Storage Unlocked

Thaddeus Campbell
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Storage Unlocked is where self-storage meets reality. Hosted by Thaddeus Campbell, this no-fluff podcast dives into the hard numbers, bold opinions, and surprising trends shaping the self-storage industry and beyond. From housing market shifts and economic red flags to untapped investment opportunities, Thaddeus and Chris break it all down with sharp insight and real-world experience. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just storage-curious, you'll get insider takes, uncensored discussions, and data-backed forecasts that actually matter. Weekly drops. Always unfiltered.

  1. Award-Winning AI Meets Industry Change: Jessica Johnson's Storage Forecast

    3 hr ago

    Award-Winning AI Meets Industry Change: Jessica Johnson's Storage Forecast

    Is your facility a real estate business or a technology platform that happens to sell a storage product? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am joined by Jessica Johnson (The Storage Group) to pull back the curtain on the rapid, hyper-localized evolution of operational AI in July 2026. Fresh off winning the inaugural ISS Best in Business Award for their Aiden Chat engine, Jessica shares hard, absolute metrics on how automated intelligence is insulating independent operations against rising labor, tax, and insurance costs. In this episode, I cover: The $$1,440 Savings Matrix: A deep dive into concrete property data where AI handled 300 baseline inquiries, protecting 79 hours of staff time and boosting property margins. An Urgent Community Request: I share an important message regarding a humanitarian crisis hitting our producer, Erick Falck, whose family was heavily impacted by the devastating earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela. The Death of the IVR Maze: Why modern conversational phone and text interfaces are replacing old "press 1 for gate codes" mazes with seamless customer journeys. The Inbound Search Flip: How consumers shift away from Google's traditional search lines toward conversational models like ChatGPT changes exactly how you must structure your website metadata. Operational Pivots: Jessica opens up about her personal portfolio shift away from traditional mini-storage into boat/RV and flex-industrial developments. Tune in to discover how to use automated workflows to protect your local footprint against corporate REIT consolidation. Support the Venezuelan earthquake relief fund in Erick's name by donating here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-relief-for-venezuela-earthquake-victims Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Jessica Johnson (The Storage Group) Email: jjohnson@storagegroupinc.com Website: https://www.storageinternetmarketing.com/   Our Title Sponsor: PB Brown General Contractors: The premier builders specializing in high-rise, legacy self-storage developments from Manhattan to Hawaii. Get them involved early at: https://pbbrown.com/

    47 min
  2. You Might Also Like: Morning Brew Daily

    3 hr ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: Morning Brew Daily

    Introducing Ultimate America 250 Trivia Game Show & Drafting July 4 Essentials from Morning Brew Daily. Follow the show: Morning Brew Daily #881: In this America250 edition, Neal and Toby tested some Morning Brew colleagues, Olivia Lake, MBD’s Associate Producer; Ethan McCarthy, Social Video Producer; and Henrik Blix, Senior Branded Video Producer, on their knowledge of America. Also, a fantasy draft of what the most essential elements are for a July 4 holiday. We need your help to vote who won the draft. Get 10% off using MORNINGBREW10 at altrarunning.com/morningbrew  Grab tickets to our Performance Revue show! https://www.morningbrew.com/events/brew-performance-revue-2026?utm_campaign=performance_revue_2026&utm_source=mbd Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.swap.fm/l/mbd-note⁠⁠⁠  Watch Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

  3. Chief AI Officer at 10 Federal says AI will create jobs not cost them. But you will work differently

    6 days ago

    Chief AI Officer at 10 Federal says AI will create jobs not cost them. But you will work differently

    I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this blockbuster episode of Storage Unlocked, I sat down with Chris Taylor, the Chief AI Officer at 10 Federal, to deconstruct the massive technological consolidation rewriting the self-storage industry in 2026 . Chris brings an elite pedigree straight from the front lines of NVIDIA to reveal how true enterprise automation requires a foundational data layer rather than single-silo software products . In this episode, I cover: The Leverage Multiplier: How a lean three-person acquisition team deploys 40 to 50 autonomous AI agents to parse topography, wetland restrictions, and market rate data completely in the background . Modular Building Blocks: Chris outlines the exact steps to transition your business from single-skill prompts to complex agentic workflows and full orchestration layers . The 8-Second Accounting Pivot: A practical breakdown of how 10 Federal eliminated 150 hours of monotonous corporate labor by reconstructing systemic data paths . The QR-Code Consumer: Why changing demographic markers means your incoming Millennial and Gen Z tenants want zero human friction during their move-in window . Upskilling Over Headcount Cuts: Why the elite operators of the next decade are focused on turning team members into high-level technology architects rather than reducing their workforce . Tune in to discover how to weaponize data structures to outpace the largest institutional players in the market . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Chris Taylor (10 Federal): Email: ctaylor@10federal.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrisdtaylor/ This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/ https://s3.partners

