The New Self Storage Asset Classes You're Probably Missing

The best investors don’t wait for the market…they build for what’s next.

Scott Meyers, usually behind the mic, becomes the guest as Joe Downs flips the script. 

Together, they explore the future of self-storage in 2026 and beyond, revealing why a subtle industry shift is actually a massive expansion into untapped opportunities like Boat & RV storage, industrial outdoor storage (IOS), flex space, and more. 

With decades of experience and a visionary approach, Scott opens up about how the Self-Storage Mastermind is evolving into a hub for all things “storage”… and how this evolution is unlocking exponential growth for entrepreneurs. 

It’s a conversation about cycles, capital, and community…and how now might just be the biggest land grab opportunity of a lifetime.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

1:46 What does 2026 look like for self-storage investors?

5:35 Why are developers bullish now if things are just “okay”?

8:24 Is the Mastermind shifting away from just self-storage?

13:58 How many types of storage are there, really?

25:41 What’s changing in the Mastermind for 2026?

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Chapters

• 1:46 What does 2026 look like for self-storage investors?
• 5:35 Why are developers bullish now if things are just “okay”?
• 8:24 Is the Mastermind shifting away from just self-storage?
• 13:58 How many types of storage are there, really?
• 25:41 What’s changing in the Mastermind for 2026?

Transcript

Announcer (00:03):

This is the Self Storage Podcast with the original self storage expert, Scott Meyers.

Joe Downs (00:11):

In 1994, Jeff Bezos started selling books online, just books. That was it. By the late '90s, Amazon was books online. If you said Amazon, people thought bookstore. They were the best at it, the original, the one everybody knew. But Bezos saw something others didn't. He realized the infrastructure he'd built, the logistics, the customer relationships, the distribution network, that infrastructure can handle a lot more than just books. Today, as we know, Amazon sells everything, cloud computing, streaming, groceries. They're still incredible at books, but books were just the foundation. The companies that thrive aren't the ones that stay in their lane forever. They're the ones that recognize when their foundation is strong enough to build something bigger, they do it, which brings me to today's conversation. I'm Joe Downs and I'm here with Scott Meyers, the founder of the Self-Storage Investing Podcast, literally the original voice in self-storage education.

(01:09):

Scott started this podcast years ago when most people didn't even know self-storage was an asset class worth paying attention to. He built the self-storage mastermind when Mastermind wasn't even a buzzword yet. And now, well, that's what we're here to talk about today. And maybe for the first time ever, I'm going to interview Scott on his own podcast. So Scott, welcome to your podcast.

Scott Meyers (01:31):

Yeah. I feel like, should we switch seats or do something different? I really don't know what to do here. This is a first, but-

Joe Downs (01:36):

Are you uncomfortable?

Scott Meyers (01:37):

No. No. We've done this after several hundred times. I think I can see what it's like on the other side of the microphone, if you will.

Joe Downs (01:46):

Excellent. Well, Scott, you've been watching this industry longer than almost anyone. And I want to get your read before ... There's some fun things we're about to talk about and dive into, but I want to get your read on 2026 for self-storage specifically. And notice that I highlighted and emphasized self-storage.

Scott Meyers (02:08):

Yeah. So certainly a question that I received a lot at the end of fourth quarter of 2025 and on some of the other podcast discussions that I've been having. And of course, everybody wants to know what does Scott's crystal ball look like? Where are we heading? What is going to be new and on the horizon we need to keep out for? And I don't need to pause for dramatic effect. It's really the approach that we're taking is kind of a steady as she goes. We don't anticipate or see really any major changes in the economic climate in this country. And so therefore, there doesn't seem for what we feel is going to be a significant change in how we approach the market. We're going to see a couple of interest rate drops, maybe a quarter point here and a quarter point there. And I don't know that the Fed has really landed on how many, but two, maybe three of those.

(02:57):

And so it's not going to move the needle that much. It does help consumer confidence, and that is going to spark some additional interest in the housing market that we will see probably Q2, Q3. And when people begin to look for houses, they change, they buy a new house, they switch residents during the summer so that they don't disrupt school and what have you. And so we may see a little bit of uptick in activity. And what we've been seeing, fortunately, is that occupancy is rising across the country right now. We're seeing ... We have a number of data gathering partners as you do, Joe. And what we're seeing across the industry and markets in our own facilities is rental rates are coming up, which means occupancy is coming up, which means rental rates are coming up. And so that's all good news for the industry, but nothing major.

