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Eddie Karr is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and sales coach. As a purpose-driven business owner, he is motivated to create reliable companies in whatever industry he pursues. His newest venture, Bellareed Luxury Pools, is already disrupting the luxury pool industry.
Through Karr’s 30-plus years of experience in business development, Bellareed has accomplished more than other builders in just two short years. The Bellareed team prides itself on delivering dream luxury pools on time and taking care of its employees through an in-house team of project managers, designers, and client relationship managers — all of whom are necessary to complete a construction project from start to finish.
Bellareed’s dedication to its simple and clear vision — as well as its dedication to each one of its team members — ensures that its clients and staff benefit from the company’s drive and successes. By putting people first, they’ve successfully built one of the most lucrative pool businesses in the industry. We spoke with him about leadership and the top effective traits a leader should have in construction.
Leading by example
As the founder and CEO of Bellareed Luxury Pools, Eddie Karr strives to set an example as a leader in his company who is flexible, collaborative, and family-oriented. “It’s even more important to me that I am an example for my family. I strive every day to be the husband and dad my wife and kids look up to, and I think that’s also a good thing to model to my company,” Karr says. He understands that this balance isn’t easy, which is why he strives to exemplify a flexible and reasonable leadership style to his staff.
When sharing his insight, Karr explains that a lot of leadership is learned through trial and error. While there are skill sets that can help people to have a natural ability to lead, practice in real-world situations is always going to prevail over just innate ability.
Karr shares how having a responsibility to a company, while still striving to be the very best father he can be, comes with its sacrifices. “Each day, I am the first one in the office, and I’m the last to leave. But what my team might not see is I am always on dad duty. If my wife or daughter calls me, no matter what meeting I’m in, I pick up the phone. If they ever need me, they know I am there. My goal is that my team sees this in me and it is reflected in their lives with their families, too,” says Karr.
One of the most vital components of leadership is how a leader models a desired behavior or work mindset to those they lead. Karr sets his expectations of his employees through his actions and clear communication by not being afraid to jump into the hands-on work whenever he is needed.
The importance of mindset
Since he founded Bellareed in 2020, Karr has shared how his mindset has evolved. He views challenges and failures as opportunities for growth and improvement, stressing flexibility as they key to continual success. “Just because you’ve achieved something one way doesn’t mean it’s always going to work every time for every person in every situation,” Karr says. “Definitely streamline systems and processes as much as possible, but don’t let that close your mind to innovations that contribute to growth.”
The Bellareed team is passionate about always improving their craft to ensure they remain being the best in their industry. Through Karr’s leadership, they understand that a crucial part of being at one’s best is taking care of oneself. Karr talks about his passion for staying physically healthy through eating nutritionally, exercising often, and training with the company’s on-staff personal trainer. Mental health is also an important factor, which is why Karr made sure Bellareed offered company-paid vacations for his team and their families.
Leadership, at its core, is about trust. It’s about doing for other people what you would want to be done for you. As such, Karr is very big on family values and wants his team to feel like Bellareed supports them and their families. “If a company isn’t showing that they value you, then that company probably isn’t going to last for very long. People want to be valued.”
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Photo provided by the author.
