At Extra Space Storage, we believe our greatest asset is our employees. From the people who work in our National Solutions Center to the managers operating our self storage facilities across the nation, the team behind Extra Space is what makes our company better every single day.
Each quarter, we announce the EXTRAordinary Employees 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 Q4 2023, featuring the nominations from their peers!
Daniel Smith – Sr. District Manager
“Dan Smith is known for his adept leadership, fostering highly engaged store teams, and being a go-to support person for his peers. Whether coaching store managers on sales processes, customer experience, or Extra Clean initiatives, or engaging with peers on district manager efficiency and driving metrics, Dan consistently exhibits a natural passion for coaching and talent development. He does this through his patience and use of abundant metaphors to drive home his points. His hands-on approach involves breaking down topics into the specific behaviors and skills necessary for success, demonstrating a commitment to practical and actionable guidance. What makes Dan stand out is his selfless commitment to helping the company and others. Over the past year, he has gone above and beyond the typical Sr. District Manager role, not only managing his district and navigating through merger tasks but also stepping into the role of interim Division Vice President and overseeing multiple districts when needed. Despite the demands on his time and resources, Dan always has time for a call to help someone in need or to ensure his above-average list of new transition stores are ready to open. His unwavering dedication embodies our organization’s values, and his contributions are a key part of our success. To summarize the multiple nominations for Dan, thank you for being an exemplary team member and a key driver of our collective achievements.”
Jeffrey Lakevicius – District Manager
“A team requires a good leader to succeed. Our team was fortunate to be assigned to Jeff Lakevicius after the Life Storage merger. Jeff immediately came out to our stores and took the time to get to know us. He hit the ground running, and we never noticed a blip in the level of DM coverage we have experienced at Extra Space—in fact, it improved. Jeff jumped right in when another District Manager left the company, and he has created a cohesive, merged team in the Savannah market! Even with Jeff’s limited exposure at Extra Space, he is already invested in mentoring and teaching those of us who wish to advance in the company. He also lives and drives the Extra Space values and culture. He approaches everything with integrity, empathy, and a deep knowledge of the storage business. I had a project scheduled at my property that required informing customers and coordinating with a towing company and the paving group. On a weekend (unbeknownst to me), Jeff was on a short, well-deserved vacation when I called with a problem. He immediately returned my call and took care of the issue. This is just one instance of the many times Jeff has gone above and beyond to support us. I have been with Extra Space for 15 years now and would rate Jeff as one of my all-time best leaders. He embodies all of Extra Space’s core values and will be a huge asset as he continues here.”
Shay Carpenter – District Manager
“Shay joined Extra Space the week before we merged with Life Storage and has done an outstanding job in a new division. Shay embodies all of our Extra Space values but particularly excels in living in excellence. She makes intentional decisions and effectively connects with and coaches her team. She achieved all KPIs by the end of the year and supported the development of a District Team Lead to a District Manager in Training. Despite being new to Extra Space, Shay has also been a constant support to the former Life Storage District Managers who joined the team. She easily creates connections, asks for help, and then shares her learnings. Shay pushes for achievement with her team and peers and has become a pillar of support for her division.”
Brianna Billingsley – Data Engineer
“While Brianna has always done excellent work and truly embodies each of the company values, she went above and beyond the call of duty this past quarter. The Financial Planning and Analysis team had a long-running report that is used daily by the stores. Because this report is used so heavily and was taking longer than it should to display the results, it was causing an overload of our Power BI infrastructure. It was on our list of reports to enhance and make more efficient, but we couldn’t seem to get to it. Brianna, of course, is on a different team, and when she heard about this particular report, volunteered to help us enhance the logic. She made the changes in record time and even leveraged some of her report knowledge to make helpful suggestions. Thanks to her efforts, the report now demands about one-tenth of the resources it once did, and it renders almost immediately. This help was immediately seen in a marked decrease in the demand on our Power BI infrastructure. It cannot be stressed enough how important her work is to the organization.”
Tara Spikes – Procurement Specialist
“Tara faced an overwhelming challenge with trying to coordinate new company cars for the Life Storage merger. There were upwards of 70 new District Managers from Life Storage that needed cars on top of all the new District Managers we hired pre-merger. In my division alone she had to coordinate seven vehicles. Her communication and customer service were impeccable. She kept us informed as to the status of the cars and worked quickly to resolve issues that popped up. I can’t imagine the frustrations she must have faced trying to complete this monumental task, but she never let it show. Tara was the consummate professional.”
Yifat Tadmor – Sr. IT Business Analyst
“Yifat joined Extra Space four years ago and has been a force for operational excellence since she arrived. She is passionate about optimization and cost savings for the company and our third-party owners, and you can see the direct savings she has created through the work she has done during her time here. In her time here, she has been able to bring the company significant savings through her different initiatives. When she started working on cost-saving measures, the telecom cost per store was notably higher than it is now. By July of the last year before the merger, she had successfully reduced these costs. Although costs have risen since then, we are in the process of optimizing our Life Storage stores and will bring that down again. Yifat has led several major cost savings projects as well. These cost savings are a direct reflection of Yifat’s attention to detail and her care and commitment to the company.”
Brytnee Savone-Ramirez – Team Lead, National Solutions Center
“Since I joined Brytnee’s team, she has gone above and beyond to make me feel like I belong here. Brytnee has made an extra effort to get to know each member of our team individually. She goes out of her way to ensure we are doing our best professionally, which will help me grow within the company. We’ve talked many times about my career aspirations, and she has been instrumental in guiding me on that journey. She has highlighted some of my attributes that no one else has mentioned before, giving me a boost to use to my advantage. I have seen team members increase their performance ranking because of her help and one-on-ones.”
Interested in joining an award-winning team? Visit our careers page to learn more about company culture and job opportunities.
