Sitting in a coffee shop reading from his laptop, Jace Zacharias could pass for any average young college man. However, his crisp black suit coat, white dress shirt, jeans, western squared-toe boots and short-cropped hair suggests otherwise.
He is the Southwest Oklahoma Field Representative for U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and it’s a role that seems to be a natural fit. Zacharias’ southwestern roots run deep. He was born in Lawton at Comanche County Memorial Hospital and was raised in Altus. He and his wife, Jaycie, and twin sons, Kase and Kannon, currently live in Frederick. He loves Oklahoma and conservative values and doesn’t have a desire to live anywhere else.
Zacharias was born on Feb. 25, 1998, to Kevin Zacharias, who is now retired from the oil and gas business, and Kelly Leiter, who is a teacher and author. He has two brothers, Jonathon and Joseph Barrett. He attended Altus public schools until he was a freshman and then switched to Navajo, a rural school district about nine miles northeast of Altus, to be with his friends. He played basketball and golf and graduated from high school in 2016.
When it came time to choose a college, Zacharias decided to stay local and enrolled at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus. He was undecided about a major but considered potential career options like teaching math or becoming a meteorologist.
“Chad Wiginton, who is now president at Western Oklahoma, was one of my first mentors. He is so passionate about higher education. I got involved in the student Ambassador program and gained skills through recruiting at college fairs, giving tours, marketing the college, representing the college in the local community and being a leader for the student body on campus,” he said.
While pursuing his Associates degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences at Western Oklahoma, Zacharias also worked at JCMH Pharmacy in Altus as a Pharmacy Technician — a job he speaks highly of.
“It was the best job to learn how to react and function in real world situations. I learned how to prioritize there,” he said.
He kept working in that position even as he transferred to Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford and pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He became a SOSU Student Ambassador, a Data Research Analyst and was also vice president of the student government association. In addition, he was president of Phi Beta Lambda (Future Business Leaders of America). He discovered that he excelled in public speaking and began to passionately pursue leadership skills. He co-authored an internationally published peer-reviewed journal article that was published in the Summer of 2019 issue of “Transnational Journal of Business.” The article was titled, “Think about it: Using critical reflection and service learning to develop entrepreneurial leaders.”
Also in 2019, Zacharias became student team leader of a business-based project named Venture, LLC. Consisting of four team members and SOSU advisor Jonna Myers, they were one of 200-plus college teams competing for the i2E (Innovation to Enterprise) Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup. The Love’s Cup, formerly known as the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, is a statewide collegiate business plan competition that stimulates the real-world process of researching a market, writing a business plan and making a presentation to potential investors.
“It’s similar to the TV show ‘Shark Tank.’ Our team created a theoretical concept of making a bicycle from recyclable parts that would break down and fit in a backpack. We envisioned ourselves as a transportation solution company that offered the Zig-Zag, which was a revolutionary bicycle that collapsed and could be stored in a Zag-Bag and offered consumers a convenient, portable means of transportation,” he said.
SOSU’s Venture, LLC business team was one of six finalists in the competition. They didn’t place in the top three; however, they were the only regional university team to be a top six finalist. The other five finalists were from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.
Each team was required to have an “elevator pitch” – which is a slang term that refers to a brief speech that outlines the idea for a product, service, or project. An elevator pitch gets its name from the notion that the speech should be short — no longer than the time period of an elevator ride — or about 30 to 60 seconds long, according to Investopedia.com. Zacharias was the pitch man and his speech finished first out of the 200-plus teams in Oklahoma’s Statewide Business Plan Competition, i2E. He was the 2019 Undergraduate Google $1,000 Pitch Winner.
Zacharias’ speaking skills came to the forefront again in 2020. As a student from the Everett Dobson School of Business and Technology, he competed in the Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference competition and won first place in impromptu speaking. After taking first in Oklahoma, he followed up with a third-place national ranking in the same event.
In May of 2020, Zacharias left his job at JCMH Pharmacy in Altus to accept a year-long contract as program manager of the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute Museum. He was able to provide experience from the last several years in business management, recruitment and outreach.
“I graduated from SOSU on a Friday and the next Monday I was working with the Four Star Leadership Program,” he said. “The program is a partnership between the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum and Oklahoma Christian University (OCU).
“You know COVID happened in that time frame, so I developed a virtual core leadership program and we were able to accept 100 participants instead of the usual 70. It was a fast-track virtual four-day program and concentrated on four core principles: caring, communication, character and common vision,” he said.
After his year with the program was complete in April 2021, Zacharias was offered an opportunity to work as a field representative with Sen. Jim Inhofe.
“I was attracted to his conservative values. He believes in individual liberties and the government staying out of the way. He is a very strong leader and quick to action. I am humbled to be able to work for someone who values the U.S. Constitution and the freedom it gives, as well as someone who fights vigorously to take care of our men and women in uniform,” Zacharias said. “My job is to help be the bridge for our Southwest Oklahoma communities to Washington, D.C.”
When asked what his career may look like in the future, Zacharias said he didn’t know. He is currently working on his master’s degree in Business Administration and said he is open to whatever path God leads him in.
“I really enjoy what I’m doing now. I also have a passion for higher education and want to help empower people and generate leadership skills. I want to be wherever I can be of service. I am beyond blessed to be part of Sen. Inhofe’s staff. I’m grateful for the team I’m on.
“I’m also grateful for my wife, Jaycie. She’s my rock. She is so selfless and supportive and a great mother. I’m more blessed than I deserve,” he said.