SAM Team Member Spotlight: Bryan Forino
Director of Financial Planning & Analysis of Storage Asset Management
Bryan Forino
Q: Can you introduce yourself and provide some background on your role within SAM? What are your primary responsibilities and areas of expertise?
A: I’m Bryan Forino, Director of FP&A at Storage Asset Management. I specialize in data science and predictive modeling. My team focuses on leveraging advanced analytics to drive strategic decision-making and operational excellence. My expertise extends to crafting sophisticated queries, development of predictive analytical models, developing accurate forecasts, and spearheading process improvements to enhance our financial insights and efficiency. In my role, I also oversee the core functions of the FP&A team, ensuring that we deliver comprehensive financial analysis, rolling forecasting, and actionable insights to support SAM’s growth and success.
Q: What attracted you to this role and our company?
A: I heard about an open position at SAM through a recruiter. My decision to join the company was significantly influenced by my initial interview with our CEO, Alyssa Quill. When I interviewed with Alyssa, she demonstrated visionary leadership and forward-thinking approach, which made me think in the back of my mind that Alyssa resembled the Elon Musk of the self storage industry. From the moment I met Alyssa, I recognized that working with her would be a unique chance to learn from someone who’s truly redefining the industry.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working at SAM? Is there a specific aspect of your job or the company culture that you find particularly rewarding?
A: From my time at SAM, I have really enjoyed the small business mindset with large organization results. What I enjoy most about working at SAM is the opportunity to collaborate on diverse and impactful projects with different departments. One of the highlights has been working closely with our call center team during the development of our internal call center. It was incredibly rewarding to see the project come to life and enhance our customer service capabilities. Another aspect I’ve found particularly fulfilling is our collaboration with the remote management team. Helping to launch and refine our remote management services was a significant milestone and underscored the innovative spirit at SAM. Additionally, working with our accounting and IT teams on the implementation of our ERP system was a complex but gratifying challenge. It was satisfying to contribute to a project that streamlined our operations and improved our overall efficiency. These cross-departmental projects not only make my workday dynamic and engaging but also reinforce the collaborative and forward-thinking culture that makes SAM such a great place to work.
Q: Has a memorable life lesson or advice shaped your outlook or approach to life and work?
A: One important lesson I learned from Patrick Lencioni’s book The Ideal Team Player is the value of embodying humility, hunger, and people smarts. An ideal team player prioritizes the team’s success over personal ego, remains driven and committed to their work, and approaches interpersonal relationships with emotional intelligence. This is the standard I continually strive to achieve each day.
Q: Outside of work, what hobbies or interests do you enjoy pursuing in your free time?
A: Outside of work I typically like to do projects around my house, go for a run, or I like to learn different coding languages to gather information or run predictive models.
Q: Can you share a fun fact about yourself?
A: I do not have a sense of smell.
Q: What is your go-to Sunday cleaning/organizing song?
A: My go-to Sunday cleaning/organizing song would have to be “New Perspective” by Noah Kahan.
Check out our SAM Team Member Favorites playlist on Spotify!