In 2008, Fox got unceremoniously fired from his job at the radio station. While it was devastating at the time, especially with the recession fast approaching, it was a critical turning point. It was this unemployment that led to Fox working at Scholastic in Jefferson City. As any parent knows, Scholastic is like Willy Wonka’s factory for children’s books. Employees were able to shop at the company store that had very low prices on all things children’s books. Even though Fox and then fiancée Kelly didn’t have any children, they definitely planned to. So, the couple loaded up on books for their future kids and for Kelly’s classroom where she taught third grade. 

Though he left Scholastic for a fulltime job closer to home, children’s books and radio never left Fox’s mind. When his old boss Tom Bradley offered him a spot on his new radio show, aptly named The Tom Bradley Show, Fox jumped at the chance. There was just one problem: the show was a part-time gig. Fox needed something to do to occupy his time and make a little bit of money. Luckily, there was something stuck on repeat in Fox’s mind. Since their first son, Eli, was born in 2015, Fox had been thinking about writing a children’s book. They were reading their son all the fine books they had purchased at Scholastic when Fox, perhaps brazenly, thought, ‘I can do this.’