0:00

Hello, and welcome to we are not blowing

0:02

hot air powered by oxygen plus

0:05

I'm Scott and I'm Lauren. And we're

0:07

here to help elevate your IQ on wellness

0:09

and business stuff. That's sometimes misunderstood.

0:11

Oh,

0:12

Like recreational oxygen. Yes. Let's

0:15

get smarter with this week's guest of we're

0:17

not blowing hot air

0:24

Happy , happy holiday holidays. Happy

0:27

holidays from us here at we are not blowing

0:29

hot air. Happy holidays, Lauren,

0:31

Merry Christmas, Scott. You it's the most wonderful

0:33

time of the year . It is . And here we are in

0:35

the oh , plus studio. We have a

0:38

beautiful holiday spirit

0:41

and festivals , presence , and lights and

0:43

reads all around us. Yes.

0:45

It's such a great time of year.

0:47

It's the most wonderful. Yes. As they

0:50

say mm-hmm <affirmative> and how

0:53

ready are you?

0:55

We're pretty ready. We actually, we started

0:57

our, our shopping early this year.

0:59

We knew we had to , so we did, and I think we

1:02

we're just about done. Uh, what about

1:04

you?

1:05

Well , we really, haven't done a lot of shopping

1:07

in my family. We're more do

1:09

we need travel?

1:11

Okay. Interesting. Okay

1:14

. So is it ringing a bell for you too ? It is

1:16

. It is. Yeah. Uh, so we

1:18

started shopping early. You're doing some travel

1:21

mm-hmm <affirmative>, it's very interesting. Uh

1:23

, back on episode, two way

1:25

back in August way back in August, we

1:28

talked with Chris Parsons, the e-commerce king

1:30

of Canada. Yeah. And he talked about those

1:33

two exact things.

1:34

I can't even believe it . I'm I think we should roll the

1:36

footage just to make sure that's what

1:39

he said. Should we do that? Yeah, let's

1:40

Take a look. Okay.

1:41

If you start connecting those dots, you at

1:43

to see the patterns of a shortage of

1:45

goods. Um, and I

1:47

mean, it , it really takes common sense too, right?

1:49

Like think about 18 months of COVID

1:52

what's the impact and trickle down effect in

1:54

all cross sectors of manufacturing

1:56

and building products. And now we're

1:58

just , we're gonna , we're gonna be a little bit slow

2:00

to the market with these things, I think anyways.

2:03

And , uh, I mean, that'll be, my advice

2:05

is shop early , um , or, you

2:08

know, you're gonna have to find another way to have

2:10

maybe it's not product, maybe it's trips

2:13

because the market's about open back up and everyone's

2:15

gonna take some vacation around Christmas time and that's their

2:17

present to each other.

2:19

We were so right. Uhhuh <affirmative> we

2:21

were not blowing hot air. <laugh> how

2:24

incredible that's

2:25

True . That that's true. I , you know, I , I

2:27

think it's, it's amazing that Chris

2:29

was able to , uh, to see that, that, that

2:31

just shows his expertise. Yeah.

2:34

You know, he ,

2:35

Because now supply supply

2:37

change shortage. That is a

2:39

that's how you said Christmas twister. Yeah

2:42

. Of the tongue , um, that did

2:45

happened . And I think it was like , uh

2:47

, late October is when new

2:50

, the news media really picked up on that.

2:52

Yeah. So , uh,

2:54

they were a little late to the game. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I mean, in

2:56

comparison to, to Chris's predictions, so right

2:59

. Uh, it, you know, I personally,

3:01

I felt a little bit lucky to have been able to

3:03

talk with him and kind of gain that insight.

3:05

He told you what's up. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

3:08

Yeah . Well, that's good. I mean, he, he did make

3:10

some other predictions. He did let's,

3:12

let's take a look at that one and see how right

3:15

he was. Or we were

3:18

<laugh> Matt . We can include ourselves. Yeah.

3:20

Roll that

3:20

Clip. Let's do it.

3:22

If products are, are slow to arrive

3:24

and they're not gonna come in until, you

3:26

know, some of them might not even make shelf until December, January

3:28

, uh , if they get into December they're

3:30

right on time. So they'll be great for dads who are last

3:32

minute shoppers. Um, but , um, from

3:35

a mom who's looking, if , if it's not in,

3:37

in the, the first, you know, couple

3:39

of weeks of November, I think everyone gets their

3:41

right after kind of, we have remembrance day here on

3:44

November 11th, and then everybody gets into Christmas.

3:46

But , uh, it's that kind of November to December

3:48

timeframe. If, if people are,

3:51

are not seeing the goods they want, they're gonna be in trouble.

3:53

And, and I really think that's gonna be a reality, that

3:56

stuff is coming. It's gonna come in

3:58

January. So I think what you're to see , and

4:00

no one's gonna call it out to the customer and

4:02

say, this is what's happening. But I think what will happen

4:04

is there will be events that retailers

4:07

make up. And what I mean by that is

4:09

they'll do a holiday promotion in October

4:12

or they'll, they'll now all of a sudden miss

4:14

Christmas. And then, you know, a

4:17

think tank will get together and they'll launch a , a

4:19

Christmas in January. Right. Because

4:22

they now have the good, so I think

4:24

retailers are gonna have to be creative.

4:26

Nailed it.

4:27

Nailed that one too. Yeah . Half

4:29

Of it, half TV ,

4:30

Half of it. No, that's true. Uh, you

4:33

know, when he was talking about January, we're

4:36

not in January yet, so we'll see what happens, but

4:39

in terms of, you know, shortages

4:41

of product on the shelves now , um,

4:45

yeah, he, he, he nailed

4:47

It. Well, you know, I

4:50

hope maybe Santa could bridge

4:52

the gap.

4:53

That's true.

4:55

Cause I don't know if his elves are reporting

4:58

inventory shortages or

5:00

demand . I mean, mm-hmm , <affirmative> who knows if they're

5:03

plugged into that.

5:05

I mean, I haven't read anything about predictions

5:07

in terms of, you know, what Santa might

5:09

be supplying here. Uh,

5:12

so hopefully he can fill

5:14

that gap. Yeah. And

5:17

I , but we're gonna find out, we

5:19

can ask I'm with this . We we're

5:22

gonna find out, we can ask him. Yeah.

5:24

Will Christmas be ruined this year

5:26

because of supply chain shortage, right?

5:29

Or will he and his elves in reindeer

5:31

save the day. Yeah, exactly.

5:33

<laugh> let's

5:34

Find out, well, let's not wait another Merry

5:36

moment. <laugh> and let's

5:38

get into it with the

5:41

real Santa Claus .

