By Alejandra Zilak

tarting any career in any industry can feel daunting, especially when you don’t know anyone. It can feel even more intimidating if you’re one of the many people who experiences imposter syndrome. Everywhere you look, there are people who know more than you do, or you think they know more than you do. While there are certainly subject matter experts who’ve been around the rodeo a couple of times and could teach the younger generations how everything is done, there are also plenty of individuals who feel just as out of sorts as you.

The good news is that every single one of the industry legends you’ve met was once in your shoes. Unlike the early days of the self-storage industry, where a lot was learned by trial and error, the Self-Storage Association’s Young Leaders Group (YLG) provides a huge safety net, a long list of resources, and shared wisdom that you can use to your advantage. It’s also a place to make friends. No matter how much of an introvert you may be, it’s always good to have a person or two in your corner whom you can text with quick questions. So, let’s talk about YLG and why, if you’re 40 or under, you should run to their next event to join the group.

First things first: In a world where everything is measured by what teenagers and people in their 20s think is cool, any group that calls you young when you’re 40 is already a winner. Beyond that one superficial aspect, there are many good things that come from dipping your toes in these waters.

“YLG is a great networking group with folks who are in the same stage of their careers,” says Andrew Capranos, president of 10 Federal Storage and recently elected chair of the YLG Senate. “SSA events are huge, with thousands of attendees, and it can sometimes feel overwhelming for a new person, but joining YLG makes it seem smaller. You know where to go to see some of the people you’ve already met. It’s a way to create a smaller field.”

There’s definitely safety in numbers, and seeing familiar faces is the best way to feel welcome at any event. But in addition to making new friends, the group provides valuable tools to help young professionals develop within their self-storage career.

“In addition to networking, we also focus on leadership and skill development,” says Capranos. “We do social events, but we also organize educational workshops where we bring speakers and sometimes a panel of experts to talk about a specific subject members may be interested in. We also sometimes invite former YLG members who’ve become successful in their careers to talk about how they got to where they are and to share a lot of their knowledge.”

Some of the most recent workshops included a speaker who taught members about executive communications: how to do it effectively, how to have a good presence when doing so, and how to stand out in a virtual setting. “This is something that has become increasingly more popular—hosting video calls and virtual events, where it’s easy to get lost in the sea of people who are logging in,” says Capranos. “So, it was a very interesting workshop to help us learn how to navigate them and how to get noticed, in a good way.”

That specific workshop took place at the SSA’s 2024 fall conference and trade show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where certainly a good time was had by all. Their next big event will be at the spring conference in Orlando—another fun destination to meet new people and learn from the best in the industry.

How much is it going to cost you? Typically, dues have been $100 for an annual membership. However, the membership fee has been waived for 2025. “We decided that we wanted to test out removing any hurdles that could keep anyone from coming to our events,” says Capranos. “So, we supplemented that with sponsors in hopes that people can feel like they can come and network without paying to join.”

While the fee waiver is temporary, it shows that there’s no better time than the present to jump on this opportunity and be on your way to growing your network.

The Young Leaders Group has a senate with its chair, and within the senate, there are individual committees. The recently elected leadership includes Andrew Capranos, president at 10 Federal Storage; Maggie Bode, vice president of business development at DaVinci Lock; Alison DeJaeger, business development at The Space Shop Self-Storage; Sydnie Wilda, operations and development specialist at The Storage Manager; Jamie Boros, business development manager at StorSuite; and Nick Moulder, business development manager at Storage Asset Management (SAM). They recently had time to bond and plan for the future of the group at the SSA’s 38th annual Executive Ski Workshop, which took place in January in Big Sky, Mont.

“It was an excellent networking opportunity,” says Capranos, “and I met a lot of folks who were involved, including Travis Morrow, who was one of the founding members of YLG, and who is now president of National Self-Storage and an executive at MSM.”

There are also committees within the leadership group. The membership committee focuses on recruiting efforts, the marketing committee runs the social media campaigns, and the extracurriculars and programming committee focuses on the events hosted by YLG at the SSA’s fall and spring conferences. If you eventually want to explore getting involved with their leadership team, you can focus on the type of planning and organizing you enjoy the most.

