Little Big Boss

If you didn’t know how old Josh Cox was and had his resume sitting right there in front of you, you’d be impressed.

Josh owned a successful party rental business until last year, when he became an operations manager for the Rogersville, Ala., trucking company owned by his father, Anthony.

But then take into account that Josh is just 9 years old, and his accomplishments take on a whole new light.

Josh’s entrepreneurial spirit has been around for a while, but Anthony says it really only ramped up about two years ago (when, yes, Josh was just 7 years old).

“I started to take him under my wings and teach him different things about business, and he grabbed hold to it,” Anthony said. “So one day he came to me and told me and when he was 7 that he wanted to own his own business.”

Josh started with a waterslide party business. That business was successful, but Josh’s employees – his older brothers – got to the age that they started driving and no longer had time to work for the business.

That meant the 9-year-old needed to come up with a new venture.

“So I asked him, what else did you want to do? He said, ‘I want to own big trucks like you.’ So we sold the waterslides business and took the revenue from the waterslides business and bought him an 18-wheeler.”

Josh got the truck this past September. He got a contract and, yes, even hired a driver.

William Monigan, who has been a truck driver for about three years, is driving Josh’s rig.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Monigan said. “It’s actually a bit of a change for me. You know, I’m used to having supervisors or managers older than me or, you know, right in my same age group. But this is a welcome change for me. It’s a new experience, should I say.”

And a new experience for Josh, too.

Anthony Cox and his son Josh, age 9.

He’d developed some business acumen as the owner of the waterslide company, but while trucking was new to him – it wasn’t new for Anthony, who is more than happy to show his son the ropes.

“We showed him how to figure up his pay,” Anthony said. “And, of course, we write the checks out for him, and then he just meets his driver when his driver comes in, and we just let him check on his own driver.”

Monigan took the job at Cox Transportation in November, shortly after finding out that a 9-year-old boy would be his operations manager, which didn’t seem to faze him much.

“I actually knew the family from being in the ministry,” Monigan said. “And we just started talking, and he was telling me that he was getting another truck and he needed a driver. When he told me that his son, that Josh was going to be my manager/supervisor, I said OK, I can go with that. I’ll treat him with respect, give him an honest day’s work, so to speak.”

Monigan calls his boss “Mr. Josh.”

“Mr. Josh” calls Monigan “Mr. Charles,” his middle name.

“What’s different then from where I come from as far as driving with my first company? He checks on me,” Monigan said. “You know, I think that’s all right to check on me. You all right? You need anything, you know. How’s it going out there for you? You know, that kind of stuff.”

With Monigan on the road, and Josh doing his thing as operations manager, the money started coming in. More than any 9-year-old boy would be used to.

So what is Josh doing with all of it? Some of it, he’s spending on himself.

Josh just bought a four-wheeler with his own money – and some other items you’d expect a boy his age to enjoy.

But Anthony says Josh also is spending his money on things you wouldn’t expect. And that’s by design.

“So he makes a lot of money as a kid,” Anthony said. “You know, he gets paid weekly, makes a lot of money as a kid, and he balances it and budgets it well. We make sure he buys his own toothpaste, his own deodorant. He buys his own clothes. I mean, we teach him to be self-sufficient, and so we teach him to be responsible with his money – that it is not there just for him to blow it.”

Throughout all of it, Anthony and his wife are guiding Josh and his siblings with the help of three principles, principles that Anthony picked up as a child.

“Keep God first, hard work pays off, and never give up,” Josh said.

Josh spends some of his money on toothpaste and meals. Some of it on four-wheelers and toys. And some of it toward helping others.

Leading up to Christmas, Josh made the news when he bought – with his own money – 20 bicycles so he could donate them to children whose families were struggling a bit financially.

“Because they are less fortunate, and I just wanted to help out,” Josh said.

Josh turns 10 in June. For his birthday, he planned a visit to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In addition, he plans to donate $1,000 to the cause. Anthony said he will match his son’s donation.

“We’re givers. He sees his mom and I give,” he said. “We have a church, and we have a foundation. So we’re always givers, and we try to find a way to help people when we can.” LL