5:43

Yes. Who goes the real Santa Claus, AKA

5:46

Santa ed Taylor. And

5:49

he's our guest today on

5:51

this episode. And I am, I

5:53

could not be more excited to,

5:56

to talk with Santa. I think this is gonna be so much fun

5:59

On episode nine of we're not blowing hot

6:01

air, the real Santa Claus

6:04

who goes by ed Taylor or Santa ed

6:06

drops into the studio from the north pole to

6:09

spread his holiday cheer and share the

6:11

real deal about being Santa Claus,

6:14

a jolly guy with a big heart for kids, all

6:16

ages. Santa ed has more than 1

6:19

billion television and social media views

6:21

as Santa Claus seen on

6:23

Jimmy Kim alive and all the holiday commercials

6:26

where Santa actually looks like Santa he's

6:29

known as the greatest Santa in the history

6:31

of Santa's and has me convinced

6:34

he exists available virtually

6:36

or in Santa ed is

6:38

one gift that should be on everybody's

6:40

Christmas wish list . Spark up

6:42

your holiday spirit with songs and secret

6:44

Santa scoots about elves and more all

6:47

on this special holiday episode of

6:50

we're not blowing hot air

6:53

Santa ed. Welcome to the podcast.

6:56

Oh ,

6:57

Oh , oh , Merry Christmas. You

6:59

guys Merry

7:01

See you

7:02

Santa

7:03

Claus . How fun. So

7:06

Santa ed, AKA ed Taylor,

7:09

you're a real bearded Santa Claus located

7:11

in Hollywood, California, and also

7:13

available to everyone worldwide,

7:16

via virtual visits, the

7:18

Santa Claus portrayal artist. You consider yourself

7:20

an avatar of kindness

7:23

and goodness encouraging kids to

7:25

keep the Christmas spirit all year long.

7:27

The Santa Claus of more than 17 commercials,

7:30

including Chrysler Coles, ready

7:32

, whip bandaid, and overstock.com.

7:36

You've spread the Christmas spirit on several TV

7:38

show , including MTV's ridiculousness,

7:42

Jimmy Kimmel live , the doctors Nickelodeon

7:44

and the today show arguably

7:47

the most sought after Santa of all time. You

7:49

also make the time to train thousands

7:52

of Santas to be just like you through the

7:54

worldwide Santa Claus network.

7:57

How incredible is that? <laugh>

7:59

Well , thank you. I'm not sure if I'm the most

8:01

sought after anything or, or

8:03

how much I'm training people to be just like me.

8:06

I'm training to be the best them they can

8:08

be. I think, but I

8:09

That's. That's wonderful and , and

8:11

very humble of you. Well, let's, let's dive

8:13

in and just kind of find out how

8:16

you got your start portraying

8:18

Santa Claus . How did you get there?

8:22

<laugh> yeah, that , you know, it's an interesting question

8:24

because I , I certainly did not start

8:26

out to, to portray Santa

8:29

Claus at all. What really happened was

8:31

a friend of mine , um, who was

8:33

an active volunteer in our community

8:35

of Ashland, Oregon fellow by the

8:37

name of Gordon. Rhoda was

8:39

my friend and we did everything

8:42

together. Um , and , and , uh , anyway,

8:44

he volunteered himself to be Santa at

8:47

a local little fundraiser and

8:49

he came down sick and, and he called me

8:51

and said, Hey, can you fill in for me? You

8:53

know? And it was more like, Hey, could you , you

8:55

know , I could hardly hear his voice. He was , you know, and

8:58

anyway, it was like, oh , seriously,

9:00

you know, being Santa Claus that thought had

9:03

never, ever entered my mind, but

9:06

I rather reluctantly agreed to

9:08

, to step in. And,

9:10

And , and , and did you have a beard at that time?

9:12

I had a small beard, very trim. Okay

9:15

. Um, and you know,

9:17

they , they had rented a , a suit and all that sort

9:19

of thing. So I, I , I picked it up

9:22

and, and the next day put it

9:24

on and, and went into the , to the venue, which

9:26

was a , uh , it was a hotel lobby in

9:28

, in Ashland, Oregon. And there were all these people

9:30

waiting for Santa and instantly,

9:33

you know, the , the arms were go out, everybody's

9:36

smiling and wants to give Santa a hug. And

9:38

, and I had no idea what to expect, but

9:40

instantly I'm like, you know, Hey , this

9:43

is great. I'm ho, ho ho in and giving

9:45

everybody hugs and, and just

9:48

loved it. I mean, instantly just, just

9:50

fell in love with this. I thought this is the greatest thing

9:52

ever. And , uh , at the end of

9:54

the, of the time him , I don't know , a couple hours

9:56

or whatever it was. Uh , my wife had

9:58

come to pick me up and I,

10:00

I , I jumped in the car and said, which happened

10:02

to be by the way, a big red expedition, just

10:05

coincidentally <laugh> . But , uh , um,

10:08

I, I , I told her , I said, I just love this. I

10:10

I'll , I'll volunteer to do this everywhere.

10:12

That will have me. So I spent the next seven

10:14

years as a volunteer Santa

10:17

all over Southern Oregon and parades

10:19

and fundraisers for the hospital. And

10:21

, uh , even a , a visit for make

10:23

a wish foundation and , uh , the

10:26

homeless shelter and , and just everybody that

10:28

would have Santa and again, and

10:30

I just fell in love with it and continue to be in

10:32

love with it to this day.

10:35

Did you have a profession at the

10:37

time? <laugh>

10:38

Yeah, I did. I, I I've been a

10:41

, a small business owner , um , since

10:44

all , all my adult life really , um,

10:46

I had a marketing agency and , and little

10:49

company called the internet marketing group. And we

10:51

, uh, we, and I primarily, I

10:53

was a professional speaker. I went around

10:55

the country, speaking on internet market, two

10:58

small business groups , uh , well across

11:00

the us and Canada and , and occasionally overseas.

11:03

And you also have a hobby. You

11:05

had a , have a hobby, had a hobby. Were

11:08

you not a toy maker ?

11:10

<laugh> that toy

11:13

maker . Yes , indeed.

11:15

That is , uh ,

11:16

I mean,

11:18

Coincided . That was the beginning. That was that

11:20

. Then, then that has been a persistent

11:22

element . In fact,

11:25

Let me , we have a , we listeners,

11:27

we have a toy, it's a wooden, it's

11:31

a

11:31

Planes , a wooden airplane prop, turn

11:34

wheels turn .

