Here's What Mary Padian From Storage Wars Is Doing Now

In 2012, Mary Padian came aboard the second season of Storage Wars: Texas, one of several spinoffs from the original Storage Wars reality series that premiered in 2010 and is set in California — and it almost seems as though she was destined to be there. Throughout her life, Padian had been drawn to treasure hunting. While she was growing up, her father owned a company that accumulates scrap metal to melt down and ship back overseas for reuse. Upcycling turns out to be a family trait, and Padian has not only embraced it, but also turned it into a unique career of her own.

As an adult, she opened a shop of her own selling secondhand items — some of those, Padian would find out later, she had initially purchased from Moe Prigoff, a storage unit buyer featured on the first season of Storage Wars: Texas — that she would fix and redesign to sell to interior designers. This knack for plucking gold from seeming trash and remake into art was what got her noticed by producers for the program and eventually earned her the TV-nickname "The Junker." After Padian appeared on 62 episodes throughout seasons 2 and 3 of the series, Storage Wars: Texas was suddenly canceled in 2014. What happened to Padian after the ending that came far too soon, and what is she up to today?

Despite the Texas Storage Wars spinoff cancellation, Padian was apparently so well-received by producers that they, in an act of poetic recycling that's not lost on us, asked her to pick up and move her entire life out to California to join the mothership show Storage Wars as another featured buyer. She's not on every episode, but she's very much still a part of that production — appearing all the way up to season 12, which aired in 2018 and 2019. There's no confirmation right now for a 13th season of Storage Wars, but there's no reason to believe that Padian won't return along with it if more episodes happen. After all, she frequently posts to her Instagram account using the hashtag #storagewars, usually in the form of selfies with co-stars. She's also become very good friends with fellow Storage Wars personality Brandi Passante since making the transition to California.

While Mary's Finds, the brick-and-mortar store in Texas that initially got her the TV job is no longer operating, Padian is still in the upcycling business via an online version of the business under the same name — and yes, it does indeed feature some of the items she finds on the show once they're spruced back up. No doubt that keeps her plenty busy between seasons, but she isn't content with just the fabulous flipping lifestyle. 

As of summer 2019, Padian returned to her roots in Texas, bouncing between Dallas and Austin, to represent a charity close to her heart called Ubuntu Life. The non-profit sells fair-trade crafts made by Kenyan women to raise money to operate a specialty clinic for kids with neurological issues in the country, as well as provide the mothers making the crafts with long-term sustainable jobs. This activism is also featured on Padian's Instagram and Twitter accounts, where she recently introduced a product called "Joy Bracelets" that she helped design for manufacture in Kenya, all proceeds from which go to the charity. 

We have to say it's pretty refreshing to see someone from reality television — a business that's often framed by selfishness and interpersonal drama — who's so devoted to taking her fame and giving back in all the right ways. Even if Storage Wars doesn't continue and her fame fades, we're certain Mary Padian's bubbly and kind nature won't ever be dimmed.