Melissa Shandor

By Alejandra Zilak

enerations ago, people would spend their entire career in a single company or, at the very least, in a single industry. But Gen Xers and beyond have changed that path, often looking for fulfillment in addition to stability, and they’ve proven time and again that it can be done successfully.

In this month’s installment of “Women in Self-Storage,” we’re highlighting Melissa Shandor, director of third-party management at StoragePRO Management. Life circumstances have caused her to move several times, and with every single one of them she went with the flow, mixing her passions with an ever-present desire to learn. As a result, she has created a beautiful tapestry of careers that showcase how in the end, everything works together to bring you exactly to where you’re supposed to be.

Shandor was born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y. She describes herself as a nerdy kid, who very much loved numbers. During high school, she went on several college tours to decide where she’d like to study. While driving with her father through Salisbury, N.C., she saw a highway sign that said Catawba College. Since they were already in the area to visit schools, she decided to give that one a try as well.

“When I walked the campus, I immediately loved it,” says Shandor. “And coming from Syracuse, my only requirement was south of the Mason-Dixon line because I had my fill of snow and cold.”

She applied and, as luck would have it, she received a scholarship to attend school there. “I truly enjoyed my time there and graduated with my BA in business administration and management.” The love for the school was reciprocated, as almost 30 years later, they invited her to come back and speak to business students. “I enjoyed doing that so much. As I like to tell my kids, you can go to big name universities, or to a small school like Catawba, but at the end of the day, hard work and lifelong learning will always be what determines your level of success.”

But before giving advice to her kids, she paid her dues establishing her careers. “After graduating, I stayed in North Carolina for about three years, working with a financial planner and providing insurance and annuity services to local business owners.”

Even though she enjoyed learning more about investments, she wasn’t enamored with the industry. She decided to relocate to Virginia and pursue a career in education. “Both of my parents worked in education, and I’ve always been passionate about teaching, whether in the classroom or trainings in the business industry.” She worked for Virginia Beach Public Schools teaching and technology classes. During that time, she returned to school to pursue a Master’s in education. This is also where she met her husband.

While at Regent, she taught business-related classes. “I was working at Virginia Beach public schools, so I was able to apply what I was learning in real time.”

Shandor then became pregnant with her first child; toward the end of this period, she decided to go back to the business industry, as it would allow her to have more control over her schedule.

She looked for work in that sector and, to her delight, she received an ideal job offer. “It was so good, I’m not sure anyone would have turned it down. I worked setting up custom databases for brokers on the East Coast and trained their staff on client retention strategies.” Although that job was short-lived due to a series of job opportunities for her husband, it was pivotal in changing the course of her career.

This would not be the only change of careers for Shandor. She’s the kind of person who’s always striving to learn new skills and why things are the way they are. During one of their many moves, she was visiting houses with her real estate agent and negotiated a deal that he thought would be impossible. “After that, he offered me a job. He wanted me to handle community engagement and social media. We had just moved to Georgia for my husband’s work, and I didn’t have a job, so I thought, why not?”

When they moved back to Virginia for her husband’s job, she interviewed for a position with a retail development firm. “This is where I learned everything about the commercial real estate industry. That team understood CRE better than anyone, and they were more than willing to teach me what they knew. I worked with reps looking for retail space, allowing me to use my client retention skills.”

When the CEO of that firm passed away, the company closed their doors. However, one of his former business partners worked in self-storage, and he offered Shandor a job. “On my first day, he asked what I knew about self-storage, and I admitted not much.” But she was on a mission to learn. She read the Self-Storage Almanac cover to cover, then moved on to reading every storage-related article she could find. “My role was chief marketing officer, and it’s impossible to truly market an industry that you don’t know, so my goal was to cut the learning curve and fully immerse myself in the subject.”

She learned how to do her job very well, eventually transitioning into a chief strategy officer role, in which she thrived. “I love looking at data on a macro level to identify trends, then bring it down to a micro level and look at what is going on in individual markets. I also love to see what predictors influence an industry and how that works for owners and developers.”

Shandor now leads the sales team at StoragePRO, where she likes to encourage them to find their own style. She also instills the importance of supporting each other. “It’s important to support each other, in whatever industry you are in. If they are your boss, treat them well and have their back. If they are your peers, treat them like an equal and partner with them; and if they report to you, treat them with respect. The road to success is paved with loyalty and kindness.”

Overall, she feels happy that life has brought her to the industry. “I like to tell people that no little girl ever dreamed of a life in self-storage, maybe one or two if their parents owned storage, but it has ended up not just where I am, but where I should be.”

Looking back at the many hats she’s worn, she shares some sage advice. “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Be loyal to your company, be thankful you have a job, and remember that your work defines you. Ask yourself, ‘What do you want it to say?’”

Shandor and her family now live in Virginia. She has three kids. Her oldest daughter is a student at Appalachian State University, studying political science before she heads to law school. Her middle son is a senior in high school and plans to attend Coastal Carolina to study cyber threat intelligence; her youngest son is a freshman in high school.

She enjoys spending time with her family, including their dog Zyla, reading mystery novels, playing tennis, being outside, and doing puzzles. “My husband recently retired from being the superintendent of our school system, so we had an adjustment of roles and he’s now enjoying being home while still doing some consulting.”

Shandor loves international travel—the kind where you can immerse yourself in the culture, especially in any European town. “I’d much rather do that than go to an all-inclusive resort,” she says. And she loves wood working. “I like to recycle furniture that people throw away or donate. I transform them into something totally different and amazing, like turning an old small dresser into a beautiful vanity.”

She’s proud of her family and of her many careers. “When I look back at all of the places where I have worked, I know I can pick up the phone and they would answer happily. Whether you plan to stay somewhere forever or for a shorter amount of time, the goal should be to leave it better and to develop relationships that last.”