(03:46):

Our interest rates for borrowing, our cost of capital, again, is going to be improved a little bit, but that also, it's not enough to really spark a lot of investment activity or significantly more than what we're currently seeing. So it is a market to certainly one that we're investing in heavily. We are developing right now. We're doing a lot more development projects, conversion projects that we are doing than acquiring existing facilities. And so from that standpoint, our activity level hasn't increased or decreased too much. I'd say that maybe just a couple of upticks only because there are fewer developments and projects coming to market and we plan to fill that gap and to be just a little more assertive perhaps than some of our other folks. So that's my crystal

Joe Downs (04:28):

Ball.That's interesting. Thank you for that. And that's interesting because what that tells me, and correct me if I'm wrong, is if your development is upticking, and I would agree with you there, our development is upticking as well. You're basically saying 2026, not expecting anything great. I will tell you personally, it feels like there's a tailwind in 26, largely because there's no headwind. The headwind is noticeably missing. And I've kind of been joking to people like, "Yeah, our interest rates came down a little bit." And occupancies are starting to tick up. So I'm not ready to say tailwind. So I've been jokingly saying, "Feels like there's a Bay Breeze at our back." And again, that might be the absence of a headwind too, if I'm being honest. But what I hear you say and agree with you if you're kind of indicating this without saying it, is that you expect good things in 2027, because if you're developing today, you're not opening your doors until 2027 typically, right?

(05:35):

Is that

Scott Meyers (05:35):

Fair?That's fair. I mean, I'm certainly easy enough to read between the lines, but this is our third cycle. So we kind of know what this looks like. And we know that there's an awful lot of folks that the deals that they have, meaning the development projects or conversion projects, they don't pencil out at today's interest rates. And so some of those have been put on pause or put on hold, but those of us, and I'm saying I'm the only one, but like myself and you and several other developers out there, we've got some strong deals. We've had some land that we bought for cheap and we've been sitting on it for a while, or we're able to negotiate a very inexpensive warehouse, industrial building, something to convert. And so the numbers make sense. And those are fewer because the cost of capital is higher, but those of us that have, that these deals pencil out, we're moving forward because we know that this is a cycle that we're in.

(06:20):

And when interest rates get even lower in 2027 and consumer confidence picks up and the housing market picks up, as well as all other activity in the residential housing space and apartments in general, then we benefit from that. So yes, we still see that there's still a strong demand for storage. The occupancy, national occupancy rate, I think at last we saw and the data that we receive is also somewhere between 92 to 93%. And so we're nearing that place where that is causing an increase in rents. But as an industry, there's still demand and there's still a lot of horsepower left in this industry and a lot of unmet demand that we plan to fill in 2027.

Joe Downs (07:00):

All right. I'm super excited about it. And again, the absence, it was a two plus year headwind I think

(07:10):

We Were into in self-storage. So it's just the absence of it just feels so invigorating, interest rates coming down a little bit. Obviously caps rates should follow. This is not a political show and I'm not making a political statement, but the current administration's economic policies haven't even taken effect yet. And by all accounts everywhere, everyone is feeling good about it. And I'm only speaking strictly to economic policies there. With that in mind, I think that type of activity spurs other activity more than just self storage. And I'm going to put the ball a little bit on the tee for you here, but it's being a member of our mastermind, I've noticed through conversations we're having through members that have been joining, and I know you're going to push back on me here on this word choice I'm going to use, but I'm going to use it to make a point and feel free to stomp all over it.

(08:24):

But it seems like the mastermind, your mastermind, the one I'm a member

(08:28):

Of,

(08:29):

Is pivoting a little bit, expanding beyond just self-storage. And I'm wondering if you can not just walk me through that, but walk the listener through what's going on in your mastermind and why?

Scott Meyers (08:43):

Yeah. Well, as you mentioned, when we look at the economy and what's happening on a global scale, and yeah, it is no surprise that this administration is a little more pro- business. And so when there's opportunities that are now created or have returned to the real estate sector that benefits all forms of real estate, from a depreciation standpoint, from interest rate, cap rate, and just the ease of doing business has made it more advantageous. And for people to be able to begin looking at other forms of real estate and getting into the real estate game no matter what. We've also seen, especially in the great recession, during the great recession of 08, a different type of recession, but no different what happened in the marketplace is that the activity stopped from the real estate side, again, looking at single family housing and apartments and development in general.

