International Women’s Day 2026: Celebrating Women in Storage

International Women’s Day is a chance to recognise the women leading, influencing and strengthening our industry. It’s also an opportunity to reflect on the spaces we’ve created to support connection, visibility and leadership across the sector.

One of those spaces is our Women in Storage Breakfast, held annually at Convention. What began as a small gathering a decade ago, has grown steadily over the years, reflecting the increasing number of women driving self storage forward.

At SYD25, the Women in Storage Breakfast, proudly hosted by Storage King, brought together an incredible network of women from all levels of the industry for an inspiring morning. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces and plenty of new ones too.

Mimosas were the order of the day with champagne on arrival, while live illustrations by artist Belinda Xia were a crowd favourite, capturing the women of self storage at their best.

Inara Gravitis, COO of Storage King, opened the breakfast with a personal reflection from her experience at SSA Las Vegas, where she met an inspiring woman quietly succeeding in self storage despite personal tragedy and professional challenges. That moment, she explained, made her determined to champion and elevate women’s voices and stories in self storage.

Storage King facilitators at each table guided conversations. From sliding-door moments that changed a career path, to “I can’t believe I did it” milestones and advice that goes against conventional wisdom, these simple questions opened the door to thoughtful discussions about career milestones, confidence and professional growth. Very quickly, the room filled with honest, generous stories, practical advice and plenty of laughter.

For many, certain messages really stayed. Kelsie Gilbert, Marketing Manager at NatGen and General Self Storage, reflected on an “incredible” story shared by Liz Davies about the transparency and collaboration within the sector:

“We’re not competitors, we’re just smart enough to be in the same industry.” Kelsie also described Karen Jacobs from Total Construction as “an absolute powerhouse,” particularly her encouragement on leadership and visibility: “Take a seat at the table. Just take it and go for it. Claim it.”

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the collective impact of women who are not only building businesses, but strengthening the culture and future of self storage.

Here’s to the next decade of Women in Storage.