Monday, September 29, 2014

YP Guest Blogger: Daniel Baker

Greetings, YPs! It's been a while since there's been a post here lately, and I apologize for that. The main reason is simply that I've not been in TC much the past month, so I've not had the opportunity to share with y'all the greatness of this area. As autumn rapidly approaches, though, you can bet that I'll be sharing some of my favorite season with you all! Today, though, I want to share a guest blog post from Daniel Baker. Daniel and his fiancée, Kelsey, recently moved to the area. Read on to see what brought them to this beautiful place!



“We need to live here!”…are the words I said to my then girlfriend Kelsey as we drove past the scenic lookout by Chateau Grand Traverse in 2010. My name is Daniel Baker and I am a very proud and happy new resident of Traverse City! My now fiancée Kelsey and I relocated to TC in June of this year. We have been spending the majority of our summer weekends up here for the past 10 years as her parents have a cottage on Old Mission Peninsula and I have family in the area. It didn't take long for us to realize that this is the place we want to be long-term.

I was born in Traverse City but moved at a young age and grew up in Mount Pleasant. I most recently lived and worked in Grand Rapids where I moved from. I attended Alma College where I played football and earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration in 2010. I am currently in the process of attaining my MBA in Finance from Walsh College out of Troy, MI. 

From Alma College I went to work in the Detroit market in several business-to-business account executive roles in both payroll administration and payment processing. My involvement in the financial services industrial allowed me to transition into a banking role in Grand Rapids where I was a Personal Banker, and Customer Service Manager in the Cascade market. Currently I work as a Cash Management Officer and Assistant Vice President for First Community Bank in downtown Traverse City. 





While it was our goal to plant our roots in Traverse City as soon as we could, I was fortunate enough to be offered a dream job opportunity with a great family owned bank doing what I love. Kelsey is enjoying her new job as a Human Resources Assistant for Team Elmer’s and we are settling in and trying to enjoy as much of the summer and fall that Michigan will give us. 

I am a very active person who loves the outdoors snowshoeing, ice fishing, hunting, hiking, kayaking etc. and just spending time with family and friends. I am an avid bow hunter and Kelsey is an avid shopper. When we aren't hunting or shopping, respectively, we really just enjoy seeing as much of Traverse City as possible and trying all the great places there are to eat; Blue Tractor, Harrington’s, and North Peak top the list so far. We also have an extremely large and innocently friendly yellow lab named Cooper who we like to keep as active as possible hunting, walking, and now his favorite, SWIMMING! 




Kelsey and I both look so forward to planting ourselves here and being active members of this community. Kelsey is helping coach Basketball at TC Central, and I am volunteering at the State Theatre, a member of the Young Professionals, and look to get involved in coaching local athletics in the near future. I am extremely excited to contribute to the overall well being of Northern Michigan and to soak up all of the beautiful scenery, wine, water sports, and outdoor activities it offers.