At the age of 27, TJ Hulse approached his parents with what he so eloquently called; his “Pipe Dream Idea.”
The year was 2020, TJ, then working as the Sales Director of Chocolate Fusion, noted the abundance of storage facilities in and around his new place of residence. Traveling back and forth to Pittsburgh, TJ noticed the astronomical size of the storage facilities and that their primary use case was cold weather and snow.
“We got one third the snow in Pittsburgh that we do back home.”
Wreathed in real estate and sales experience, supported by strong local and familial ties, and armed with the tools of his economics and biological degrees from Fredonia; TJ was primed to do great things, he just needed the right opportunity…
It was around this time that the global pandemic had wrapped its hands around the world bringing industries to a halt and obliterating what we knew as normal. Around the same time, an opportunity struck that TJ could not refuse; the commercial building, once owned by his parents (Four T Development), and now under new ownership, had foreclosed and was once again up for sale. Seeking a new direction in his life, TJ jumped on the opportunity to create a climate-controlled storage facility unlike any other in the area.
“I wanted to [create] something with a hometown feel,” “I didn’t see it [so much] as community as it [was] me coming back to my home town.”
His efforts to create a modern, home-town aesthetic paid off. Touring the facilities, one cannot but help notice the Bonnies colors adoring the walls in sleek and elegant fashion. Listing to the excitement and passion in TJs voice as he elaborates on the painstaking efforts put into creating every inch of the building. The facility itself was constructed by TJ and his father with the intent to develop a future-proof, climate-controlled building with modern automatic locks, motion detectors, motion-based lighting, and easy access maintenance. The Bonnies colors were chosen due to its emblematical nature of growing up in the Allegany-Olean area; experiencing Bonnies games or attending a myriad of performances, exhibitions, or events put on by the university.
The reader may notice that TJ’s parents are prominent in every stage of the journey. That is, quite simply, because of how TJ himself is oriented. Talking with him, it is easy to see that family is at the center of most if not all his decisions. The idea of investing into storage facilities originated from his family’s long history in the real estate business. TJ hopes to emulate his parents who taught him the importance of a strong work ethic coupled with open communication and a healthy work-life balance. The entrepreneurship, however, was born from years of watching his parents give back to their future family while “never missing a game.”
“Sometimes, a birthday falls on a Wednesday and you want to be able to celebrate go out to eat; go out to dinner, have a lunch, go grab coffee with somebody.”
TJ is an individual who grabs life and seizes every day.
Should you have the chance, especially if you are a budding entrepreneur, I implore you to reach out to TJ (social media links provided at the base of this article). TJ has an infectious optimism and passion for life, everyday is a new adventure for him which he cannot wait to explore. Parallel to his zeal for existence, his family, and his trade TJ is a local business owner seeking to help local businesses to see his community thrive and grow.
To learn more about Wolf Pack Storage, check out their social media at;
You can find TJ on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn;
*Pictures from Wolf Pack Storage
Special thanks to Nick Youngs, and Allyson Youngs for their assistance