Profiling Florida's KWD Landscape Architecture's Krent Wieland and Amy Wieland-Carlson

One of Florida's top Landscape Architectural firms, KWD Landscape Architecture, is spotlighted in this special edition of the Florida Business Forum Podcast courtesy of an appearance on the Gold Coast Builders Associations Builders Spotlight podcast.

KWD Landscape recently won the prestigious PRISM Award from the Gold Coast Builders Association. It is the firms 31st PRISM Award and just one of many of the outstanding awards received for the dedication to making a difference in showcasing landscape as an art and science.

The Florida Business Forum's Host Sam Yates is a member of the Board of Directors for the Gold Coast Builders Association and brings this special episode to business minds in Florida!

Transcript

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 0:02

Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting and interesting episode of the Gold Coast Builders Association Builders Spotlight podcast. News You Can Use and news discovered just for you no matter whether you're a Builder an associate or a future homebuyer. Let's find out who's in the builders spotlight today with your podcast host who nails it every time. Sam Yates. This episode is also being shared, I have to say with the prestigious Florida Business Forum, and I say prestigous as a tease to something else that I'm going to talk about that's very prestigous. And that is the PRISM Awards for the Gold Coast Builders Association. And you're probably wondering, what is PRISM? Well, pPRISM stands for the professional recognition in sales and marketing. And that is yet another tease for my guest today, because they are PRISM winners. And not only are they PRISM winners, as I was looking at their website, I think going back some 31 PRISM Awards of various types. So that gives you an an idea of how long this company has been around and the quality and distinction that this company has. So it is my pleasure to introduce Chris Wieland and Mr. Wieland is of K WD landscape architecture. And I add at the end of that P. L. A, because that is very, very important. And I'm going to let Mr. Wieland explain what that is in a moment. And also with us as Amy Wieland Carlson, and she is the Managing Principal and Senior Project Manager for K WD Landscape Architecture . Amy, welcome to the program today. Thank you for having us. Now, tell us those initials. What do they stand for Krent?

Krent Wieland, PLA: 2:07

Professional landscape architecture or KWD?

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 2:10

Well, both I wanted to get the the professional landscape architecture first. That is that's quite an honor. That is a distinction that not every individual practitioner has in this business.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 2:24

Well, you know, it's amazing. How many folks don't know what a landscape architect is, we run into it a lot. And I'll start out if it's a residential project, I'll tell him we're kind of like an interior designer, but we're outside of the paint. Because everything outside of that building, we address, I mean, streets, roads, Topo, hills, valleys, water features, you know, signage, walls, you name it. So one of the things that attracted me to the profession was the huge palette of items that we have to work with. And in working with interior designers and architects and engineers, I grew up as the son of an interior designer so that it's in the DNA. And it's in Amy's DNA to

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 3:13

absolutely I gathered that and now the KW de you tease that is what is it stand for? So I have to ask, K WD, what does it stand for?

Krent Wieland, PLA: 3:23

is pretty straightforward. Krent Wieland Design.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 3:28

Now, Amy, you got into the business, officially, I think around 2015. Is that about Correct?

Amy Wieland-Carlson: 3:37

I did. I have a background in business. And in came to the firm, and started to learn landscape architecture. So I've been there now for just over eight years, and currently just finishing my Master's degree at Florida International University, Master's in landscape architecture. And I'll be taking my licensing exams this coming year. Well,

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 4:01

I'm gonna wish you advance luck and apologize Krent where I interrupted you there. Go ahead.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 4:06

Oh, she she's a father's dream come true. Wow.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 4:11

Every father has that golden dream. And Amy, I could see it in his eyes when he says that dream come true. But give us a little bit more background of the company itself. 40 plus years. Krent. How did you get into the business? You said sort of interior design. But what is so intriguing to you overall.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 4:36

I stumbled on to it's quite by accident, actually. I'm a Spartan, Michigan State. I was in pre vet medicine. I had always wanted to be an animal doctor since I was a little kid. And it was a real struggle mostly because of organic chemistry. And I'll shorten the story way down. I stumbled into landscape architecture by walking into one of my dorm mates rooms and He was preparing a presentation I said, What are you doing? And he said, It's landscape architecture. And I was immediately intrigued. I went with him the next morning down to the school, and found my nirvana. As soon as I walked in there just seemed like a natural fit. And then that's when it's sort of summoned back on my childhood, you know, design interaction, see my dad, work with design. And so that's, that's, that was the genesis of it.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 5:28

Amy and I have to ask, that's the Genesis as you grew up in that shadow, it had to rub off, right?