11:36

Yeah. Wow . Did you that Santa

11:39

Claus ? I did. I did. Now

11:42

today. Of course, everything

11:44

is shifted, right. The whole workshop is

11:46

much more automated and we

11:49

even , you know , I don't know if I should say this, but

11:51

we even do some deals with some outside

11:54

manufacturers these days, some of

11:56

the GIY things okay . That they recognize

11:58

that maybe they saw in the store wanted , did

12:00

Santa make it just like that? Some of what

12:02

we do, some of what we actually, what

12:05

they call outsourcing <laugh> I

12:07

do the delivery . Yeah . Some of

12:10

the others who do the making <laugh>

12:12

And I'm sure you have some licensing deals and we

12:16

Dos, you know, everything has changed so much over the years,

12:18

so yeah . Yeah ,

12:19

Sure. Everything evolves everything and

12:22

it has to right. <laugh>

12:23

Well, how great. So you , you came from a

12:25

, I mean, you were a natural, you

12:28

could say about being with other people

12:30

and making them smile and, and happy,

12:32

and you have a , a trade skill that seemed to

12:35

fit the role of, of playing

12:37

Santa now, but let's

12:39

go back even further before that first

12:41

time you went into the hotel and, and had

12:43

your first Santa experience, what

12:45

was it like growing up for you as a young boy?

12:48

What , and specifically, what was Christmas like

12:50

for you?

12:51

You know, Christmas was all

12:53

, always a ton of fun. I, I

12:55

remember, and I , I suppose it is for every child.

12:57

Right. And, and hopefully all adults do , but

13:00

I just remember in , in our

13:02

home, my mom

13:04

was just meticulous in the

13:06

early days with the, the, the people

13:09

might not even remember this, but the Tensal that

13:11

you put on the trees the little, and at that

13:13

time it was like tin Tensal . And

13:16

, and they, it was, it was just

13:18

beautiful. She would , uh , the

13:20

family would go out and select the tree. We'd bring

13:22

it home. And it was kind of just like the

13:24

movies, you know, you'd tie 'em on the top of your car.

13:27

We'd nobody , we didn't have a truck or anything like that. Um,

13:29

we were I in Southern California at the time. And , um,

13:33

so, so the whole magic around

13:35

the holidays. And , and I remember to

13:38

this day, seeing the, the , the

13:40

bells and the lights that would go up on all the

13:42

street , uh , posts and all, all

13:44

the decorations that would go up as a community

13:47

and was just magical. And , and,

13:49

and then the, the, of course, the gifts

13:51

on Christmas morning, we had a

13:53

family celebration on Christmas Eve, we'd

13:56

have grandma and grandpa and the uncles,

13:58

you know, and other people coming to , to the house.

14:01

And , um, and then we'd

14:03

all exchange gifts amongst the

14:05

family. And then Christmas morning we'd

14:08

wake up and find the gifts, of course, that Santa delivered

14:10

and, and just loved it. Just, just, it was

14:12

just, you know , just like out of a TV show,

14:15

<laugh> you ? Yeah, yeah .

14:16

Magical. Yeah. Lauren, Lauren

14:19

has told me that, you know, she,

14:21

she enjoyed having her Jewish godparents,

14:24

you know, involved in Christmas and, and

14:27

yeah. And, and because, you know, it was , it

14:29

was inclusive and they brought a lot of presents. Right.

14:31

So , oh yeah. <laugh> great . And, you

14:34

know, for me as a kid, I , for

14:36

Christmas celebrations, I loved being

14:38

with like my mom's side of our, you

14:41

know, extended family. It was, there was just

14:43

so many people, you know? Yeah . And it was

14:45

just food and, you know, it was,

14:47

it was , everybody came together and it was just loud and

14:49

kids running around and everything, and it just, it

14:51

was just so happy. Everybody was just

14:54

happy and celebrating, you know, what

14:56

do you most cherish about Christmases

14:59

from the past?

15:01

I , I , I think it's exactly what you just said. It's,

15:04

it's those memories of the

15:06

family, you know, it , and yeah, I can kind

15:08

of remember some of the actual gifts

15:11

that I received. I , I know I had a

15:13

Pogo stick one year and , uh , and , and

15:15

, and that was fun. And we had hula

15:17

hoops, you know, that was fun. Um,

15:20

but, but it's, but what you really think about, well

15:22

, at least what I really connect with at

15:24

this point in life, looking back, it , it was,

15:27

it was the gathering, seeing the family that

15:29

you hadn't seen for a long time. The food

15:31

of course was amazing. I mean,

15:33

that was always that big part. I mean, it was things

15:35

that we would only have once a year mm-hmm

15:38

<affirmative> , it was just that , those Christmas special items.

15:40

And so, yeah, it , it really, it

15:43

really did impact.

15:46

And , and of course, you don't know it at the time. Right. At least I did.

15:48

And I , you know, just going through life , Christmas fun,

15:50

and then it's a, on the next thing. Right. And

15:53

as I got older, I , I grew up in Southern California.

15:55

I'd go surfing on, on Christmas morning.

15:58

And that was , became a little tradition of

16:00

mine just to go down to the beach a little cold, but

16:02

, uh, go out and catch a few waves in the

16:04

morning. Um , Santa surfs,

16:08

Santa. I love it .

16:11

But yeah, but, but it's at that family gathering,

16:13

I think that really is the most meaningful

16:16

and, and the most impactful over the course of

16:18

a lifetime.

16:19

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, you

16:22

know, so , well , speaking of impact, I mean, you're

16:25

also making an impact, you know, as

16:27

with what you do day to day , and, and

16:29

it sounds like you're, you're doing really like

16:31

what you're men it to do or something that's kind

16:33

of a calling for you. And, and

16:36

so you, you know, share Christmas joy

16:38

with, you know, at special events with

16:41

nonprofits , um, you do

16:43

in person , uh , and virtual visits.

16:46

Can you share a little bit about

16:48

that impact that you're able to make

16:50

via those, those D various things that you're doing? Yeah,

16:53

yeah . You

16:53

Know, well , thank you for that. And, and that

16:55

was one of the things that was really interesting

16:58

for me when I transitioned from

17:00

this kind of volunteer center

17:02

, I , you know, just an active community service.

17:05

And at some point I, I,

17:07

I kind of crossed over to become a

17:09

paid center , still doing a lot of volunteer work,

17:12

but, but I , I sort at accepting payment

17:14

for some of my appearances, and it wasn't about

17:17

me being Santa. It was about bringing

17:20

that Christmas spirit into people's

17:22

lives that, that, that smile

17:24

that people give you when they look at

17:26

you, you know, they , they just look and they smile and,

17:29

and you know, that it's, it's triggering

17:31

them back to these these

17:33

day days of, of goodness and

17:35

kindness and, and, and thoughtfulness

17:38

and generosity in their own lives. And,

17:41

and I love that. And I love being that, that

17:43

person, that people see,

17:45

you know, in , in a grocery store or

17:48

driving down the street and they look over and they see me and

17:50

they, and they smile, you know, and oftentimes I'll

17:52

wave or something like that. I

17:54

take a picture and it , it

17:56

just really means a lot to me to

17:58

think that, okay, I know it's a small thing,

18:01

but it's something it's something that I can do.