YLG is also always looking for ways to make things not only run efficiently but also to make the calendar of events be as comfortable as possible for members. “In years past, we’ve done networking events separate from educational events,” says Capranos, “but we’re thinking of combining some of them in the future, especially at the SSA conferences.” The reasoning is that both spring and fall events already offer a long list of events, meet and greets, and opportunities to speak with vendors, which leaves attendees with limited windows of time to add things to their already overpacked schedules.

“The last thing we want to do is become cumbersome from a scheduling perspective,” says Capranos, “so we decided to combine some of our events and see how it goes.” Not only do you get a network of like-minded professionals, mentors, and friends, you also get a group of people who want to make things as easy as possible for you. It’s a win-win no matter how you look at it.

You can start by following them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Since they have a good social media presence, you’ll get to find out firsthand about member spotlights, opportunities for people within YLG, networking events, career development, skills upscaling tools, and group-specific events at SSA conferences.

If you’ve registered with the Self Storage Association and you’re under 40, you’ll also receive their marketing emails. While these are great ways to find out what they have in the pipeline, it’s up to you to be proactive and take the next steps.

“As with anything else, you get what you put into it,” says Capranos. “You can come into events and get involved only at a surface level, and that’s fine, but the more involved you get, the more results it yields. You can form some pretty powerful relationships, and it all compounds over time.” He explains this is something he has experienced himself in the more than three years he’s been in the group.

“There have been people who have moved on to do something else in their professional life, and there have been people who have become business partners, or with whom we share vendors, and even people I’ve hired as my business grows,” he says. “It’s been very rewarding, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what else happens in the future.” Capranos is especially excited about what happens next, considering the exponential growth YLG has experienced in the three years he’s been a member.

He also highlights that getting involved in as many events as possible has been an overall rewarding experience. “A lot of my friends and connections in the industry are people I’ve met throughout my years with YLG,” says Capranos. “You first meet them as being part of this peer group, but now I look at the folks I reach out to on a daily basis for mentorship, or to share ideas, or to just ask them how their businesses are doing, etc. … And a lot of that has come through these connections I’ve made at YLG. It’s led to so many other things, and it’s been really rewarding to look back on.”

It’s even more gratifying when considering that most (if not all) people reading this article probably didn’t have working in self-storage on their bingo card in the first place. “I never thought I was going to work in self-storage,” says Capranos. “I never went to school thinking I’d rent garage spaces to people, and now I can’t imagine doing anything else. We’re this asset class that isn’t necessarily thought of when starting a career, but the size of our industry is huge—11 percent of Americans own a storage unit. People are becoming more aware of the industry as it matures and it becomes more institutionalized.” As the industry keeps growing, more and more opportunities will keep popping up for young professionals.

As he explains, ending up in self-storage was a happy accident, which is the case with most people who find their way into it. Luckily, the Young Leaders Group is ready to welcome you with arms wide open and an arsenal of goods to aid you in your road to success.

Capranos also points out that the benefits and fulfillment that comes from being a member is something that extends far beyond the early years of someone’s career. As time goes by, he admits that it feels good to look back and reflect on how far he and his colleagues have come, as well as all the relationships built along the way. At the end of the day, if there’s something that’s a common denominator in the self-storage industry, it’s that it doesn’t matter who you ask, everyone’s favorite part of this career path is its people. “Three years ago, I’d walk into these conferences for the first time, and I wouldn’t know anyone,” recalls Capranos. “Now, I can’t go to any of these events without knowing so many people, and that’s a really nice feeling.”

Maggie Bode agrees. “YLG has been an invaluable platform for fostering community and building connections in an industry that thrives on relationships,” she says. “Through my involvement with YLG, I’ve not only expanded my company’s business opportunities and strengthened my professional network but have also developed genuine friendships where we don’t even talk about storage (most of the time at least).”

Like the adage says, “It take a village to get anything done well,” and joining YLG certainly gives you one.