Jessica Johnson

By Alejandra Zilak

t’s a tale as old as time—good people who are great at what they do, yet they originally started out doing something completely unrelated.

“Self-storage landed in my lap. I didn’t seek a career in this industry by any stretch of the imagination.” This is how Jessican Johnson, business development manager for StorSuite, starts her story.

When you start listening to her career trajectory, it quickly becomes evident that it wouldn’t have mattered where she had ended up; she would’ve been extraordinary at it. This is proven by her adaptability, her commitment to learn continuously, and her dedication to lifting up everyone she encounters.

Her story is also evidence that despite how common it is to find people who are jaded with their line of work, it’s entirely possible to find something you truly love that’s fulfilling on both a personal and financial level.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Md., Johnson was in competitive dance and cheer her entire life. (Her enthusiasm and energetic demeanor were very much present throughout the interview for this article.) She went to an arts school for high school. “I had a lot of fun growing up,” she says, adding that she married at 19 and started her family young. “I went to college at Towson University while being a mom, so it took me forever to get through school.” Both understandable and impressive, her ability to do so is a clear indicator that juggling many things at once seems to be innate in her.

She studied business administration and marketing before graduating in 2005. While it’s been two decades since then, it sometimes feels like two entire lifetimes. “When I teach marketing classes now, we talk about all these technologies and conversion rates,” says Johnson, “but when I was in college, couponing was part of the courses.” That’s a true testament to how much things have fast tracked across all industries.

Her first job out of college was in food franchising for Smoothie King. “It was awesome,” she says. “I had a lot of different roles with them. I was an operations consultant, doing audits of 75 stores to make sure there were no renegade menus and that they were all performing well. I also did product testing, trained staff, and store openings, and I eventually became senior vice president of operations and marketing.”

The job was rewarding but draining, so she started looking for another job. Soon enough, she started working at a tech startup. “It was an online marketplace targeted at professional employment organizations.” Working in B2B tech would be a great opportunity to show off her marketing chops.

The owner of that tech startup also owned a self-storage company, Storage Pros Management LLC, which had a division called the Storage Business Owners Alliance (SBOA). “My boss at the time said that as they got the startup off the ground, I’d probably work on that self-storage place on the side,” says Johnson.

Although the startup didn’t work out, her role at Storage Pros did.

“The transition was good,” she adds. Similar to Smoothie King, she wore a lot of hats: first in marketing and operations, then as director of marketing, and finally as president. She excelled at each position, but it turned out that she loved the director of marketing role the most.

“I was fine being president, and I would do it again, but it’s a lot of work being the final decision-maker for all marketing and operations, contracts, sales, admin work, human resources, and payroll.”

Despite the avalanche of responsibilities, she ended up loving the industry and decided she wanted to stay in self-storage long term.

“With SBOA, I vetted vendor partners that we wanted to recommend to our members. We also started a very successful educational webinar series, Self Storage Unlocked, which still runs bi-weekly and you can find on the SBOA’s YouTube channel,” she says. “We also created a training program for newer owners and operators, Self-Storage for Rookies. I wrote the scripts with my team to help people get well acquainted with the industry.”

This program also included how to avoid common mistakes when first starting out in the industry, guidance on third-party management, and how to build a profitable self-storage portfolio.

Johnson has also been involved with several volunteer opportunities with the Self Storage Association (SSA) and led the marketing committee with the SSA’s Young Leaders Group (YLG), posting social media content about upcoming events, as well as designing email campaigns with e-blasts to members. “I was only able to be in YLG for two or three years because I entered the industry in my late 30s, but it’s a great way to network and learn. It really is a great educational space for people in self-storage.”

Thanks to her extensive networking and participation in leadership and industry events, Johnson met John Manes, chairman of the board, and Christina Alvino, CEO at StorSuite.

“We had been talking about partnering and working together,” she says, “and this past August, everything lined up, so I decided to make the move and come onboard.”

It was a career move that turned out well. She loves that the company culture puts people first—employees as well as clients and peers in the industry.

“Everyone here is well taken care of,” says Johnson. “We even play well with our competitors. We always want to make sure we’re good stewards of service.”

Of course, in true Johnson fashion, she recently served as president of the Florida Self Storage Association. “I’ve been a board member for the past five years, and president in 2024, which has been the most rewarding year so far,” she says. “We have absolutely incredible, very good people. Lots of hard workers who love to share their knowledge. In fact, we’ve also created a lot of educational webinars and will introduce more throughout 2025 to make the membership even more advantageous.”

However, that’s not something that she considers unique to the Florida organization. “I recommend anyone in the self-storage industry to join their state’s self-storage association,” she says, noting that she’s also been a board member of the Self Storage Association of Michigan for the past several years.

Just as ending up with self-storage unexpectedly is a common thread in the industry, so is Johnson’s answer about what she loves most about it: “the people.” She explains that everyone is always willing to help each other out, whether through advice or connections. It’s also a community full of genuinely good, down-to-earth individuals. “There’s no need to overcomplicate things here,” she says. “It’s just a really good business model, and real estate is one of the best assets you can have. You don’t need a college degree, or to be born with a silver spoon, or to inherit your facilities from your granddaddy. You see blue collar millionaires who show up in their jeans and boots, who’ve worked their way through life and are now so successful, and I love that.”

As for what advice she has for other women in the industry, she encourages them to “get some thick skin on you, sister.” She states that it’s been mostly a male-dominated industry, but that women are becoming more prevalent and have bigger voices. “Don’t be intimidated, even if sitting at a table of mostly men. Strap up, muscle your way in, and you’ll be just fine.”

When not at work, Johnson loves to spend time with her significant other, Chuck, and her four kids (Tatum, Olivia, Eja, and Jax). She’s a huge live music fan and loves the beach and enjoying the outdoors with friends and family, but she also likes being a homebody. “I travel a lot for work, and I’m especially busy during trade show season,” she says, “so when I have downtime, I like to be at home with my family, crafting or watching movies.”

While life in Florida can be pretty sweet, she misses the seasonality of Baltimore. “I don’t mind the occasional snow fall, and I love the color of the fall leaves,” says Johnson. “Florida is either hot or hotter, so I’m looking forward to where life will take us next.”

Wherever that is, the self-storage community will be richer with her presence and all the good things she has to offer.