Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Stampick.
Hi Aaron, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’ve always been a creative and inventive person, with a strong sense of engineering principles. My parents have shared many memories over the years of the things I used to do as a little kid that showed a strong propensity toward an inventive and creative mind. My love of invention and creativity has only gotten stronger with time.
I was born and raised in northern Utah, and like many other Utahns, that included countless hours spent in the outdoors. I grew up camping, backpacking, hunting, fishing, shooting, mountain biking, and snowboarding. Fast forward many years to when my love of the outdoors merged with my love of invention and creativity. My brother and I had recently taken up an interest in waterfowl hunting, and in our seemingly unending quest to improve our mode of transportation in the marsh, we bought our first mud motor. For those that have never heard of a mud motor, it’s an outboard boat motor that is intended for use in shallow, muddy, and weedy waterways. Our very first outing with our brand-new mud motor was mixed with excitement and disappointment.
It was MUCH faster and more powerful than the electric trolling motor we had used the previous season. However, it routinely got stuck in shallow water the trolling motor had no issues moving us through. We had watched countless YouTube videos of other mud motors driving through the nastiest conditions, seemingly without issue. Why were we having so much trouble getting stuck? That was the million-dollar question. I remember thinking to myself, and may have even said out loud, “I can fix this”. That was the beginning of the journey to Roost Marine.
Over the course of the next several years, I spent countless hours testing different theories and ultimately determined that the propeller was the issue. Mud motors use a specific propeller that is designed to dig in the mud for propulsion when the water is too shallow. This concept works great….when there’s deep mud to dig in. Anyone who has hunted on the Great Salt Lake, or in any of its surrounding marshes, knows that we don’t have deep mud. In many cases, there’s no mud at all. It’s hard-packed sediment. Not only is it impossible to dig in the mud with the propeller in these conditions, but it destroys propellers in minutes (I’m not exaggerating here).
I knew we needed a propeller that could get and keep a boat on plane in shallow water without having to dig in the mud. We bought different props and even had a prop custom-built by a well-known prop shop. None of them could do what we wanted. As college students at the time, neither one of us could afford to buy a new prop every month to make it through the waterfowl season. We needed something that would last.
With the same “I can fix this” attitude, I spent countless hours cutting, grinding, bending, and forming old props we had laying around. I would spend hours on the water with my brother or by myself testing the various designs I had come up with. The initial design I came up with was much faster, pushed a load much better, and had much better shallow water capability, but it wore out fast. A short time later, I came up with a completely new design unlike anything out there. It pushed a load well, had even more speed, had incredible shallow water capability, and lasted a very very long time. I still have one of the prototypes that have 5 waterfowl seasons on it and it’s still in good condition.
Several years after I had created this breakthrough design, I felt like I had enough run data and so I started Roost Marine LLC. The propeller we sell today is the same design and is now patent-pending. It offers game-changing performance for surface-drive mud motors. There simply isn’t another propeller that can do what it can. Propellers are our main product, but we haven’t stopped there. We also make an improved throttle lever which gives the user improved control of the steering and throttle. The spirit of Roost Marine is one of invention, creativity, and continuous improvement. It’s what fuels me and drives me forward. It’s what got me to this point. Excellence in design, manufacturing, quality, customer support, and innovation are the things I strive for as the owner of Roost Marine.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t been smooth. As anyone who has started a business will tell you, there are always obstacles and challenges. That’s just how running a business is. To a certain extent, that’s what makes it exciting.
I started forming Roost Marine right before COVID hit. I was stuck in the middle of all of the supply chain issues and lockdowns. This caused a major disruption to my business just like every other business across the US. It’s made it extremely hard to grow the business.
Another challenge, perhaps the largest challenge, has been finding vendors that align with my values and business model. It’s disappointing how few companies strive for excellence and accept nothing less. I’ve learned there are far too many companies out there that are ok with “good enough”, and a surprising number that have an “eh, who cares” attitude. I will have nothing to do with those companies. I strive for excellence and have built Roost Marine on that same value. I despise mediocrity. By the grace of God, I have found a couple of great vendors. One, in particular, has been amazing to work with and we have formed a great relationship.
The challenges are really hard, but God is good and has used them to lead me to form excellent relationships with the right folks and build my character.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Roost Marine is a company that designs, builds, and sells performance-enhancing parts and accessories for the mud motor and waterfowling market. We operate with a direct-to-consumer business model. You can order our products on the website or over the phone.
We are most well known for our patent-pending mud propeller known as the Roost. It offers high performance in shallow water that has never before been achieved. It also retains the “like-new” performance much longer than the next closest propeller. We currently offer it with an MB HEX hub that is compatible with Mud Buddy brand motors and a GT HEX hub that is compatible with both GTR and GTR-XD Gatortail brand motors.
What sets us apart:
-Honesty: We tell the truth even when it’s difficult and avoid things that may be misleading.
-Innovation: We don’t rest on our laurels. We are always creating and innovating.
-Quality: Every propeller is hand-inspected, machined, and balanced to our strict standards before being shipped to a customer. We utilize a proprietary balancing process that includes both static and dynamic balancing. This makes for an extremely smooth-running propeller.
-Customer Care: We truly stand behind our products and take the time to help customers with technical questions.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
The best part about Ogden is its relatively close location to all of the outdoor things that I love to do. There’s no question that Ogden’s location has allowed me to do a wide variety of outdoor activities. It’s also hard to beat the view of the Wasatch Front. I never get tired of that.
The worst part about Ogden is the population growth and the pollution that has come with it. The massive increase in traffic has made it much more difficult and time-consuming to get from one place to another. The air quality in the winter and now even in the summer has gotten really bad. You can regularly see the haze over the city. It regularly obscures the view of the Wasatch Front.
Contact Info:
- Website: RoostMarine.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083606641080&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@roostmarinellc4206
