Elegantsports

Are you an Ohio State University student who needs a lift to the airport after finals? Someone to take you to urgent care when you have a fever? A reliable dry cleaner for your internship interview outfits? A treat to get you through exam season?

One local mom offers a simple suggestion — just call Joni.

Joni Mosby, a Dublin mom of three and former exercise physiologist, owns and operates Just Call Joni, a transportation and “mom concierge” service for Ohio State students.

Just Call Joni offers a range of services from airport shuttles, packing and moving, laundry and dry cleaning, grocery trips and urgent care runs, and special deliveries for birthdays and holidays.

From airport shuttle to full-service mom concierge

Mosby said she never intended to start a multi-faceted mom concierge company. She just wanted to help out.

It all started when her son, Jackson, enrolled at Ohio State as a freshman in 2022. As Mosby got to meet her son’s new friends, she started hearing from them how they didn’t like their transportation options to get around town. One complained that a pre-scheduled Uber for an early morning ride to the airport canceled at the last minute. A few girls said they didn’t feel comfortable getting into strangers’ cars alone when their flights landed late at night.

Mosby had just purchased a new Chevrolet Suburban and she had the time, so she figured she could offer to take Jackson’s friends to and from the airport. Parents heard soon after that Mosby was willing to shuttle their kids to the airport.

So Mosby officially launched her business, formally called Buckeyes on Board, as a transportation service driving students to and from the airport.

“It completely blew up from there,” Mosby said.

Mosby started to add more services to her business as she listened to students talk during their airport shuttles. Someone is too sick to get to the pharmacy? Mosby could pick up their prescription. A roommate needs his suit dry-cleaned for a fraternity event? Mosby can handle that.

The more services Mosby added, the greater her clientele grew. Her business started popping up on OSU parents Facebook groups with rave reviews.

Last year, Mosby expanded her business to offer moving and storage services. Out-of-state parents could ship their kid’s dorm supplies to Mosby’s home, and they would be ready to pick up at a storage facility near OSU’s campus on move-in day.

She also offers moving services, where Mosby and her team (including her full-time assistant, Michaela McCreavy; husband, Darrell; son, Jackson; and a handful of college students) would move a student’s items out of their dorm or apartment and into a storage facility for the summer.

Mosby said she hoped to get 20 clients that first summer. Now, she has about 240 for storage and moving services alone.

“It is complete insanity, and it is the most exciting thing,” Mosby said.

‘Hi, queen!’

There is no such thing as a typical day for Just Call Joni.

“I keep saying that things will slow down in the off-season, but there really is no off-season,” Mosby said.

Some of the busiest times during the semester are around the holidays, when students are studying for exams and heading home for break. McCreavy, Mosby’s only full-time employee, said the busiest days start as early as 3 a.m. and often end as late as midnight for airport shuttles.

Their days are mapped out on a massive, color-coded master planning schedule. “My screentime alerts are wild, McCreavy said, who manages their daily calendar. “Google Sheets is always up there.”

Mosby’s phone is constantly pinging with messages, from group chats with parents coordinating rides to others asking if there are any leftover goodie bags they could buy for their kid.

Most days also include multiple trips to the dry cleaners and several local bakeries that supply Mosby with fancy cakes, cookies and and other treats for special deliveries. Mosby said she and McCreavy do around two to eight birthday deliveries a day.