FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Former boxer
still a fighterChris Ulu has worked his
way up in the storage bizI am the site manager at Salt Lake Self Storage facility. My day starts with a positive attitude toward my work. When I convince prospective customers to store their items with us, I know I'm growing the company. We have one facility now, but we will have more.
At Salt Lake Self Storage we offer a lot more than storage. We sign for deliveries, so a business owner who is expecting a delivery can rest assured that their products will be in their storage facility when they come to retrieve them. We also have a business center that offers our customers' access to a conference room and fax, phone and Internet services. It's great for small business owners on the go.
I set a lot of goals for myself. I first got involved in the storage business back in 1986 when I was hired as a warehouse driver. It was like being a maintenance person more than anything, but it allowed me to get to know the operations of the facility from the inside out. I used to study how the managers sold space and got things done. They didn't know I was studying them. I was very careful to keep on top of what I was doing.
My big break came when an office manager had to take a leave of absence. I started selling immediately. Because no one knew how I had been studying them, I surprised them all. After that, my bosses started letting me work part-time in the office. When people called in sick or went on vacation, I got to put in even more time.
Because I started working on the outside, I knew right away what type of space a customer needed. So sales were easy for me, but managing wasn't so easy. I dropped out of high school. I had no education in typing or anything. I learned office skills by buying programs and learning that way.
I started out life with a string of back luck. I was in trouble with the law before I was 13. But the one thing I had going for me was determination. I grew up as a fighter. I always wanted to be a boxer. In my teens I cleaned up my life, became a religious man and got serious about boxing. I was a Golden Gloves at 15 and went professional at 17.
Then my manager at the security firm I was working for was stabbed to death. It changed my life. I decided to go work full-time at that point. I knew I needed to take care of my family. My wife was pregnant with our first child. I have five boys now, they are all active in sports. My bonus this year was an all-expense-paid trip to Disneyland and Knottsberry Farm in Southern California. We all went. It was awesome, a dream come true. And I have my job to thank for that.
Hawaii At Work features tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send submissions to: business@starbulletin.com
