Inside Paws, Inc.'s art studio there is a sign that reflects the thoughts of the employees, from artists to those who work with business operations.
"If you take care of the cat, the cat will take care of you," it said on the sign.
And after 30 years, Paws employees and Ball State University graduates reflect on the opportunities working for Garfield has provided him. Madelyn Ferris, senior vice president of operations, said she felt blessed to work at a job that promoted a character that has the same hatred for Mondays as she does.
"There's not many gigs like this," she said.
A Paws employee for 25 years, Ferris said Garfield had been around for 30 years and would probably be around for another 30.
And for all of the opportunities Garfield provides, it could not have been without the vision of creator Jim Davis.
"He knows he's going to hit someone's funny bone," she said. "He takes care of that, and we try to take care of everything else."
Global account manager Mary Carr said she heard about the job she has now 13 years ago at a Ball State football game.
Carr, a 1980 Ball State graduate, said the job was a dream come true because it allowed her to learn new things such as licensing and international business.
"You can do world-wide business in the middle of a corn field," she said.
Designer Betsy Knotts, who graduated from Ball State in 1977, said she took working for a cartoon for granted. Once she took her two children to work, and they were amazed at all of the Garfield merchandise, she said.
"This is a part of culture now," she said. "A part of history."
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