What Makes a Great Self Storage Analyst? Zach Dickens on Hiring for Curiosity

Self storage looks straightforward from the outside—buildings, units, locks, tenants who come and go. But according to Zach Dickens, EVP and Chief Investment Officer of Extra Space Storage, that simplicity is deceptive. It's also why the traits that make a great storage analyst go beyond a finance degree or a standard checklist. The trait Dickens believes sets someone apart is intellectual curiosity and the drive to keep asking why a property performs the way it does, long after the spreadsheet says the deal works.

"Our storage product is pretty simple at face value. It's three walls and a door. But the minute you look at it twice, suddenly it's much more complicated."

Dickens has spent nearly 24 years at Extra Space Storage, starting as a financial analyst when the company owned roughly 60 properties. Today that portfolio has grown to more than 4,300 locations, and he's evaluated thousands of facilities along the way. Here's his take on why curiosity is what actually makes a great storage analyst and what that looks like in practice.

Why Curiosity Beats a Checklist

Traditional commercial real estate tends to run on long, fixed leases—a tenant signs for five or ten years, and performance is relatively easy to project. Self storage doesn't work that way. Most facilities operate on a 30-day rental cycle, so tenants move in and out constantly, rates adjust in real time with supply and demand, and performance can vary block by block depending on what's happening locally.

Dickens asks,

"Why does a property in Omaha, Nebraska perform differently than Los Angeles, California? There's no prescribed way to do everything in this world—and that's why I need an intellectually curious individual who can go out and determine the difference."

That makes the analyst's job investigative rather than procedural. A strong analyst doesn't stop at the model. They ask why a specific unit size is underperforming in a crowded market, and where a local competitor might be leaving room for Extra Space Storage to outperform.

Data Helps, But Analysts Still Have to Ask Why

Extra Space Storage's scale gives its analysts access to an unusually large amount of data. Customer behavior, local trends, and pricing changes across thousands of properties in real time are just a few examples of that data. But Dickens is upfront that more data doesn't mean fewer open questions.

He explains,

"We have to be students of the game. I don't know what we may be doing five years from now that's different from today, other than we need to keep trying to figure out what's different."

Numbers narrow down a decision, but they rarely settle it outright. As Extra Space adopts smarter analytical tools, the goal for the team isn't to memorize a fixed process—it's to keep adapting as the data and the tools that make sense of it keep changing.

Building A Company Culture of Curiosity

Dickens treats everyday conversation among his analysts as part of the job, not a distraction from it.

He shares,

"We allow the team to chat and talk amongst each other. They form great friendships at work, but it's also like they're learning about the business and comparing notes. We want to encourage that."

For newer analysts, those informal conversations are often where the real learning happens. It's a chance to watch how more experienced teammates weigh risk and spot opportunity, long before it shows up in a formal review.

Interested in exploring a career in the self storage industry? See our current job openings across investments, operations, and data analytics. And to hear more from leaders like Zach Dickens, listen to the Inside Extra Space Podcast!