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Announcing EXTRAordinary Employee of the Quarter Winners for Q1 2019

At Extra Space Storage, we believe our greatest asset is our employees. From the people who work in our National Sales Center to the managers operating our self storage facilities across the nation, the team behind Extra Space Storage is what makes our company better every single day.

Each quarter, we give out the EXTRAordinary Employee of the Quarter award. These aren’t given to people who just do their jobs. They’re awarded to those who go above and beyond in demonstrating our core values, and the nominations are submitted anonymously by other employees, team leaders, or entire departments.

Below are the EXTRAordinary winners from Q1 2019 featuring the nomination statements from their peers!

Andrew Todd – Social Media Specialist, Store Support Center

“Throughout Andrew’s time at Extra Space Storage, he has been an example of teamwork, passion, and integrity. This year, Andrew has taken on new responsibility by taking on management responsibilities, as well as running and owning new advertising platforms. Andrew has continued to keep his positive teamwork attitude throughout the change and has excelled in both management and maximizing shareholder value by optimizing our social media advertising efforts to bring in new customer opportunities. In 2019 alone, we have seen a reduction in cost-per-click by 84%, an increased link clicks by 139%, and increased conversions by 125% through the social media channels he has focused on. Andrew’s passion and focus on excellence is a huge asset to the company, and we are lucky to have him!”

Brandon Kotsch – District Manager, Machenheimer Division

“As a District Manager, Brandon Kotsch makes Extra Space Storage a great place to work. Having five different DMs in the nine years I have been here, I can say that Brandon does it right! He is professional, compassionate, caring, understanding, genuine, and has a true sense of all these instilled throughout his district. As they always say: ‘It all comes from the top.’ His demeanor in dealing with his employees is respectful and business-smart. I personally have had the greatest experience I have ever had in the last year that I have been a part of District 9791. The employee experience at Extra Space Storage relies A LOT on who your DM is. Brandon should teach a training class on how to be a DM and how to treat your employees.”

Celes Talauega – Operations Specialist, Store Support Center

“Celes is a great representation of our company’s values. There are many parts of her job that can be thankless, and she does it all with a smile. She provides great customer service to our internal and external customers. Recently, our department had some turnover, and Celes jumped right in to take on additional workload and has truly gone above and beyond. There have been many days that Celes has put in long hours to manage the workload and to make sure her exceptional service level hasn’t dropped. We are so happy to have Celes on our team, but beyond that Extra Space Storage is a better place with her on board! Celes exemplifies teamwork and deserves to be recognized!”

Gloria Velazquez – Field Operations Manager, East Coast

“Gloria Velazquez is such an amazing support both personally and professionally for all the DMs and DVPs she helps lead and guide throughout the year. She always makes herself available to assist her operations group when they have questions or make mistakes (and yes, we do make mistakes). Even through times of important and demanding tasks, such as landscape contracts, Gloria remains positive and genuinely helpful. When I think about our Extra Space Storage core values, I think about Gloria and how she is guided daily by our culture compass. She is such a caring and compassionate person. Even with all the responsibilities she oversees each day, she is always there to offer emotional support and, in many cases, condolences. I hope she knows how appreciated and valued she is. We are all so fortunate having Gloria as our partner and ambassador to our culture at Extra Space Storage.”

Jamie Greenfield – District Manager, Verboncoeur Division

“Santa Fe has been a remote market for the last several years with no DTL in place. Jamie has been absolutely amazing with assisting the market by allowing multiple DTLs to train and multiple employees to cover when needed. Mind you Santa Fe is an hour from Albuquerque—that has not phased Jamie or her team! She has been an absolute joy to work with, is an excellent co-worker, and a shining example of our core value: Teamwork! To boot, Jamie has partnered up with me to work with a high potential candidate. She has taken time out of her busy schedule to spend time with this candidate and help groom her for a bright future with Extra Space Storage. Jamie, you are a blessing, and we are extremely fortunate to have you on the team. Thank you for all of your help and hard work! Way to be EXTRAordinary!”

Kacey Kalian – Risk Analysis Director, Store Support Center

“Kacey has managed to take claims data from multiple sources and provide concise, consistent reporting for management. The fractured nature of the claims information prior to Kacey’s involvement left DMs unable to effectively recognize trends at individual stores. Kacey’s ability to gather and relay pertinent information has allowed the facilities group to create actionable plans to reduce the number of CPP claims.”

Samuel Ribeiro – Site Reliability Senior Engineer, Store Support Center

“Sam would tell you that he is ‘just doing his job,’ but he consistently strives to go above and beyond. Sam is dedicated to delivering when and what he says he is going to deliver. Just doing enough is never good enough for him. He does what is necessary to succeed. He goes out of his way to come up with creative, workable solutions, solving problems we have never solved before. He strives to better himself, and the solutions he is working on. I love hearing great praise from the other teams that he works with—I know that it is well-deserved. Sam is a great candidate for the EXTRAordinary award. He is humble and consistently delivers excellent work.”

Nominations for EXTRAordinary Employee of the Quarter for Q2 2019 have recently closed, and the winners will be announced soon. Check back for more from Extra Space Storage!