Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Bullington.
Hi Katie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My journey with StorPlace of cool springs actually begins about 2008 I am very grateful and feel very blessed to be part of this organization I think it’s important to state that I am a Christian and store place has Christian values and that’s important to me God and family first.
In 2008 after working for VF corporation for 35 years I decided to get out of the corporate world and open my own business I used all of my retirement money and I opened a franchise called inches away a exercise salon for women where the machines were based on isometrics I rented a salon space from Mr. freeman at the strip mall beside the Bellevue store place finally got the business open and up and running and things were going good slow but smooth and then the clientele started not paying for their packages not showing up so it became more and more difficult for me to meet my obligations I absolutely went through all of my retirement money trying to maintain the business in 2010 I had to close the business I closed it in February of 2010 and started working for Mr. freeman at store place in March of 2010 the damage to my finances had already been done during this time also my son Christopher had joined the marines and was headed for boot camp in 2009.
I was very grateful and blessed that Mister freeman hired me his operations manager was a client of mine and set up the interview for me with one of the other operation managers and he approved the hire even though I had to file bankruptcy on him he still saw value in me I started working for $10.00 an hour a friend of mine paid my house note for me I got behind on my HOA payments I live in a condo I had my little bit of pension money that I had gotten from VF and a friend took me down to the food stamp office to get food stamps it was a very humbling experience it was a dark rainy morning you had to wait outside in the dark until they opened the doors I went in with all my paperwork in my arms you said in this huge room where they don’t just call out your name they announce it over an intercom when they called my name I grabbed up all my stuff my coat was dragging along behind me and I was trying to get to the doorway where the lady was because she was clear across this huge room it was definitely a Lucille Ball moment I followed her back into the cubicle areas of the organization sat down with all my paperwork and my coat and everything and she typed in a little bit of information and she said OK you’re ready to go they gave me $250 a month food stamps and I said do you need to see my paperwork and she said no I don’t need any of that just let us know when you get a job and I did do that and they said I could keep the food stamps for six months so I made sure that my pantries were as full as I could get them pantry in my freezer and went to Aldi’s and I ate a lot of Turkey a lot a lot of Turkey because they have the this perfect little Turkey breast that fits right into your crock pot I could eat on that for a week in the meantime I was working at store place cleaning storage units cleaning toilets I had never had to do anything like that in my life I used to cry for the first three months all the way home from work having my pity party on Sundays I worked part time at an answering service because store place being a Christian company is closed the office is closed on Sundays we don’t have to work which I’m very grateful for so I worked at that answering service to make extra money I used to house sit for people to make extra money I paid my friend back for my house note I eventually got my HOA payments caught up including the attorney’s fees because you know they put a lien on your house I’m still living in my condo have refinanced it a couple of times to make repairs but that’s OK on December 17th 2010 Christopher had come home in February of 2009 I should add that Christopher married Kelly my daughter-in-law and they are still together today and have awarded me with the most wonderful granddaughter but I digress December 17 2010 Christopher came home to let us know how to send him letters he was getting ready to be deployed in January and what the kind of stuff we can send to him and things I had been sending him packages to where he was where he was stationed and the key to sending them packages is that you don’t just send something for them you have to send enough for the whole crew. Metal I have gotten Christopher a Saint Christopher the size of a dime because that was all I could afford and it had the marine emblem on the other side I handed blessed by a priest from Saint Henry’s and that’s what I gave him for Christmas for him to take with him overseas we had our Christmas on my car he put a license plate holder that said marine mom I still use that holder because once a marine always a marine once a marine mom always a marine mom he went to spend time with his dad and uncle out at his dad’s farm his father and I had been apart since Christopher was six months old a couple of days later I got a phone call from Kelly at night saying I need for you to be strong and I need for you to meet us at Vanderbilt hospital I called my OM that had hired me she just lived down the road from me she came and took me to Vanderbilt hospital because I didn’t think I could drive I was right I couldn’t have and when we were walking through the parking lot I told her I don’t think I can do this she grabbed my arm and she said yes she can Christopher needs you Christopher had been shot there was an accidental discharge of a weapon and the bullet ricocheted around the area went through his arm and straight into his heart it landed on the Saint Christopher medal that I had giving him Vanderbilt sent the helicopter to take him by lifeline 2 Vanderbilt hospital when the paramedics ripped his clothes off and started to move him the bullet went flying across the room and the paramedic asked Christopher do you have some kind of special connection with God and Christopher said no but I think my mom does Christopher did not get deployed but he did have to go back to camp Lejeune for several surgeries the bullet has shattered his bow in his arm he took bone from his hip to rebuild his arm he spent the rest of his first time at camp Lejeune. In the meantime I’m still working at store place I had kind of stopped having my pity parties a little bit but living in the corporate world you never had to work the day after Thanksgiving you had that whole holiday off but with store place you got Thanksgiving off but you had to work the day after when they had asked me if I wanted to be an