Choosing Lansing: Sarah and Jake Pechtel

Both in their early 30's, Jake and Sarah are Michigan natives. Sarah began studying music education at Michigan State University with plans to become a violin teacher, but she quickly realized through hands-on experience that she didn't enjoy teaching in a classroom setting. Sarah's lifelong appreciation for animals became very apparent when trying to decide what to change her major to. "I was lucky because MSU has great music and zoology programs, so I didn't have to transfer to a different university," she says. Throughout her zoology studies, Sarah volunteered as a docent at Lansing's Potter Park Zoo. Animal care jobs can often be hard to come across but after graduating from MSU, Sarah was offered a zookeeper position at Potter Park Zoo. Despite every intention of leaving Michigan, Sarah chose to stay.

A graduate of Haslett High School, Jake went the non-traditional route and studied graphic design at Lansing Community College. With hopes of then attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, he decided that the cost of additional higher education was too much and no longer feasible for him. After graduating with his associate's degree from LCC, he "fell backwards into a pretty glamorous career." Jake stumbled into the world of game design and IT and worked for a consulting company in East Lansing. A few years later, he moved to Winter Park, Florida, to study audio engineering at Full Sail University. Jake returned to Lansing in 2004 and was hired back by the same company that he had worked for before. "We built up a great team there when I got back, and did a bit of everything; production, marketing, business development," he recalls. It was at the height of his career there that he left and started working for mobile world game companies on the west coast, but stayed in Lansing because of the affordability. Though shortly after this transition, the effects of the recession were hitting Jake's industry hard and the only realistic way to stay in it was to move out west. Jake and Sarah, who had only been dating a few months, had to decide whether or not to move to the west coast where Sarah may never be able to find a job doing what she loves. "I knew that my career would more or less always be transient, but not Sarah's," explains Jake. So once again – this time as a couple – they picked Michigan.

Zoo Duo

In early 2009, Jake offered to help Potter Park Zoo with some graphic design work while considering the next steps of his career. The some ten hours a week at the zoo quickly became full-time, though, as he saw more ways his marketing background could contribute to improving the zoo. In tough financial times when the mindset of the area was largely to shut things down, Jake saw an opportunity to help turn something around. For more than two years now, Jake has been working hard at doing just that. "We are lucky enough to have day jobs that impact the community," Jake and Sarah agree.

For the Pechtels, the decision to stay in the Lansing area came with a commitment to becoming more involved in the community. Sarah continues to express her love for music as part of the Mason Symphony, in which she plays the violin and acts as fundraising chair. "The arts community here tends to stick together, and we see a lot of collaboration which is great," she says. She also volunteers one week a year in northern Michigan helping to hand-raise piping plover birds, which are Great Lakes natives. Next on her list is to volunteer with the Capital Area Literacy Coalition. "I love reading and would love to be able to share that passion with others," Sarah explains.

Jake increased his community involvement about a year and a half ago when exploring local happenings through social media. "Once you get plugged in here, there's an opportunity to kind of do anything you want." He cites the Capital City Film Festival as something he's most proud of having been involved with. "There are a lot of challenges in this area to doing something like the film festival, so it was pretty incredible that we pulled it off," says Jake. "Lansing doesn't have a big theatre downtown like most cities, so we incorporated different venues and adapted areas to look and sound amazing."

Lansing as a Community

Looking forward, the Pechtels are eager to continue changing and shaping the cultural landscape of Greater Lansing. They stress that we, as a community, can do more here and need to explore different ways of connecting with new people in the area. "We create silos when we only surround ourselves with like-minded folks." Jake often jokes about getting the widely acclaimed Black Keys to perform at next year's Capital City Film Festival, but says that it's a metaphor for what we can and can't do in Lansing from an arts and culture perspective. "We are a progressive city; let's not do things simply because other cities are doing them. Let's do things that are so refreshing that maybe people will catch on and spur the 'changing of the guard' in what entertainment means in the area." Sarah adds that once we connect with one another, it's important to continuously expand each others' horizons.

"A really good DJ knows how to play what people like while introducing new music, concepts, and ideas," explains Jake. "Let's translate that into how we approach the future of Lansing."

Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.

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Photos:

Jake and Sarah Pechtel at the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing

Photos © Dave Trumpie