Derek Jackson, an ex-military intelligence officer, is the co-founder and CTO of Cyber Dive, a progressive technology company that provides parents with tools to monitor their children online. Most recently, the Phoenix company introduced Aqua One, the first fully functional smartphone for kids integrated with unlimited parental monitoring functionality. Learn about Derek Jackson…
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
First job: Paradise Bakery
Favorite ways to spend your free time in AZ: I love doing anything outdoors. Camping, hunting, hiking, scouting, driving in the Jeep with my son.
Your biggest accomplishment and why: I have a three-year-old son that spends as much time taking care of his baby dolls as he does mastering his flips on the trampoline. He is learning Spanish, loves to read and often asks to do something challenging. Lately, his favorite thing is to say that my wife and I are his favorite mommy and daddy. That is my biggest accomplishment, hands down.
The biggest obstacle you overcame: Making as much time for my mental health as I have always made for my physical health.
Someone who inspires you and why: Bill Gates because he doesn’t spend his time comparing himself to competition but is motivated by his own successes.
Advice to someone pursuing a career path in what you do: If you just want a career in the tech world, get really good at problem solving. If you want to excel in the tech industry, master the art of problem defeat. Start with properly learning how to research things you don’t know. In my personal experience, this skill is the single most important differentiating factor in a person’s ability to separate themselves within any industry.
Favorite quote: “Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.”
Something someone would be surprised to learn about you: At just 12 years old, my head was already bigger than most adults.
What makes someone fabulous: The definition of fabulous is someone or something that is imaginary, hard to believe or very good. Since I am being characterized as fabulous, and I am neither imaginary nor hard to believe, it would be my assumption that being very good is what makes someone fabulous.