e may already be halfway through the year, but the reflections from every January are always relevant: In life, when we go through something difficult, something changes in us. We may not realize it at the time, but often those situations are a catalyst for viewing life differently.
Such is the case with Jennifer Barroqueiro, vice president of third-party management at All Purpose Storage. Get ready to shed a tear or two, then nod in agreement as you relate to going with the flow, even when doing so means completely changing your plans.
In high school, she was in choir, band, and theater. “My freshman year, I was cast in ‘Play It Again, Sam’ by Woody Allen. It was the first time we built a set, had costumes, hair, makeup. I was so nervous, but once I said my first line, (which was a punchline), everyone laughed and I felt awesome.”
After graduating, Barroqueiro went to Eastern Connecticut State University, where she majored in communications and minored in writing. “I wanted nothing more than to be a reporter on TV,” she recalls. However, life had other plans. Her mother had a severe stroke, so Barroqueiro went back home to be with her family.
Her mom underwent brain surgery. Twenty-four hours later, she needed a second emergency surgery due to severe brain swelling. “I remember I would just stop and vomit. It was also the first time in my life I ever saw my dad cry.”
The sisters slept in the hospital regularly while their mom was in ICU. “I eventually got a job as a store manager for Solstice Sunglass Boutique and devoted my time to working, then spending the rest of my time with my mom at her therapy sessions.”
Thankfully, her mother eventually recovered. “She’s the toughest cookie I’ve ever met,” Barroqueiro says. “I don’t tell her enough that she’s my hero.” And the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, since Barroqueiro has chosen to live her life taking the lessons she gained through that harrowing experience. “It helped shape me because it made me appreciate life more.”
“I loved working in retail, and after Solstice I worked at The Limited—first as a store manager, then I was promoted and asked if I’d move to Boston. My mom was doing OK, so I agreed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also worked at Kmart, also as a manager, but I’d wear so many hats—unloading trucks, getting merchandise to the floor in 24 hours, coordinating teams, and getting the stores ready for Black Friday. It really taught me a lot about how to navigate multiple people and situations.”
When she was pregnant with her first son, she decided she didn’t want to return to Kmart after her maternity leave due to the long hours, so she interviewed with Barnes & Noble. “I used to hate to read while growing up, but in middle school, we had silent sustained reading for 20 minutes daily. I used to pretend to read every time we had it, until one day a friend lent me ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.’ I started reading a few sentences and that was it for me! I devoured that book and it got me into the world of reading!”
So Harry is a wizard and can also make things happen in the career trajectories of muggles.
She was surprised when she got the job offer, because she was nine months pregnant at the time of her interview, but they decided to wait for her to get back to work after her maternity leave. And once she started, she kept getting promoted to bigger stores with larger teams and higher sales volumes. “It was honestly one of my most favorite places to work. The only reason I left was because people who work at Barnes & Noble don’t tend to leave, and I wanted to be a district manager more than anything.”
Barroqueiro started applying to other jobs, one of which was at a self-storage facility. “I got a call from Lynn Sykes, senior vice president at Storage Asset Management [SAM].” They had such a good conversation that she wanted to continue with the interview process. “And once I met her in person, I was like, I gotta get this job!”
She got it. “They trusted me to be a DM with no DM experience, and I immersed myself. I thought I’d stay in self-storage for maybe about a year, then go back to retail,” Barroqueiro says before laughing. She started as a district manager before being promoted to director of transitions, then director of virtual operations.
Over the course of nine months, they stayed in touch via LinkedIn, and when White Label Storage approached her in 2024 to offer her a job, the timing felt right. She decided to visit the Brooklyn office to meet the team in person, and that visit sealed the deal. “It was like finding a perfect match,” she says. “The culture, the energy, the work ethic—it was clear that everyone is not just talented but truly passionate about self-storage. I could see immediately that this is a team that believes there’s no challenge we can’t tackle.”
Another aspect that drew her in was White Label Storage’s commitment to staying ahead of the game with AI, process automation, and innovative thinking. “They’re always looking for ways to improve, to think outside the box, and to prioritize what really matters: putting customers first. That’s something I value deeply, and it’s exactly what White Label Storage delivers every single day.”
After gaining valuable experience at White Label Storage, Barroqueiro has made another career switch, joining All Purpose Storage this month as its vice president of third-party management. Undoubtedly, she will make a lasting impression there as well.
She also recognizes that having this self-awareness is the first step in breaking that cycle. This is why she makes the effort to get out of her comfort zone. “I’ve been speaking at self-storage shows and doing round tables. I make it a point to work on it on a daily basis, and on moments when I doubt myself, I do breathwork and sometimes use the Daily Fire app for motivational content.”
It’s a vulnerable confession, but it’s a testament that even highly accomplished individuals can feel this way. Yet, she’s appreciative that even when facing self-doubt, she does so in an industry she loves. “Everyone in self-storage is so supportive. Usually, you don’t make friends with the competition, but that’s not the case here. People want to see you succeed, and everyone’s here to support each other.”
When not working, she loves spending time with her sister, who’s also her best friend. “Our kids are close in age and we love watching them grow up together.” They also go to Portugal often to visit family. “I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I don’t want stuff. I want experiences, and any time I get to spend with my husband and my kids makes me happy.”