Going into the pool industry wasn’t always what Kara Weed had in mind. Sure, as a high school student, she worked at the family pool/spa supply store, testing water and doing projects for her mom. But she had no plan to take over the business.

But her family had woven itself tightly into the Wichita pool industry. It began with Weed’s grandfather, Cecil Schniepp, who started building pools in 1954. Two decades later, the family opened a store to sell pool supplies and patio furniture. In the 1980s, Weed’s mom, Rita Rowlen, joined in. She partnered with sisters Ellie Hughes and Linda Wallace to purchase and expand the retail and service side of the business from their father. That operation came to be called Ultra Modern Pool & Patio. Weed’s father, Lance Rowlen, served as vice president of operations.

Meanwhile Weed’s grandfather and his sons continued to work in the construction business and manage a distributorship. “Everybody was in the pool business,” Weed says.

But she didn’t see herself becoming a thread in that tapestry. When she attended college, she planned to become a certified public accountant for a large accounting firm doing income tax work. That came to fruition when she took a job at Koch Industries. She was very happy. “I honestly didn’t ever imagine I would be leaving that company,” she says.

But some family obstacles caused her to reevaluate.

A trial run

Things changed in 2015, when illness took hold.

Lance Rowlen and Linda Wallace both suffered from dementia, which had progressed to the point where they could no longer work. (Lance Rowlen would pass away in 2016; Linda Wallace in 2017).

Rita Rowlen considered locking the doors. Weed faced a choice: stay in the career she loved or take a chance by jumping into the pool industry full-time. She didn’t want to see her family’s company close without ever giving the job a chance.

“I felt like I would have regretted not giving it a shot,” she says.

She spoke with her manager at Koch Industries, who reassured her that he would gladly take her back if she didn’t like working in the pool industry. Mother and daughter agreed that Weed would come work at Ultra Modern to make sure she liked it. If she did, she’d start learning the ropes; if not, they would close the business.

Weed had concerns coming into the arrangement. She worried about how it would feel to work with her parents every day. She also wondered if she could manage all her mother’s work in addition to her own when the time came to take over.

Given her career background, Weed felt comfortable with data and numbers. And she brought soft skills that would translate well in any venture. At Koch Industries, for instance, she worked with a variety of professionals, from people in the corporate office to inspectors and pipeline workers.

“I learned how to communicate with different types of people, build a quick relationship, and approach different situations,” she recalls.

Once she joined Ultra Modern, this helped her immediately in building relationships with long-time employees, vendors and industry partners.

But she didn’t have that same confidence when it came to the marketing side of the business and the creativity it required. Weed learned from working closely with her mother. Over time, she became more comfortable in that part of the business, while understanding how to enlist help when she needed it.

Weed heeded some advice from a previous supervisor: “You don’t have to know everything as long as you know where to go to get the answer.”

Unexpected Fast Forward

By 2020, Weed had served in the company for five years. With Linda Wallace’s passing in 2017, she had already stepped in to run things with Rowlen.

They hadn’t yet planned for an official transition of ownership and leadership, but events made that decision for them. “COVID kind of forced our hands,” Weed said.

Because Rowlen was over 65 years old and, thus, vulnerable to severe COVID-19 symptoms, Weed suggested she stay home. As the months passed, mother and daughter decided it made sense for Rowlen to retire. Weed had recently hired a general manager to help oversee operations, which made it easier for her mom to step back without disrupting the business.

“It was a relatively easy transition, because I was really well-ingrained in the business at that point,” Weed said. “And, honestly, it was really hard to mess up during COVID” because of the historic demand in the earlier days of the pandemic.

But as Weed took over more of her mother’s responsibilities, she did

experience some growing pains. Given Rowlen’s long history with vendors, for instance, taking over those relationships would require more than enlisting her mother’s contact list. Many of the big vendors were used to working with Rowlen, and some even knew Weed as a child. They might say, “Oh, I remember when you were in second grade,” Weed recalls.

It took work and time to transform their image of her from that 7-year-old to the business owner she is now. Attending trade shows helped, she says. Walking the floor and getting face time with vendors cemented relationships that were uniquely hers. It took about three or four years for all vendors to see her as the company’s point person, she says.

Into the new era

Since taking over the reins, Weed has made a few changes to carry the company into a new era.

She has streamlined the number of retail offerings so her team can focus on core products, such as hot tubs, pools, patio furniture, saunas and swim spas. She also set a goal of adding two new retail stores in the next three to four years.

In 2016, the company had added a construction department. It has doubled in size nearly every year since — a trend Weed expects to continue.

To help along the way, she also joined industry groups, which she feels are invaluable in helping her stay on top of industry trends, and share data, ideas and insights. And even though her mother is retired, Weed values having Rowlen as an advisor.

“Having that sounding board is really valuable.”

Weed fell in love with the pool industry and she hasn’t looked back.