Interview Series: Lex Mason on Succeeding Your Father, Building a Culture, and the Future of Irrigation

Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH - August 5-6, 2026 and More Dates!) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #175: In this episode, Marty Grunder sits down with Lex Mason, the new CEO of Weathermatic, for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about what it actually takes to succeed your father, build a company culture people want to join, and reinvent the irrigation business. Lex opens up about growing up testing sprinklers in a hot Dallas warehouse, dropping out of college for two months to help save the family business, being sent to Houston with an expense card and a quota, and eventually taking over from his father Mike. Along the way, he shares practical wisdom on succession, mentorship, sales, and why the irrigation division might be the last untapped profit center in your landscape company. Resources Mentioned: Weathermatic SmartLink by Weathermatic BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Succession Actually Starts Day One: Lex's dad read him the Wall Street Journal at Starbucks as a baby. The "dinner table MBA" started at 11. Whether you are preparing your kids to succeed you at your company or somewhere else, you are always preparing them to succeed you at something. Bring the Next Leader In Early, With No Voice at First: Mike put Lex in the leadership meetings early, but not as a decision-maker. He had to earn a seat at the table by first earning ears at the table. Then gradually, "What do you think about that?" started getting asked. Give the Dog Enough Rope to Get in Trouble: Mike sent Lex to Houston with an expense card, a quota, and a $2 million product sitting on a shelf. That test built the Partner Program that now has 400+ clients. If you cannot let the leash out, you will never know how they handle no leash. How You Talk About Your Kids in Public Matters: Founders who flippantly say "That's not Johnny's thing" or "He's really struggling with that" destroy their kid's brand equity with the team. If you want the org to accept your successor in five years, start building them up positively today. Fill What You Are Best At, Not What They Were Best At: Mike is the guy who runs through walls once a year. Lex's job is to figure out how to do that 52 times a year at scale. The successor's job is not to be a copy of the founder. It is to bring the next chapter. Have a Strong Leadership Team So It Is Not Just You vs. the Founder: When Mike and Lex disagree, the leadership team steps in. Ben on sales, Bill on technology, Brodie on customer success. That takes the pressure off the family dynamic.... Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:57) - Meet Lex Mason(00:03:30) - Growing Up in the Test Center(00:04:33) - Choosing the Family Business(00:09:14) - Earning It Beyond the Last Name(00:12:03) - Working With Dad as Chairman(00:15:20) - The Hardest Part of Succession(00:17:43) - Mike Mason's Origin Story(00:21:25) - What Mike Did Right in Succession(00:24:11) - How Founders Destroy Succession(00:27:12) - When Succession Really Starts(00:28:53) - Giving Enough Rope(00:30:52) - Sent to Houston to Figure It Out(00:32:36) - The Vince Torchia Parallel(00:35:25) - What Lex Would Thank Dad For(00:36:44) - Perseverance Stories From Sports(00:38:27) - Bringing EOS to WeatherMatic(00:40:32) - Remembering Brodie Bruner(00:44:14) - Irrigation Is a Profit Center(00:46:41) - Inside the SmartLink System(00:49:51) - H