18:03

And, and kind of maybe bring a little bit of

18:05

light into some people's lives. So, yeah, my

18:08

experience has changed a little bit , uh

18:10

, in early , um , 2020,

18:13

where it would , it was an

18:16

every time occurrence, if

18:18

I would go to Costco or a

18:20

grocery store or something where people would come over

18:23

and , and wanna give Santa a hug or, or get

18:25

a selfie together, or have me make a video for

18:27

somebody in their family. I'd , I

18:29

mean, not occasionally, it happened every time. I mean,

18:31

every time I'd go anywhere, that was the

18:34

experience for me, which I loved. And,

18:37

and that stopped, you know, in , in the

18:39

spring of, of 2020. And

18:42

it was a , you know, it , it , it

18:44

was missed, I guess, is the best way for me to say

18:46

it. It was like, you know, people would still smile

18:48

and look, but every was so guarded,

18:51

Even with you as Santa huh.

18:54

Even with, even to you as Santa.

18:56

Yeah. You know, nobody would break that

18:59

six foot barrier, you know, and

19:01

it was, it was weird. And, and

19:04

it was , uh , it

19:06

was, it was a little saddening, you know , it

19:08

caused me to be a

19:11

wishful of , of , of the old days, you

19:13

know, when , when that wasn't the case. And, and

19:15

now to , to this, at

19:18

this point in time, it's

19:20

more people are a little more free,

19:24

you know, they seem like they're, they're talking more smiley

19:26

, more getting some pictures with the kids, but

19:28

still very guarded and , and , and probably

19:31

rightfully so, I guess, but , uh, but

19:33

yeah, it , it's definitely a , a different experience

19:36

being me than it was in

19:38

2019 and before,

19:40

Well, and perhaps with your marketing skills,

19:43

it seems that you've surely helped

19:45

, um, bridge that gap between

19:48

offline and online. You've

19:50

had more than a billion in views between

19:52

all the, the videos and social media

19:55

posts that you've done to reach people. I

19:57

, that that's gotta be amazing. And

20:00

do you wanna talk a little bit more about how you, you

20:02

offer that to, to people kids? Well,

20:05

Yeah. So what happened last year in 2019

20:07

is our 2020 rather was that,

20:10

you know, I , I felt really compelled when

20:13

I recognized in the spring that things

20:15

were gonna be different at Christmas time that we weren't

20:17

gonna be doing what we had always done.

20:20

And as Santa and families, weren't gonna be able to

20:22

visit Santa at the mall and all the other places.

20:26

Um, so I kinda discovered

20:28

, uh , uh , every

20:30

way that I could to extend my

20:33

reach and , and not only my reach

20:35

personally as Santa, but in our worldwide

20:37

Santa Claus network, we have over 4,000

20:39

members and I wanted to, to do

20:42

everything I could to teach them to

20:44

use technology so that we could still

20:46

spread the Christmas spirit and, and

20:48

do this thing that we love doing pro

20:51

portraying Santa Claus and, and

20:53

keeping that Christmas spirit alive. Um,

20:55

but, but to do it V virtually,

20:58

you know, and so many of us , uh, were

21:00

able to use zoom and other platforms

21:03

to have incredibly

21:05

fun experiences with

21:08

families and companies. I , I did tree

21:10

lighting, a tree lighting ceremony for a

21:12

university and appearances for

21:15

a couple of us , uh , embassies , uh , around

21:17

the world , um, all virtually

21:20

and I , I fell in love

21:22

even more in love with being Santa, but

21:24

being in SI with being Santa ver virtually

21:27

was just amazing. I, and

21:29

I received dozens and dozens of emails

21:32

from, from parents saying, this

21:34

is our new tradition. We love this. This is

21:36

so neat. So, so yeah,

21:38

I do feel like we were able to, you

21:41

know , me personally, I was able to connect with nearly

21:44

600 different people or

21:46

families and organization and , and groups and

21:48

so on. And as a community of

21:50

clauses worldwide, you

21:52

know, we were able to do tens of

21:55

thousands of virtual visits, which was really

21:57

neat.

21:58

So now that now you're a big time Santa

22:01

Claus , right? You're on all these TV shows, commercials,

22:03

you know, a famous actor and a

22:05

, and a symbol of Christmas, right. You've

22:09

also trained more than 4,000

22:11

Santas through the worldwide Santa

22:13

Claus network. Tell us about the training

22:16

program and also why you decided to

22:18

create competition for yourself. <laugh> yeah.

22:19

Right. That that's , <laugh> , you

22:22

know, my mission from day

22:24

one, when I, when I decided

22:26

to become Santa , uh

22:29

, in a more year round way and

22:31

actually being compensated financially for it,

22:33

and that sort of thing, the

22:35

first note that I made to myself is how

22:37

do I maximize the impact

22:40

of the Christmas spirit? What can I do to

22:43

maximize the impact of the Christmas spirit and,

22:47

and all these things started popping

22:49

off, you know, and , and it's like, oh, I can , I

22:51

can try to be on, on television shows and,

22:54

and , and do that, do it that way. Uh,

22:57

and then I looked at the community of Santas

22:59

and I thought, wow, you know, there's so many

23:01

ways that, that together we could multiply

23:04

our impact. And , and so , um

23:07

, and I'd been a long time trainer and teacher

23:09

cater that sort of thing. So it was just a

23:11

natural step for me to, to

23:13

reach out to people in the Santa community

23:16

and say, Hey , Hey , you know, do you wanna

23:18

work on ways to increase your

23:21

impact is Santa. And

23:24

a , a lot of people put their hands I've said , and

23:26

there , and , and so many of people in our community are

23:28

just like me, it's they a stumbled

23:31

into portraying Santa for the first time, you know,

23:33

roped into volunteering for a church

23:36

function or some other community event. And

23:38

they just discovered they loved it. And

23:40

then after a while , it's like, okay, how do I move

23:42

, do more of this? You know? And, and a

23:45

lot often times people retire and they finally have more time

23:47

and they , you know, so, so this , the,

23:50

the network training,

23:53

I didn't ever think of it as training my competition.

23:56

Although I do have to say that one of our members

23:59

on his very first audition for a television

24:01

commercial, he and I both auditioned and

24:03

he booked it to , and

24:07

he had never dreamed of doing anything like that before.

24:10

And , and , you know, until he came into the network. So

24:12

, but I don't begrudge any of that. I,

24:14

I welcome everybody to do all

24:16

of this stuff and, and

24:18

, you know, there's plenty enough of everything

24:21

to go around. Um, and,

24:24

and to me it's much bigger mission than

24:26

any one of us. It's like, let let's

24:28

just go out and make people smile and, and

24:31

, and try to bring some positive impact

24:33

to our communities. And, and I think we're doing that.

