Not Your Average Politician: A Look at Jessy Gregg



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She is an artist.

She is a mother.

When Aaron Stephens served as mayor of East Lansing in July 2020, he asked Gregg to be his mayor Pro Tem. A job she accepted as long as Stephens promised her he wouldn’t quit. So when Stephens stepped down almost exactly a year after taking office, Gregg said she was stressed out as she was pushed into the role of mayor.

She owns two businesses: Seam’s Fabric, a tailoring store in downtown East Lansing, and Warrior Goddess Training Academy, an online fitness community.

Gregg said she enjoys serving and inspiring audiences. His work as mayor and member of the municipal council requires a lot of attention and energy. With borderline obnoxious emails and other miscellaneous responsibilities, city council is the problem child of the rest of its current roles, she said.

In order to understand how Gregg ended up in local government in the small town of East Lansing, and what makes her your not-so-average politician, it’s best to go through her steps in chronological order.

Life before politics

In 2000, Gregg graduated from Hamline University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. At the same time, she was working in a costume shop as a work study – where her love of tailoring was born.

She worked as a professional artist, selling her wall art style quilts at various street fairs. While she enjoyed pursuing her interests as an artist, once becoming a mother, Gregg was unable to continue following both her children and her life in the art studio. She had to make a choice.

“I was a bit lost,” said Gregg. “Motherhood is a very emotional experience, just accepting that I have to think differently and have different priorities.”

After the birth of her third child, Gregg felt she needed to take charge of her health, as having three little humans who depended on her and strapped to her hip proved to be a daunting task.

“I had to follow them and stay healthy to be a part of their life as long as possible,” she said.

Her fitness history before having children was nonexistent, so when she first started running she found it to be a difficult but liberating experience. She quickly decided to sign up for a marathon and spontaneously created a Facebook group called on Warrior Goddess Training Academy to help people find pace partners so they weren’t alone on the races.

“I am me, so I gave him a super tough name, which got a lot of attention,” said Gregg.

With “inspirational” quotes such as “Sweat is your fat that weeps,” Gregg found the fitness community to be a toxic environment, especially for women.

“You shouldn’t feel pressured to exercise out of some sort of sense of duty,” said Gregg. “You should feel inspired to exercise because you love your body and want to take care of yourself.”

According to its LinkedIn, the group is still active.

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Introduction to politics

Gregg took her passion to help others with her in politics.

After former President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, Gregg said she felt devastated.

“I really felt like things had at least drifted in an acceptable direction,” she said.

Gregg said she felt like she understood how government and politics work – so Trump’s victory blinded her. As a result, she embarked on political organization in a way she had never done before. Her inspiration, passion and “cheerleader” personality allowed her to be an organizer within her circle while continuing to learn about the political process.

Gregg said she decided the easiest way for her to get involved would be to get involved locally. Gregg signed up for E-boards and served on the England County Parks and Recreation Council for a few years. She later joined the East Lansing Arts Commission and attended city council meetings, which she also reported for East Lansing Info.

Similar to how she decided to run a marathon shortly after participating, Gregg said she was pressured to run for city council to succeed former council member Shanna Draheim.

“(Draheim) and Senator Sam Singh pushed me out the door and became my organizing team for my campaign, so here I am,” said Gregg.

Despite the fact that Gregg’s store, Seam’s Fabric, only opened six months before the election, getting the green light to run for the board was an opportunity for Gregg to attack and make the most of.

On November 5, 2019, Gregg received the most votes of the six candidates, securing a spot on City Council.

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Push towards leadership

In March 2020, just four months after Gregg was elected to city council, a charge of excessive police force was laid in the community. Two months after the charges surfaced, the murder of George Floyd has drawn more attention to nationwide protests over police procedure and inequality.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic had just swept the nation – an issue the council, as well as the world, is still working on.

As if police reform and a pandemic weren’t enough to tackle both, on July 14, 2020 then-mayor Ruth Beier and council member Mark Meadows resigned in the middle of the meeting, putting Gregg and Stephens, 23, in the hot seat. Stephens took over as mayor, and Gregg as pro tem.

Gregg said this period was “the most stressful three months of my life.”

Just when things seemed to be picking up, Stephens dropped the bombshell on Gregg that he would go to Harvard to pursue his masters degree and that Gregg should become mayor until the next election. Even though she loses her mayoral bid, Gregg still has two years to serve on city council.

Gregg said she was proud of herself and her board as they strayed from the typical board image. Being an unusual group of public servants during this unusual time received positive feedback from the community.

Gregg’s skin thickens as she becomes more and more comfortable trusting herself when making decisions.

“You can do whatever you want, but do it sincerely and with truth and service in your heart, and you’ll be fine,” Gregg said.

“Take care of yourself and really understand that you can’t go on if you’re not feeling good and do what you need to do to stay physically and mentally healthy,” said Gregg. “Just look at yourself in the mirror, be honest with yourself, tell yourself that you are doing it for the right reasons. Trust your own judgment, and as long as you are true to yourself, then you will. . the right thing. “

This article is part of our printed September 14 issue. View the full issue here.

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