(09:33):

So there's a whole lot of folks that are in different ancillary supporting businesses that were affected as well. So HVAC companies, plumbers, all contractors of all types. And so those companies were laying these good tradesmen off. Well, there was still business to be had out there in the marketplace. And so those guys and gals would take their truck, take their tools, or take their tools and buy a truck, and they would get into business for themselves. And as the cliche says, hang their own shingle out and go around and work in the industry still, do it for a lower cost than their previous employer and continue to do business as usual, but maybe in a little bit different fashion when people were now remodeling instead of buying. And so we've seen, as these large companies scale back, when there isn't as much activity in the marketplace, well, the folks that are in the industry still go elsewhere.

(10:25):

And so we saw, we had an industrial building that had a large parking lot and an outdoor storage yard. And so we saw the outdoor storage yard fill up, our large warehouses, although there wasn't as much demand for that, there was a demand for 10,000 square feet. And so we divided our larger warehouses and we put literally a wall or a fence down the middle and created these 10,000 square foot yards and spaces that people wanted. Outdoor storage, people couldn't take those trucks and park them anywhere and their equipment. So that spawned a huge interest in these other types of storage. And so we've seen this before and since there's been a slowdown, we've seen that again. Well, as a result of that, those contractors are not in the storage business. And so they needed a place to be able to store all their stuff or for the changes that we're seeing in the marketplace.

(11:13):

And so we're seeing that again. And the folks that are in our mastermind, obviously very entrepreneurial, very opportunistic and looking at the demand because people are calling, those of us are mainly in self-storage and folks are calling and they're wanting 2,500 square feet instead of just a 10 by 10 or 100 square feet. How much boat in RV space do you have? They don't even ask for that. They ask, "How much space do you have? I want to park this or that out there. And I've got a lot of equipment." And so the pattern has begun. Again, it's just a return to what we see again in every economic cycle. And so we've been so much so that the conversations not only organically, but the conversations from the stage and the deal flow and the opportunities and the joint ventures are coming back into what was the self-storage mastermind that, fair to say, it's a pivot.

(12:01):

We've decided there has been so much activity from our members and so many other types of storage that we discuss that it isn't just a self-storage mastermind anymore. It's the storage mastermind because we talk about all facets of that. So not just boat and RV, but now as you mentioned, iOS, industrial outdoor storage and different types of commercial from man caves, there's people that are doing airplane hangers, which is just another form of storage in an industrial building. We're seeing multiple storage storage of all sorts, industrial, high bay storage, flex, storage condos. We're building a storage condo right now. Your pro storage facilities that you've presented several times, it is no longer ... Self storage was always considered this little tiny niche within commercial real estate. And now it is not just a niche, it's a huge force. And in its own right, the asset class has several niches within the storage sector, if you will.

(13:02):

And I can be more excited because these are things that we've been doing. I've been involved in airplane hangar projects, outdoor storage yards, industrial outdoor storage, cold storage. And so now we get to talk more about that and teach it and make sure that everybody is coming along. We're coming alongside of everybody in the group to share our experience. But that's what the mastermind's about is collaboration so that the best business practices are shared from everybody in the room. So I could go on and on, but you've seen it from your seat and from stage. So

Joe Downs (13:31):

What

Scott Meyers (13:32):

Are your thoughts?

Joe Downs (13:33):

Well, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, "We're a room full of entrepreneurs." And my tagline has always been, storage is what, because it's my own personal one, storage is what brought us here, brought me here, but it's all these adjacents that make it so much more cooler, exciting, and able to grow in different directions and not just compete in only self-storage, which we all love and near dear to our heart and

Scott Meyers (13:58):

Got

Joe Downs (13:58):

Us started and continue to do. What I learned and what others have learned, and which is why I see this expansion ... And I know I introduced the word pivot, and the more I say it, it's really not a pivot. You're not going away from self-storage, really just expanding to other storage-like asset classes because what I experienced coming through was I was given the ability at the end of the day to learn how to underwrite self-storage and understand how self-storage fits in the ecosystem that it's in, meaning that one, three, five mile market, or 10, 15 minute drive time, and understanding where it works, why it works, why it doesn't, where it doesn't, and what goes into that, seven years now into this business, and you can't help but meet people along the way or see presentations about iOS. Or in fact, I remember we had a member years ago, Chris Long, Long Yards.