    38 min
  4. 20 Years of Storage Evolution

    19 Jun

    20 Years of Storage Evolution

    In this episode of Storage Unlocked, I pull back the curtain on two decades of historical data to uncover why the microeconomics of storage are showing real signs of recovery despite intense macroeconomic turmoil . I evaluate the massive transition from the post-GFC development freeze to an era that added 1 billion square feet of self-storage to the US grid in just under eight years . In this episode, I break down: The Post-GFC Parallel: Why our current construction deceleration mirrors the post-2008 landscape, and why the stabilization of Q1 2026 REIT metrics means the tide is finally turning . The Generational Safe Haven: Why a massive 16% usage rate among tech-native Millennials and Gen Z is successfully insulating our properties against flatlined housing turnover and a national birth rate slowdown . The Evolving Consumer: Why modern commercial facility designs have successfully redefined our core audience, causing female renters to officially outnumber men across the country . The Data Arms Race: Why relying on primary-market metrics alone creates dangerous blind spots, and how tracking 72,000 facilities nationwide completely shifts your underwriting accuracy . Whether you are operating a single local facility or scaling a multi-state regional footprint, this historical and data-driven analysis will give you the exact baseline perspective you need to successfully execute your strategy in the back half of 2026 . Connect with me: Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ This episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com From Manhattan to Miami, California to the Tropical Paradise of Hawaii, PB Brown is the GC to trust for your Multi-Million Dollar Storage Project. https://tractiq.com Giving the industry the data it needs to make Responsible Investment a Reality.

    31 min
  5. Two of the Best Brokers in Storage break down the state of the market.

    12 Jun

    Two of the Best Brokers in Storage break down the state of the market.

    In this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with institutional brokerage legends John Lindsey (Lindsey Self-Storage Group) and Austin McLeod (Matthews Real Estate) to map out the massive structural shifts rewriting the transaction market in June 2026 . We look directly past the headlines of Public Storage's pending third-quarter buyout of NSA to evaluate where actual values stand on the ground . In this episode, I cover: The Keys to the Middle Market: How Public Storage is using its low cost of capital and ultra-efficient operating margins to aggressively aggregate secondary and tertiary environments . The Valuation Disconnect: Why premium Class A trophy assets are completely insulated from interest rate shifts, while tertiary un-stabilized properties face rising cap rates and hyper-strict buyer pools . The 1,000-Loan Cliff: A raw look at the 1,000+ CMBS loan maturities hitting the market over the next 12 months and why the wall of private capital waiting on the sidelines is preventing bank foreclosures . The AI Validation Piece: Why your automated underwriting is only as good as the prompts you feed it, and why John warns against blindly trusting software outputs without human verification layers . The Pathway for New Portfolios: Austin outlines how nimble, private syndicators are successfully amassing 10- to 15-asset footprints by intentionally avoiding the major metros and targeting core-plus outskirts . Tune in to discover how to navigate a transaction environment driven by maturing debt, rapid demographic shifts, and accelerating institutional aggregation . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with John Lindsey (Lindsey Self Storage Group) Email:john@lindseyselfstoragegroup.com LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncharleslindsey/ Connect with Austin McLeod (Matthews Real Estate)  Email: austin.mcleod@matthews.com LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-mcleod-a05975134/ This Episode was brought to you by: https://www.kiwisteel.com/

    42 min
  6. The Age of AI Voice Agents is here.

    5 Jun

    The Age of AI Voice Agents is here.

    Can you scale a self-storage portfolio past 25 locations with only one employee managing the entire operation? I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I am sitting down with Ryan Chapman (Lumio), Tyler Harper (Homegrown Storage), and Albert Kim (StoragePilot) to break down the rapid evolution of conversational AI voice agents . Over the past 12 months, the baseline for facility automation has completely shifted, moving independent operators away from restrictive phone menus into a world of hyper-efficient, digital-first operational loops . In this episode, I cover: Plugging the Leaky Bucket: Why routine payment inquiries and basic support account for up to 90% of your total phone volume, and how after-hours AI capture protects your long-term monthly recurring revenue . Astronomical Marketing ROI: Tyler Harper reveals how Homegrown matches conversational call intent directly back to Google ad tracking, forcing the algorithm to aggressively drive down customer acquisition costs across 700 pilot stores . Headcount per Square Foot: Why remote management shouldn't just be about reshuffling human labor to a centralized node, but fundamentally expanding a single manager's capabilities to handle 30+ sites . The Flywheel of Internal Data: Albert Kim outlines the transition from customer-facing bots to the internal "AI District Manager" that synthesizes gate logs and field tasks without messaging chaos over Slack or WhatsApp . The Economics of the Token: A raw look at how massive tech lab subsidies from players like OpenAI and Anthropic are lowering distribution costs for the mid-market operator . Tune in to discover how to use deep storage domain expertise to build an unstoppable operating engine that can easily go toe-to-toe with the biggest REITs and Wall Street private equity firms . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/

