Bartow Avenue CubeSmart<\/a> location since it opened. \u201cFirst I had one cubicle. Now I have a big space [and two smaller ones]. My wife has supplies, clothes, the stuff for our houses she doesn’t want she puts here. The other one is for the music business. We\u2019re satisfied with the service they provide us. These people are so friendly. When I get here in the morning, I get a smile from them, a cup of coffee. This place is nice and clean. I\u2019ve recommended it to many of my friends.\u201d<\/p>\nA loyal customer, Jose has been an equally loyal employee for over three decades. The trained electrical engineer had just arrived to America and taken a job doing building maintenance and cleaning for a company that sells photocopiers, printers, fax machines and other business equipment. One day, he found his opportunity for advancement in the refuse pile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw one machine thrown in garbage. I fix it and they said \u2018Who fixed the machine? How did you do it?\u2019 I said, \u2018I checked the manual.\u2019 At that point they said, \u2018Are you interested in learning more?\u2019 I said \u2018Sure.\u2019 They sent me to Texas for one month to get training.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a senior employee, Jose has watched the organization grow a national customer base, and he oversees maintenance and electronic repairs for the machines at companies such as Chase Bank and CASE Paint, among others. Over the years he\u2019s made enough money to invest in several real estate properties: in the Dominican Republic, where his wife hails from; Detroit, and Miami. He and his wife have also raised nine children, the youngest of whom is 13 and still lives at home. He\u2019s worked hard but he\u2019s now able to reap the fruits of his labor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you come from another country you start low. If you want to grow, you have to sacrifice yourself, so that’s what I did. I lead a decent life. My kids are ok. Everybody went to college.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his free time, Jose promotes Spanish musicians and occasionally DJs weddings and parties. But the music business has evolved over the years, and Jose finds that it\u2019s less lucrative than it once was. \u201cIt was nice before\u2026 I was doing CDs, I had a factory for DVDs. Then everything changed. Everyone downloads from the internet. But one thing has not changed: Copy machines. Everyone needs them. I don’t want to get stuck on technology so I keep learning. Next week for two days I\u2019m going to a class for the next machines coming\u2014I have to get training on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jose is set to retire within the next five years and he plans on doing more of what he now does in his leisure time: visit his beach properties, grill steaks, drink tequila and listen to his favorite music. \u201cRight now, with the 401k plan, I think I could live nicely. My house in Miami is paid already. The houses in Detroit are paid already. I\u2019m getting some monthly money, extra money, so that’s what I\u2019m planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jose is proud to live in the United States and has never once looked back on his decision to start his home and family here. \u201cIt had to be the USA. It\u2019s safe, secure and a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019d love to hear how self storage has positively impacted your life. Share your #HumansofSelfStorage story in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\t\t\t\tTake a look as we explore what’s inside the stories of our Customers.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":13344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1938],"tags":[924,232],"class_list":["post-13343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-life","tag-humansofselfstorage","tag-inside-self-storage"],"yoast_head":"\r\n
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<\/p>\n