(15:01):

That was my first exposure actually to it. Chris, you're listening. Thank you. But that was my first exposure to iOS. I didn't do anything with it for a couple of years because I was still getting my feet with self-storage. But

(15:13):

Then along came the opportunity for Pro Storage and the vision with Pro Storage when we bought one. And then that led to ... Actually, that's what led to iOS the second time around for me, and along the way, we were doing boat and RV storage. And what's the difference really between boat and RV and pro storage when it's fully enclosed? It's not. It's the same thing. In fact, we expect those to be some of our customers, our boats and RVs and toy cars, like you mentioned. And then what's the difference between Pro Storage and Small Bay Flex? At the end of the day, Small Bay Flex is a mini warehouse storage with an office in it and a bathroom, but you still need to understand why that product works, who's the customer, what's the relationship of that product to the local economy and community, and does it work there?

Scott Meyers (16:01):

And

Joe Downs (16:03):

What are the conditions you need to create success with, whether it's Boat RV or Pro or iOS or self storage or valet storage. And then at the last mastermind, we had the truck parking club come and what is that? Well, that's Airbnb for tractor trailers and what kind of land do they need? They need iOS land, basically. They need industrial. And the common theme, thread, ground that's literally ground that sits underneath everything we're talking about right now is this light industrial zone, maybe commercial, typically light industrial zoned land. And now I can confidently walk around telling people, and you get people sending you deals with, "I've got 15 acres here, 10 acres there. What can I do? " It used to be only you looked at it with the self-storage lens. And now you look at it and say, "What's the highest and best use of this piece of dirt?

(17:02):

Maybe it's not self-storage, maybe it's boat and RV, maybe it's iOS, maybe it's pro store, maybe it's truck parking club." And that's what I've seen in our mastermind. I've experienced my own personal growth. My company's growing that way. I know others in our mastermind are growing with that and that's what's so exciting about where this ... Again, it's not a pivot, it's an expansion

(17:26):

Of where this mastermind is headed.

Scott Meyers (17:29):

Well, the fun part of this, and it really is fun, is that so many people miss this opportunity except for what could be a potential opportunity when they run across or stumble across a piece of land like that because if you're walking around with the only tool in your tool belt being a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

Joe Downs (17:47):

Exactly.

Scott Meyers (17:47):

But instead, as you mentioned, this is a group of entrepreneurs that say, let me see how many ... Let's run a business model and a mini feasibility study as to how many ways that we can monetize this piece of dirt. And it all goes into understanding, well, what are the demand factors for all of those areas within storage that you just mentioned? And being exposed to it or having an idea and an understanding sets you miles ahead of anybody else because other people will just say, "Well, that'll take me too long. I can't learn it. There probably is an opportunity and I'll probably mess it up anyways because I've never done it. " And they just walk past it and they're stepping over massive amounts of income streams because they don't recognize that in that market, they may be the only one and the demand is incredibly high because it's not offered by anybody else or anywhere else.

(18:33):

And so to me, that's the fun part. This is somewhat of a competitive game. It scratches my competitive itch, but I think once we find a deal, a piece of ground and you find an opportunity to build on it that truly is a deal. And you recognize when you get green lights all the way across the board on the feasibility study and everything else, then that's ... I get a lot of joy out of that. I felt like I beat my fellow competitors just like, "I found this before anybody else did." I didn't create it. It was there. We just uncovered it by marching through the steps just because we knew what we were supposed to do. And then once you open it and then you begin to fill it, that's extremely gratifying. And I think that's what separates entrepreneurs from anybody else because we're willing to get that delayed gratification, but the excitement and the journey along the way.

Joe Downs (19:14):

My dopamine comes from, at this point now, finding the land and asking ourselves internally what's the highest, what can we do? What would work best here?

(19:27):

And

(19:27):

Then looking at the optionality because five years ago, three years ago, if somebody sent me four acres, eight acres of land, the only thing we would do is look at the supply index and say, "No, too much self-storage, can't get the rates, whatever, have a nice day. Thanks for the look." Now, that's just one box we either check or don't as an option out of maybe six or seven or ... You and I were talking recently and I don't remember the number, how many different types of storage are there?

