Life team

Life team

The Klars make their family company

work by keeping their egos in check.

Husband and wife Roberta and Steve Klar used to compete as architects for different design firms in the Tampa Bay area.

When they were downsized, Roberta Klar opened her own architecture firm in 1992 in Clearwater. She never planned on her husband joining her business. But that happened a year later.

The Klars, who met in college in Minnesota in the 1980s, have been able to manage their firm like other business partners do: by being flexible in handling various clients, respecting their different management styles, keeping work discussions at work and most of all, by controlling their egos.

While Roberta, 47, is more of a hands-on manager, Steve, 50, likes giving people responsibility and expecting them to run with a job. They manage clients independently and make decisions for the good of the eight-member firm, which includes some of their former students at St. Petersburg College, where they taught as adjunct faculty.

"Like everything in life, a lot of people make decisions based on their ego," Steve Klar says. "We have ours in check. If you grow up being polite, with good manners and honest, it still applies to the business world."

Roberta is technically the firm's president, and handles daily operations, but she called the title, "insignificant."

"In our world, it's a 50-50 deal," she says. "We both are principals."

Being married is an asset for them at work, Roberta Klar says. "I think for me, it's much better because Steve and I are good communicators," she says. "We get to the point quickly. We don't tiptoe around things. We are not super-sensitive people."

But it wasn't always this smooth.

"I think you develop it over the years," Roberta says. "I have to wear a lot of hats. I can't say I was that way in the beginning."

Like other architecture firms, the past year has been more challenging because of the soft economy. Klar has had to transition into more commercial work. More than a quarter of its business was designing custom homes. That began to slow in August 2006. It eventually laid off two staffers.

It has also had to adjust on the commercial side. Casinos in Atlantic City, such as Bally's, hired Klar to do the creative, theme work, designing the facades and insides of casinos. For Bally's Atlantic City, it created an old Main Street-style design with two-story business fronts.

When the casino work slowed down, it shifted into other work, including custom office buildings, fire stations and site work for school buildings.

Klar focuses on artistic, creative work for private clients, instead of production-line designs for chains. It gets almost all of its business from referrals. While these jobs encourage creativity, they don't always create an instant stream of work.

"Like Groundhog Day, we finish one job and it's like starting over again for us," Steve Klar says.

One way Klar and Klar differentiates itself is that unlike other architecture firms, it does not specialize. That way, if a field of work dries up, it has other projects and possibilities in other industries.

Looking ahead, with a weaker economy, the Klars see themselves most likely doing more public work to keep revenues growing. They have done designs for courthouses, jails and senior centers, among other public work.

The main way the firm differentiates itself is the hands-on work of the principals. They are motivated to work with clients themselves. They are also driven to have a balanced life. Both are avid bicyclists. Roberta does triathlons. They live 10 minutes from work.

"We absolutely love what we do," Roberta Klar says. "At home at night, we talk about work stuff for half an hour, then it goes away."

- Dave Szymanski