Motivated. Ambitious. Determined. Picture someone you know who you instantly think of when you hear these words. When we hear these words, we can’t help but picture this incredible couple out of Andover, Kansas. They’ve gone MVP, Double MVP, Triple MVP and Quad MVP (huge goals in our business!) over and over again. To say they are motivated, ambitious, and determined is quite an understatement. Everyone, we’re proud to introduce this couple — Larry and Judy Cox.
Between speaking at local and regional events, traveling to meetings, working around the clock between a day job and being a Bonvera entrepreneur, these two are busy and maximizing every minute to achieve their goals and live life to the fullest. The weekend before this interview, Larry and Judy were actually out on a race track at the Kansas Motor Speedway, fulfilling one of Larry’s bucket list items by driving a Nascar around the track for the day. Inspiring and motivating, we were so glad to catch these two for an hour on a Wednesday night between meetings and showing plans to interview them.
These two actually met in high school. Larry described, “I was trying to get a date with a girl that fell through, so I went to our high school dance with my buddy. At the dance, I saw a girl I knew, but I mostly saw her friend she was sitting with – Judy! It was one look, and I knew. We started dating two weeks after that. We got married right after high school.” As the old adage goes, Judy stated, “The rest is history.” Today, they have four grown kids, and two dogs (one chimed in right at that moment with a timely bark into the phone, haha!). They’ve got several grandkids and great grandkids also. Most of them live pretty close, so they get to see them often.
They’ve always been hard workers. Before pursuing Bonvera as a full-time gig, Larry and Judy owned a company in Wichita for 28 years, and it was a retail wholesale operation selling hot tubs, big stoves, fireplaces, and even BBQ equipment. Larry said, “We ran day and night. It was active income. We had to be there. We had several hundred bosses.” Judy reiterated, “If we weren’t there, it didn’t happen.” Compared to where they are now with Bonvera, they said, “[There’s] no overhead, everything is done for you in the Back Office. When people have been in business and they see what we’ve got in Bonvera, it’s a no-brainer. All of the challenges we had before, none of them exist anymore. It’s much easier now.” Which begs the question, when and how did they get started with Bonvera?
Larry and Judy Cox had known Bill and Jann for years, and they’d known their son, Cody, since he was 9 years old. They said, “We love them like family.” Larry described, “I saw Cody at a car show, and he said ‘Larry, I’ve got to talk to you about this business we’re launching.’ We’ve been on the ground floor ever since. Anything that the Newton’s were doing I was interested in because I knew they had integrity, business sense, and would be successful.” Judy added, “We’d been involved with some community building businesses before. I wasn’t super excited about doing anything else again. But with the concept of Bonvera, it’s a totally different concept altogether. Previously, a few people owned and governed everything in the company, and things could change overnight and they did. This was a whole different idea with the board, the ICAA board, and the leadership with Bonvera. It’s a whole different atmosphere than what we had been used to before.”
They’ve taken the drive since before launching, and they haven’t let up. Not one bit. They were able to go Partners in May, Senior Partners in June, and now they’re closing in on Professionals. Larry pointed out, “Just like anybody else, I had no doubts about my ability to talk or work with people, but I had doubts about accomplishing my goals in Bonvera, especially when they are big ones. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with this business, but the one thing I bought into early on was going MVP. I’ve gone MVP over and over again. Each time, it elevates you a little bit higher in your belief. You know it’s possible, and by doing that and teaching that to our team (which we’ve accomplished together), we’re blessed that we were able to reach these levels.” Together, they’re dreaming of a ranch in the country. Judy expressed, “We’ve lived in the country prior with horses and land. We want to get back to that now. We live in a development closer to town, and we want to get back to the open land that’s out away from the city and build a new home and enjoy the outdoors again.” These two love the country — they like to go fishing and even used to raise registered Paint horses!
“I’ve never seen any training that comes close to our New Way MBA training. It’s incredible,” said Larry. Judy concurred, “Nor at the cost. Most programs are so expensive. Ours is very inexpensive.” They’ve benefited significantly from the education system that this business provides. In their days of owning their own company, they wish they would have had something like this at that time to have made all the traveling and commuting a valuable time to learn. Does their plugging into this program have anything to do with their success? We’ll let you be the judge of that, but we’ve got a pretty good feeling it does. It’s no doubt, this couple is crushing it.
A true interview deserves a few funny questions too!
What’s a typical Friday night look like for you all?
They said, “Last Friday night, Larry was in Oklahoma doing a big meeting. If we’re home on Friday nights, Judy will sometimes stop and get a pizza and bring it home. Sometimes we watch movies, but we’re trying to do a whole lot less of that because we’ve got goals in sight.”
We had to ask, what kind of pizza?
Larry said, “Supremes.” Judy remarked, “Loaded.”
What do you guys like to do together?
They responded, “We like to travel, and we love to fish and Larry likes to hunt. Our son-in-law and daughter took us as a gift, on an Alaskan cruise and we were also able to charter a boat to fish for salmon. Judy caught the largest King Salmon. We’re going back again next year with our daughter and son-in-law, for 10 days, to do some serious halibut fishing.”
What do you guys like about fishing?
Larry laughed, “Catching.” All joking aside, Larry said, “After we closed our company, I launched a new division in the U.S. for a global Canadian company. I traveled a lot and was away from Judy. Whatever I’m doing now, as long as I’m with Judy, it doesn’t matter.” Judy added, “We also like to go to antique malls. That’s sometimes a Saturday afternoon getaway. We love antiques.”
And of course, this hilarious question. What kind of fruit would you be?
Larry knew his answer when he said, “A habanero pepper. And that is a fruit. All of the chili peppers are considered literally a fruit. I thought you were going to ask me this question. I like to run hot and put some spice in people’s lives.” Judy laughed, “I wasn’t prepared for that one.” Larry reiterated, “Probably a tomato. You’re a cute lil tomata.”
Judy and Larry are setting the stage and blazing the trail with their determination and accomplishments. They’re an inspiration to watch and support in achieving their goals and dreams. Thanks for taking the time to get to know Larry and Judy. If you’re interested in learning more about Bonvera, get connected by emailing support@bonvera.com or calling (316) 260 – 2225.