UT Alumna Joins Cast of ‘Storage Wars: Texas’
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Following her appearance on the premiere season of A&E reality show Storage Wars: Texas last year, Dallas store owner Mary Padian, BJ ’03, has signed on to appear as a regular for the show’s second season starting Aug. 15.
In the first season, Padian, owner of Dallas’ Mary’s Finds, was visited by podiatrist, furniture collector, and show regular Morris “Moe” Prigoff, who wanted to turn his storage-locker finds into treasures—a skill Padian developed when she opened her store two years ago.
After graduating from UT, Padian says she ventured to New York City to serve as assistant editor of Architectural Digest, where she created monthly videos, called “Mary’s Finds,” about furniture pieces. Five years later, she returned home to Dallas and soon followed her dream to have her own store.
“I opened the store not knowing how to properly refurbish and fix things up,” Padian says. “But at UT I concentrated in photojournalism, and that helped me to have an eye to look outside the ordinary.”
Despite Padian’s lack of buying experience, the location of Mary’s Finds—right down the street from Prigoff’s store, River Regency—helped her land two Storage Wars appearances during the first season.
When she first met Prigoff, Padian says it was like they had known each other for years.
“He’s become like family to me, like my other grandpa,” Padian says. “He’s this genuine, nice, solid guy.”
This season, Padian says when the storage unit doors rise and the bidding war begins, she will rely on her ability to create treasures out of ordinary things. She hopes to show others that experience isn’t everything.
“Wing it,” Padian says. “Learn as you go, and then you can really see your true potential.”
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