Masters of Moments

Monetizing Underutilized Spaces and Disrupting a $40 Billion Industry - Katharine Lau - CEO of Stuf

Mar 12, 2025

Katharine Lau, CEO and Co-Founder of Stuf, shares her journey of reinventing the self-storage industry. With a background in real estate and a passion for consumer experiences, she discusses how the pandemic revealed opportunities in underutilized spaces. Katharine also dives into the impact of technology on the industry, emphasizing digital tools that enhance customer experience. She highlights innovative strategies for competing against larger firms, from local marketing to community engagement, showcasing a fresh take on what self-storage can be.

01:26:06

Episode guests

Katharine Lau

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Quick takeaways

Katharine Lau emphasizes the self-storage sector’s potential for innovation, highlighting opportunities for modernization to improve customer experience and operations.

Her journey through various real estate roles showcases the importance of networking and building relationships as vital elements for career success.

The podcast underscores the critical role of technology in the self-storage industry, particularly AI solutions, to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Deep dives

The Unexplored Opportunity in Self-Storage

The self-storage market contains significant growth potential, as evidenced by 10% of American households renting storage units. However, many facilities slightly lack innovation, with outdated designs, poor signage, and minimal technology use. Customers still confront challenges such as having to drop off payment checks in person, which highlights an opportunity for modernization and improved customer experience in the sector. Transforming self-storage into a more accessible and tech-enabled service could revolutionize how consumers interact with these facilities.

Intro

3min

Navigating Real Estate and Networking

7min

Navigating Real Estate: Site Selection and Co-Working Trends

19min

Balancing Remote Work Flexibility with In-Office Collaboration

4min

Revolutionizing Real Estate: The Birth of a Startup

9min

Revolutionizing Self-Storage with Technology

19min

Evaluating Success in Hospitality and Real Estate

11min

Strategic Competition in the Self-Storage Industry

2min

Navigating the Hiring Maze

11min

Katharine is CEO and Co-Founder of Stuf, one of Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2022. She was named to Inc. Magazine’s Female Founders 100 list in the same year. Katharine is passionate about reinventing consumer experiences in the physical world and leads the company’s strategic vision and overall strategy in transforming the self-storage industry.

From 2015-2020, Katharine led supply growth at Industrious, the nation’s largest premium shared workplace provider. She built and managed a 20+ person team and oversaw the company’s rapid expansion while developing go-to-market strategies for new digital products and tenant experience services. As VP of Real Estate, Katharine pioneered an "industry first”

asset and liability-light growth strategy leading to CBRE’s partial acquisition of Industrious in early 2021.

Prior to Industrious, Katharine worked at Equinox as Manager of Development, supporting the company’s national expansion of luxury fitness clubs. She previously worked at L&L Holding Company and PGIM Real Estate (Prudential).

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Links:

Katharine on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/katharinelau/

Stuf - https://www.stufstorage.com/

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:06) - Katherine’s career in RE/Hospitality

(00:07:36) - Advice to young people in RE + AI

(00:11:06) - Insights learned from development at Equinox