Inside SOTW Mag: Women Of Substance—Jackie Jones

Most members of the Florida Powerboat Club know Jackie Jones at least as well as Stu Jones, her extroverted husband. That’s because Jackie Jones, the Pompano Beach, Fla., organization’s longtime events coordinator works in both the front and back of the house. On the unseen side of things, she handles lodging, party planning, apparel management, permits, meals and more.

Jackie Jones never stops working to improve the Florida Powerboat Club member customer experience. Photo courtesy/copyright of the Florida Powerboat Club.

But she’s also the first person new members get to know when they join the poker-run-producing outfit. The 50-year-old mother of two sons, 17-year-old Tyler and 15-year-old Maxwell, Jackie Jones is as much behind the scenes as she is in front of them. Yet, unlike her husband, she is rather publicity-shy by nature and prefers to let her actions do the talking.

YOU’VE BEEN IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE SINCE 2002. YOU’VE SEEN A LOT OF POKER RUNS.

Yes. I have coordinated around 150 to 160 events. But I am still learning. I learn something at every single poker run. As events coordinator, I manage registration, book the hotels, plan the plan parties, print the captains’ kits and create the itineraries with Stu’s approval. Stu does all the safety management and handles all the video stuff. He is the public face of everything. I don’t like going on camera. I’m kind of shy by nature and I’m definitely camera-shy. I always turn away from the camera when it’s on me. I can’t help it.

HAS YOUR ROLE EVOLVED AS THE BUSINESS HAS GROWN?

I don’t know that my role has changed, but I just keep trying to improve our events and make everything we do first class for our customers. I am always looking at how we can make things better and have them run more smoothly. In our runs and the others I’ve done, I take mental notes of what I liked. I try to take the best of everything I learn and put it to work.

THERE MUST BE DETAILS IN ORGANIZING A POKER RUN THAT MOST PEOPLE NEVER THINK OF.

I actually have a book that helps me remember everything I need to (laughs). Without the book, I’d be lost—I’d forget a lot. There are so many little things, like getting a noise permit for after 10 p.m., that no one sees but are important.

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