Scott Meyers (20:03):

So when we begin to take a look at this, really from a mastermind perspective and call it a marketing perspective, it's just like, we got all these folks that are doing these things, maybe we should begin to market this and begin to attract and have a heading and maybe sessions around all these. And when I ran a search 3AI, there was like 26 different types of storage with it. Now, granted they were stretching a little bit on some of these. They could be combined,

Joe Downs (20:28):

But

Scott Meyers (20:28):

At the end of the day, then we're running across some of these. It's just like, "I've never heard of that and I've never heard of that. " And then I started to do a deeper dive and I thought, "I bet you that makes sense as well." Well, of course it does. And then I do a little bit of more research and realize, wow, these are located all across the country, this particular type of storage. And so yeah, it gets me more excited. And I guess one of the pieces that I would add to that too, Joe, is that before we may walk away from what could be potentially a deal, I think a lot of that for me is I've got a private equity investor list and invest passively with us. And a few times when we've run some of these other offshoots of storage in front of them, if they don't know about it, they haven't been educated.

(21:08):

We all know what confused mind says no. And so it's either really difficult for us to raise the capital or we couldn't. And so I've always, I think some of us as syndicators, and again, speaking for myself, I thought that looks like a great opportunity, but you know what? That's a massive project. I don't have all of the cash setting aside for that. And I don't feel confident enough that I get my private equity partners, my passive investor list to invest in that. And so I don't want to get this far into it or invest as much into it if I can't pull it off. And so that has caused me to pull back. But I think that's changing now because we are seeing in mainstream, we're seeing these other types of industrial forms of real estate come to light. And I think people are a little more educated, even those that are investing passively.

(21:49):

Does that make sense?

Joe Downs (21:51):

It totally does. And I think you hit the nail on the head there rewinding back to the beginning of that, which is how does a passive investor, however you're presenting the deal, how do they make that investment decision if they don't know the first thing about a piece of dirt that is going to be leased out through the truck parking club, for instance, that they've never heard of. And by the way, we're not talking about, you're not putting glossy pictures in front of them of before and after pics of

Scott Meyers (22:27):

What

Joe Downs (22:27):

The kitchen and bathroom and bedrooms of the apartment are going to look like that you're asking them to invest 100, 200 grand into. These are oftentimes as ugly as they come, gravel lots, maybe chain link fenced. And when I'm talking specifically about iOS here, where maybe the truck parking club would park tractor trailers and even then you're parking tractor trailers on it. It's nothing beautiful to the eye. And on top of that, so I've got an asset class they don't know and I don't have pretty pictures to send them. So the challenge remains then how do you go about educating them? And that might be the perfect segue actually into what, and this is, I'm going to speak selfishly here because I'm a member of the Mastermind. And I know you have Mastermind members that listen to this podcast and I'm sure there are people that are passive investors that listen.

(23:21):

I'm sure there are people that have thought about joining your mastermind that listen. So I'm asking for all of them, Scott. I'm the people's voice right now. What can we expect in 2026 from your mastermind in that regard? We're talking about an expansion of exposure

(23:39):

To these different asset classes, not just self-storage. So give us a sampling of what we can expect this year.

Scott Meyers (23:49):

Yeah. Our mastermind has morphed over the years. I mean, as you said, we're the first self-storage mastermind. We're the biggest in the country. More folks have come through here that have become members and some have moved on, but it is a very vibrant community. And we're really big on doing our best to provide what our members are asking for and need. And sometimes that also involves producing content and an agenda at our mastermind that maybe not what they want, but it truly is what they need. And so what we're hearing loud and clear is in the beginning, call it our tagline or what's on our banners, it's all about community capital and deal flow, a community of like- minded investors and entrepreneurs, owners, operators, syndicators in the industry that are sharing best business practices first that are all in alignment and alignment with our value set.

