“The future of people is determined by two things: one, what we believe, and two, resources and what resources we have. North America has thrived because it had the right ideas to use its resources. And the unconventional resource development that has seen domestic production soar in recent years is an opportunity. For us to remain a superpower, we have to maximize our energy production.”
--Jacki Pick
(PBPA speaker. "Energy industry needs to make message personal."
mrt.com. Midland Reporter-Telegram. March 20, 2015)
I remember the first time I met Jacki Pick. At the time, I was advisor of the Valley High School Mock Trial Team. Jacki was an integral part of the West Portsmouth High School Mock Trial Team, and both teams had advanced to the Ohio State Mock Trial Competition in Columbus. Jacki immediately struck me as an articulate, intelligent young lady. With her pleasant personality, her energetic drive, her superb language skills, and her striking good looks, Jacki Pick exuded success. Make no mistake, first impressions may be right on point. Ms. Pick has become a dynamic force in America.
Born and raised in Portsmouth, Ohio, Jacki Pick attributes her interest in politics and world history to her grandparents, loving relatives who took her to historical sites, museums, and presidents’ homes. Instilling the importance of learning early on, they also made sure she had educational games and encouraged her to read and to follow her interests.
To this day, Jacki places great importance on family and a sense of home and community, visiting the Portsmouth area five or six times per year. Pick’s background has had an influence on her career and political views. “I grew up in a working class family, with no kind of privilege, that’s for sure, and I believed I could advance myself with hard work. These things created my politics.”
Pick entered public life at a young age as a finalist in the Miss Teen of America pageant. She studied Economics, Spanish, and World History at Marshall University (Society of Yeager Scholars), Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and the University of Zaragoza in Spain.
Jacki is a 2003 alumna of the Vanderbilt University Law School, where she served as the President of the law school’s Federalist Society chapter.
After graduating law school, Pick worked for a time as a corporate litigator and as an Assistant Vice President for a major national bank.
Soon, Ms. Pick began an impressive career in Washington, D.C. Spending seven years there, she notably served as legal counsel to the Chairman of the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and as a ranking member of the House Judiciary Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee. Most recently Pick served as general counsel to an engineering firm specializing in renewable energy, national security and environmental cleanup.
Pick says she came to Washington with high aspirations and high ideals. “I really believed that what determines the future of a people is the ideas they collectively hold. What god do you serve? What do you believe about personal responsibility? Do you believe in capitalism or collectivism? These determine your future. I still believe that.”
But, Jacki found some of her coworkers in Washington were not so idealistic. She saw many of them as largely indifferent to making real progress. Those coworkers would just dismiss it all as pragmatism or life-as-usual. “It’s all just theater,” they would tell her. She wasn't interested in "politics as usual" or D.C. theatrics.
Then, she met Trent Franks for Phoenix, Arizona. Pick says, "He is the only member of Congress to ever frac a well, and he has a lot to do with how I see the world." Franks, it turns out, shaped Pick’s thinking considerably.
So, Pick knew she wanted to do something that was energy-related. Jacki describes her need to change ...
“And, so, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to Texas. I’m going to the place that is the most opposite of Washington, D.C., and I’m gonna show ‘em.’ That’s really what happened; that’s really what I did. People say, ‘How did you get into this?’ And the answer is, I decided. You know, I just decided. I’m going to Texas, I’m going to a place with no income tax, and guess what, I’m moving there on April 15, on tax day—on purpose! I mean, it was so deliberate. It was so symbolic. And that was just the way I live.”
(Bailey LeRoux. "A New Kind of “Daily Show.” Permian Basin
Oil & Gas Magazine. May 1, 2015.)
Passionately pursuing her dreams and her interests, Jacki now resides in Dallas, Texas, where she is Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer National Center for Policy Analysis.
In addition to her work at NCPA, Ms. Pick is the host of "The Jacki Daily Show" on Glenn Beck's The Blaze Radio Network. Her radio program focuses on the geopolitics of energy. With the powerful vehicle of her show, she has successfully described the impact of energy in Americans' day-to-day lives and made it a relevant conversation to listeners. Jacki's guests on the show include industry leaders representing all parts of the energy sector (oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, and wind), and government officials, journalists, and political insiders.
Past noteworthy guests on the show include Rick Santorum, Presidential candidate ; General Jim Jones, former National Security Advisor; James Woolsey, former director of the CIA; Dr. Ray Perryman, internationally recognized economist; and Phelim McAleer, journalist, producer, and director of the pro-energy film Fracknation.
Jacki's decision to focus her career on energy comes from the heart: Being from the Ohio River Valley, she descends from a long line of energy workers, including roughnecks, railroaders, coal miners and nuclear energy specialists.
Pick states ...
“Energy is the foundational component of the economy. Jobs, world politics, wars, the delivery of food and healthcare, everything we care about…it’s all tied to energy. Once I realized this, I became obsessed with this topic. If you want to understand why things that happen on Capitol Hill make no sense, why your political party does things that are against your beliefs, why the Middle East is falling apart, you have to understand energy. I became demoralized on Capitol Hill, and I realized that if I wanted to have any influence, I needed to get out there and start messaging.”
Of Glenn Beck, Pick says, “Glenn is a trailblazer. He encourages all of us on his platform to have an important purpose to other people and to focus on ‘why,’ to make sure your life matters every day.”
Pick defines herself as a conservative libertarian first and a Republican second, but she contends her show is nonpartisan. Here is how Jacki puts her affiliations:
“I find that I’m just as likely to disagree with the Republican party as I am to agree with them, and at the same time, I definitely disagree with the Democrats. I’m not a team player for any party; they demand submission from their members and I am not submissive!”
When asked if she had a message for the people of this area, Pick replied ...
“Energy is what built the Ohio River Valley. It’s all about the coal, the nuclear plant, the coke plant, the fuel that fuels the steel mills, or the railroads that transport coal. My show is very relevant to the lives of the people back home. I hope they will listen and I hope they will benefit from it and I hope the things I say will help bring jobs back to the area.”
(Chaille Holt. "An 'Energetic' Talk Show Voice."
Portsmouth Metro Magazine. December 15, 2014)
Here is how National Center for Policy Analysis CEO, Col. Allen West describes Jacki:
“I have known Jacki Pick for five years. and having spent 22 years in the U.S. Army and having been deployed into several combat zones, I can say you will find no one possessing higher standards of honor, courage, competence, commitment, and character. I chose Jacki to be the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Center for Policy Analysis due to her impeccable demeanor and integrity, which is above reproach. She is and will be one of the great American principled leaders.”
Jacki Pick has also ghostwritten articles for various publications including USA Today and The Washington Times.
The following is a description of Jacki Pick today written by Bailey LeRoux, Digital Asset Manager at Zachry Publications.
"Pick is among the front ranks of a rising new breed of polemicists who are challenging previously unchallenged assertions by detractors of oil and gas. This industry has always been the target of detractors, in greater or lesser numbers in any era, but recent times have seen an uptick in the number of people who view oil and gas in a negative light—especially oil and gas interests that employ hydraulic fracturing techniques."
Yet, be sure Jacki will not stop short of her aspirations as she pursues her dreams. With a keen eye to the future, who knows where Ms. Pick may be in a few years? I think "Senator" or "Governor" or "President Pick" all have nice rings. How about you?
The “Jacki Daily Show” can be heard live on the radio Saturdays at 7 p.m. EST at www.klif.com. Podcasts of past shows are available at jackidaily.com. You can also find Pick at www.facebook.com/jackidaily and twitter.com/jackidaily.
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