A career in parks and recreation wasn't on Sarah Veile's radar seven years ago, but now she wouldn't change her job for the world.
Coming up on her one-year anniversary as assistant executive director at the Missouri Park and Recreation Association, Veile oversees training opportunities that cover topics like marketing, sports, management, aquatics, programming, health and wellness, and park resources. She also helps organize conferences for the association's more than 2,000 members.
With a degree in communications and marketing, Veile worked in marketing at the Jefferson City News Tribune and Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau for nearly a decade combined before stumbling upon a marketing and membership coordinator position about five years ago.
At the time, she did not know there was a parks and recreation degree or a statewide association for parks and recreation.
"When I stumbled across this job, I thought, 'Oh, marketing for an association. That sounds fun. I think I would really like that industry,'" Veile recalled. "Then the more and more I learned about parks and rec, I thought, 'This is awesome.' I love what they do, but I had no idea."
Now she is a certified parks and recreation professional and has a greater understanding and appreciation for the parks and recreation world.
While the environmental aspect and membership interactions were large draws for Veile, she said, working with passionate parks and recreation officials makes her job even more delightful.
"There's a lot of industries out there probably where people work in it without the passion, but in parks and rec there's a lot of passion within the industry for what they do," she said.
Veile is constantly on the go, traveling to the largest cities in Missouri and the small, hidden towns. Knowing and understanding various communities' problems is key to successfully creating solutions and connecting communities with each other, Veile said.
"In the parks and rec world, nobody is too proud to not share their ideas, so everybody is more than willing to share their ideas of how they successfully run day camps or how they successfully run ball leagues," Veile said. "Right now our members are dealing with a lot of lifeguard issues - people are having trouble finding lifeguards around the state for summer employment. So if somebody has figured out the secret to how to get lifeguards to apply, we share that information with others."
Maintaining that level of service can be challenging, Veile admitted, especially with more than 2,000 members. The association tries not to overlook any of its 110 cities, counties and municipalities, she said.
"Some members join and instantly start calling us all the time - 'What's this class? How does this work? Why would I do this? Why did I get invited to this?'" she said. "Then there's others that join that really wait for us to make all of that contact with them, for us to reach out to them and say, 'Hey, I saw you joined. I think you would be interested in this, this and this.'"
Veile's passion to help others also drove her 11 years ago to the Zonta Club of Jefferson City. Zonta International is a nonprofit organization that fights for women's equality while providing various services to communities in dozens of countries.
"What they are doing internationally to promote women's rights is unbelievable," she said. "It's inspiring when you think about being part of that on a local level."
The Zonta Club of Jefferson City raises funds through local fundraisers and donates the money to Zonta International's causes.
However, the Zonta Club of Jefferson City also provides services in Jefferson City, like offering Second Chance Scholarships to women who want to pursue higher education after high school in order to advance their "status in the workplace," according to the club's website.
Veile just began her two-year stint as president of the club and said her goal is to "continue to uphold the name" Zonta Club of Jefferson City members have built up over the last 70-plus years.
"I think there's a little bit of prestige that comes along with (the Zonta Club of Jefferson City) and being a member and being involved in the community," she said. "I really just want to uphold that and keep everybody on task, and if we can come up with a better way to do something along the way, that's just icing on the cake."
Veile is also involved with the alumni council at Westminster College in Fulton and previously worked on the planning committee for Salute to America.
When Veile is not working at the Missouri Parks and Recreation Association or helping the community through volunteer work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Adam, and two daughters, Lucy and Zoey.