24:37

That's amazing. How do you teach

24:39

Santas to perfect? Their

24:42

ho ho , ho <laugh>

24:45

You know, that , that , that's a great question, actually,

24:48

because when, when we, when

24:50

people hire Santas, one

24:53

of the, the most common things

24:55

that they ask for is

24:58

someone who portrays Santa authentically.

25:01

And the first example they use

25:04

is I , I , I don't want somebody that

25:07

just says ho , ho , ho all the time. I

25:09

, I want it to be more real,

25:11

more authentic. And, and

25:13

so we do spend time understanding

25:17

that the, the ho ho , ho , that

25:20

is a laugh, right. It's part of Santa

25:23

being Joll . Yeah . And, and

25:25

it's not a , you know , ACA ho

25:27

, ho , ho , you know ,

25:30

That was wrong. What you just did. That was

25:32

a bad Santa. That was not a

25:34

Good ho ho , ho , ho .

25:36

<laugh> . So, okay . So it's more flowy,

25:38

like there's more di formatic , uh , breathing.

25:41

Do you teach breathing when you do the ho ho , ho

25:43

You know? Yeah. It's just more natural , like,

25:46

laugh. I think it , you want to be , oh , is

25:48

that good ? And you want it to be in the right place. Right.

25:50

So often, you know, when

25:53

we're coming up to, into a room,

25:55

we might just walk in ho , ho , ho

25:57

, like, oh , okay. That's okay.

26:00

But if we , if we come at it and say, I'm

26:02

so glad to see you all, you

26:05

know, it's a , it's a more natural

26:07

roll flow, I think .

26:09

Okay . So much better.

26:12

You guys were gonna put suits on you too . Yeah

26:15

. <laugh> , we're getting the training right now.

26:17

This is exciting. But like, when those, like, you

26:20

know, when a clown walks in and they're all clowny

26:22

yeah. Or like straight away without like, getting to

26:24

know you, or like letting them know they're not gonna like murder

26:27

you. Right. You it's the same thing. You don't

26:29

wanna stay in a ho , ho hoing at you straight away

26:31

. <laugh> like, come into the room and

26:33

then do the, the natural, the

26:36

natural ho ho , ho . Right . I

26:37

Think that's the idea be that's be

26:39

authentic with it. Yeah.

26:41

What , what other important lessons

26:43

Do you teach? I mean, you teach the , the authenticity,

26:45

the placement of the ho ho , ho what are, what

26:48

are the other important lessons? Is it,

26:50

is it, you know, do you , do you teach how to

26:52

deal with people who don't really know if they

26:54

believe in Santa? Is it kids? Is it,

26:57

what are some of the other things that you teach?

26:58

You know, we have hundreds and hundreds and

27:00

hundreds of hours of, of sessions,

27:03

right. Of on every topic under the Stu

27:05

sun storytelling, working with

27:08

families with special needs, working with adults

27:10

and children separately with, with

27:12

special needs. Um, the

27:15

, the , there , the beard care and maintenance

27:17

is an important , uh , topic that

27:20

there are so many of those things, but the

27:22

, the next, probably most common thing

27:25

that I hear from people who are bringing

27:28

Santas into their organization,

27:30

or even into a home party or something

27:32

like that is the , the Santa

27:36

looking grumpy, I guess, is the best way

27:39

to say it. And , and , and it's , and it's

27:41

fairly easy for somebody who is

27:43

real bearded and , uh , a

27:45

little older and, and that sort of thing

27:47

for their mustache to droop a little and

27:50

maybe be down over their, their lip and

27:52

their , and so they're

27:55

when you just look at 'em, they might not seem

27:58

jolly. And so part of learning,

28:00

I think to portray Santa in

28:02

an extraordinary way is

28:04

to remember, to smile and to

28:07

make that smile big and visible. And we

28:09

groom our mustaches up a little bit to

28:11

have that, you know, that Mar that

28:14

happier kind of a look, so that it's

28:17

just understanding that Santa Claus is

28:20

a jolly, happy,

28:22

old soul. Right. And that's

28:25

what we want to portray. And that's what people want

28:27

to see in Santa most of the time. And

28:29

we have to remember that, and sometimes our

28:31

default might be something different. And

28:34

, uh , and , and I , I tell Santas

28:36

all the time that the best

28:38

part of portraying Santa is

28:41

what you become in the process. It's,

28:43

it's about you becoming more

28:46

Santa , like every day of your life

28:49

and, and everybody benefits. I mean, your

28:51

family likes you more strangers

28:53

like you more, it , the , you know, Santa

28:56

is a pretty good guy, right?

28:58

<laugh> yeah, yeah. I've

29:00

been told I have a resting mean face. I would have

29:03

a lot of work to do if I was gonna <laugh> right ,

29:05

Right . That we have to get that default.

29:08

And once you do, once you reset some of your

29:10

defaults to a more jolly

29:12

demeanor , um , your world changes.

29:14

I mean , I mean, and I think your outlook

29:17

changes because people view

29:19

you differently. It , it's hard to be grumpy

29:22

if everywhere you go, people smile at you. Right. Yeah

29:24

. So there is a bit of cell of serving , um

29:27

, aspect of this. No

29:29

doubt.

29:31

Yeah . For sure.

29:32

Well, I think you are the

29:34

real Santa, and

29:38

I wanna know about the north pole

29:40

and what's going on up there. And I'm

29:42

curious, I remember writing letters when I was

29:45

a kid, but is that what kids are doing

29:47

now? Or are , are they texting you, do

29:49

they have an email address? How do they, how do they get

29:51

ahold of you now? You

29:52

Know, it , it comes in all ways these days, you

29:54

know, we do, we still get a lot of letters,

29:56

lots and lots of letters. Um, more

29:59

of them that are, that are printed these

30:01

days among many of them that , that

30:03

have , uh , uh , photos actually

30:05

right on the , on the document. So I

30:07

don't know if mom must be helping 'em with some of that. Um,

30:10

and some are just handwritten. I mean, so we still

30:12

get a fair number of those for sure. But

30:15

the, the wishes that come in via

30:18

text message, we get millions

30:20

of those as well. We're getting a lot of the

30:22

, of the text messages. And

30:24

very often there'll be , uh

30:27

, pictures , you know, Hey Santa, how about

30:29

, and you'll , you'll see several

30:31

, uh , little photos that they send. So,

30:34

so yeah , the technology is changing dramatically

30:37

and , and , and have to tell you that it's , uh , it's,

30:39

it's made our lives easier. A lot of

30:42

ways up here. Yeah.

30:44

I bet. I bet it , I bet it has. Well

30:46

, uh, if

30:48

there's anything that maybe has made it

30:51

a little more difficult earlier, Lauren

30:53

and I were talking about supply chain

30:55

issues, right. I mean, are you experience

30:57

any, any of that? Like, how's the morale in

30:59

the workshop right now?

