> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://justincox.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Life is Like a Cox of Donuts - URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2019/05/life-is-like-a-cox-of-donuts/ - Published: 2019-05-20T10:51:00.000Z - Updated: 2023-06-17T00:31:28.000Z - Description: Introducing Justin Cox, First of His Name - Author: Justin Cox - Tags: Life, Humor, #andy-weir So you want to know who I am? Who I **really* am beneath this digital persona who [occasionally writes things online](https://writingcooperative.com/are-you-writing-for-an-audience-or-authenticity-7ed0d43caee4?ref=justincox.com)? Well, you’re in for a treat. Pour yourself a cup of hot chocolate, grab your weighted blanket, sit down by the fireplace, and get comfortable. Uncle Justin has a story to tell. ****Note: Some details are redacted so you cannot steal my identity.*** I was born in sunny ████████ on ████████. It was a Saturday. My parents, ████████ and ████████, moved us to ████████ when I was ████████ years old. I graduated from ████████ High School and at the ripe age of ████████. As a newly minted adult, I enrolled at ████████ State University. There, I received a BS in Entrepreneurship¹ and ████████ Business Management with a minor in ████████ Studies. My wife, Carla, and I were married on ████████. She works as a ████████ at ████████. Together, we have a dog named ████████ and a ████████ named ████████. In my professional life, I am a full-time freelance writer. My business, [Eat Your Words](https://besteatyourwords.com/?ref=justincox.com), is named after the idiom² combining my favorite things. My niche is nonprofit organizations, where I have ████████ years of management and marketing experience. I’ve written strategic plans for ████████ new and growing organizations while also writing ████████, grant applications, blog posts, ████████ campaigns, and more. If you’d like to work with me, I have a wide range of writing, editing, and coaching services available. [Let’s discuss your needs](https://justincox.com/#contact). I send out a weekly newsletter, also called Eat Your Words. Every Friday, I deliver a mix of writing and creativity advice with featured meals and recipes. It’s the best of both worlds, delivered right to your inbox. [Sign up today](https://justincox.com/#subscribe)! My first attempt at writing online came on a GeoCities website called ████████. From there, I moved to ████████ and ████████ before landing on Medium’s doorstep in early 2014. My [first story on Medium](https://medium.com/@justincox/memories-from-my-first-job-8f5a3abe3015?ref=justincox.com) was promoted by the [Medium Twitter](https://twitter.com/Medium/status/449285989156917248?ref=justincox.com) account and featured on the front page. I made it, and then, well, nothing happened for a while. But I kept writing and here I am. Over the years, Medium bestowed upon me Top Writer status³ in Writing, Life, Social Media, ████████, Books, ████████, Short Story, Advice, ████████, and Lit⁴ (**that I know of*). Those silly designations come and go and, while I appreciate the recognition, I rarely pay attention to them. More importantly, my stories are published in [Wired](https://www.wired.com/2014/11/from-seinfeld-to-snapchat/?ref=justincox.com)⁵, [Film School Rejects](https://filmschoolrejects.com/author/cox/?ref=justincox.com), ████████, [The Billfold](https://www.thebillfold.com/2017/01/i-paid-off-my-student-loans-and-i-feel-nothing/?ref=justincox.com), ████████, and countless Medium publications. I’m the self-appointed Medium Jedi Master, responsible for training new padawans. I’ve published ████████ versions of “[So, You’re New to Medium…](https://writingcooperative.com/so-youre-new-to-medium-7f8a6ccc2399?ref=justincox.com)” over the years to guide the younglings. The content was also turned into [an ebook](https://gum.co/mediumcourse?ref=justincox.com), if you’re into that sort of thing. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the various people, writing groups, and communities that helped me develop as a writer. These include ████████, ████████, and [The Writing Cooperative](https://writingcooperative.com/?ref=justincox.com), which I co-founded with [Jessica Jungton](https://medium.com/u/88f37487cf3c?ref=justincox.com). [Write Now](https://writingcooperative.com/writenow/home?ref=justincox.com), the series I curate for The Writing Cooperative, allows me to interview amazing and ████████ writers. Want to know what [Andy Weir](https://medium.com/u/f51fdbadb383?ref=justincox.com) does when not writing amazing books like **The Martian* and **Artemis*? [I’ll tell you](https://writingcooperative.com/write-now-with-andy-weir-c3aad90b480f?ref=justincox.com). Additionally, I’ve learned what makes ████████ tick, but you’ll have to wait until ████████ for that interview to publish. ![](https://justincox.com/content/images/2023/04/image-54.png) I went to Mexico once. | Photo courtesy of Justin Cox. When I’m not writing or ████████, I’m eating donuts (and other things). You can follow my gastrological adventures on IG [@BestEatYourWords](https://instagram.com/besteatyourwords?ref=justincox.com).⁶ My favorite donut in ████████ can be found at ████████. Make sure to try their ████████. It will change your life! Carla and I also meticulously plan trips across the globe. With some creative accounting, we’ve [traveled for free](https://medium.com/@justincox/the-dos-and-don-ts-of-travel-hacking-3bdbd2424e8e?ref=justincox.com) to [Japan](https://medium.com/@justincox/planes-trains-and-automobiles-traveling-to-japan-424702908921?ref=justincox.com), ████████, and [New York](https://medium.com/@justincox/a-one-day-vacation-to-new-york-city-d4abcf1d1b14?ref=justincox.com). We’re currently planning a trip to ████████ for late ████████. So that’s me. If there’s anything that wasn’t covered, you can find me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/justincox?ref=justincox.com), [Instagram](http://instagram.com/justincox?ref=justincox.com), ████████, [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/justin-cox-freelance-writer?ref=justincox.com), ████████, and [JustinCox.com](https://justincox.com/). Oh, and don’t forget to [sign up for my weekly newsletter](https://justincox.com/#subscribe). ### \_\_ **¹: I still cannot spell “entrepreneurship” without googling.* **²: Yes, I know the idiom is about recanting things you’ve said. There’s a fun bit of irony there, too. Go with it.* **³: Medium’s Top Writer status is a combination of publishing quantity,* ████████**, and luck. I put zero weight in the title.* **⁴: I’ve never tagged anything with “Lit.”* ⁵**: I’m very proud of this, even if they butchered the formatting and added a bunch of “?”s next to my name when the story was moved from Medium to Wired.* **⁶: Hopefully, you notice and appreciate the consistent branding at play.*