the self-storage market niche. Before joining Corvus, he was a principal at The BSC Group and Beacon Realty Capital. He's a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences, and a contributing author on real estate financing topics for regional and national publications.

Randy Hatch

Randy Hatch, president of marketing and media at Michaels Wilder, began his career in YP advertising more than 26 years ago. He served several key roles during his career including corporate trainer and national sales manager. As the director of a national sales team for R.H. Donnelley/Dex One Corp., he received the Yellow Pages Accuracy Award, and was named six times to the President's Circle of Excellence.

Bob Hayworth

Bob Hayworth is owner and CEO of Baja Construction Co. Inc., a design/build company specializing in carports and RV/boat storage. Baja has been in business for 25 years, with estimated annual revenue in excess of $25 million. Bob designed the patent-pending Solar Support System, which Baja has successfully implemented in the installation of more than 5 megawatts of fully integrated solar- and RV-shading structures. Bob is frequently invited to speak at industry events about solar-integrated carports and RV ports.

Matthew Harrison

Matthew Harrison has been involved with the design, sales and project management of solar projects throughout the United States. As a certified photovoltaic designer, Matthew has extensive knowledge of solar-electric system design coupled with 20 years of construction and construction-management experience. He's well-versed in federal, state and local incentive programs for renewable-energy grants, credits, rebates and other financial-incentive programs, and innovative programs for generating alternative revenue streams.

Shawn Hill

Shawn Hill is a principal at The BSC Group, where he's responsible for advising clients regarding debt and equity financing and loan-workout services for all commercial-property types, with an emphasis on self-storage. Shawn is a frequent speaker at self-storage tradeshows and a contributing author to industry publications. His professional background includes work at two credit-rating agencies, Duff and Phelps and Fitch Ratings Inc. Shawn was most recently a senior vice president with Beacon Realty Capital Inc.

John Hinkley

John Hinkley, manager of Storage Depot in Salt Lake City, has worked for Cutting Edge Self Storage Management since 2006. John has a passion for the unique and amazing self-storage industry. Currently finishing his degree in computer programming, John looks forward to using these skills in the storage business.

Mel Holsinger

Mel Holsinger founded Tucson, Ariz.-based Professional Self-Storage Management in 2004 and is the principal, president and CEO of the company. As part of the Inside Self-Storage Editorial Advisory Board, he contributes regularly to the magazine, and is also a member of the ISS Expo Education Advisory Committee. He's a faculty member of the Self Storage Training Institute, a frequent speaker at the ISS Expo, and a moderator for Self-Storage Talk.

Brandon Honeycutt

Brandon Honeycutt is a content writer and director of search marketing for StorageMarketingStrategies.com, a San Diego-based search-engine marketing, optimization and design firm catering exclusively to the self-storage industry. Brandon spends a lot of his time writing and is a contributing writer to Inside Self Storage. He has a degree in computer systems technology and is pursuing a business science degree with an emphasis on marketing.

Scott Jensen

Scott Jensen, director of interactive marketing for Extra Space Storage Inc. since 2006, began working in interactive marketing in 1995. His experience includes management and strategy for paid search, search engine optimization, website design and optimization, and affiliate and partner development and management. His work includes verticals such as e-commerce, travel, e-learning and development, and online retail.

Tron Jordheim

Tron Jordheim is the director of PhoneSmart, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a provider of call-center services and sales training and coaching to the self-storage industry. PhoneSmart has created more than 750,000 reservations and leads for its industry clients. Tron is a frequent speaker at self storage events and a contributor to self-storage trade journals.

RK Kliebenstein

RK Kliebenstein is president of Coast-To-Coast Storage, a self-storage consultancy firm offering feasibility studies, site selection, financing, management and marketing services. RK began his self-storage career in 1985. He's an industry speaker, author and expert witness in acquiring, developing, managing and financing self-storage properties. He's written numerous articles in trade magazines, is co-author of How to Invest in Self-Storage, and author of How to Make More Money in Self-Storage.

