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We often like to ask our CFO guests if they remember the first time that they presented to a board of directors. For many, this happened earlier than you might expect\u2014but few of our interviewees have exposed the benefits of \u201cearly access\u201d for us better than Rex Jackson.

\u201cI grew up in boardrooms,\u201d comments Jackson, who recalls being invited to his first board meeting when he was about 28.

Jackson had spent 3 years at a Los Angeles law firm before signing on as a corporate attorney for a local real estate management company whose board had a budding appetite for M&A.  

\u201cFor any deal that they wanted to do, I became the \u2018Get It Done Guy,\u2019\u201d explains Jackson, who notes that his moniker in the boardroom soon began to apply to more than just M&A.

\u201cWhen an opportunity to land on a clear track northward within an organization presents itself, you just jump all over it,\u201d remarks Jackson, whose early career endeavors swung open the door to a succession of general counsel roles at a variety of companies.

Along the way, his \u201cget it done\u201d mantra helped to add some noticeable addenda to his legal career track.

Jackson explains: \u201cOne time, I ended up as a salesperson; another time, I had to head up marketing. I have run R&D, I have run operations, I have run corporate development.\u201d  

It perhaps should come as no surprise, then, that when an interim CFO position opened up at publicly-traded Synopsis, Jackson\u2014then the firm\u2019s general counsel\u2014shot up his hand. While he would occupy this particular role for no more than a year, within 13 months of concluding this interim tour of duty he was stepping into a CFO position at yet another publicly-traded company.

Just as at Synopsis, Jackson\u2019s next chapter began with a CFO exit.

\u201cWithin 6 weeks of my arrival as a new general counsel, the company shot their CFO,\u201d reports Jackson, who subsequently was asked by the company\u2019s board to move into the CFO role. This time, Jackson would occupy the office for roughly 3-1/2 years.

\u201cIt was at this point that I became visible on recruiter radar screens,\u201d comments Jackson, who has to date served as CFO at four other companies, including ChargePoint, where he has been CFO for the past 5 years.

Says Jackson: \u201cI\u2019ve had good support from CEOs and board members, and if you can get this kind of access and observe the business from a high level, then finance\u2014since it\u2019s horizontal within the business\u2014will serve you well.\u201d \u2013Jack Sweeney