Kyle Weatherly
President
Solaris
6737 W. Washington St., Suite 3260, West Allis
Industry: Health care; durable medical equipment
Employees: 52
Most college kids expect their bedrooms at home to stay the same while they are away. At 19, Kyle Weatherly came home from college to find his bedroom overrun by a business. Just over ten years later, the start-up launched in his bedroom has become an international company.
Weatherly is the president of Solaris, a producer of medical garments for lymphedema, venous and wound care management and treatment. The West Allis based company has 52 employees and distribution centers in seven countries.
Since 2008, the company has experienced an annual growth rate of 20 percent.
While Weatherly was in college, his mother, Kathy, was an occupational therapist when she began using her son’s bedroom to sew the medical garments for her lymphedema patients.
The chronic swelling condition, known as elephantitis in extreme cases, is incurable but can be managed with therapy and compression. At the time, Weatherly’s mother felt the compression garments were inadequate and sought to fix the problem.
For four years, Kathy manufactured, sold and shipped the garments out of their Brookfield home with the help of a small staff.
While his mom ran the business, the University of Wisconsin-Madison student earned his degree in nonprofit management and began working for Habitat for Humanity. But when his mom wanted to go on the road to help expand the business, Weatherly returned home and started to run the company’s day-to-day operations.
