“Inside the Mountain”: Priceless American history - handle with care

You wouldn’t believe the things Alyssa Garza has seen working at Iron Mountain. But that’s what she loves about the job the most.

Alyssa’s first assignment on the Special Projects team was for a research library and museum, packing, moving, cataloging, and safely storing over 70,000 linear feet of artifacts in our warehouse while the customer renovated.

Suddenly, literal pieces of American history itself were in her hands.

Another time, after a large studio merger, she led a project to bring order to a massive collection of files. Now, she was holding highly sensitive personal data – contracts for some of the biggest movies and TV shows of all time, including details of stars, producers, and writers.

The same way that Alyssa is impressed with what she discovers, our customers have been equally impressed with Alyssa and Iron Mountain.

The project with the research library has gone so well that they’ve expanded the scope of their work with us. And for the movie and TV contracts, we impressed the customer by creating a system to digitize, catalog, and store the original paper files that was better than anything they had seen before.

“The customer literally said that we went above and beyond for them, that they were not expecting the amount of detail that we added.”

Of course, she can’t wait to see what the next project will uncover.

“You just never know what you're going to come across, you know? Once, I saw the mannequin used to design costumes for ‘Rocky.’ Recently, one of my co-workers went to a warehouse to pack up some files and saw a Mystery Machine from ‘Scooby-Doo’ and a couple of Batmobiles.”

Meet Alyssa Garza, Project Coordinator, Southern California

Alyssa joined Iron Mountain as a temporary employee in 2023 “and her results spoke for themselves,” said her manager, Jessica Rivas. When a permanent role opened up Alyssa applied and was hired. “It was clear from her performance that Alyssa possessed the initiative, leadership, and attention to detail needed to excel as a Project Coordinator,” Jessica said.

Question: When friends or family members ask what you do for work, how do you describe your job and Iron Mountain?

Answer: I tell them we’re over-exaggerated movers, because it makes sense to someone who doesn’t work here.

If you can think of it, I'm pretty sure we've done it.

Can you pack it – office equipment, files, furniture – and move it from one place to another or to our warehouse? Oh yeah, we do that.

Can you organize it, categorize it and store it? Oh yeah, we do that.

Can you digitize files? Oh yeah, we do that.

Can you analyze data or give us instant access? Oh yeah, we do that, too.

I always tell my people, you need to stay “liquid” because whatever mold the customer gives you, you need to fill it.

Question: You were hired as a permanent Mountaineer after being a temporary employee. What would you say to Mountaineers who want to succeed or move into a bigger role here?

Answer: Recognize how much your attitude can influence your coworkers and team. I say, 100%, be yourself. At the same time, be a team player. Try to leave your troubles at the door and find a way to make your day special. Come in with a smile on your face. Attitude has such an impact on success.

Question: What has been your favorite moment as a Mountaineer and why?

Answer: I love seeing the customer sites and what they have stored because a lot of it is historic. It's stuff they've held onto for years. You just never know what you're going to come across, you know?