Story

Mission, Vision & Values

Team

Story

Cosmodoggyland was born when our love, respect, and appreciation for Emma, the canine member of our family, as well as a set of dreams and emotions found a channel through which to flow. It was the year 2012 and we were still adapting to living in a new place with the challenges and expectations that that implies. With a family life demanding most of my energy and time, I decided to accept the position of full-time mom and I returned to university to, with the excuse of studying marketing, practice English and French in the real world. Joining the workforce was not as easy as feeling frustrated was, especially if I focused on everything I lacked to meet the requirements of those job ads that seemed destined for Wonder Woman. Out of the workforce, with a reduced social life and overqualified to simply devote myself to the development of new mopping techniques, writing was a practical way to practice languages.

After a trip during which it was impossible to find a pet-friendly beach, complaining about this issue triggered the need to make my opinion public. After pouring my anger on the keyboard, I focused only on the positive side of the story and decided to start a blog to advocate for the value and importance of dogs in our lives and society. However, since the heart is stronger than we think and can guide us when we are brave enough to follow it, I embarked on a project that inspired me and what seemed an unproductive stage in my life became an enriching experience. That practical approach allowed me to concentrate and appreciate everything I could do instead of what I could not do. Thus, the idea of having a blog turned into a different way of joining the labor force with a personal brand, a proposal and a concrete product that showcased what I could, knew and wanted to do.

The universe conspired to accelerate the process. Thanks to my eldest daughter, Cosmodoggyland barked her first “Hello World” and from there, after some basic explanations and many tutorials, the blog began to take form, personality and content. Suddenly new jargon was part of the conversations at dinner time and slowly, as each member of our family felt inspired, Cosmodoggyland became a space for experimentation, active learning and collaborative work. Sometimes, we managed to publish on a regular basis while others, life got in the way. Often, it was necessary to stop and devote time to learning about what was necessary to achieve the goal, always balancing time with work and school.

 

A blog was, without a doubt, a tool to put ideas into action at a low cost and with tangible deliverables. More importantly, it was the perfect platform to develop a creative and entrepreneurial spirit, which allowed us acquire skills that could be transferred to any initiative. Along the way, each one of us was able to make use of the acquired knowledge, both as freelance workers and as employees. Scattered in different projects, it was possible to design, produce, translate, and edit content for presentations, websites, blogs, social networks, marketing materials for companies and startups as well as educational materials to teach languages and business.

During the process, we dared to trust ourselves, create, learn, develop a venture, and build a team around shared values that today are reflected in our mission, vision, and values.

With a new format and Emma as our Editor-in-Chief, Cosmodoggyland is today a trilingual canine magazine.

 

Mission, Vision & Values

Mission

We are a dog magazine published simultaneously in English, French, and Spanish. We strive to create and publish multimedia content designed to inform, entertain, and inspire.

Driven by our love for our canine friends and inspired by our personal story, we advocate for the appreciation of instincts, and values as essential elements of success.

Aware of the value of the media as an interactive training and language immersion platform, we work to create content that encourages, supports, and stimulates language learning. We provide a resource for teaching while facilitating immersion and fostering trilingual social interaction and collaboration.

Capitalizing on the power of technology, we offer a participatory communication resource capable of transforming learning and collaborative work into a rewarding experience.

Committed to innovation, we motivate our audience to value talents as well as stimulate creativity and entrepreneurship for their own personal benefit as well as to positively impact society.

Vision

Our desire is to project ourselves beyond content creation and publication and positively influence the lives of our readers, followers and collaborators by offering:

• A channel of multilingual communication and a social interaction ecosystem for dog-lovers
• A space for learning, immersion, and communication beyond language barriers
• A meeting point and a platform for collaboration for authors, bloggers, professionals, and companies related to the canine world
• A hub of entrepreneurs, innovators, and designers committed to making a better, more beautiful and, obviously, more dog-friendly world

 

Everything we do at Cosmodoggyland is based on our deep love and respect for the canine members of the family and on the values that inspire us.

Values

Our values are the faithful reflection of what we believe in.