Amy Wieland-Carlson: 5:35

Oh, my gosh, I think there's not one I always tell everyone, people, you know, I don't recall ever going out to dinner going on a walk going anywhere, anywhere with my father, or my grandfather, or anybody from the Wieland family, where somebody wasn't talking about the finishes, the driveway material, the drapes, the the chair fabrics, flipping furniture over to see who made it. We're, we're just generations of designers. And we were just talking right before the podcast, my father and I about how both of us from like the age of five were designing, you know, we were using whatever we could find in your room or out in the woods or whatever, to design our own spaces before we even really knew what we were doing. So yeah,

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 6:22

you know, that is so funny. I was, I think I mentioned before we began recording, that I was discussing your firm with ad with an engineering firm up on the Treasure Coast Culpepper Terpening. And the the principal of that company, made the comment, you know, in this business, you never turn it off. He says I cannot go anywhere without looking at something and thinking about the engineering behind it. And you know, that's what you just said, it's got to be a tough thing to be able to turn it off. And I get this suspicion because again, we were talking prior to the to the beginning the program that even on a boat trip that you recently took you were looking at everything and thinking about what is going to be there and how things are going to change.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 7:13

Yeah, change is inevitable. But you might as well jump on the bus and be part of good, inevitable change.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 7:21

That brings us to the PRISM Awards, I know that you want in the category of landscape architecture designed for single family, residential intercoastal estate, I think was the the name of the particular project and also tied for Project Manager of the Year. Two prestigious awards. What are that? What are those awards mean to you collectively?

Krent Wieland, PLA: 7:50

Well, that's you know, you made the right choice years ago. It's, it's, it's hugely fulfilling, you know, to be recognized, you know, not for who you are, but what you leave behind. And I think one of the things that are so fulfilling for me anyways, a landscape architect is I'm creating places that people actually live in, that have an impact on on their life, in McHarg, who anybody who went through landscape architecture had read in McCarthy's books, and he talked about a sense of place. And I think that kind of wraps, wraps around the main idea of what we do we create a sense of place. In In so doing, we create places where memories happen, we're experiences, you know, change people's lives. So it's pretty far reaching in what we do.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 8:41

You are not just award winners, as far as prism, when I take a look at your website, the list keeps scrolling and scrolling and scrolling out those accomplishments are going to be tough to match or exceed AmyHow are you going to go about that?

Amy Wieland-Carlson: 9:01

Oh, my goodness, the giant shoes to fill right. I imagine a good portion of your listeners are our second generation, family business individuals as well. It's a huge responsibility. It is not something that is taken lightly. And I guess the best you can do as the child coming up through the ranks is to you know, be prepared show up. Make sure that you know you're always giving 150% and it's you know, as you said earlier, you're never leaving for the day when you have a family business. You know, you don't check out ever and your dedication is is is definitely on a very different level. So yeah, it's huge shoes to fill. But I mean, I've been my dad's been, you know mentoring me for over eight years, eight and eight and a half years now. And when I came into the business, I thought well probably take about 10 years for us to do the transition and but we plan to continue to work together for a number of years. I mean, I think we will always be bouncing, design ideas off of each other. And we also have a great staff, you ask about the future. And I, we have an amazing staff, I mean, second generation businesses, you know, none of us are the entrepreneur, my father was the entrepreneur. And so second generation businesses are typically a team of individuals. And we have an extraordinarily talented team, I have to give a plug to Chris Walters, who was the project manager for the award winning project. She has phenomenal, phenomenal principal within our firm as well, and Dante Cornish and one of our other principals. So we're just really lucky, we have an amazing team of individuals. So they embody the phrase, if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person, they both check those boxes.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 11:09

