You could say Rita Rowlen grew up in the hot tub industry.
When Rowlen’s father, Cecil Schniepp, started his swimming pool construction and retail business in 1954, he had high hopes his seven kids would work in the family business.
Listen to the amazing history of a 70-year-old family business with current mother-daughter business partners Kara Weed and Rita Rowlen. Sponsored by Watkins Wellness Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podchaser | RSS | More
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podchaser | RSS | More
When Rita Rowlen’s father, Cecil Schniepp, started his swimming pool construction and retail business in 1954, his dream was to have all seven of his children in the business.
I love writing about women in the hot tub industry. And what a treat it was to visit Rita Rowlen and Kara Weed in Wichita, Kansas, for this article.
Rita Rowlen & Kara Weed, Ultra Modern Pool & Patio, Wichita, Kansas
Doug RobinsonOwner, Virginia LeisureChesapeake, Virginia Prices are going up quickly. I sell four manufacturers’ hot tubs, and two of the four have had significant [freight] price increases. That makes it even more imperative that when we buy spas, we buy them by the truckload. If we buy them half truck and send them LTL…
Doug Robinson Owner, Virginia Leisure Chesapeake, Virginia Doug Robinson began his industry career in sales at Orlando’s Rec Warehouse in 1992, eventually becoming a regional manager and moving to Virginia Beach. As Rec Warehouse met financial difficulty, Robinson began to dream of being his own boss. He opened Virginia Leisure in Chesapeake, selling outdoor…
Photography by Randy McKown Rita Rowlen’s father, Cecil Schniepp, started Ultra Modern Pool & Patio in Wichita, Kan., in 1954. The World War II veteran started to gunite silos and dig basements, which led to swimming pools, and pool and spa retail. In 1986, Rowlen and her sister Linda Wallace purchased the retail portion of…