Newington Couple Invents Useful Outdoor Product

NEWINGTON, CT — Whether it’s kayaking in the summertime on the Connecticut River, biking some trails in the woods, or snowboarding in Vermont, Zach and Alyssa Brown thrive on being outdoors.

The adventurous Newington couple travels around the country and beyond trying different mountains to ski down or new places to explore, but there was one thing that was always frustrating for Brown’s wife: reaching the rack on the top of the car to get the equipment down. Because of her height, Alyssa Brown often struggled to use the top car racks. Sometimes, depending on what car they took, Zach Brown had a tough time too.

“Sometimes I found myself taking way more time unloading and loading my bike or snowboarding gear from the top of the truck when I could just be out enjoying nature,” said Alyssa Brown.

A few years ago, Zach Brown decided he had enough and there had to be some way to fix it. After doing some research, he couldn’t find anything on the market to help him. So, he went to the drawing board to find his solution: he created Moki Doorstep.

The product is a U-shaped step, made of aircraft grade aluminum that latches on to your vehicle’s door to give you the extra boost needed to reach the top of your car. It’s lightweight, latches on in seconds, and holds up to 300 pounds. It can even be used when washing your car or clearing snow off the roof.

Zach Brown, who is from Santa Barbara, CA, helped name the company with his uncle Rodney Lewis. The two came up with name"moki" because moki steps are carved foot holes in the sandstone by the Ancient Pueblo Indians who used them to access hard-to-reach areas of the American southwest.

Moki Doorstep recently launched and a Kickstarter began January 8. In just 18 hours it was 200 percent funded with more than 93 supporters, even from Canada.

“It’s amazing to have so much support so soon,” said Zach Brown. “We gave it a month to reach the goal and we met it within a few hours. I have people messaging me on Facebook and through Kickstarter asking about the product and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Written by Farrah Duffany
Photos courtesy of Moki Doorstep