Jamie Lindau

Jamie Lindau, national sales manager for Trachte Building Systems, has more than 25 years of experience in self-storage building and consulting. During his career, he has assisted more than 1,100 self-storage owners with the acquisition, layout, feasibility, building design and purchase of their sites. He's a regular contributor to Inside Self-Storage magazine and other industry publications. Jamie has conducted more than 220 self-storage development seminars for Trachte since 1987.

Tom Litton

Tom Litton heads Litton Property Management Inc. Tom began his career in the self-storage industry during its infancy and has managed more than 150 self-storage facilities in 11 states. Most recently, he managed the Mister Space Self Storage division of The Grupe Co. He currently fee manages and consults throughout Australia, Canada, England, France and the United States. Tom contributes regularly to self-storage publications, has written numerous books and operational guides, and serves on the Inside Self-Storage Editorial Advisory Board.

Joseph Niemczyk

Joe Niemczyk joined National Self Storage in 1981 and later became president. In 1986, Joe co-created Executive Self Storage Associates Inc. The company has been involved in the management, consulting and development of more than 1,000 facilities across Australia, China, Europe, the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company oversees the daily operation of more than 3 million square feet of storage and also provides ongoing market analysis and development of several other projects.

Lori Niemczyk

Lori Niemczyk is owner and founder of A Top Shop!, a Colorado-based customer-service evaluating company, providing services to clientele in the United States and Canada since 1992. As a leader in the mystery-shopping industry, A Top Shop! has been instrumental in providing client feedback to increase return on investment, and track and document rent and legal procedures, as well as offer onsite management integrity and sales skills through phone calls and in-person evaluations.

Brad North

Brad North has trained and consulted with thousands of owners and developers throughout the world. Brad has produced a DVD and workbook training tool, "Maximizing your Sales and Marketing Program." He's a contributor to Inside Self-Storage, a speaker at state and national tradeshows, and a moderator for Self-Storage Talk. Brad provides onsite consulting, manager-training workshops, seminars and feasibility studies. His company, Advantage Business Consulting & Management, manages more than 1 million square feet of self-storage.

Kenny Pratt

Kenny Pratt is president of Crescendo Properties, a self-storage acquisition and management company that operates 14 properties. Kenny has been an executive in the self-storage and mobile-home park industry for seven years. He produces an e-mail newsletter that offers sales tips, and coaches other self-storage executives on how to move their organizations away from order-taking and toward selling. He enjoys coaching groups of onsite managers to sell more effectively.

Georgia Ragsdale

Georgia Ragsdale is president and CEO of Best American Financial Services LLC, a commercial-mortgage brokerage firm focusing on clients in the self-storage industry. Georgia uses her results-focused drive to close millions of dollars in loans in the commercial-property and construction sectors. She has brokered for a hard-money lending source and acquired land for development companies. Georgia has also coached the corporate sales teams of Fortune 500 companies such as Charles Schwab, Bank of America and Grubb & Ellis.

John Roser

John Roser has broad industry experience as a facility manager, regional manager, sales and marketing trainer, and founder of USA Storage Resource, a self-storage enterprise devoted to the support of small and independent facility owners and operators. He's the creator of the "Adventures In Storage" cartoon featured monthly in Inside Self-Storage magazine, a member of the ISS Education Advisory Committee and a moderator for Self-Storage Talk.

Stephan A. Ross

Stephan Ross began his self-storage career in 1984, working as city manager for Arizona-based National Self Storage. In 1996, he became the vice president of operations for Extra Space Management, where he directed the daily operation of more than 1.5 million square feet of storage. In February 2000, Stephan and his wife, Tammy, formed Cutting Edge Self-Storage Management. With 25 years of experience, Cutting Edge has become one of the fastest growing management companies in the industry.

Tammy Ross

Tammy Ross began her career in the self-storage industry in 1984 as a resident manager for National Self Storage. She later joined Executive Self Storage and relocated to the East Coast to become a regional manager. In 2000, she and her husband, Stephan, formed Cutting Edge Self Storage Management & Consulting, which provides feasibility studies, consulting and management services. She's also the owner of Midvale Main Street Theatre, where she directs and produces musical and dramatic productions.

