Cordy Cox has no regrets deciding 16 years ago to manage the ranch she grew up on near Anahim Lake.
“The opportunity came up for me, earlier than I anticipated, to step into the ranch and start taking over for my dad,” she said. “In 2007 I moved back from school at UVic to run the ranch full- time.”
Last year when she turned 40 she realized how fast time flies, especially when you love what you are a doing.
Aside from managing two ranches with her husband Clint Ellis - the Dane Ranch and the Clesspocket Ranch - she has been the general manager of the B.C. Livestock Producers Co-op since February 2019, is a past president of the Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association and is presently a director.
“It is easy for someone like myself who is very driven, and very career-oriented and constantly expanding and driving in different directions, to forget to take the time to really appreciate the now. I have two girls —Harlow who is five and Tenley who is three — and it seems like it was just yesterday I moved back to take over the ranch.”
Being a woman is not always easy in a lot of male-dominated industries, but in the ranching world there are more women than people think, she said.
“I think it’s an industry that has been inclusive of women for a long time. That’s not to say that there haven’t been challenges, and some of the roles haven’t been changed, but we are seeing more and more women that are actually managing or in charge of operations.”
She counts herself lucky to have women mentors in her life such as Bev Madley, a Chilcotin rancher and past president of many cattle associations, and Mabel Hamilton, recently inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.
“I’m the first woman general manager of B.C. Livestock Producers Co-op and it has been in business since 1943. So in that side of the industry it is much more rare. The buying and selling industry is a lot more cut throat than the overall ranching industry. You don’t see many women cattle brokers, you don’t see women managers of stockyards or auctions very often.”
The oldest of five children, she was born in Campbell River.
When she was around 10 years of age her parents purchased the Dane Ranch and moved the family.
“We had a 160-acre farm in Campbell River and my dad had a logging operation there, which he continued, after we started ranching, but they wanted to expand that lifestyle and the value it provided,” said Cox.
Today her dad, Dale Cox, works on the Dane Ranch almost every day.
“He tinkers and has an interest in machinery,” she said. “He is still involved and it gives him something to do. He likes to stay busy.”
Her mom, Joyce Dawson, helps out as well and is the full-time caretaker of the Clesspocket Ranch after retiring from working at the Vanderhoof hospital.
“My kids are lucky to have Clint’s parents and my parents involved in their lives,” Cox said.
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monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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