31:00

You , yeah . Well, morale is good. It's a always good. I

31:03

mean , you can't the help . Right? Lot

31:06

. A lot of people know our , our helpers

31:08

up here, the elves and, and they are amazing,

31:11

just absolutely amazing. So, so

31:13

that part is good, but that doesn't

31:15

mean that we're unaffected by some

31:17

of the other supply chain kinds

31:20

of, of issues. So I , I think

31:22

we're are good. Um, but

31:24

we always every year get a lot

31:26

of last minute requests , uh

31:29

, hard to know exactly what's gonna line up

31:31

where, but I think that we're covered , um,

31:33

on, on all aspects of, of

31:35

that. Um, but, you

31:38

know, get your wishes in early that's, you know, like everybody

31:40

says, get everything done early. It's a good idea,

31:42

you know, especially this year.

31:45

So it sounds like the Alps have been starting

31:47

early and I'm curious, what

31:49

is their favorite toy to make

31:51

this year? And what's your favorite

31:53

toy that you're gonna give? I

31:55

know

31:56

The making of like stuffed animals,

31:59

the elves love that. I mean, you know, as

32:01

, as it's , it's old fashioned , I

32:03

know, and it's, you know, like a lot of these people

32:06

now they want tech games and

32:08

different things like that, and those are very popular. And

32:10

so are a lot of the, the , the dolls and the

32:12

other plastic kind of toys. But the elves,

32:15

I , I don't know if you've ever stuffed like a Teddy

32:17

bear or seen how that's done, but , but that's

32:19

a fun process. So, so that's probably the

32:21

most popular thing to do. Okay. Up

32:23

here , as far as working in the workshop, as

32:26

far as me, what would I like for Christmas?

32:28

Is

32:28

That what you , oh , no, no. What would you like to give of

32:31

all the toys in the , in the workshop?

32:34

Well, it all depends on, on

32:37

the age, I suppose, is to

32:39

what cause , because what , what I'm doing is

32:41

when I'm trying to give gifts, I'm trying to

32:44

anticipate, or, and oftentimes let

32:46

people, let me know what it is they want,

32:48

I wanna put a smile on their face. I want 'em to be

32:50

happy. So I don't know

32:52

that I have a favorite thing to deliver as

32:54

long as it's something that people like sometimes. And

32:57

in fact, very often I I'll deliver

32:59

a surprise, something that wasn't on somebody's

33:01

list and hope that, that, yeah.

33:03

Hoping that that surprises 'em and that

33:05

they enjoy that. Um , okay . Yeah

33:07

. A lot , lot of it is becoming technology these

33:09

days.

33:12

Very

33:12

Cool. Yeah. A lot of people wanting, wanting

33:14

different games that they can play on with,

33:16

you know, different tablets and that sort of,

33:19

and some of those are very educational as well, so

33:22

, uh , yeah , so they they're yeah .

33:24

Yeah. They are . No, that's, that's great. Yeah

33:26

. Okay. So , uh, so,

33:28

so speaking and, and kids are,

33:30

kids are great with technology and,

33:33

and they're also very, they're also very in tune with like,

33:35

you know, things that are trends

33:37

, big , big topics. Some because

33:40

it get , does get talked about, and then, you

33:42

know, so like one of those is the

33:44

environment. Yes . One of those is , uh,

33:48

you know, how can we, how can we help

33:50

our earth? Right. Right. And schools are

33:52

really, you know, trying to make that a

33:54

message as well. And which is great. So what

33:57

are your thoughts on global warming? Are you seeing

33:59

any effect X up in the north pole? Are

34:02

the reindeer seeing any effects? Like what are

34:04

you guys seeing up there? Yeah . Well,

34:06

So it , it's important to remember that

34:08

where we are one it's magical. So

34:11

we we're kind of protected from, from some

34:13

aspects of this, but the,

34:15

the ice sheets are, are thinning.

34:17

I mean, there , there's no question about that. We

34:20

are not directly impacted here at the

34:23

pool and, and at our workshop

34:25

and in our village. Um, but,

34:27

but, and , and , and so our reindeer, none

34:29

of that, nothing like that is affected.

34:32

Um, but at the same time, there,

34:34

there is an awareness and

34:37

a greater sense that there is

34:39

a shift in, in , uh , climate

34:42

and then things are warming , uh , a

34:44

little bit. And that the melting

34:46

is a little greater than it has been. So we

34:49

do wanna be conscientious of

34:51

, and be , uh , environmentally

34:53

conscious about everything that we do at every

34:55

age. And I definitely try to encourage both

34:58

the children and adults to be aware of that.

35:01

Well, we, we love that at

35:03

oxygen plus , uh , we're very

35:05

sustainable minded . Our products are also

35:07

a hundred percent recyclable after use.

35:10

So I think that's something that we care about a

35:12

lot at our company. We care about making

35:14

this world better than

35:16

we have it. And I

35:19

am curious, given that, do

35:21

you think oxygen plus would make an

35:23

incredible stocking stuffer?

35:25

You know, I'm thinking about that, that

35:28

, yeah. I'm thinking about that. The

35:30

, uh , the biggie bottle, right? <laugh> yeah.

35:32

The, oh , plus biggie.

35:33

Yeah. That would fill up a big stock. And

35:35

I have a seen stockings getting bigger

35:37

lately. It seems that they get larger and larger,

35:40

which oh, yeah. Seems a little greedy,

35:42

but you know , on our part,

35:44

not yours on our part. Yeah.

35:46

There's almost just as much that goes into

35:48

the stockings now is

35:49

Under the tree. You have to buy like $10 presents

35:51

to fit in which the biggie is just about

35:53

that price point. Um , right . Well,

35:56

that's awesome. I thank

35:58

you for endorsing it. I ,

36:00

I love it. No, I think it's a great idea. And I love

36:02

what you guys are doing as a company. And

36:04

it's a , it's a great, you know, it's a great thing,

36:07

oxygen, you know ? Right. I mean, it's fairly

36:09

important to us, right .

36:10

<laugh> , I'm sure you would probably need it when you're going

36:12

down the chimney with all that suit. You

36:14

could , you know , have a few puffs and just help really

36:17

help you recover. Right.

36:19

Have you considered bringing some with

36:21

you on Christmas Eve? You know,

36:23

when you're out there and trying to get

36:25

that

36:25

All done, maybe he's always done it. I

36:28

mean , we've been around since maybe that's true five

36:31

.

36:31

Yeah . We , well, yes. We , we

36:34

actually need to probably look at partnering

36:36

up a little bit more on, on some of this

36:38

stuff, but , uh, I do like it and I

36:40

, we have made deliveries and I, and

36:42

I'm sure it'll probably be , uh , more of them

36:44

this year, you know , especially

36:46

That's awesome music

36:48

to my Merry ear . Yeah , yeah

36:51

. Yes .