Matt Schaller

Matt Schaller is vice president of sales and client services with Storage Property Protection. Matt has 23 years of experience in the insurance industry including global and regional brokerage knowledge as well as experience as an agency president and specialties in self-storage, tenant insurance and property protection. A Certified Insurance Counselor through the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors and a Certified Risk Manager by Certified Risk Managers International, Matt is a graduate of Ohio State University.

Eric Shanfelt

Eric Shanfelt is president of eMedia Strategist. Prior to this, he served in executive-management roles at Virgo Publishing, Penton Media and Aspire Media, and as an industry consultant helping companies evaluate and grow their online media businesses. Shanfelt has an extensive e-media background spanning 18 years and specializes in practical, revenue-generating e-media strategies for companies.

Stacey Shaw

Stacey Shaw, chief client officer at Michaels Wilder, has more than 10 years of experience in generating marketing and advertising campaigns. She has been influential in implementing metrics-driven strategies for small to large organizations through the use of online marketing tools such as pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, e-mail marketing, texting programs and website development. She has successfully partnered with clients to build and market their brands increase qualified lead generation through social networks.

Harry Sleighel

Harry Sleighel entered the Travelers Insurance Management Program after college and earned a Group 1 license. He moved to Phoenix to manage and market MiniCo Inc.'s customer-storage insurance program. After successfully running the division for two years, he was promoted to vice president of marketing, and later to executive vice president, responsible for marketing and selling all MiniCo's products. Harry left MiniCo in 1989 and launched Michaels Wilder with a partner. In 2010, Harry launched Storage Property Protection, which offers operators a comprehensive property-protection program.

R. Christian Sonne

Christian Sonne is the senior managing director of the Self Storage Industry Group of Cushman & Wakefield, which offers facility valuations, industry analyses and investor surveys. Prior to joining C&W, Chris was a real estate appraiser serving financial institutions, government agencies, industrial and commercial firms, the legal profession and the development industry. He has been a featured speaker at many self-storage conferences and is author of the “Self Storage Economics and Appraisal” seminar sponsored by The Appraisal Institute.

Randy Tipton

Randy Tipton owns and operates Universal Insurance Facilities Ltd., which has provided specialized insurance coverages to the self-storage industry for nearly 15 years. Randy is a seasoned industry professional with more than 30 years of insurance underwriting, marketing and management experience. She speaks at industry tradeshows, holds insurance seminars and speaks with facility owners nationwide. Randy is a contributor to Inside Self-Storage, an instructor for the Self-Storage Training Institute and a moderator for Self-Storage Talk.

Carl E. Touhey

Carl E. Touhey began his real estate career in 1986, then entered the self-storage industry in 1992. His family owns and operates eight facilities. Carl has brokered more than $200 million in self-storage sales. His track record and results have distinguished him as one of the most successful self-storage sales and acquisitions specialists in the industry. In April 2010, Carl co-founded Performance Self Storage Group with Jason Allen. The firm specializes in self-storage management, marketing and training.

John Traver

John Traver is owner and CEO of XPS Solutions LLC, a provider of reservation and property-marketing solutions for the self-storage industry. John's background includes nearly 20 years as a consultant in customer-relationship management solutions. He acquired XPS in 2004. The company now employs more than 100 full-time associates. John has been a speaker for numerous well-known organizations including Toyota and the National Automobile Dealers Association. He has also led training workshops, and contributed articles to numerous trade publications.

Matthew Van Horn

Matthew Van Horn is a board member of the Florida Self Storage Association and vice president of Cutting Edge Self Storage Management, a full-service company specializing in facility management, feasibility studies, consulting, development, and joint ventures. Hired by Cutting Edge in 2001, Matthew was promoted to the company’s east cost regional vice president of operations in 2002. He specializes in site operations and has managed, consulted or performed feasibility studies for facilities in nine states.

Ben Vestal

Ben Vestal has been involved in the management, development, construction and brokerage of commercial real estate since 1996. He began his career as a partner in the development of several industrial properties, and has since been involved in more than $250 million commercial real estate brokerage transactions. In 2006, Ben acquired an ownership interest in the Argus Self Storage Sales Network Inc., an independent network of real estate brokers specializing in self-storage properties.

