We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sam Chason a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

Our team has not only been able to work remotely but has thrived in doing so. In fact, the only way we could run this company is remotely. The pandemic has not only made remote work, sales, and management socially acceptable but has also been a catalyst that allowed us to scale at the rate we have. Our team culture is deeply rooted in consistent communication, with a particular emphasis on over-communication to ensure clarity and alignment among all team members. We hold meetings every Friday, dubbed the “weekly wrap,” where we revisit our company’s core values and our goals for the year. During these sessions, we shout out team members who have exemplified a core value in their work during the week. Some team members are part of a book club, and they discuss some of the key takeaways from that week’s chapters. After reviewing the workweek, we close by sharing personal photos from the week. It really helps keep everyone engaged in each other’s lives.

Just this past week, we experienced our first-ever company-wide team retreat in Charleston, SC, which was nothing short of incredible. Meeting people in person, collaborating on ideas, providing feedback, and simply spending quality time together was immensely valuable. While these in-person moments are crucial, our ability to scale and access a wide pool of talent would not have been possible if we were not remote.

Navigating through the remote work model, there has been a loss of casual, spontaneous conversations and collaborations that naturally occur in an office setting. Our structured, often formalized communication system, which involves scheduled calls and meetings, can sometimes inhibit the free flow of ideas and casual interactions. Additionally, the isolated nature of working from home can occasionally breed curiosity and a sense of solitude among team members, potentially creating a feeling of working in a silo. Addressing these challenges involves a continuous effort to enhance connection, promote informal interactions, and uphold transparency across our remote team.

Sam, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hello readers, I’m Sam Chason, a 25-year-old entrepreneur from Mt Kisco, NY, and a 2020 graduate with a degree in Business and Entrepreneurship from Wake Forest University. My journey into the storage and logistics industry began quite unexpectedly in the dorm room of my freshman year and was driven by a necessity to fund a significant portion of my education.

The inception of my business, Storage Scholars, was sparked by observing international hall mates who would bring a couple of large suitcases from overseas and furnish the rest of their room locally, only to be perplexed about storing everything during the summer break. Identifying this gap, I printed flyers and went door-to-door, selling a pick-up and delivery storage service, which quickly earned me the label of the ‘storage kid’ on campus. In our first year, with the help of a 21-year-old friend, rented trucks, local storage units, and hundreds of boxes stored in my dorm hallway, we serviced 64 customers, generated $18,000 in revenue, and I realized there was substantial potential for growth.

Today, Storage Scholars has evolved significantly, boasting over 15 full-time employees, and annually, over 1000 people, ranging from college students to local logistics professionals, engage with our business. We offer two core services: “Traditional Storage” and “Ship to School”. The former allows students to pack their belongings using our provided free packing supplies, lock everything in their room, and head home, while we take care of the pick-up, storage, and pre-delivery, ensuring everything is ready and waiting in their rooms upon return. The latter, primarily aimed at incoming freshmen, involves shipping them a box bundle to pack personal belongings and ship back to us, alongside their entire online-shopped college wishlist, which we then organize and have set up in their room when they first step onto campus.

What sets us apart and something our clients love is our employment of hundreds of college students, offering them the best paying job on campus. Our technology and moving experience, often compared to the transparency of Domino’s, keeps clients notified at every step regarding the whereabouts of their boxes during the pick-up, storage, and delivery process. The entire experience is white-glove, saving parents the cost and hassle of flights, hotel stays, meals, and taking days off work, while students can save crucial hours during the pivotal weeks of the year, focusing on acing their final exams instead of logistics.

I am immensely proud of how Storage Scholars has grown and the problems we solve for students and their families, ensuring a seamless, stress-free transition between semesters and during the initial move to college. Our brand is built on reliability, transparency, and a genuine understanding of the needs of college students and their parents.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Ah, the tale of how Matt Gronberg and I, two seemingly different paths, collided! It all kicked off at Wake Forest. Matt, always a beacon in his yellow Wake Forest sweatshirt, was the guy you’d spot refereeing IM flag football games, no matter the weather, for a whopping 20+ hours a week. His commitment was something that didn’t just catch my eye – it stuck with me.

Then came that Halloween night. I was the designated driver, and there was Matt, hopping into my car, fully decked out in scrubs, “Dr. Gronberg” proudly displayed on his name tag. The guy was a biochemistry major, dead set on med school, and that 10-minute car ride became a window into his world. He was grinding through college, paying his way through, just like I was. So, I threw it out there: “Matt, work with me, and you’ll make more in a week than a semester of your work-study.”

Six months later, he circled back, took the leap, and my word held strong. Matt didn’t just climb – he soared through the ranks during his college years. When graduation rolled around, he made a gutsy move, veering away from the medical field to join me full-time. And that’s when Matt wasn’t just an employee – he became a co-founder and a business partner.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Man, January 2023 was a wild ride, and not in the fun, rollercoaster kind of way. Picture this: We’d just shaken hands with Mark Cuban for a cool $250k and were all systems go to scale Storage Scholars by over 100% that year. But here’s the thing about our business – it’s like 80% of our cash flows in during that crazy 4-5 week spring period when we’re zooming around, picking up stuff from student dorms.

We’d filmed the previous July, and even though Mark was on board, navigating through that first deal was like walking through a minefield blindfolded. We didn’t want to rush and end up shackled to a bad deal for years. Plus, we had to switch from an NC S-corp to a DE C-corp, just to get Cuban’s investment in, which was its own kind of headache.

So, January rolls around, and we’ve got new team members, full-time salaries, and a mountain of promotional marketing products and moving supplies (a move to offset our December tax liability) that started burning a hole in our pocket. Fast. Every week, we were like, “Okay, the investment will close now.” But nope. We were opening new credit cards, pausing our executive team’s payroll, leveraging our side real estate business, and even borrowing from personal bank accounts, all while clinging to the belief that the money was just a week away.

Then, the $40k payroll day loomed. Missing it wasn’t an option. It wasn’t just about the money; it was about not breaking trust with our brand-new team and avoiding a storm of angry college students needing that paycheck. And if we went NSF? Huge fee aside, it would be our third strike with our payroll provider, risking getting kicked off a platform that’s woven into our entire company workflow, serving over 2000 members. The transition would be a nightmare.

The money was sent, supposed to hit that night, with payroll to be approved and deducted the next morning. I woke up, heart racing, checked the account, and…relief. Of all the transactions that month, the money hit, and the very next transaction was the payroll. We’d dodged a bullet, just barely.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.storagescholars.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storagescholars/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storagescholars/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/storage-scholars/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiig8l8COf4VjwNl4Ns2mZA
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@storagescholars

Image Credits
Dylan Blackburn