You know, I have to say, from my vantage point of being the the Board of Directors for the Gold Coast Builders Association, that we appreciate your membership. And we appreciate your participation in our events. But I think more than everything put together, we appreciate what you bring to the other members of our organization, that shared knowledge, the enthusiasm, when you are around people, I just know that the little light bulbs are going on, and people are like, Ah ha, because as I'm listening to you, I can hear that inspiration that you give to your other team members. So I just want to say thank you for being a member of the Gold Coast Builders Association. When I take a look at what you do, I have a question. What is the process? Can you walk us through the process from concept to completion of a typical project, if there ever is a typical project?

Amy Wieland-Carlson: 12:19

Oh, sure. I guess what I would, I would start out by saying that landscape architecture is incredibly technical, I think, you know, a lot of times individuals will see the work that we do not realizing the amount of hardscape design work that we do. You go to our website and see our designs, when you look there at the those photos, the the pools, the water features, all of the hardscape the landscape, and we we've designed all of those elements, and it's highly technical. So the profession in general requires a very interesting type of employee or person or landscape architect, and that is someone who is very creative, yet very, very detailed. So. So the process always begins with a conceptual design meeting with clients and starting to learn about their vision, their hopes, their dreams, their you know, what are the opportunities and constraints with every project. And once we have done several rounds of conceptual design, and they've approved that concept, we then we start to begin working on the technical drawings that we use for bidding and permitting and construction. The process is long. Landscape Architecture is just that it is a process, nothing is done, we don't author a design in five minutes, and boom, it's beautiful. It's a it's an IT TAKES versions and work and, and working out different areas and problem areas and, and tech in typically we also are working with a team of architects and interior designers, which is which is really wonderful as well. And so the you know, they're in our projects are very large. So it can take several years for projects to really come to fruition. There's nothing greater than going out on site and seeing something you've worked on for two years being built and how beautiful it is and the joy that it brings to our clients and their families and the communities.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 14:30

I would not be doing my job right now if I didn't pause and ask how can someone get in touch with you because I know people are going to listen to this and go, we better be talking so how can people get in touch with you?

Amy Wieland-Carlson: 14:45

i You can go to our website at anytime. kW design team.com We really pride ourselves on the work that we've done in our website. We've really worked hard to make it look like or just show an accurate representation of our business. Be Being very personal, you know, you see all these websites nowadays where you know, there's not a picture of a human or you're not even sure if there it's real or, but if you go to our website, it's very personal, you know, read about us look at our BIOS, read about our firm. And you can also call our main number 561-243-1873. And someone will answer and we'd be glad to work and, you know, work with with folks. And, you know,

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 15:31

just a moment ago, you were talking about the design process, there was more awareness, it appears there's more awareness by every one of our environment and perhaps, changes that are happening, real or imagined people have a perception that there's change going on in the environment, is that change in awareness impacting how you look at business?

Amy Wieland-Carlson: 15:57

Yeah, yes, absolutely. Yeah. I think, um, you know, it's the environmental issues that we're facing, you know, you can't ignore them. And, and I think as landscape architects, one of the things that's really exciting for us, you know, we're where we are in this business, because we love, you know, vegetation, and plants and trees and, and the beauty that that brings to all of the architectural elements or natural natural spaces and, and certainly, increasing green spaces in South Florida is extraordinarily important. Not only does it provide, you know, provides corridors for wildlife and, and in cooling for the Earth, which is very important and cooling for humans. Water storms. Yeah, exactly. I think one of the exciting things that I've seen over the past couple of years is that we're starting to work with some native native plant palettes. And even our, our, you know, largest clients are starting to kind of appreciate it more and like it and, and that's exciting for us, because native plant pellets require less maintenance, less water.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 17:10

And they're going to resist diseases and do better in the environment. So resist high winds and the storms, the natives always do the best, you know, throughout a hurricane.Yeah, yeah, so it's very exciting.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 17:24