36:52

Yes. Well , thank you guys for doing what you

36:54

do with it .

36:55

It's helpful . Yeah . Thank , thank you. Santa's

36:59

thinking me . I love it. That's

37:03

funny. Well , um,

37:06

Scott and I would like to get in the nitty gritty

37:08

of being naughty and nice. Yeah . And we have

37:10

some even more burning Christmas

37:13

questions that we'd love to ask. Ready

37:16

. Sure . You're

37:17

Ready .

37:19

Have you ever, or have you ever

37:21

really wanted to put

37:23

coal in somebody's stocking

37:25

<laugh> now

37:27

I've never wanted to put coal in anybody's

37:30

stocking, you know, I mean, I had to a

37:32

few times, or I guess I didn't have to, but I chose to,

37:34

but, but I don't like it. I , I would

37:36

much prefer not putting coal and

37:39

, and anybody's stalking . Um, one

37:42

, one of the things that, that people have lost sight

37:44

of a little bit is I think is , is why I,

37:47

I do leave coal. I , I could leave nothing. Right.

37:49

And I'll tell you it'd be a whole lot. In fact, I

37:52

, I have some coal right here, actually. Oh , wow .

37:54

Oh , okay. Um , do you , do you use the

37:56

coal in the fireplace? Cuz some fireplaces

37:59

aren't really like anymore . Right .

38:00

And most aren't , that's what I say . So here's, here's actually a

38:03

little piece of coal that, that somebody's

38:05

likely to get this year, but, but it's

38:07

dirty. I mean, you can see it's, it's still on my

38:09

, my fingers every time I touch it or so

38:12

it's , it's messy. I prefer not to, to deliver it, but

38:14

I do. And I started delivering it

38:16

of course, as a, as a, a kind of

38:18

a metaphor reminder or for children to

38:20

, to have a warm heart. Uh , you know, we

38:23

used to use that phrase a lot more, but

38:25

, but there were children who were kind of coldhearted

38:27

they were mean and uh, and they

38:29

, they weren't following directions. And um,

38:31

so I, I started giving the call away in

38:33

the very beginning. Of course I added a little note that

38:36

explained that I wanted them to, to

38:38

, to think about having a warmer heart

38:40

every time they, they saw the colon and to keep

38:42

it somewhere where they did see it all the time. But today

38:45

I think a lot of people don't even know what coal is. Right,

38:48

right . But it , but it does , it , it , it , it

38:50

, it , it always serves. I , I hope for

38:53

those of few kids and the , a number of kids

38:55

who receive it are , is definitely declining

38:57

and that's a good thing. Um , but it does. And

38:59

hopefully it will serve as a reminder to

39:02

be more warm hearted. I know

39:04

people oftentimes think about the naughty and nice

39:06

list or being good and bad, and it's

39:09

really more about being warm, hearted, being kind and

39:11

consider it and thoughtful. Oh ,

39:13

I can , I can do that. Yeah .

39:17

Okay . All right . Okay. So next question.

39:19

You're obviously very well traveled

39:21

. You've seen the world, right? Yeah . Yeah . And

39:24

I would imagine you like to take

39:26

some vacation or some time off after Christmas.

39:28

Yep . Where are you and

39:31

Mrs . Claus thinking about flying next and

39:33

do you have to worry about getting recognized when you go there? Oh,

39:35

good

39:36

Question. You know, that , that is , that is an excellent

39:38

question. And, and very often people assume

39:41

that we're gonna get out of the north pole and we're

39:43

gonna go to, you know, Hawaii or

39:45

The Bahamas or some tropical location

39:47

somewhere. And , and, and we've

39:50

done that of course. But most often we

39:52

don't. Um, most often, especially

39:55

these days, we we'll just pick a little town

39:57

anywhere, you know, we might wind up in,

40:00

in San Diego or it might be Medford,

40:02

Oregon, you know, or, or , or Jacksonville,

40:04

Florida, or it might be up near Boston. We,

40:07

we just, we will and

40:09

, and other places around the world as well. And

40:11

we just like to go in and, and

40:13

spend some time getting to know some locals

40:16

and yes, we do get recognized,

40:19

but the magic happens because they , they

40:21

never know is , is that the real Santa

40:24

<laugh> , you know , get

40:26

a mystery, right ? There's a lot of

40:28

people who look like Santa floating around. And

40:31

the question always is , is that the real Santa?

40:33

Well,

40:33

Hopefully wherever you go, they don't hear

40:36

this podcast. They're gonna know that we now they're

40:38

gonna know the actual real

40:41

Santa and it is magical. My

40:44

, my next question is, and

40:46

I think about this a lot. Have you ever

40:49

slid down a chimney only to catch

40:51

a parent putting stuff

40:53

in a stocking ?

40:54

<laugh> , you know, I I've

40:57

, I've, I've went down a lot

40:59

of chimneys over a lot of years, and I've got all

41:01

kinds of weird things going on all day . Oh,

41:03

No. Like what, what's the, what's the NIUs

41:05

<laugh> well, the ones that are my favorite is

41:07

, is when somebody's still baking cookies, you

41:10

know, they're , they're , they're baking them late and, and

41:12

all of a sudden they're not expecting me and I didn't

41:14

check adequately and, and I didn't know

41:16

they were awake and they're , but that they usually

41:18

turns out pretty good, because I'll sit around, visit a

41:20

little bit, have a little bit of milk cookies with them

41:22

. Wow. Yeah. Right. Yeah

41:25

. That's happened. And , uh , I'm

41:26

Like , my mom wasn't lying to me. <laugh>

41:30

OK . Yeah . And , uh, and then

41:33

that's, it , sometimes I've even been caught by,

41:36

by families, you know, what , like even kids that were

41:38

, uh , but that happens very rarely,

41:40

but, but I have occasionally been caught by , uh

41:43

, a child who's actually spotted me. Um,

41:46

and very often what happens in

41:48

that case is they will go back to, we

41:50

have a little bit of Santa magic happening, especially

41:52

on Christmas Eve. And so they usually

41:55

go back to sleep and don't either they don't

41:57

remember, or they don't know if it was a dream or

41:59

if it was real life and , and , you know, so , uh

42:01

, so that, that, that magic

42:04

kind of helps there. But , uh, but as far

42:06

as other people stuffing stockings and

42:08

things like that, occasionally, you

42:10

know , I'm pretty good at , at timing at wherever

42:13

buddies asleep when we make our deliveries.

42:16

Wow . That's good . That's, that's , uh , that's real skill

42:18

there. That , that really is okay . One more

42:20

quick,

42:21

You know , we have a lot of homes to deliver to, so we're,

42:23

we've gotta get in and outta there pretty quick . Yeah.

42:25

Right, right . Understand . So you mentioned

42:27

the kids, I'm a dad. So I

42:29

like to ask parent questions. I think it happens on every

42:32

podcast, but yes. Uh , what

42:34

is the most challenging experience that you've

42:36

had with a kid?

