Matthews Point of view

Matthew AlexanderMarketing Director & Production Manager and Administration Manager & Production worker! I started making mascots in the summer of '85! Wow, I am old! I was looking for a summer job before I went back to school for my second year of a Graphic Design diploma from Grant MacEwan college. I finished school, and went back to making mascots fulltime for a local company. Over the next 20 years I worked doing mascots, and in between started a few different businesses, with varying degrees of success. I guess I have always been an entrepreneur at heart- you just keep on going, even when things don't work out as you would like. I had a company making props for stores, and I also had a company making soap. We actually sold soap in a few different countries, so that was pretty cool! I also did men's clothing design for a few years, and sold to local shops. I met my current business partner, Karen Dollmont (Dullmutt, her nickname!!) when I worked at the local mascot company back in 1991. I was in charge of training, and it was my job to give Karen a test to see if she would be a suitable employee. Apparently, (according to her) I gave her a dull knife to sculpt some foam. She said she was having some problems, and I said, "Oh, you probably need a new blade". Well, she wasn't too impressed, and hits me and calls me a jerk! I couldn't believe it!! It was pretty ballsy for someone looking for a job to say that! I guess I was impressed, because I told my boss to hire her! Anyway, we worked together for a couple of years, and kept in touch over the years. I hadn't talked to her for a couple of years after her husband passed away, and out of the blue she calls me up! I was pretty shocked to hear from her. She said she was starting another mascot company, and wanted me to be her business partner. It has been very interesting owning a mascot company. There are a lot of things I find rewarding about it. Making mascots is interesting, taking care of the administrative end is also satisfying. I love marketing as well. It's fun to talk to new clients. Working with Karen has been great. We are a lot alike, and also very different. We have our disagreements too!! We have been in business for almost 2 years, have moved into a great facility, and now have staff. We are looking forward to growing in the future.