December 10, 2010

Every Company Needs A Mascot

Dogs are like little people with fur!

At Wallmark Homes we certainly think that's the case and we take the friendship of our furry friends very seriously. In fact, several of the Wallmark Team Members happen to count among their family members either a dog or a cat! That being said, we do have our favorites and one is our official mascot. Her name is Mina and she belongs to Sonya Lee, Wallmark Homes' Controller. She has brought us many a smile so we thought it was about time to dedicate a blog to Mina, our top dog! We recently spent some time with Mina just to catch up and discover a few things we didn't know about her before. Here is a peek at what we learned.

[caption id="attachment_590" align="aligncenter" width="502" caption="Mina, Wallmark Homes' Mascot"][/caption]

It has been said that having pets lowers your blood pressure, decreases your stress level and generally makes life far more enjoyable.

[caption id="attachment_587" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Mina and her siblings"][/caption]

Mina is a Yorkie (Yorkshire Terrier) who is a little over 9 years old. This lovable little pooch has made friends with many a Wallmark employee and visitor over the course of those years. It all started with a double knee surgery back in 2008 which required Mina to be cared for 24 hours a day while she recovered.  She spent a great deal of time with her Wallmark family during that time which led to us eventually falling in love and deciding she should be our official mascot!

She has 2 siblings whom she will tolerate during their weekly visits, but prefers human company, hands down. We are certain it's probably because the food her owners eat is more to her liking. She loves veggies! She will come running whenever she hears someone chopping in the kitchen and counts broccoli and cucumber among her favorite treats. We are thinking her healthy lifestyle approach is what led to her rapid recovery after surgery and her great health today!

They say you can tell a lot about a person (or company perhaps?) by the way they treat their pets. We happen to treasure "our" Mina.

[caption id="attachment_598" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Mina on the beach"][/caption]

Mina loves to dance (her signature move is her "back dance" where she wiggles and dances on her back across the floor!) and is a bilingual pooch with a clear understanding of both English and Korean. She loves to visit the job sites and enjoys testing the yards to make sure they are dog friendly with plenty of places to run, hide and relax in the shade- afterall, napping and going for long walks are her next favorite things to do (eating is at the top of her list!).

[caption id="attachment_605" align="alignright" width="224" caption="Mina the Wallmark Wonder Dog"][/caption]

So you might be asking yourself why on earth are we talking about this dog so much? Quite frankly it's because she makes us smile.  It doesn't take much to make someone happy and we thought maybe we'd share that smile with you. That's the kind of company we are- and being fond of happiness in general, we hope that Mina was able to make you smile.  Stop by one of the area trade shows or give us a holler if you'd like to meet Mina in person. We love building dog-friendly spaces and we think the new homes we build in Vancouver would make any dog feel proud. So, come by and say hello to us and if you're lucky, you might see Mina out around the town. Be sure to stop and say hi if you see her, we know she will give you a very warm Wallmark welcome!