(24:39):

This is by invitation only. We don't just let anybody in here. They have to be at a certain level and they have to be contributing. They're go- givers. So they're not just there to take, but people are there to contribute. So that's first and foremost. And then the other two are capital and deal flow. And so community, capital and deal flow.What we've done a really, really good job at, I feel better than anybody else, is creating that community. And that community wants to listen to the speakers that we brought in and even some folks that are in different industries or just the mindset folks, the success folks that talk about their story. And that's been fantastic. But what we haven't had as much is a focus on the members sharing the deal flow and as well as the capital partners or stressing what it looks like and even walking through a deal or two that is recent or ongoing that some of the members are doing that shows exactly what does a joint venture look like between Joe and Betty over here that are doing a project right now and one's a developer and one's raising the capital for them or how does that look?

(25:41):

And Steve and Jimmy, these guys are the two of the biggest wholesalers in the group right now. What are you seeing? And show us what it is that you're producing to the marketplace. And by the way, what do you have right now that may be of interest to the group? And everybody knows that. And those are the conversations that were on the stage before or presented, but then just we're kind of moved to the networking time and our VIP cocktail receptions and the events that we go to along the way. But now the members are saying, I think we want to get back to more of a focused event where, yeah, we all know each other. We're going to spend time with each other, but let's see what's going on in the marketplace. So a return to deal flow is what you're going to see in 2026.

(26:24):

And we're heading, depending on what time this podcast comes out, probably about the time that our mastermind is going on in Phoenix. We've got two ... Well, we got a number of wholesalers that are already in the room, but we're bringing two other large scale wholesalers in the industry that most folks haven't ever seen or heard about. They're going to be talking about just that and then also presenting some deals to the group and we're going to talk through them from the front of the room. And then the capital side as well, we have a capital raising partner that I've gone to a source for many, many years that I've referenced. And we're going to have him come to the group as well and do maybe a reset. Maybe it's kind of a refresher for everybody in the room, but I think we're going to get back to the roots, which is what I love anyways.

(27:10):

And we're going to see a lot of deals come out of this. We used to talk about how many units and how many square feet and the number of dollar volume of deals that were shared at the event. And we felt that as if it was maybe a little too braggadocious and that we didn't really need to share that, but it's time to start counting again and making sure that we have a concerted effort for everybody to bring more deal flow and capital to the room. So a long when it answered your question, that's what you're going to see next week.

Joe Downs (27:39):

Okay. So that's exciting. So back to, you said back to the basics. So back to the roots, back to the blocking and tackling that your mastermind, I guess, became famous for with ... I'm going to put the ball back on the T for you here with

(27:58):

The Expansion it sounds like into ... Because you mentioned having different speakers come in that we haven't seen before. Are you being cagey right now? Can I out this? Are we going to see and hear from people in boat and RV and indoor Iowa? Yeah, we are. Okay.

Scott Meyers (28:15):

Yeah, absolutely. As a matter of fact, as I talked to some of these this week, talked to some of the wholesalers and some of these other folks, I put it out to them and say, "Hey, I haven't really promoted this, but I imagine you get an awful lot of folks to contact you that are interested in selling their boat and RV storage facility or they've got a large warehouse or they've got a flex space or something that they may not know what to do with and they reach out to you because of your market." And they said, "Oh yeah." I said, "Well, we want that. " If that's not on your buyer's list or on your radar or if that's something that you're not willing to put under contract to even try to wholesale in your business, give us 48 hours. We'll take a peek.

(28:49):

I'll open it up to the community. And if there's a zero interest, then no harm, no foul, you do whatever you want to do with it. But we are the outlet for that. So we've started there as well. But yeah, the members have also known, as we've talked about since our last mastermind, that this is the, call it the pivot, but the expansion that we're looking for. And so we're going to have presentation on that. The membership

Joe Downs (29:12):

Wants it. The membership wants it ready for it. They do.

Scott Meyers (29:15):

Well, they do, and that's what we're looking to do. And then we noticed in those conversations that we have over dinner and some of our excursions, somebody's talking to me about, they may have just presented or they're going to present on a storage deal, but then they're talking to me offline about this incredible iOS yard that they've got this deal. I'm just like, "Holy cow, show me the numbers on that, would you? " And it's astronomical, blows away anything else that anybody's presenting in just a self-storage facility, and I shouldn't say just a self-storage facility, but you get it.

