Whether picking up groceries or dropping off library books — Lakewood is full of residents who love to walk the vibrant city’s streets. The next time you’re out and about, peer at the faces of those around you and say hello with a smile. One person just might be the owner of your favorite bakery or the director of the YMCA — but they’re all your neighbors.
Steve Meka, Owner, STEM Handmade Soap
As the director of sales operations for American Greetings’ retail stores in the U.S. and Canada for 30 years, Steve Meka didn’t use much of his degree in biochemistry. In fact, he didn’t use it all. That is, until he decided he was going to teach himself how to make soap as a hobby.
He toiled over the formula, making a new batch of all-natural soap every month and inviting a focus group of 15 people to weigh in on whether it dried or moisturized their skin, lathered nicely and smelled appealing.
“After a year and a half, I thought I had the recipe for the perfect bar of soap, and I was done,” he explains. “I had scratched that side of my brain.”
When members of the focus group began requesting additional bars to send out as gifts, Meka obliged. But when those friends asked for more, the popularity began to germinate into an idea for a side hustle. Meka and his husband, Dave Willett, began cranking out STEM Handmade Soap in their basement and set up a website for sales.
But when the public asked for all-natural lotion, production reached a fever pitch.
“The response from the community was so tremendous in wanting more handmade natural products, so we added more to our product line,” Meka explains. “And five years in, we both quit our corporate jobs to make soap and all-natural skincare full time.”
From a 1,600-square-foot production facility with a 300-square-foot retail space on Madison Avenue to a storefront in Shaker Heights, the operation is expanding once again, this time taking up residence in a space in the Screw Factory that will more than double production capabilities. And when you’re already producing more than 60,000 bars of soap a year, the secret to success lies in more than the formula for the soap.
“Small Business Saturday is our largest retail day of the year, because everyone in Lakewood says, ‘I’m going to go support my favorite businesses today,’ whether they need a new bar of soap or not,” Meka notes. “And that’s why we keep our business in Lakewood, because it’s the community that matters. We like to give back to the community, and the community certainly gives back to us.”
Operating on the belief of “care of self, care of community and care of planet,” the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce member tries to check all the boxes of the company’s mantra by donating more than 2,000 pounds of soap scraps annually to those in need of hygiene products.
Meka adds he and Willett also mentor other small businesses to help them realize their dreams of making their basement hobby a reality with a brick-and-mortar storefront. He adds that there’s no other place he, Willett and their Bassett Hound, Pearl, would feel more at home.
“Everyone’s your neighbor in Lakewood, and I say that from the customers who walk into our store to the people I meet walking our dog in the evening,” he asserts. “It’s just a unique community where everyone’s your friend.”
Despina Sarantopoulou, Owner, Despina’s Bakery
Don’t be fooled by the name. Despina’s Bakery sells more than cookies and cakes and sweet-tooth comforts.
Since March 2022, Despina Sarantopoulou has been churning out homemade soups and salads along with authentic Greek dishes such as keftedes, kourabiedes, and zucchini balls from her Detroit Road location.
“I like to share my culture and food with other people,” Sarantopoulou admits. “I’ve always loved to cook. And for me, it’s not like work. I just love to create stuff that’s fantastic.”
Sarantopoulou’s first taste of Lakewood came when she immigrated from Greece to the United States at 19 years old. After she met and eventually married her husband, Athan Sarantopoulou, she moved to Cleveland to raise three daughters, Kyriaki, Mahi and Iliana.
While her husband taught math in Cleveland Public Schools, Sarantopoulou took to volunteering around town. As a member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Cleveland, Sarantopoulou notes there was no shortage on indulging her culinary talents.
“We do a lot of cooking there for our festival and a lot of different events, and I was very involved with the school, volunteering for different events,” she explains. “I love to cook and bake, so I thought I would open the bakery.”
Although she acquired her storefront in 2020, renovations and COVID temporarily put her plans on hold, she says. Still, she prepared the bakery and coffee shop (sourced by Rising Star Coffee Roasters), adding her own touches that would give it the authenticity locals would appreciate and visitors would embrace.
Among her most popular dishes, she says, are her quiches, which she makes daily, with a roasted red pepper, red onion and feta variety rising to the top as a fan favorite. She has also put her own spin on baklava by creating baklava cheesecake — an indulgent treat she highly recommends.
As for what prompted her to return to the city to set up shop nearly five years ago, Sarantopoulou says it’s simple: “[I like] the vibrant nature of Lakewood’s culture.”
On March 7, Despina’s Bakery celebrated its third anniversary — a milestone Sarantopoulou commemorated with the ribbon-cutting she was unable to have during the pandemic. It was the same date as her original store opening.
When Sarantopoulou is not elbow-deep in flour, she is volunteering her time with LakewoodAlive, a local nonprofit that works to maintain a vibrant housing stock for the city. She joined the organization during COVID when she was still catering exclusively and serves as a member of the Small Business Support Committee. She also frequently donates treats and meals to events hosted by the organization, which rewarded her as a 2024 Community Leader Award winner.
