"In business, you're either moving forward or you're going backward. There's no treading water." This core philosophy, passed down from serial-entrepreneur parents, has driven Chris Burnham and his family to transform a single storage location into a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise. Yet, despite overseeing vast international real estate holdings, the heartbeat of the company remains rooted in humor, local family values, and an endless appetite for innovation.
In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, host Chris Schembra sits down with Chris Burnham, President of StorageMart, to discuss the human foundation behind exponential growth. Burnham reflects on his early career moves—from studying Japanese business dynamics in 1980s Tokyo to walking away from corporate commodity trading—and shares how embracing curiosity, family unity through high-stakes deals, and a signature dose of wit helped shape brands like Manhattan Mini Storage. Together, they explore what it takes to navigate business setbacks, empower the next generation, and raise true "Renaissance men" in a rapidly changing world.
10 Memorable Quotes:
- "In business, you're either moving forward or you're going backward. There's no treading water."
- "I realized that I had to do things for myself, and that maybe climbing the corporate ladder was not the career path for me."
- "Ganbatte means go get it... attack, charge."
- "If you ask me what one of my deepest fears are, it's retirement 'cause I'm not sure I can handle that."
- "That feeling that you wake up in the morning and you can hardly wait to get to work—that's what keeps me going."
- "We got on the airplane... and as I was leaving, I got a phone call: 'Deal's off.' We stopped off at a gas station, bought a 12-pack, and drank it on the way home, strategizing about what comes next."
- "Laughter is one of the most essential parts of life... I try to find humor in everything."
- "I don't have to invent anything. I just have to innovate what's there and make it the best it can be."
- "I always go back to curiosity, 'cause that tells me that it's somebody who knows how to learn."
- "I wanted them to be able to fight a battle on the front line, come home and write a sonnet, paint a picture, or climb a mountain."
10 Key Takeaways:
- The Dreamer and the Realist Dynamic: How balancing big-picture curiosity with grounded realism creates the ideal environment for testing and executing ideas.
- No Treading Water: Why staying static in business or personal life eventually leads to decline, and why navigating obstacles requires constant forward motion.
- The 'Ganbatte' Mindset: Channeling the Japanese ethos of active drive and fierce determination when confronting major career turning points.
- The Power of Family Wingmen: Relying on familial trust and unity during high-stakes business reversals rather than retreating into isolation.
- Cheeky Brand Differentiation: How turning a dry, functional product into a memorable experience through bold, satirical local advertising builds massive brand equity.
- Innovation Over Invention: Recognizing that long-term enterprise growth often comes from refining and elevating existing models rather than starting from scratch.
- Curiosity Maxing as a Core Skill: Framing critical thinking, awareness, and reverse-engineering as essential human traits in an automated economy.
- Proactive Resilience: Developing the mental agility and endurance needed to bounce back quickly when major deals fall through at the eleventh hour.
- Wandering and Competitive Research: Understanding that true market intelligence comes from physically stepping into customer experiences and actively listening.
- Raising Renaissance Leaders: Fostering multi-faceted capability in the next generation—combining hard work, intellectual depth, and artistic appreciation.
About Our Guest:
Chris Burnham is the President of StorageMart, the world’s largest privately and family-owned self-storage company. Over a 40-year family legacy in the self-storage industry, Burnham and his family have scaled the business from a single location to over 250 properties worldwide, overseeing more than $8 billion in real estate transactions. Known for preserving local, values-driven leadership while scaling exponentially, StorageMart’s footprint includes iconic regional brands such as New York City’s Manhattan Mini Storage.
A former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year recipient, Chris studied agricultural economics and spent his early academic years studying Japanese business in Japan before working as a commodity trader at Cargill. He later rejoined his family business to help lead its global expansion. Dedicated to mentorship, customer satisfaction, and continuous innovation, Chris lives and works alongside multiple generations of the Burnham family.