A manager instead of an assistant floating manager I said well not for $10.00 an hour so they gave me $11.00 an hour and I became the manager at the Franklin store it was much easier less gas less wear and tear on your car at least I didn’t wake up every morning saying OK where am I supposed to be today so one night on my way home the day after Thanksgiving I’m going down Hillsboro Rd. Because the Franklin store is on Hwy. 96 picked up my catcher and then picked up Hillsborough Rd. always took the back roads to and from work still do um and I topped the hill going towards Berry Chapel Rd. And when I topped that hill there was the most beautiful huge Christmas tree I had ever seen all by itself standing in this person’s yard where they had lit it up during the day while I was at work I squealed and I cried the rest of the way home but for a different reason I realized how fortunate I was to be at store place now and look forward to working the day after Thanksgiving even though I’m not at the Franklin store I’m at the cool spring store now I still make it a point to be able to see my tree on the way home the day after Thanksgiving I have sent that family at least 2 thank you notes for always lighting that tree up it absolutely makes my day
they decided to expand the Franklin store In 2014 it was going to be twice the size because they bought one of the competitors and store place offered me a manager position at the cool springs location which was a smaller store more manageable for somebody like me with my age and everything on December 7th 2014 the current manager who had been promoted to an operations manager handed the keys to me for that location had been built in 2010 it had a handicapped lift so I didn’t have to use the steps and on my way home Kelly and Christopher were in town because Christopher was getting ready to go to Belmont University on his GI bill they were looking for places to live they had not sold their home yet at camp Lejeune Christopher’s great grandfather was not doing well and he was the executor of the estate so on my way home I was going by his grandfather’s house to pick him up and take him to where Kelly and Bailey my granddaughter were I have attached a video that you can look at than I did for the lung association just last October it was a rainy drizzly night accidents everywhere detours and everything I picked him up we came down Vons Rd. And took a right onto highway 70 right by Saint Henry’s church and when we were going up the hill a young lady pulled out in front of us and hit us head on the accident sent us to Saint Thomas hospital I had broken ribs broken knees broken ankles and they got me into the emergency room and gave me some pain medication but I flatlined and they rushed like well first they gave me that shot adrenaline shot thing and apparently that brought me right back up but they rushed me for scans and when they started scanning my whole body is when they discovered that I had lung cancer and that the accident had pushed all that fluid up into my heart and that’s why I had flatlined so the next three months started another journey store place worked around my schedule I was out of work for three months I had a hospital bed in my living room I had to take chemo radiation OPDIVO plus I had braces. While I was at home in my hospital bed taking medication which also includes steroids that they give you during all of the cancer treatments ohm yes and I had two brain tumors I wrote a book called Live for Your Miracle I don’t know what motivated me but I just started typing it found a Christian self-published company that printed my book for me I have never really sold any of them they were on Amazon for a while but as you probably know in order to keep a book in print it costs money. So what I did was I started handing them out at the American Lung Association meetings where I would go and talk as a volunteer when they had the wrong force blocks and I would advocate for them for better breathing things like I’ve been an advocate for the smoke free Tennessee in restaurants and things Mr. freeman would join me in the climb the 2019 was the first time the climb for good health to try to raise money for the American Lung Association I was trying to give back what had been given to me because without all the research the OPDIVO had only been approved for six months when they decided to try it out on me it helped save my life I was not able to take a full dose because I did have some reactions to it and but still and I still advocate for the American Lung Association. Finally, I was able to go back to work in July of 2015 and they let me have my store back after about a month of just traveling from store to store to make sure I could handle it because I was still doing chemo and radiation and that’s where I have been ever since not making $11.00 an hour anymore still doing OK not going to be a millionaire but still have a roof over my head food on my table and a family that loves me StorPlace still works around my doctor’s appointments I try to do as much as I can because I’m so grateful that Mr. Freeman gave me an opportunity to continue to grow physically mentally and spiritually.
I have had two knee replacement surgeries in the past three years and once again store place works around my hospital schedules my therapy schedules God has certainly blessed me it’s being a member of this organization I don’t want people to feel sorry for me I want people to be inspired to be grateful for every little thing that happens and to never ever give up. I believe God has a plan for all of us we just have to try to listen I think he laughs at us when we try to do things our own way I know he’s had a lot of chuckles from my life this story is just the past 17 years of my life and it just hits a few of the highlights he always picks me up brushes me off and tries to put me in the right direction I think it’s important that people exude gratefulness out into the universe.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The thing I am most proud of is my Son and his family. Our company slogan is We Believe in relieving stress. That is what we try to do when people need storage. Life happens to everyone sometimes good sometimes not so good but changes can always be stressful even happy changes so I try to make storage the least of their worries.
My passion is helping the Lung Association and my family
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Find somebody that you admire and has the same values that you have- below is my video tht the American Lung Association came to Nashville to have me make this video. Mr. Freeman gave us permission to use StorPlace for the video
