Student Storage Specialist of the Week - Nick Kulmala

Meet our 'Student Storage Specialist' of the week - Nick Kulmala! Nick joined the Storage Scholars team in April 2022, just in time to experience the beautiful chaos of the busy season! Nick lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with his boyfriend, Chris, and French Bulldog, Mister. When he's not providing you with impeccable customer service, he can be found behind a sewing machine for his bow tie business, cooking, baking a new recipe found on TikTok, or simply just being lazy at home with Chris and Mister.

My Role at Storage Scholars

My official title at Storage Scholars is Customer Success Supervisor, but when working for a start-up, you learn to do a little bit of everything and fill in wherever you can! While customer inquiries are slow during the off-season, I can often be found doing everything from data collection to public relations outreach. As we ramp up for the busy season, I am Robert's right-hand man. We anticipate navigating a larger CS department in the near future, overseeing customer inquiries on every subject imaginable!

My Background

Here's the quick and dirty on me: I'm the youngest of 4 from a small town in lower South Carolina (Williston, for anyone familiar!) and was also the 4th child to graduate from Clemson University. I graduated with a degree in Performing Arts and planned to enter Arts Administration. I was on that career path and juggling a couple of part-time jobs when I decided to work for myself instead. I started my own handcrafted bowtie business, A Dapper Sandlapper. I sew all of my own unique creations- bow ties and accessories- from my studio. All the while, I've always kept some part-time job on the side and have always found myself in customer service.

A Typical Day on the Job

A typical day for me is different from most of the HQ team because I'm a part-time/flex employee. This means that 3/4 of the year, I work a regular part-time schedule and can expand those hours up to full-time when needed. When gearing up for pick-ups at the end of the Spring semester and drop-offs at the beginning of the Fall semester, I'm working full-time hours to ensure that everything is getting done and that our Customer Success Team isn't completely running into the ground. 

Here lately, my days start around 5:30 am as I've attempted to reprogram myself into being a morning person, getting to the gym before I get the rest of my day started. After working out and all that jazz, I usually head to my studio (where I operate my business) to get some work done. When I'm on my part-time hours, I typically work the first half of the day for Storage Scholars before shifting gears later in the afternoon to sew for my business. Most days are pretty standard as I respond to customer inquiries, attend departmental or company meetings, and ensure I'm filling in wherever I can to keep this ship humming along! 

How I Started Working with Storage Scholars

I found Storage Scholars through my dear friend and our fearless Chaos Coordinator, Chelsea! We were friends at Clemson while pursuing our degrees in Performing Arts and were roommates in Greenville the first year after graduation! In 2022, I was looking for a new part-time job. Chelsea immediately texted me to let me know her new company was hiring for the CS department. That position was for the CS manager role. It sounded like a promising opportunity, so I applied and quickly had a video interview with Matt, Storage Scholars COO. While I wasn't hired for that role, they reached out several weeks later to offer me a part-time/flex position in the department, and the rest is history!

On Working Remotely

Working remotely is a definite change of pace and I wasn't sure how I would like it at first. Learning a new job is tricky and even trickier when the person mentoring and advising you is 1,000 miles away. After a few weeks, it just becomes old hat, and you wonder why you were ever concerned in the first place! It's an incredible opportunity to work from my home, studio, or wherever my little heart desires. Plus, who wouldn't want to wear gym shorts or sweatpants to work and not get in trouble?

The Hardest Part of My Job

I'm not gonna lie. The hardest part of my job (though it's a very integral part) is the angry customers. Please stick with me for a second. Things go wrong sometimes, whether we want them to or not. A glitch happened on our website, or the truck got a flat tire and caused someone to miss their flight while waiting on the movers. Things just happen; that's life. And when something like this happens, customers understandably get upset. It's never fun dealing with angry customers, but it's a crucial part of the job, and we sometimes have to put on our 'therapist' hat and let them vent. We're all human; sometimes, we just have a bad day or can't fully talk through our issues without a few expletives. C’est la vie and all. It's never fun for them or us, but we talk it out, resolve it, and all live happily ever after!

Most Rewarding Part of My Job

I genuinely enjoy getting to make people's lives easier! Part of the appeal of Storage Scholars is that parents can help their students get packed up from across the country and not have to worry about anything other than clicking their mouse on our website. Getting to alleviate parents' and students' worries or concerns about their belongings is why we do what we do. It may sound silly, but when working in customer success, something as simple as "you've been so much help" or "I really appreciate it" can instantly brighten my day. "This business is such a lifesaver" has been stated repeatedly in customer conversations. It brings a smile to my face to know that I'm helping make a difference!

-Nick

Have a question for Nick about summer storage at your college? Or ready to reserve your spot for an upcoming college move? Send him an email or visit our website for more details.