Respect: through high-quality content, we seek to build a relationship with our audience based on mutual trust.

Uniqueness: our ambitious concept arose as the result of encouraging ourselves to design freely, based on our unique combination of instincts, talents, and values.

Communication: we facilitate foreign language learning and immersion because we believe that the mastery of languages is key to join the workforce of the future.

Dynamic culture: we use technology as a tool for personal development and training as well as fostering creativity, innovation, continuous learning, and collaborative work beyond geographical and cultural constraints.

Teamwork: we are part of a collaborative ecosystem where contributing means putting the best of us at the service of each objective.

Freedom: we believe that the creative and entrepreneurial spirit is the force that drives dreams and ideas to transform reality, create value, and improve quality of life.

Social Responsibility: in accordance with the goal of raising awareness about the value of animals in our lives and societies, we encourage our audience to protect life, create, make and collaborate for a better, more beautiful and, obviously, more dog-friendly world.

While we promote respect for every animal on Earth, we believe that dogs are special. They are unique beings whose loyalty, bravery, and their ability to selflessly love and serve sets them apart from the other animals. They are not only capable of communicating beyond any barriers and developing close friendships with humans, whether we are the prince or the pauper, but they also contribute positively to our society.

Throughout history, humans and dogs unleashed their potential and evolved alongside one another, showcasing a perfect example of a relationship based on shared values. From assisting shepherds, hunters, and sentinels to becoming rescuers, athletes, guards, actors, guides, soldiers, trackers, and effective detectors, dogs are a perfect combination of instincts, virtues, and values.

They demonstrate that loyalty, kindness, and love are both the causes and, at the same time, the effects of relationships. These values and instincts are essential to the world and we, humans, sometimes need a dog to remind us about it.

Team

Cosmodoggyland is the result of the joint efforts of:

Gaspar is a Graphic Designer and a Maker Movement enthusiast. He envisions sustainable design as nature-inspired, innovative, and smart while valuing beauty and high-quality. He is an Architectural Designer, passionate about luxury yachting design as well as an amateur luthier who always enjoys teaching himself new musical instruments.

Josie is our Communications and Social Impact Coordinator. She is a certified TESL teacher and an Applied Economics student, passionate about event planning, marketing, social media, and online communities. Experienced in both print and virtual media outlets, her multilingual initiatives tend to overcome language barriers, using technology for teaching, learning, and building collaborative networks.

Paula serves as Art Director and liaison with our partners and audience. She holds a B.Com. in Finance and is a data analyst with expertise in giving meaning to abstract concepts by merging them with the real world. Her passion for transforming knowledge into tangible, valuable tools for personal fulfillment has allowed her to provide guidance to her students in Calculus and Finance to turn their academic efforts into better job opportunities.

Gaby is our Content Director and main Emma spoiler. She believes knowledge paves the path towards dreams, so she is always searching for cost- and time-effective ways to achieve learning goals. Passionate about new tools to acquire and convey knowledge, she used creative methods to make Science and Math fun for her children. With a B.Sc. and Marketing studies, she is currently involved in an educational online startup.

Alex is our Proofreader and Emma’s preferred family member. He has the patience and the keen eye to read all the fine print as well as the ability to understand policies, guidelines, and regulations. Alex holds a B.Sc. and is a self-taught guitar player who used music and humor-infused didactic ways to make studying enjoyable.

Emma is the editor-in-chief of the magazine and family’s big boss. Because she is convinced she is a human, she takes part in all family activities and travels. She has flown in an airplane’s cabin and participated in numerous road trips. She only accesses the car from the back, forcing her human family to open and close the door for her as if they were her chauffeurs. She also sails, and reluctantly agrees to put her life vest on to join the fun. She is a loyal napping companion and her impressive memory allows her to recognize the sound of each different food packaging being opened. Emma recently underwent surgery to remove mammary cysts and has made an outstanding recovery. Despite her cuteness, she does not enjoy being photographed. She has a sweet spot for tomato sauce, bread, and shrimps.

Interested in joining the Cosmodoggyland team?