Exploring Life & Business with Erik Steffen of Lily Setter LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Steffen.

Hi Erik, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstories.
“1,2,3, Not it!” – Who wants to roll up a 6ft wide, 20ft long foam pad that weighs 40lbs soaking wet?

Living in Lee’s Summit, I am fortunate to enjoy the benefits of lake living! With two kids and a lot of time out on the water, we frequently experienced the doom of rolling up your foam water matter after a long hot day. If you still need to roll one of these up, it is more challenging than you think, and the last thing you want to do to close out a lake day. I’ve always loved building and creating, and in 2016, I began creating the solution to the foam water mat challenge, and Lily Setter was born!

Working nights and weekends, I learned to weld aluminum, 3D Cad, and various modern manufacturing equipment, including CNC machines. Each one was no easy task, but I knew there were people like me who wanted to make it easier to make memories for their kiddos, family, and friends. Plain and simple – “Less Work, More Fun.”

When people ask why it took so long to make, I tell them there is no sense in bringing a product to market that only solves part or some of the problems. Our Lily Setters do it all – deploy it to the water, unroll it, roll it back up, strap it and store it for you. Doing that is more severe engineering than one would think and where many others have failed.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Now in year 5, we are on version 7, or maybe even version 8! All our products are made by hand here at Lee’s Summit with a focus on attention to detail. Every Lily Setter product has come with a true labor of love and belief that we can make lake life less work and more fun. Very late nights electrical wiring components, learning new systems/processes, and missed time with the family is always a challenge for an entrepreneur. Ultimately, it was worth it, and we have something beautiful people are raving about and something to be proud of.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Lily Setter LLC?
Our mission is simple, make lake life better! Anyone that has used a floating water mat or “Lily Pad” knows that while they make a day on the lake or the boat special, they can be a major pain in the booty to handle, roll up, store, and deploy. Because of these struggles, sometimes, these mats need to be used. When this happens, family and friends simply miss out.

The products we design and manufacture here in the Midwest make it effortless to deploy, store and strap your foam water mat; when the kids say, “let’s get out the water mat, “it no longer requires dad or mom to break a sweat or lift a finger. We offer a manual crank version along with a remote-operated motorized version. We continue developing products around lake life and have exciting things coming for 2023! Most recently, we launched a conversion kit that allows our customers to convert a water foam mat into a towable or “tube” like experience. Nothing brings us greater joy than getting emails and social media videos sent to us of kids smiling, laughing, and having a great time on the lake with our products.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The tragedy of Covid-19 is almost unfathomable, but It was very positive for the marine industry. People had few options to travel, and those lucky enough to find refuge at a lake did and often did. It also brought new families to the lake; anytime someone falls in love with the water, it is amazing. During the early Covid days, we were able to work with local suppliers, machine shops, and engineers that wouldn’t usually have given us the time of day. It was an excellent opportunity for both of us to benefit – we supported local talent, and they helped us grow leaps and bounds in our technology and customer base.

Contact Info:

• Website: lilysetter.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lily.setter/