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Monthly Mix with fellow PBA alumnus Daniel Cuthrell. “We work with Japanese mascots in order to help them curate a ‘taste-tour’ of their hometowns, including local specialties and other popular Japanese snacks. Our goal is to give customers a unique experience they can’t get anywhere else, and help folks 

learn about these mascots and the wonderful places they come from,” said Shawn. The company features everything from seasonal KitKats to specialty coffees, fruit juices, and Japanese sodas. “In July, we worked with Taimee of Mie Prefecture, the official mascot of the town Minami-Ise, whose mother was a tangerine and father was a sea-bream. The mascot is a tangerine/sea-bream hybrid and in their box we included a cup noodle exclusive to Mie Prefecture, among other items.” 

When asked about his favorite parts of running a company, Shawn credits both his customers and team saying, “I’d be a bad business leader if my first answer wasn’t, ‘I love interacting with our customers.’ And it’s true! I also really like putting together the team that is Mascot Monthly Mix. As cheesy as it might sound, it’s my job as the CEO to build the right kind of team, and to shoulder the decisions that keep us going. Moreover, it's my job to keep us aligned with our core values, which means if I’m doing my job correctly, MMM operates as part of a community: benefiting our customers, the many other organizations we work with (especially the mascots and their hometowns), and ourselves. What is the point of being a company if we’re not all made better for it?” 

Shawn’s success does not come without hard work. “In Japan, the idea of a subscription-based business is almost unheard of. International shipping is also so broken right now that it costs us less to ship from Tokyo to Madagascar than it does from Tokyo to Hawaii. Though, I’m going to phrase this in the way that PBA taught me: the bad with the good, every setback is an opportunity. The hard work pays off, as I love learning about how much everyone enjoys experiencing unique parts of Japan through the mascots we work with,” said Shawn.  

As an English teacher, Shawn has had the opportunity to reflect on his time at PBA. “Curriculum in Japan typically relies on rote memorization. At 100 Classics, we believe that other approaches to learning can enhance students’ language abilities. Our unique philosophy reminds me a lot of PBA,” he explained. “Mr. Toyama is probably going to be reading this, so I want to say that he has inspired me to follow my passions. Mr. Heffernan is also one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. When I’m teaching English, I hope that I’m a cool cucumber like he is.”  

Mr. Heffernan reminisced about his time as Shawn’s teacher saying, “Shawn was one who loved to think outside the box and came up with some crazy answers to many of the challenges I presented to his class. He always did it with a smile and the more constraints I placed on him, the bigger his smile got. At one particular boat race, he and some of his senior classmates came back dressed in cardboard armor riding a pirate ship with their teacher (me) raiding up and down the pool harassing student-built boats all the while dodging catapults. It was a crazy day.” 

PBA wishes Shawn the best of luck on both his career as an English teacher and endeavors with Mascot Monthly Mix. To learn more about Mascot Monthly Mix and to subscribe, visit https://www.mascotmix.com.