Eric J Jackson

Background

About Eric J Jackson

I am a true Florida native, my family is originally from Ft. Lauderdale, and later moved to Plant City, FL. My family and I currently live in the wonderful city of Lakeland, Florida. I've always had a desire to be a part of something bigger than myself, which led me to a life long passion, soccer. Soccer has instilled many qualities such as sacrifice, commitment, and putting in the hard work in order to succeed. And perhaps more importantly, soccer was a gateway to many of the life-long friendships I still hold dear to this day. From these friendships and the social need to connect with others, I started to travel and explore. After graduating from the University of Florida, my friends and I left America to explore Europe. It was the trip of a lifetime, and on a shoestring budget we were able to explore Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. In my opinion, the journey is much more impactful than the destination, which is what I learned about myself. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the story is worth a million more. I consider my father my main role model in my life, he instilled connecting with others through music. I have many fond memories of singing made up songs with my dad and performing live shows for our family and friends. I've always enjoyed writing songs to any jingle that caught my attention, but it wasn’t until 2020 that I decided to pick up an instrument and learn to play. After having a daughter of my own, I thought about all those fond memories I had as a child, and decided I wanted to be able to give that to my daughter as well. The instrument of choice is the baritone ukulele. It has a sound more similar to guitar rather than the typical ukulele sound. My goal with music is to be able to play well enough to write and play Christian songs for local ministries. To me, music is the universal love language. Outside of work, I love spending time with my wife Christina, daughter Olivia, and our chocolate lab Remington. Along with family time, my wife's philanthropic heart has seeped into my soul. I am active with United Way Central Florida, Central Florida Speech and Hearing, Early Learning Coalition of Polk County, Lakeland Kiwanis, and a board member of Friends of Bonnet Springs Park. To me, it all comes back to love. To quote a favorite book of his from ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”