Mariana Martinez joined Public Storage three years ago as a property manager and has been such a positive force to our Orange Doors ever since.

When she first joined in 2019, Martinez quickly rose up the ranks to become one of the first property managers to join the corporate team this year as an associate recruiter, an achievement she credits to the strong work ethic of the women in her family.

We’re delighted to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by recognizing Mariana Martinez and her contributions to the Public Storage team!

Joining Our Orange Doors

Martinez joined Public Storage at a critical time in her life. She had left a domestic abuse situation and was in a shelter when she came across an opening for a relief manager.

“To be very honest, Public Storage was a saving grace for me,” she shared. “I was coming out of a domestic abuse and this job offered the possibility of an apartment.”

Martinez was nervous because it has been seven years since she had been in the workforce.

“I was leaving a whole a life and starting over,” she said.

She was hired and over the next six months went through training and excelled so much she was named a property manager. She credits the company culture which she said provides training and support from team members and ample room for career growth.

“;I kept getting good feedback and it just kept propelling me to do better,” she said.

Martinez had worked hard to turn around a trouble location and elevated it to one of our top-performing in the area. By the end of that first year she was once again promoted to training manager and was moved from a property with 600 units to a 1,200-unit facility.

Martinez’ strong work ethic impressed those on the team, including Erika Trovato, a senior district manager has worked with Martinez indirectly and directly for the past two years.

Trovato saw firsthand how Martinez positively influenced numerous managers and was monumental in retaining talent during an expansion with the acquisition of more than 40 All Storage properties last year.

Joining Public Storage Corporate Team

Now as an associate field recruiter, she helps candidates through the interview and hiring process. She assists the district manager on East Coast and help them on board new team members.

Martinez admits she never conceived this kind of progress in such a short time.

“I wasn’t looking for the promotions, they were being offered to me,” she said. “I was working and trying to do my best and that was quickly recognized.”

She’s grateful for the support from her managers who knew she was interested in the learning and development of employees and encouraged her to seek the position and ultimately a promotion to the corporate team.

Martinez said she hopes her journey serves as an example for other property managers that Public Storage might be the leader in the storage industry but it’s also a company that promotes career growth.

While she was a training manager, Martinez had the opportunity to train talent outside of the property level staff, including a district manager and talent acquisition leader, Trovato said.

“I have always known Mariana to be of sound character, being compassionate, disciplined, and having a great sense of ambition,”; she said. “Over the course of the past years, I have witnessed tremendous growth in Mariana’s adaptability, communication, leadership, and problem solving. I am certain these cultivated skills will allow Mariana to excel.”

Learning Work Ethic from Family

Martinez was born in Caracas, Venezuela but her mother is Cuban and her dad is Chilean.

Today, all of her family is still in Venezuela with the exception of her mother, Elena, (picture above) and brother who are also living in the United States.

Martinez said her mother moved her and her brother first to California and then later to Texas, which was a bit of a culture shock—at first.

That’s because her family relocated to a small town in Texas that at that time was still common to see people riding horses on the street. It was a stark difference to the city life she was accustomed to in the metropolitan cities of Caracas and Los Angeles.

“I’m a city girl,” Martinez said.

While every so often she craves the empanadas of Venezuela, she’s thankful for the opportunity she’s had growing up in the US.

“My mom has been such a strong and undeniable presence in my life,” she said. “There’s a strong dynamic of women in my family.”

Her grandmother, Margarita, was one of the first female dentists in Venezuela. She studied in Cuba and when they left the country and decided to live in Venezuela she began her practice there.

“They moved countries from Cuba to Venezuela and now the US,” she said, referring to her grandmother and mother. “I have three sons and I want to show them this is empowerment.”

Congratulations to Mariana Martinez for your contributions to our team!