During my recent trip to Southern California to attend the Twin Counties and San Diego Chapter meetings, I had the opportunity to visit several outstanding operations.
My first stop was at Rene’s Van and Storage, located near Hollywood. What an incredible experience that was. Their operation is truly unique, and they have carved out a remarkable niche in their local market. They offer a wide range of storage options—half-size crates, full-size crates, lockers, and even full mezzanines used by very high-profile customers. Because my own business is strictly military, I had never seen specialty storage quite like this. Their system is efficient, innovative, and clearly meets the needs of their clients. In fact, they don’t advertise at all—their warehouses stay full purely through repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals. It was inspiring to see such a successful and distinctive operation.
I also attended the Twin Counties Chapter meeting, hosted by my good friends Ed and Tracy Coelho of Burgess North American. It was a delightful, well-attended event, made even more special by the presence of Dan Dotson, owner of CMSA member American Auctioneers, well known as the auctioneer from Storage Wars. He was incredibly impressed with CMSA and expressed a strong desire to stay involved, which was very exciting to hear.
Next, I traveled to San Diego, where I had the pleasure of visiting Republic Van and Storage. Their warehouse was bustling with crated and international shipments, and their use of technology to modernize and streamline their operation was extremely impressive. Kudos to Bill Lovejoy and his team for embracing change and running such a well-oiled machine.
I also visited Ackley Moving Services, where I was able to spend time with my friends Tom and Sharon Ackley. Their business model is very similar to mine, with a strong focus on servicing military service members. Tom recently made the bold decision to expand his business, opening an operation in North Carolina, a big step given how volatile U.S. Transcom has been, making investment in our industry more challenging. I truly applaud Ackley Moving Services for taking those courageous steps to grow.
The San Diego Chapter meeting was also very well attended. I want to give special recognition to my dear friend Andria Skiff, who currently serves as both the San Diego Chapter President and CMSA Secretary. Andria has recently brought on Olivia Post from Gorilla Moving as the new Vice President, who will be assisting her as they continue to strengthen and grow the chapter. Andria’s dedication to CMSA is extraordinary, and she will be stepping into the role of CMSA Chairwoman in two years. It fills me with pride to see more women rising into leadership positions within our association. Their involvement not only strengthens CMSA today but also builds a stronger future for the organization.
Lastly, I want to share a bit about my personal journey as I work to diversify into more civilian and commercial work. Yesterday, we met with Channel 26, and we will be launching a month-long commercial campaign focused on Christmas decoration storage, pickup, and delivery. I believe this could be a great niche for us, especially in the surrounding communities of Fresno and Visalia. I am also considering bringing on a salesperson to help expand our market. Visiting colleagues and seeing their operations firsthand has given me renewed hope that growth is possible—even in a rural community like mine. The team at KMPH Channel 26 was genuinely excited to produce our commercial, and I’m optimistic that we will see positive results from these efforts.