Now, I have to also say that one of the things that just irritates the hell out of me is when I see some of these palm companies coming in, and giving the hurricane hair cut to palms, their natural, natural plants, but you can't cut them up that way. So pardon me for getting it off my chest, but it just irritates me, irritates me,

Krent Wieland, PLA: 17:48

that is to say how you really feel.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 17:51

I'll have to tell you that off air. But I'm glad that we have an appreciation of native vegetation. And I also want to thank you and the company for what you do to give back to the community. It's, uh, it caught my attention in going to the website. And I just want to, before I have you tell me about it, I think this will set the stage if I could quote, a second Corinthians chapter nine, verse 11, that says you will be enriched in every way that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. And that's a powerful statement on your website. And it leads right in to how you are giving back to our communities tell us about it.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 18:46

You know, a long time ago, decades ago, given away my age now. I learned that, you know, giving is actually a blessing. And it opens the door to blessings. And in the big differentiation that I found years ago was you don't give to get you give to get to give. And that cycle grows, the giving in grows the blessing. And that's really it's really a full cycle thing of generosity. And I think that's one of the reasons that has led to our being blessed in the business and in turn, we can give even more. So that's that's the idea. That's the goal.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 19:34

And I think that's absolutely marvelous. I just, I want to say thank you for doing that. So many times we see in the business community, people are just out to get get get and that may work for a short period of time, but you guys are headed for the long haul. You're going to be around for a long time. Looking ahead 2024 and beyond What what do you see happening in our industry right now?

Krent Wieland, PLA: 20:06

Wow, there's so much afoot, there's so much changing, it's kind of a really exciting time because I think there's a need for what, what we fulfill as professionals that's filled in the need for that to be filled, has increased. So as our population increases in the numbers of folks moving into Florida on a daily basis, they're staggering. It, it's hard to get my brain wrapped around it, but it's hundreds. And so as we become more crowded, as the environment becomes more impacted by those numbers, it's exponentially more important for that to be managed and handled and funneled and designed. So it just doesn't lead to utter chaos. You know, as in commercial strips everywhere. You know, that's that big mistake of the 60s and 70s. And so I think we've learned from all those mistakes and landscape architects and design professionals are acutely aware of steering clear of those kinds of mistakes as our as the need is so greatly increased on a daily basis, particularly in the state of Florida.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 21:29

We don't want to pave over paradise and put in a parking lot, to quote someone that I'm sometimes caught humming, but I never stopped working. But I do have some enjoyable moments.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 21:41

I quoted Joni Mitchell yesterday, that very phrase.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 21:46

It's amazing here in Florida, how that how that phrase gets gets around a bit. Okay. The most important question of this entire episode, will you be able to come back for another episode?

Krent Wieland, PLA: 22:04

And flip the coin? Absolutely. There's so many elements and sectors to what we do, to delve into and unpack. Yeah, we you could bench landscape architecture.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 22:20

Oh, don't tempt me don't. I want to thank both of you for being here with us today on the Gold Coast Builders Association builders spotlight. And as I mentioned, we are going to be doing double duty with the Florida Business Forum Podcast because I believe our industry has so many different leaders that we can share the information not just within our industry. But without side of the industry. There's so much knowledge that needs to be to be shared as well. And because gcda has taken a leadership role not just in the state, but in the nation. I have a commitment to share with as many as I can. So I want to thank both of you for being here. Krent Wieland and your daughter, Amy Wieland-Carlson. Thank you both for being here on the program today.

Krent Wieland, PLA: 23:14

Thanks for having me, Sam was great pleasure.

Sam Yates, Host, Florida Business Forum, Florida's Number One Business News Podcast: 23:17

And that's going to wrap up this edition. I want to invite you all to stay tuned for upcoming editions because we've got some exciting topics to talk about. I'm your host, Sam Yates and until our next episode, have a great day everybody.

Sam Yates: 23:31

Thanks for listening to the Gold Coast Builders Spotlight. If you have a guest or a topic you would like to recommend contact your GCBA. Builders spotlight podcast host Sam Yates, or the Gold Coast Builders Association, the GCBA builders spotlight podcast, building relationships one podcast at a time. Have a wonderful day everyone