Joe Downs (29:45):

Yeah. And it's 80% crossover with self-storage. We're not talking a different language. It's very similar language. There's a couple different tweaks, and now you're in the iOS business because you came through self-storage. And same with Pro Storage or Boat and RV storage. I mean, it's not That there's not nothing to learn, there is, but that's what the Mastermind's for and that's what's great about it. I'm excited. Well, Scott, you built the, as I mentioned in the opening, you built the original self-storage education platform. You've been the voice people have trusted for years, frankly. Thank you for allowing me on your podcast. I don't know if you know I hijacked the last couple episodes.

Scott Meyers (30:23):

I understand that. Hopefully you still have

Joe Downs (30:25):

Listeners.

Scott Meyers (30:26):

Well, my calendar was open and so I knew something was going on. I just didn't know what. So thank

Joe Downs (30:31):

You. Now that the Mastermind's expanding to these adjacents, not abandoning self-storage, but building that on that foundation, for the listener who wants to learn more about your Mastermind, where should they go?

Scott Meyers (30:44):

Yeah. Well, thank you for teeing that up. I never thought you'd ask, Joe. Go to thestoragemastermind@.com. I

Joe Downs (30:51):

Wanted to host again. Sorry, I got you off there.

Scott Meyers (30:54):

It worked.

Joe Downs (30:55):

Where did they go?

Scott Meyers (30:56):

Thestoragemastermind.com. And as I mentioned earlier, this is by invitation only. It is by application. So we do need to see that you are in the business. And as these are folks, the whole goal of that mastermind behind the community capital and deal flow is folks that are in the business. And so we're learning those best business practices to learn to grow and scale and grow beyond just one self-storage facility because the skillset, as we've said before, and as you have promoted so well when you're working with the other folks at the other, our lower level mastermind is the skillset, what gets you out of Egypt doesn't get you to the promised land. And so it's a completely different conversation that we have in this mastermind versus what we teach at our self-storage academies or any of our coaching and our mentoring programs. Those are the foundation to get you there, but the conversation is different.

(31:46):

And so yes, we do run an interview and an application to make sure that you are up to speed and that you are in the business so that you can otherwise you're going to try to grab a hold of a train that's moving past you at 100 miles an hour and hope that you can find a bar or something to grab onto. So yeah, we're looking forward to expanding. And yes, if you are in other asset classes and you're looking for a community and capital and deal flow for whatever little ancillary asset class you find yourself in within storage, then we're coming for you. Hopefully you're coming for us.

Joe Downs (32:19):

And even just to learn more about the others.

Scott Meyers (32:21):

Oh, absolutely.

Joe Downs (32:22):

Like I always say, self-storage is what brought us all here. But like Amazon with books, sometimes the foundation you build is strong enough to support something much bigger. And I think that's what you're doing here. So thank you for it as the leader of our mastermind.

Scott Meyers (32:36):

And

Joe Downs (32:36):

Scott- My

Scott Meyers (32:36):

Pleasure.

Joe Downs (32:37):

Thank you for being a guest on your own show.

Scott Meyers (32:39):

Well, that just means I didn't have to prepare an agenda, Joe, so thank you.

Joe Downs (32:43):

Wow. All right. I see what you did there.

Scott Meyers (32:46):

Yeah. It's a win-win.

Joe Downs (32:48):

Win-win. All right. Well, thank you folks for listening and we will see you next week. Scott, final word to you, your show.

Scott Meyers (32:54):

Oh, wow. Yeah. So much looking forward to 2026. And as not necessarily myself, Joe was really promoting our mastermind, but it is just an integral piece of what we do. But from an investing standpoint, no matter what, I would just encourage everybody to sit on the sidelines. This is what we've seen is ... I view this as the biggest lang grab in my lifetime. It means heading into 2026. Yes, we do have a baby's at our back, but those of us that are building a portfolio are absolutely going to be prepared for 2027. So I'm excited. And yes, we're excited about the community where I spend so much time that the other business we've created, which is the mastermind. And so yeah, we'd love to see you there. And because as they say, well, a couple different things. When the tide rises, it takes all boats.

(33:41):

And that's what we're out to do is educate all folks in the storage industry no matter what the niche, because it just makes it easier and less friction for all of us to do business together.

Joe Downs (33:50):

And let's end it then with your favorite saying, which is the African proverb.

Scott Meyers (33:55):

If you want to go fast, you go alone, but if you want to go far, you go together. So I'm glad you remembered that, Joe. We'll see you in the mastermind. All right. Looking forward to it. Thanks, Joe.

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