Mary Padian Biography

Mary Padian was born on August 24, 1980, to John Gerard Padian and Teresa Ann Padian in Dallas, Texas. Her father was a businessman who ran a scrap metal recycling plant. Her parents divorced in 2009. Her uncle in the famous Texas attorney Bady Sassin. She also has a younger brother, Luke Padian.

She is of mixed descent as her father is Irish, while her mother is Lebanese. She also has a large extended family, with 42 cousins. She remains extremely close to them and always finds time to bond over with the whole family.

During her senior high school year, Mary Padian began working as an intern for D Magazine. After passing from high school, she enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a degree in photojournalism in 2003. She moved to New York City after her graduation.

Mary Padian spent her first year in New York visiting various place in search of a job. She finally landed a role with Architectural Digest, an international design magazine. She was mentored by Paige Rense, the editor-in-chief, who also founded the magazine.

Mary Padian rose up the ladder to become an assistant editor at Architectural Digest. She started a section of her own titled ‘Mary Finds’ which included videos that taught their audience how to find, transform, and make furniture that had great designs, but were affordable as well.

She decided to move back to Texas when Paige Rense, her mentor, retired in 2010. She decided to open her own shop that would feature antique and refurbished furniture along with other knick-knacks and little treasures. She named her shop ‘Mary Finds’.

Her shop went on to become famous for its eclectic mix of home decorations and furniture that were either refurnished or new. She collected these pieces by regularly visiting thrift stores, attending estate sales, and going through diverse storage units.

Mary’s store, though promising, wasn’t financially viable. She decided to close the store. However, a producer from A&E Television walked in the store and found its atmosphere charming. She eventually asked Mary to join her in a new project.

Mary Padian then became involved in the Storage Wars: Texas, a reality TV show featuring the lives of professional buyers who scout for treasures from defaulted storage lockers. This show ran for three seasons from 2011 to 2014.

In Storage Wars, she was partnered with Moe Prigoff, who was an experienced buyer and taught her the tricks of the trade by mentoring her. They would eventually start visiting auctions together to find more unusual items.

On the show Mary was known for her cheerful yet feisty outlook that helped her acquire furniture by bidding on storage units. Her bids on storage lockers based on her hunch and subsequently her creativity to utilize them earned her many fans.

She described her experience in the show as surreal because everything seemed like a mystery. She continued running her store in Texas while being a part of the show.

She went on to star in the original version of Storage Wars, which was running in its fifth season. The show and its findings were mostly located in California. She became a full-time member in the sixth season.

Among her most unusual yet precious finding includes the ceramic grenade from the Byzantine Empire, an 18th century pair of camel saddles from Asia, and an old trunk filled with World War II memorabilia.

In 2017, she joined the Fridays with Flea Style podcast to discuss her career as well as dispense advice to those looking to follow a creative path. She also explained how she fell in love with vintage décor and junk items.

Alongside her journey with Storage Wars, Mary decided to convert her business into an international one. She keeps the strange, remaining items discovered from the show in her shop to sell them. ‘Mary Finds’ now stores items scoured from flea markets and estate sales.

Mary Padian is famous for her unconventional techniques and her firm belief in the fact that design is available for every budget. Her humble, hardworking nature has increased her fan base over the years.

With the steady exposure increasing with each season of Storage Wars, Mary finally moved to Los Angeles to concentrate on her career. The show has run 12 seasons so far and Mary Padian has been part of the show all the way through its latest season.

Apart from appearing in Storage Wars, she now runs her online store under the label ‘Mary Finds’. She is also a regular at auctions, where she sells the things she has accumulated over the years.

Mary Padian is well known as a rummager in the reality TV series Storage Wars. She was initially introduced as a guest in ‘Storage Wars: Texas’ but became the main cast from 2011 to 2014. Subsequently, she joined the original ‘Storage Wars’ team in the sixth season and has been part of the show ever since untill its latest season .

Mary’s reputation as a businesswoman has soared since her TV stint. She currently runs an online store that refurbishes and sells the old artefacts she found throughout her journey at ‘Storage Wars’.

Mary Padian is shy about disclosing her personal relationships to the media. However, she introduced a handsome man alongside her in an episode of Storage Wars and mentioned him to be her beau. While she revealed that his name is Dylan and she met him in Texas, there is no other information available.

Mary Padian’s favorite expression is Razzle Dazzle, which she uses to describe any item that she has undertaken to refurbish and has made it more aesthetically pleasing from its original state.

Among the artists she finds inspiring, Abigail Reynolds and Katy Beveridge’s cut style photographs and animations have always been at the top.