She says her dedication to LakewoodAlive, which she refers to as a big family, is her way of giving back to the city that has given her so much.
“The organization helped me a lot when I started,” she explains. “I want to help other small businesses as much as they helped me.”
Jim “JP” Ptacek, Owner, Larsen Architects
For Jim “JP” Ptacek, the road to a profession was split between a cartoonist and an engineer. The owner and principal of Larsen Architects believes he struck a happy medium.
“[Architecture] kind of married both,” he explains.
The University of Detroit Mercy graduate notes that he can’t say for sure, but he believes his 30-plus-year career with the firm where he began as an intern could be credited to a short stint working at Parma Pierogies, where owner Mary Poldruhi took him under her wing; her pink flamingo wing, that is.
The Old Brooklyn native explains it was there that he was introduced to Larsen Architects on the original set of blueprints for the Ridge Road location of Parma Pierogies — the blueprints that Poldruhi rolled out in her office to show him.
“She said, ‘You should go talk to Jim [Larsen]. Maybe he’ll give you a job,’” Ptacek explains.
But before he was able to take her advice, he took to Ridge Road as the restaurant’s pink flamingo mascot that flitted about and beckoned to passing cars to stop in and try the world-famous pierogies.
“I’m not proud or embarrassed,” he admits.
That single exchange between boss and employee delivered Ptacek to a career with the architecture firm.
“I’m just profoundly grateful for starting out in a profession that I get to help people and use my skills and talents, and be able to problem solve for people,” he says, “whether it’s a commercial building, a residential building or a municipal project.”
Ptacek adds Larsen was and continues to be an inspirational figure for him, and he hopes to continue the atmosphere and camaraderie in the office that he acquired from his mentor.
“He kind of structured the office like, ‘We’re all in this together, and we’re all going to work together and well with our individual strengths, and we’re going to do amazing things,’” he explains.
Realizing he had found his professional home, Ptacek moved from the Tremont area to Lakewood with his wife and daughter in 2006 and began chipping away at building projects that help to create community.
But creating community is not only reserved for working hours. As a volunteer for LakewoodAlive, Ptacek is dedicated to helping others create welcome neighborhoods that encourage residents to invest in maintaining the homes in Lakewood. He was recently awarded the Founders Award, which is “reserved for an individual who exemplifies the vision of LakewoodAlive’s founding members,” according to the organization. He previously served on the board of directors and is currently on the Housing Outreach Committee.
As for what makes Lakewood special to him, Ptacek says it’s the intricate details that the city takes seriously in creating a community that’s truly walkable and ensuring homes maintain their value. From repairing sidewalks to scrutinizing properties for violations, Ptacek appreciates the time the city invests in its people.
“As the housing stock goes up, so does the community,” he says.
Kevin Born-Crow, Executive Director, Lakewood Family YMCA
For Kevin Born-Crow and his wife, Nicole, putting down roots in Lakewood was a no-brainer when they returned from New York City after 10 years.
“We were so accustomed to everything being within a 5-minute walk of wherever we lived, so that’s what we were craving,” Born-Crow explains. “It was a feeling of being in a city and not just a suburb, but a place where we could have the very best resources and schools and have everything we needed with that big city feel, but also as a small town.”
And when their first of three children came along, the Lakewood Family YMCA threw the couple an eye-opening lifeline in revealing all the facility had to offer.
“That’s when I really realized it was a lot more than just a gym,” Born-Crow admits. “It’s a place where families can go and feel a sense of belonging, and there is an encouragement to bring your kids.”
So, when the Lakewood-born native happened upon the job opening as the Lakewood Y’s executive director after being a member for 10 years, he knew the position was a perfect fit for his passion for his family, his background in customer service and his mission as a disability advocate.
“My heart is in making sure that everyone who comes through the door is welcome and really feels that they belong here,” he notes.
After taking the helm at the YMCA in September 2024, Born-Crow adds he couldn’t be happier that he began his journey at the launch of a major capital campaign for the Detroit Road facility and sees it as an opportunity to reach even more residents.
“We want to develop spaces that are uniquely built for and meant for specific generations,” he notes. “We plan to build a youth and teen and family center, as well as an active older adult space; I guess you could call it a community space.”
The plan, which is still in the design phase, calls for roughly 10,000 square feet to be added to the corner of the building near the front entrance. It also includes an overall refresh of the facility, which has not been renovated since the organization moved into its current building in 2006.
As ideas are kicked around on how to best utilize the $5-million budget, Born-Crow notes a walking track or similar amenity would be ideal for the city, which is known for its pedestrian-friendly design.
“What I would love to be able to recreate for folks is having the same walkability that the community is so proud of,” he says. That’s something I’ve always heard living here is, ‘We love that we have a walking community. We love that we don’t have school buses. We love that you can hop on a bike or walk your dog and go anywhere in the city.’ So, that’s one of those things that I’m really trying to have the Y reflect is making it just as walkable of a facility.
