News & Updates

There are honours, and then there are the ones that bring you right back to where it all began.
 
In June 2026, Kennards Self Storage CEO Sam Kennard returned to Western Sydney University - the same university where he earned his business degree more than three decades ago, studying property and land economics - to be awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa). The honour recognises his significant contribution to business, philanthropy and civic leadership. Then, cap, gown and bonnet all in place, he stepped up to the lectern to deliver the occasional address to the graduating class.
 


It's a fitting recognition. Since taking the reins of the family business, Sam has grown Kennards Self Storage from a modest family enterprise into one of the largest privately owned, family-run storage businesses in the world - more than 125 centres across Australia and New Zealand, with more on the way - all while keeping it proudly, stubbornly independent. He was among the first in the sector to back online booking, digital access and smart yield management, helping set new benchmarks for the whole industry, and he's long championed the idea that a business should serve and strengthen the communities it operates in.
 
But it was Sam's address to the graduates that captured the man behind the milestone. He began, characteristically, with humility, reflecting on sitting in those very seats himself, looking up at the stage, not having it all figured out. His message: you don't need all the answers on day one. A degree matters, but the ability to learn, adapt and grow matters more, because much of what this generation will go on to do hasn't even been invented yet.
 
Drawing on Carol Dweck's idea of a growth mindset, Sam offered three lessons he wished he'd known at twenty-four: lean into challenge, because growth rarely happens inside your comfort zone; seek out honest feedback, even when it stings; and never stop learning, your degree is a foundation, not a finish line. The most successful people, he reminded them, are relentlessly curious. And a career, he added, isn't only measured by what you achieve, but by the relationships you build and the contribution you make along the way.

True to form, Sam was quick to share the moment around. A recognition like this is never really about one person, it belongs to the family who built the business, the teams across every centre who live the "store with people who care" promise daily, and the customers who've trusted Kennards for more than fifty years.
 
At Kennards, we talk a fair bit about creating space - for belongings, for businesses, for change. It feels fitting then, that we've found a little space on the wall for this one.
 
Congratulations, Dr Kennard. Undeniably earned.