When a person fails to keep up with their rent on a storage unit,
the contents of that locker go up for auction. People can then bid on those items based on a mere
glimpse of what's visible from the outside, only learning what treasures lie within after they've
forked over the cash they bid during the auction. It's a high-risk-high-reward scenario, and that's
exactly why millions of people have tuned in to watch A&E's hit series Storage Wars for years.
The main cast of Storage Wars regularly battle it out for hidden treasures,
taking what most people would consider junk, renovating it,
and selling for a profit. Few people excel at this as well as Mary Padian, who was
introduced to viewers in Storage Wars: Texas before moving to the main series in season 5.
Known as "The Junkster," Padian quickly became a fan-favorite for
her peppy attitude and willingness to go the extra mile to find amazing trinkets.
"Where's Ricky?"
"Who?"
"Ricky."
"Who?"
"I don't even know what you're talking about."
"I already psyched you out. You forgot your partner."
She'd then used her winnings from the show to sell all kinds of idiosyncratic objects in her store,
Mary's Finds. But before she was a businesswoman,
Padian was just an average college student ... provided the normal college experience
involves getting followed around by Secret Service everywhere you go.
Let's rewind the clock to the late '90s and early 2000s. That's when Padian attended the
University of Texas at Austin, eventually obtaining a photojournalism degree in 2003.
The University of Texas at Austin also happens to be the college that a certain
U.S. president's daughter attended — and at the same time that Padian was there. Jenna Bush,
the daughter of President George W. Bush, earned her bachelor's degree in English in 2004,
a year after Padian graduated. Given that a Bush was on the UT Austin campus during
the height of George W. Bush's presidency, it makes sense that there might be Secret
Service people walking around. But why was Mary Padian someone they also followed?
During a podcast interview with The Mystery Men back in 2016,
Padian revealed that she not only knew Jenna Bush, but was also her roommate for a time.
When the podcast hosts questioned whether she saw a lot of Secret Service detail during her
time as Bush's roomie, Padian confirmed that there were a lot of agents around to keep an
eye on Bush. As Bush's roommate, Padian naturally ended up with Secret Service
protection as well — but only when she was with Bush, not when she was alone.
She went on to say of the experience,
"It was crazy, but it was her life. She didn't choose it,
you know? She was indifferent to it. [...] It was fine, but it wasn't."
Padian later shared that wherever Bush decided to go, the agents would follow.
The hosts then asked what it was like to go to a college bar requiring that kind of protection.
Padian revealed that she would often forget the Secret Service agents were even around,
and only when looking back on the experience does she remember how unusual it was.
"Looking back on it, I'm like, 'Oh my God,' you know? But at the time,
no, [I didn't notice]. I mean, they're Secret Service — they're trained professionals.
They know what to do. It was just her dad was the president. I felt bad for her at times."
Following graduation, Padian landed a job with Architectural Digest, and was mentored directly
by editor-in-chief Paige Rense. Years later, she'd return to Texas to start Mary's Finds.
And it seems that Padian may have kept in touch with Bush over the years — or at least until
fall 2013, as evidenced by a tweet Padian sent to Bush. On October 31 of that year,
Bush tweeted a photo of her mother, Laura Bush, holding her daughter Margaret Laura "Mila" Hager,
who was dressed as an astronaut for Halloween. Padian responded to the sweet picture,
"She is so cute, Jenna!! I cant even take it."
You know how the saying goes: College roommates who have Secret Service protection together
stay together ... or something like that.
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