It took Jay Jackson three interviews to get Zoom founder Eric Yuan and his team to hire him. Jay flew out for the first interview at Zoom’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, California. The second interview came at a time when Jay’s family’s budget was tight. He had to travel by car and spent his nights sleeping in his daughter’s pink Girl Scout tent. And he didn’t get hired.
The third interview was the charm. That interview was conducted over Zoom. Jay didn’t get the salary he wanted but he got something more valuable, the ability to sell to any kind of company. “Don't restrict my dirt,” he said during the negotiations. “That’s the only restriction I had. I needed to be able to sell anywhere.” And he sold and sold! And Zoom grew and grew!
That was 2013. Fast forward to 2022 and the Jacksons are enjoying life! They frequent their cabin in northern Minnesota and their ski retreat in Telluride, Colorado. Their home is in Rio Verde, Arizona. They ski and fish and they often spend time with old friends from UMD. They enjoy being near their daughters, Eva and Annika, who are both students at Arizona State University.
The Start at UMD
The pre-Zoom path was always exciting for JL and Jay. (JL is pronounced Jay-El. It stands for Jody Leigh.) The couple had some very high ups and a few downs.
Jay and JL hardly knew each other at UMD. Jay studied communication (’86) and was the skating hockey mascot, the Maroon Loon. He was so good at bringing out fans, he received a three-year scholarship for his efforts.
JL graduated from UMD with an undergraduate degree in education in 1986. She met and married Jay, and earned her master's degree in training and development from the UM-Twin Cities in 1994.
The Travel Adventures Begin
It started when Jay was marketing video conferencing. This was the early 1990s, well before Zoom. Jay landed a gig heading up a videoconferencing in Singapore covering from Japan to Australia. JL had a great opportunity to teach Japanese people how to speak business English.
Those jobs and their contacts in Asia led them to a lucrative opportunity as importers and wholesalers of Indonesian furnishings. Nine years later, when the recession hit the global economy, the Jackson’s lost the business.
By then, daughters Eva and Annika were in grade school and JL took on multiple opportunities: teaching at Fountain Hills Charter School, conducting educational outreach for a nanotechnology center, and assisting clients in the vocational rehabilitation field. She also taught at the American Virtual Academy.
Jay lost no time getting back into the video and remote conferencing field. He worked with two different companies that specialized in supporting telemedicine, healthcare administration communication, and educational telecommunications.
Life with Zoom
After landing the sales position with Zoom, life went into hyperdrive. Jay's first sales were large. “I sold Michigan State. That was 45,000 licenses,” he says. “Then I landed Brigham Young University, another 40,000 licenses.” Word was getting out and the contracts were “starting to really add up… I had clients coming to me.”
Jay stayed with Zoom for six years. He concentrated primarily on educational institutions and healthcare networks. He’s proud to have played a part in, as he says, “The highest quality unified meeting experience to the world at large.”
Experiential Learning
Jay and JL haven’t stopped making a difference. They recently presented a gift to UMD to use for experiential learning offerings. It’s added a new dimension to UMD.
In 2021, faculty in the UMD College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences submitted proposals for student-centered experiential learning opportunities that included applied or hand-on learning outside the classroom. The grants are substantial, $1000 per student with a $10,000 maximum. Applicants will be notified in March and projects will begin for Summer or Fall 2022. The UMD Labovitz School of Business and Economics has followed suit, with a similar experiential learning program.
JL, with her strong teaching background, says, “Companies are eager for young talent and students want real-world situations. Experimental learning makes sense.”
Eva Jackson, Jay and JL’s daughter is an example. Eva studied supply chain economics. She interned with and later was hired by a golf shirt importing company in Minnesota. That experience led to a position at the Boeing Company.
The Jacksons have seen the success first hand. They are excited about the new opportunity they have created at UMD. It will give students a head start but it will also provide assistance for companies. “A young person will come in with fresh ideas because they are living it," JL says. “It’s great on so many levels.”