BUSY BEA LUECK is the Backbone of ROX Group

by Blake Herzog

Bea Lueck has had a huge hand in shaping ROX Media and its parent company ROX Group over the past 13 years. As vice president of operations she oversees many of the behind the-scenes details in ROX Group’s various companies, which also include ventures in residential and commercial real estate, a travel agency and a portable sanitation service.

Bea is the Designated Broker for Coldwell Banker ROX Realty and has won the Coldwell Banker International Presidential Circle Award for sales associates, placing her in the top 6% of agents globally.

In addition, she has more than 30 years of experience in multiple advertising media, including print, direct mail, television and web. She was the founding editor-in-chief of CG|ROX Magazine in 2012, which was rebranded as Grande LIVING in 2022, and launched numerous other publications in the Pinal and Yavapai county markets, which together have won several awards.

Bea has lived in Maricopa for more than 40 years, raising her family with her husband, Rick, and witnessing its transformation from a rural burg into a burgeoning city.

Grande LIVING: Tell us a little bit about where you were born and raised and your family life growing up.

Bea Lueck: I was born and raised on Long Island, New York, specifically in East Northport and then Northport and lastly Central Islip. I have two younger brothers and my grandmother always lived with us as far back as I remember. Our family always joked we summered in the Hamptons every year — except back then, there was a state-operated campground. Montauk Point was our playground for many summers.

Grande LIVING: Where else did you live before coming to Arizona?

Bea Lueck: We left New York when I was 13, briefly moving to Phoenix and then a few months later to a small town called Eustis in central Florida. I had a couple of jobs during high school. One was working helping to set up a plant nursery called Better Plant Enterprises, and then in my senior year, McDonalds.

Grande LIVING: What brought you out here?

Bea Lueck: My mom moved our family from Florida back to Arizona the summer of my junior year. I stayed in Florida with a friend’s family and moved to Arizona after I graduated. She had lived in Arizona with my dad, her first husband, in the mid-‘60s, and she always remembered it fondly and decided, “I’m going to move back to Arizona.” She remarried after she moved here.

Grande LIVING: How long did it take before it started feeling like home?

Bea Lueck: My mom lived in Maricopa, right behind the original high school. It was a very small town then and it was home immediately. I went to work at Associated Grocers in Phoenix and that’s where I met my husband Rick. We just celebrated our 40th anniversary. We have two children, Jonathan and Christina. We are fortunate both live in Casa Grande. This means we get to see our grandchildren, Zoe (10) and Austin (5), frequently.

Funny story that will make you think, huh ... Technically, I'm married to my stepbrother. Rick and I were married in 1983. My divorced mother and his widowed father were always invited to every family event. They got married a few years after us. The jokes are endless. I'm mother to my niece and nephew. My mother-in-law is a pain but my mother is an angel. It's a great conversation starter.

Grande LIVING: What was your first job?

Bea Lueck: My very first job was in New York when I was 13. I worked as a telephone solicitor selling carpet cleaning services. It taught me how to accept rejection and make the next call!

Over the years I’ve had a few “odd” jobs such as egg collection at an egg farm (chicken lice are miserable) or working as a flagger for a crop duster (yes, you are the target).

Grande LIVING: How many jobs have you had since?

Bea Lueck: Not many since I was an adult. I change roles within the company but don’t change companies.

Grande LIVING: How long did you work at the local TV station?

Bea Lueck: That was KCAB — Central Arizona Broadcasting. I was with them from Day One in 1999 to 2012 when we officially went off the air.

Grande LIVING: What did you learn most from your time there?

Bea Lueck: I did a bit of everything along the way. I was hired to run the sales department. I taught myself how to edit and run the broadcast equipment. It was very exciting, the people I got to meet over the years.

Grande LIVING: How did you first meet Rock Earle, chairman of ROX Group, and then Elaine Earle, ROX Group CEO and publisher of Grande LIVING?

Bea Lueck: I first met Rock in the ‘80s. He was working on developing what is now the AkChin Regional Airport back when it was known as Phoenix Regional Airport. He was selling the parcels