Member Spotlight · June 2026
Steve Godfrey & LillyBean Baking: A Recipe for Faith and Patience
This month, we are excited to spotlight Steve Godfrey. Steve is married to his wife Jessica, and they have 2 adult kids, Owen and Piper.
Steve spent decades in the world of business. Banking, wealth management, and eventually a consulting firm helping Christian nonprofits grow their fundraising capacity. But as he headed into his fifties, something was stirring. He wanted to build something of his own, right here in Richmond.
So in 2024, he started looking for a business to buy. What followed was a year-long lesson in waiting. Steve spent months evaluating opportunities, watching doors open and close, and learning to hold his plans loosely.
"You see God providing and coming through sometimes even at the last second. You come to recognize that sometimes things can take longer than you think or expect, but God's got you."
That patience paid off in January 2025, when Steve acquired LillyBean Baking. For Steve and his family, this wasn't just a business acquisition, it was also personal. His family has been entirely gluten free for years due to health needs, which means they know firsthand how hard it can be to find food that's both safe and genuinely good. LillyBean makes a line of gluten free, top-9 allergen free baking mixes, and is now in the process of expanding into food service supplying restaurants, hotels, schools, and colleges with better options for those with dietary restrictions.
In a world where a birthday party or a campus dining hall can feel like a minefield for someone with food allergies, LillyBean is quietly solving a real problem.
The path to LillyBean itself felt providential. Steve connected with the founder through a chain of relationships, someone selling a business knew someone else considering selling theirs. What made it even more unusual was what happened after the sale, the founder stayed on. This is unusual in most cases, but the fit was right, and together they've built a strong working partnership.
Steve sees his whole career as preparation for this moment. "I've invested my education and most of my career helping businesses grow," he says. "This is stepping out in faith to put all of that to work for something that genuinely matters to our family." Prayer, journaling, and trusted counsel all pointed him here, toward a business he could steward well and pour himself into with purpose.
You can find a selection of LillyBean products at Publix, Yellow Umbrella, and Ellwood Thompson’s, or visit their website for the full lineup.
Steve has been part of Needle's Eye for nearly 20 years, and what keeps him coming back is the community. He's eager to see Needle's Eye keep growing and equipping people to live out their faith right where they are- in offices, on job sites, and yes, even in bakeries.