Jonathon Vogel

Jonathon (Jon) is a senior account executive with Bader Insurance Co., a provider of self-storage tenant insurance. Over the past three years, he has developed relationships with some of the industry’s largest owner/operators and gained knowledge of smaller operators nationwide to specifically address their storage-insurance needs. Jon has a background in insurance and account management, having worked with commercial property management companies in building and grounds maintenance. He has a bachelor’s degree in public affairs management from Indiana University.

Stuart Wade

Stuart Wade joined AAAA Self Storage Management in February 2004 as business development manager. Prior to joining the company, he worked in advertising and investment management including real estate syndications. Stuart was named the AAAA’s director of sales and marketing in March 2005. The Chowan College Graduate holds numerous real estate certifications as well as a Virginia real estate license.

J.E. (Jay) Wallace III

Jay puts his extensive information-technology background to use as vice president for Monster Self Storage, managing the company’s software and hardware integration using process-efficiency models and cost-to-benefit analysis. He has instituted multiple new customer-service offerings and process improvements for his group of more than 18 self-storage locations in the Southeast, and has consulted with other operators since 2004. Jay has extensive experience building his company and brand through training, marketing and Web presence.

Aaron Warnock

Aaron Warnock is responsible for product planning and lifecycle management at G5, a provider of self-storage local-marketing solutions. With more than 15 years of experience in product and business development, Aaron has a proven track record for developing digital marketing applications and partner technology solutions that help clients achieve breakthroughs in business performance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from MIT and a Ph.D. in immunology from Stanford University, and has authored numerous articles.

Lance Watkins

Lance Watkins is CEO of StorageTreasures, a platform designed to democratize the lien process for the self-storage industry. Lance is also the founder and CEO of Storage Outlet, a Southern California storage company, and a partner of PRP Storage, a full-service self-storage property-management company. He has 14 years of experience in storage development, acquisition, management, operations, marketing and digital branding. He’s also on the board of the national Self Storage Association’s Large Owners Group.

Greg Wells

Greg Wells is a director of brokerage services in the Self Storage Industry Group of Cushman & Wakefield. He has 13 years of experience in the self-storage asset class, specializing in the sale and acquisition of facilities and land for development. Prior to joining SSIG, Greg was with Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial for 13 years, specializing in self-storage investment sales and forming the company’s self-storage group.

Renae White

Renae White is a national sales manager of Internet and emerging for AT&T, where she started during the early adoption of YP.com selling the platform to local and small businesses. Since then, Renae has joined the national channel within AT&T, partnering with agencies nationwide to expand their interactive space and emerging products such as search, mobile and social media.

Charles Ray Wilson

Ray Wilson is a recognized authority on self-storage investment analysis and a regular speaker at industry tradeshows. He's a frequent contributor to industry magazines and often quoted in national newspapers. In 1992, he founded Self Storage Data Services Inc. (SSDS), a research company that tracks the operating performance of several thousand facilities. As the owner of SSDS, Ray consults regularly with the nation's top self-storage analysts on valuation and performance matters.

Caesar Wright

Caesar Wright is president of Mako Steel Inc., which specializes in self-storage design and construction. His enterprising skills have helped launch Mako Steel to the forefront of the industry. Caesar is a well-known and respected professional in the industry, known for his ability to manage, negotiate and succeed without compromising his integrity or sense of humor. As part of the Inside Self-Storage Editorial Advisory Board, he contributes regularly to the magazine, and is also a moderator for Self-Storage Talk.

Scott Zucker

Scott Zucker is a partner in the law firm Weissmann Zucker Euster Morochnik P.C., where he specializes in real estate and business litigation. He represents owners and managers on legal matters such as property development, lease preparation, employment policies, tenant-claims defense, foreclosure and lien sales, premises liability and loss-control safeguards. Scott is legal counsel to a number of state storage associations, a frequent speaker at conferences and a contributing author to industry magazines.