    52 min
  7. Why NSA Is Trading ABOVE Public Storage's Implied Buyout Price

    29 May

    Why NSA Is Trading ABOVE Public Storage's Implied Buyout Price

    I am breaking down the massive macroeconomic and tech shifts defining our asset class in May 2026 . From Public Storage's blockbuster $10.5 billion deal to swallow NSA to a jaw-dropping discrepancy in same-store NOI growth, we are looking directly at the data points that prove the three-year downcycle has finally found its bottom . In this episode, I cover: The Cap Rate Inversion: Why active street transactions (like a recent secondary market 6-cap trade in Syracuse) indicate that public REIT stocks are deeply underpriced compared to their real-world property values . SmartStop's Quiet Masterclass: How the newest public REIT controlled expense growth at just 0.3% to lock in an industry-leading 2% same-store NOI expansion . The Cost of a Cold Winter: Inside CubeSmart's Q1 earnings drop, where dynamic marketing costs and freezing New Jersey snow removal fees swallowed 20% of their entire quarterly expense growth . Processing Speed as an Alpha Edge: Noah Starr (Tract IQ) details their massive new update that integrates exact CMBS data with AI workflows to let you screen hundreds of deals in seconds . Sneak Peeks: A preview of our upcoming roundtables featuring AI pioneers (Storage Pilot, Lumio, Homegrown Storage) and our Q2 Broker Wrap-up . Tune in to get the definitive financial and structural playbook for self-storage and alternative commercial real estate . Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners): Email: thaddeus@s3.partners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ This Episode was brought to you by: https://pbbrown.com/ https://s3.partners

    30 min
  8. Small Bay Institutionalized: Tech-Native Tenants, $40K Cobots, and the Eversource Power Crisis

    22 May

    Small Bay Institutionalized: Tech-Native Tenants, $40K Cobots, and the Eversource Power Crisis

    Are you building a Small Bay Flex portfolio for institutional capital, or are you building it for yourself?  I am your host, Thaddeus Campbell, and in this episode of Storage Unlocked, I sit down with three titans of the industrial flex market: Brett Turner (BKM Capital Partners), Jeremiah Boucher (Patriot Holdings), and Brian Whitmer (Doors and Spaces). Together, we pull back the curtain on an asset class experiencing a massive surge in institutional demand. In this episode, we cover: The Management Intensity: Why Small Bay remains a full-contact, hand-to-hand combat operations sport where you act as your tenant's outsourced real estate department. The Power Crunch: Why massive tech shifts like robotics and cobot arms are forcing developers to fight utility companies for heavy three-phase power upgrades. The Demographics Matrix: How tech-native millennials are dropping the average small business owner age to 45 and shifting the tenant pool toward advanced localized manufacturing. The Fallacy of Kiosks: Why B2B tenants refuse to deal with AI automated workflows when a mechanical issue hits their shop floor. The Fund Hustle: Brett shares the brutal reality of raising a first-time fund and what it takes to accumulate scale from scratch. Tune in to find out why sticking to a dedicated thesis is the only way to win in a market where prices are high and execution certainty is completely unknown. Connect with Thaddeus Campbell (S3 Partners):
 thaddeus@s3.partners https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsthadcampbell/ Connect with Brett Turner (BKM Capital Partners):
 bturner@bkmcp.com Connect with Jeremiah Boucher (Patriot Holdings) admin@patriotholdings.com Connect with Brian Whitmer (Doors and Spaces) bwhitmer@repropco.com This episode was brought to you by:
 https://pbbrown.com/

    54 min
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About

Storage Unlocked is where self-storage meets reality. Hosted by Thaddeus Campbell, this no-fluff podcast dives into the hard numbers, bold opinions, and surprising trends shaping the self-storage industry and beyond. From housing market shifts and economic red flags to untapped investment opportunities, Thaddeus and Chris break it all down with sharp insight and real-world experience. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just storage-curious, you'll get insider takes, uncensored discussions, and data-backed forecasts that actually matter. Weekly drops. Always unfiltered.

Information

  • Creator
    Thaddeus Campbell
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Storage Unlocked

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