Women In Self-Storage: Stacie Maxwell, On The Move

Something that’s common for many people is to stay where they’ve been for a long time because it’s what they’ve always known. It has some benefits: You know what you must do, and sometimes it’s easier to coast to retirement and call it a day. But where’s the fun in that?

 

Stacie Maxwell is a wife, proud mom of three, and a genuine and creative soul who did the unusual task of switching jobs after more than two decades with the same company—one where she loved the people she worked with to boot. But when that little nagging feeling starts getting louder, the wise thing to do is to listen. And that’s exactly what she did.

 

She was born and raised in Marietta, Ga., and she’s lived in Georgia her entire life.

 

“I have no desire to move,” Maxwell says. “I have a pretty large family here: my two sisters, Dayna and Lori, who are my absolute best friends for life, and I was blessed to have three parents—my mom, my dad, and my stepdad, Papa. All three have always gotten along great, and they’ve always done everything in their power to ensure our wellbeing.”

 

She’s also proud to say that out of her three sets of loving grandparents, one of her grandmas is still around. “She’s 97, and she’s fabulous. She created the family chocolate chip cookie recipe. When a grandchild gets married, we receive a Kitchen Aid mixer and that recipe. Nobody can know it except family,” Maxwell says with a laugh.

 

In eighth grade, she met David—a boy that the universe clearly wanted her to meet. When he was born and taken home from the hospital, his parents lived in a house that was built by Maxwell’s grandfather. Additionally, one of his grandmothers worked at a hosiery factory with one of her grandmas.

 

Today, that man is her husband, but it took a while to get there. “We dated in high school, but we went our separate ways,” Maxwell recalls. She went away to school at Georgia Southern University, and he married someone else. After two years, she transferred to Kennesaw State to be closer to home. She also had a job at Hooters as a Hooters Girl.

 

It was supposed to be a college job, but after graduating with a degree in art education, she was offered a full-time management position making much more than she would as a teacher. She took the position, surpassed every sales goal, and opened several additional locations. Although she thrived in that position, the hours were long. “I’d go in early and leave late,” Maxwell says, “and I wanted to have more of a life, so I took a job as an assistant controller at a brake repair company.”

 

Then, as it tends to happen, she got married and had a child. “I left that job after my first son, Gabe, was born, and became assistant to the engineering vice president of Vulcan Materials Company,” says Maxwell. “I attribute my success there to my Papa, because he was a mechanical engineer and I could ‘speak engineering!’”

Moving Into Self-Storage

 

While she worked at Vulcan, she and her then-husband visited her mother-in-law, who managed a storage facility for Universal Management Company (UMC). “She lived on site,” says Maxwell. “I was surprised to learn there was a job where one could live at the same property they managed. What a great commute, especially with a young baby.”

 

She inquired about job openings, and they had some positions to be filled. Maxwell interviewed and accepted the general manager position at a new property in Suwanee, Ga., where her then-husband became assistant manager. After three years of business success, that marriage ended on a sour note. As a newly single mom, she went to work at Universal’s corporate office as assistant to the vice president of development, David Dixon.

 

That’s where she really honed her marketing skills. “I noticed that there were so many disparities in the marketing program,” says Maxwell. “Because I had a background in art, I knew how to use several design programs. I started creating artwork, ad layouts, and logos, and basically carved out a one-woman marketing department. After a year or so, Dixon agreed I had surpassed my role as assistant, and I became UMC’s marketing director for the next eight years.”

 

In 2012, Universal merged with RES Management, changed its name to Universal Storage Group (USG), and promoted Maxwell to vice president of marketing. Then, in 2014, USG’s CEO asked her to oversee the training team as vice president of marketing and training. She worked hand in hand with Universal’s director of training, Sharon Pallas, to restructure the training department. “Sharon is absolutely phenomenal,” she says. “It’s largely thanks to her that we were successful and won so many awards.” Above all, Maxwell loved that she was able to use her background in education to create curriculums and training programs.

 

All in all, Maxwell helped grow Universal for 23 years, serving on the leadership team for 12 years. It had become her second home, and she grew exponentially as a professional under the discerning tutelage of Anne Ballard. She also thanks her other mentor, Norma Taylor, who early on taught her one of the most important lessons of her career: The word “No” is not only a complete sentence, it’s a perfectly acceptable answer, which she later shared with her colleagues as Universal grew.

 

However, Maxwell credits her mother with being the greatest influence on her career, especially as another woman in a male-dominated industry. Her mother’s career escalated from starting as a car dealership receptionist to retiring as a renowned consultant and comptroller for several dealerships; she carved out her own path and demonstrated that women can be smart and savvy. Moreover, her mother’s advice to step back and analyze people’s motives before making decisions resonated with her throughout her own career.

 

After 23 years, Maxwell started to feel that her path and USG’s were diverging, and she wanted to begin a new chapter for herself.

 

“I grew unhappy with the direction the company was going. It really broke my heart after having served so much time and bleeding purple for so long,” she says, “but it was the best thing I could do for me, so I put my feelers out.”

 

One of the places she interviewed was at On the Move, Inc. “CJ Stratte is the CEO, and I’ve known her for about 10 years. She needed someone to come in and run the insurance agency and help train our clients about our products,” says Maxwell, who knew it would be a change of pace and she’d be able to work from home, which is a great perk. But the opportunity to work with another strong female leader was the main appeal. She landed the job and obtained her insurance license. Today, she’s the director of insurance. “I love getting to learn new things,” she says, “and I love that I still get to educate others as well.”

 

Maxwell also currently serves on the Self Storage Association’s Women’s Council. She was a panelist for the ISS Women In Storage Education (WISE) in the spring of 2024, and she’ll serve as the moderator for the WISE panel this April. In addition, she’s been speaking nationally at self-storage conferences since 2008 and has authored numerous articles for industry publications.

Remember how she eventually married that boy, David? “Gabe was just eight when we started dating, and David stepped right into fatherhood,” says Maxwell. Soon they were blessed with twins, Nathan and Rylee, and she could talk about her three kids all day long.

 

“Gabe is 25 now; a former Marine, and very successful selling fancy mattresses in Georgia, I’m so proud of him and all he has accomplished,” she says. “The twins are 14. Nate is a wrestler and plays football; last year, he was the No. 2 wrestler for his weight class in the state. Rylee is a runner, and she is fast. She’s the reigning regional cross country champion for middle school girls. She came in No. 2 in the state of Georgia this year by a second.”

 

When they’re all together, they love to go kayaking and visit national parks. “David and I have a goal of seeing all 63 of them,” she says. “We already have 24 under our belt!”

 

Built by effort, hers is a life well lived.

 

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Alejandra Zilak studied journalism, went to law school, and now writes for a living. She also loves dogs.

 

 

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