Women in Self-Storage

Women in Self-Storage

Jessie Smith – Creative Director at Boxwell

One of the best things about self-storage is that there are so many people who started their careers in a different field. Yet, once they get here, they realize they’ve won the industry lottery and get to apply their skills in surprisingly creative ways.

Jessie Smith is the creative director at Boxwell. Serendipity brought her here, while her unexpected love for the industry has ensured that Boxwell has flourished as much as she has.

Academics And Extracurriculars

Smith was born in Boulder, Colo. Soon after coming to the world, her dad—who used to work at Sony—accepted a position in Sendai, so the family moved to Japan. “I spent my early childhood there before returning to the U.S. right around the time I started school,” she says.

As is the case with most Coloradans, being outdoors was an integral part of her life. “Skiing, hiking, camping, and fly fishing were all woven into how I spent my free time,” says Smith, who remains connected to nature.

Smith started working in her teens. “I was a proud Subway sandwich artist throughout high school,” she jests. While going to class, socializing with friends, and working would’ve been enough to fill her calendar, Smith also volunteered as a dog walker at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley.

As an animal lover, when it was time to think about college, she considered a degree in marine biology. And there’s no better way to study marine life than going to the South Pacific. “I started college at the University of Hawaii,” she says. “I’m a big diver and have deep respect for the ocean, so it was an ideal situation for me at that time.” However, she eventually switched gears to major in architecture; at which point she transferred to Colorado University at Boulder.

“Anyone who has gone through an architecture program knows how demanding it can be,” says Smith. “I remember countless late nights in the studio building models, working on hand drawings, and obsessing over details. I can absolutely trace a lot of my work ethic back to those years.”

Such a relentless academic schedule became a way of life. “One night in particular sums up the culture of that program pretty well,” she says. “It was around 3 a.m., and we started smelling what seemed like an electrical fire, so we called the fire department. When the firefighters arrived, they seemed bewildered to find more than 100 students, as if it were the middle of the afternoon. Their reaction was basically, ‘Why haven’t you evacuated, and why are all of you even here at 3 a.m.?’ To us, it was just another night in architecture school.”

“I kept saying yes to things I hadn’t necessarily done before and figuring out how to do them. Looking back, that experimentation gave me an incredibly broad creative tool kit, and I get to use nearly all of it in some capacity at Boxwell today.” – Jessie Smith – Creative Director, Boxwell

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, she opted for a shorter and more flexible curriculum for her post-graduate studies by obtaining a Certificate of Interaction Design from the University of California, San Diego. “I took online courses through UC San Diego and focused on UI/UX design. That gave me a much deeper understanding of how people interact with information online—how to organize content intuitively, create clear visual hierarchies, and ultimately help people find what they’re looking for,” she says. “Those principles are still a big part of how I approach website and digital design today.”

Athletics To Storage

Once she completed higher education, Smith took a post-college detour by working at a local resort. “I wanted to take a break and enjoy life as a ski bum,” she says with a laugh. Yet, at some point, it was time to seek her first real design job. This is how she became a graphic designer at Headsweats, a company that specializes in moisture-wicking headwear for athletes. “We focused heavily on custom products for races, companies, teams, clubs, and events,” says Smith. “I was constantly creating for different audiences, brands, and applications, which taught me how to be both creative and adaptable.”

From there, she moved to another athletic apparel brand, BOCO Gear, where she applied the same skills, tailoring messaging towards hikers, endurance runners, and other athletic outdoorsy audiences. After getting off work, she would work on freelance creative work; there wasn’t much that she turned down. She designed logos for local Boulder businesses and worked for global brands, such as creating chalkboard artwork for Lululemon and being part of a photography campaign for José Cuervo. “It was really an exercise in curiosity,” she says. “I kept saying yes to things I hadn’t necessarily done before and figuring out how to do them. Looking back, that experimentation gave me an incredibly broad creative tool kit, and I get to use nearly all of it in some capacity at Boxwell today.”

Most people who’ve been in the workforce long enough have realized that having a good network is the best way to open doors. This is how Smith arrived at the self-storage industry. “Lisa Maloney interviewed and hired me at Headsweats. Years later, after we had both moved on, she called me about an opportunity at Boxwell.”

The move occurred in early 2020, several weeks before the pandemic. “I started on a freelance basis and quickly ramped up to a full-time position,” she says. “Boxwell was still very much in startup mode and already experiencing rapid growth. Then COVID hit, the storage industry accelerated, and everything really took off.”

It turned out to be the perfect time to build a creative department within the company, and Smith enjoyed her new role. “One of the things I’ve loved most about joining a young company is that there are opportunities everywhere. Our CEO, Rod Bolls, has never been someone to hold people back. If you see something and think, I can make this better, you’re encouraged to go do it.”

Fast forward to more than six years later, and the Boxwell creative and marketing team is casting a very wide net. “We work on website design, social media, storage site plans, trade shows and events, container renderings and mockups, branding and logo design, blogs and articles, email campaigns, sales materials, and expansion into new markets and countries.”

It’s a lot, and the growth has been impressive. “One of my favorite ways to quantify how much we’ve grown is through our website,” she says. “In 2020, Boxwell had roughly 9,000 website users. Last year, that number was around 65,000. It reflects what the company as a whole has accomplished and the role a dedicated marketing and creative effort has played in supporting it.”

And as most people who work in this industry have realized, storage has been a surprisingly fulfilling sector. “The industry is entrepreneurial at its core. It’s filled with hardworking, creative people who are always willing to try something new. I never would have expected to find so many genuinely fun, optimistic, and interesting people in this industry, but that has become one of my favorite things about it.”

She also admires how fast it evolves. “What worked just 10 years ago isn’t necessarily what works today,” says Smith. “The envelope is being pushed everywhere you look. Vendors are elevating their marketing and design. Trade shows are getting bigger, better, and more sophisticated. This is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and increasingly, it looks and feels like one.”

When she’s not working, Smith enjoys reading history books, traveling, and doing yoga; she has even attended yoga retreats in Thailand and El Salvador. She loves spending summers out in the mountains with her husband, Austin, and their two Australian Shepherds, Cricket and Scooter.

Being surrounded by her family is a priority as well. “My parents still live in my childhood home in North Boulder, and my brother lives just down the road from me, so I’m fortunate that we’ve all stayed close geographically as well as personally,” Smith says. “I’m incredibly grateful for all of them and how supportive they’ve always been.”

Finally, she closes with an insightful observation. “The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. Whether it’s work, relationships, fitness, or even cleaning the house, there’s something rewarding about showing up fully and taking pride in what you’re doing. It’s a mindset I try to carry into just about everything.”