Cris Burnam: Curiosity Maxing
"Those who can't do are good hype men for others." This simple principle serves as the heartbeat for a life dedicated to authentic human depth. In a world optimized for digital efficiency and "frictionless" convenience, the true currency of a meaningful life remains the unscalable power of independent thought, presence, and intentional effort.
In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, Chris Schembra explores the growing cultural movement of human connection, proactive resilience, and the universal language that unites us. Cris Burnam shares insights from his personal journey, including navigating a life-changing career evolution since pivoting from corporate agriculture to a transformative year in Japan in 1982, executing intense multi-billion-dollar real estate transactions, and the long road to paying forward the lessons of grit and character learned from his parents, Gordon and Mickey. Together, the conversation dives into how we show up for others, the power of surrounding ourselves with people who challenge us, and how leaning into creative outlets outside the boardroom can fundamentally alter our perspectives.
10 Memorable Quotes:
"In business, you're either moving forward or you're going backward. There's no treading water."
"Dad was basically a serial entrepreneur, and we counted up over 35 different businesses that he was in... Now, he only made money in a couple of them."
"She said that she could pick 100 pounds of cotton in a morning at their own fields before she was allowed to go over and pick for money in the neighbor's fields."
"I woke up and I realized that I was not gonna get to where I wanted to be if I didn't do something to distinguish myself."
"That's kind of when I realized that I had to do things for myself, and that maybe climbing the corporate ladder was not the career path for me."
"We stopped off at a gas station and bought a 12-pack and drank it on the way home, strategizing about what comes next."
"Nobody ever really wants to rent a storage unit. They do it because they have to. So how do we make ourselves a little more memorable, a little more fun?"
"I constantly feel that I don't have to invent anything. I just have to innovate what's there and make it the best it can be."
"I always go back to curiosity, 'cause that tells me that it's somebody who knows how to learn, who wants to learn."
"If you ask me what one of my deepest fears are, it's retirement 'cause I'm not sure I can handle that. I feel like I still have like one more big deal in me."
10 Key Takeaways:
The Test of Truth Tellers: Why surrounding yourself with realists who check you and challenge your ideas is infinitely better than building an inner circle of "yes people" who let you wander in a thousand directions.
The Dreamer and the Realist Balance: Understanding the ultimate family and operational synergy created by combining a curious, creative idea person with a grounded, practical realist.
The Transition from Analog to Digital: How the rise of automated platforms and AI is atrophying critical human muscles like radical curiosity and our basic willingness to listen to one another.
Dismantling Structural Silos: Breaking away from transactional customer relations by injecting cheeky humor, satire, and unapologetic color into an otherwise boring and rigid industry.
The "Three-Letter Word" Framework: Defeating corporate "calcification" by using gallows humor, adopting an A/B test mentality, and leaning into a "Win The Future" approach when faced with immediate crisis.
Grit at the Dinner Table: Reclaiming the narrative of hard work by looking to foundational role models who understand the relentless, grinding effort required before chasing a reward.
The Tyranny of the OR vs. The Genius of the AND: Learning that world-class leadership requires balancing business-minded curiosity with a deeply empathetic capacity to stop talking and truly listen.
Failing Fast with Guidance: Why navigating massive, sudden transaction collapses under intense pressure alongside trusted "wingmen" is the ultimate vehicle for long-term relational and corporate survival.
The Core Value of Peer Review: Recognizing that "perception is reality" in business, making it vital to step into the field, wander your competitors' floors, and experience what people actually think.
Curiosity Maxing and the Renaissance Ideal: Shifting the goalposts of success from purely financial metrics to building a balanced life filled with intentional wandering and raising multi-dimensional individuals.
About our Guest:
Cris Burnam is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of StorageMart, the world's largest privately-owned self-storage company. Alongside his brother Mike, Cris co-founded the enterprise in 1999, building a formidable four-generation family business out of Columbia, Missouri that now manages over $10 billion in assets. Dedicated to the self-storage industry since 1987, Cris has grown the portfolio to more than 250 locations across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Throughout his tenure, Cris has overseen more than $8 billion in self-storage transactions. His strategic vision has driven landmark industry moves, including a 2008 expansion that brought 60+ Canadian properties into StorageMart, a 2016 push into the United Kingdom to acquire the country's fifth-largest storage company, and the massive 2021 acquisition of Manhattan Mini Storage. Valued at more than $3 billion across 17 premium NYC locations, the Manhattan Mini deal holds the record as the largest single transaction in the history of the self-storage industry.
A highly decorated corporate leader, Cris was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Central Midwest in 2014, received the Better Business Bureau's Torch Award, and was twice honored as a CEO of the Year by CEO Today Magazine in both 2020 and 2021. He is a frequent industry voice in top-tier publications like Forbes and Entrepreneur.
Before building his real estate empire, Cris laid his groundwork through unconventional paths. After realizing a standard corporate climb wasn't his trajectory, he left college to study Japanese business at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan in 1982—an era when Japan Inc. was poised to take over the global market. There, he embraced the mindset of Ganbatte (to attack, charge forward, and do your absolute best). He went on to earn a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri and worked as a commodity trader managing millions of dollars for agricultural giant Cargill in California before stepping into the family business during a massive structural reorganization. Today, the family legacy stands stronger than ever, extending to his son Alex, who serves as Senior Acquisitions Analyst, carrying forward the foundational work begun by Cris's late father and StorageMart patriarch, Gordon Burnam.