42:40

Oh , the most challenging experience I've

42:42

had with a , a kid? Uh

42:44

, well, I'll tell you one that just pops to mind

42:46

was last year, I

42:48

was gonna have a, a virtual visit,

42:50

a , a zoom call with a

42:53

, uh , a mom, dad,

42:55

and a , and a young child. They were , it was their

42:57

first baby. And, and the , the baby was,

42:59

I , I think, 14, 15 months old, something

43:01

like that. And, and hadn't

43:03

had a nap and just would not, didn't

43:06

want anything to do with Santa and

43:08

just was , uh , ready for a nap

43:10

and not ready to , to

43:12

video chat with Santa Claus, but we

43:14

rescheduled and, and were able to talk

43:17

to 'em at a later time, loved

43:19

it and had some, some first words

43:21

and , and that sort of thing. Um, so

43:24

we , we just had a , a great time. Um

43:26

, and , and , you know, the , the young ones

43:29

that's, they call me, you know , Santa

43:31

Claus, maybe , but ho ho for sure. Yeah

43:34

. So , so , um

43:36

, yeah , you know, there , there's a lot

43:38

of things , um, you

43:40

know, every once in a while you get the , the children

43:42

who are a little bit apprehensive, not

43:44

so much on the video calls, but in

43:46

, in , in person where they're,

43:49

they're like, oh, I don't know. Should I, you know,

43:51

I'm little , little, little, little frightened,

43:53

a little tentative of going over you

43:55

and , uh , telling him what I want for Christmas or

43:57

sitting on my knee or something like that. Um

44:00

, yeah . But, but that, you know, it , it's,

44:02

it's few and far between, and if

44:06

everybody will just give it a minute and

44:08

let, you know, let the , the child, and I talk

44:10

for it , almost always, they come around

44:13

and, and we'll visit and, and

44:15

tell me what they want or Christmas. And we

44:17

usually tell 'em a couple little stories about the,

44:19

the north pole, or maybe sing a Christmas song

44:22

or two. Um , but they they'll, they'll

44:24

warm up after they give 'em a little minute. Okay

44:27

. Well, I've had to

44:28

Do that with some work calls myself,

44:30

just reschedule a cranky cry

44:33

person on the other end, or it could have been me <laugh>

44:35

. So , but I wanna ask more about

44:38

the wor you , so you've trained a lot of Santas through

44:40

the worldwide Santa Claus network. Yes

44:42

. And I also know about mall Santas,

44:45

probably some of them do that as well, correct?

44:48

Oh, yeah. Sure. Okay. So, and they , he

44:50

can make, I mean, five

44:53

digit income in , in

44:55

like matter of weeks, which is pretty phenomenal.

44:57

So my question is more about mall Santas. How

45:00

do you train to handle an anxious

45:02

parent who wants that perfect Christmas

45:05

photo?

45:06

Oh, great question. Yeah. As far

45:08

as the, the income, you know, I

45:10

know a lot of, to the

45:12

, I , I know hundreds and hundreds

45:14

and hundreds of Santas who work in malls and retail

45:17

locations and , uh , the vast majority

45:19

of 'em don't make anywhere near that amount

45:21

of money. But I do know that some of the,

45:24

the malls and so forth do place a

45:26

high value on an , an extraordinary Santa. Okay

45:28

. And they do pay well. Um, but

45:31

as far is handling the , uh, the,

45:33

the parents who want

45:36

just the right photo or, or that sort of

45:38

thing, it's, it's really

45:40

a matter of Santa

45:44

being really aware

45:47

of the camera and, and,

45:49

and having a great photographer there. But,

45:51

but given the camera, the attention, knowing

45:55

that, that when the, the child

45:57

say , uh , or maybe the children together,

45:59

when they both have the right look at the same time,

46:02

the cameraman will do their job

46:04

or the camera person do their job in snapping

46:06

that photo. But you don't want Santa

46:08

to be looking away or trying to get the

46:10

child's attention. Um, because

46:12

then as soon as they , the kids are both

46:14

looking in the right direction in the right time with the right

46:16

look, Santa's looking away. So

46:19

, um, there are some, I

46:21

, I guess, tricks or things that we've learned

46:23

after doing many hundreds of thousands of

46:25

photos that, that can help

46:28

make things easier for everyone. Uh,

46:31

and you know, sometimes it's good

46:33

for parents to , uh , to relax

46:36

a little bit, you know, it'll all work out good.

46:38

<laugh> yeah,

46:39

Yeah, yeah. <laugh> all right . My

46:41

next question. So you're a giver

46:43

you're always in demand and me hit up for

46:46

presents, you know, for, for other people. But

46:49

so a couple questions. What would you like

46:51

for Christmas this year? And what's

46:54

the greatest Christmas gift you've

46:56

ever received?

46:58

You know, well, let me start with that one. It's probably

47:00

a little easier the , uh , the

47:02

, the greatest Christmas gift

47:05

that I've ever received, and I'll tell you, it

47:07

wasn't designed to

47:09

be a gift, but it was the first year that I was paid

47:11

to portray Santa. And I was at a mall actually

47:14

working for Microsoft. We were giving free pictures

47:16

with Santa courtesy of Microsoft in

47:19

a mall in Los Angeles. And , um,

47:22

and I was coming out of a break

47:24

and a woman probably in her late twenties

47:26

or early thirties stopped me seeing me

47:28

walking back towards my set. And she said, can

47:30

I talk to you for a minute? And I, you know, sure.

47:33

So we , we stepped aside of

47:35

the walkway for a second and she said,

47:38

can , can I ask you what

47:40

I should do? And, you know,

47:42

and I'm thinking, well, this is interesting, you know, and

47:44

, and she didn't , you know, I mean, she

47:46

knew me from her childhood and been

47:48

Santa Claus, but anyway, we had this really

47:51

meaningful conversation about

47:53

her life choices and her career

47:55

choices and that sort of thing for

47:58

a few minutes. And, and this, what should

48:00

I do? Question that, that she asked me

48:02

that that year caused

48:04

me to give a whole lot of

48:06

thought to what should I do? What

48:09

should I do at this point in my life and where

48:12

I am, and in all aspects of my life.

48:14

And it's really what, what caused me

48:16

to move forward, portraying

48:19

Santa full-time year round , and pursuing

48:21

all the different things that I have. And it was

48:23

all because of that woman who, who, you

48:26

know , took me aside and just asked me what she should do. So

48:28

I thought that would , you know, the greatest gift

48:30

gift I've ever received as Santa

48:32

, as a , um , you

48:35

know , for, for Christmas, for that matter. Um,

48:37

cuz it's really had a wonderful, wonderful

48:40

impact on my life. And

48:42

your other question was what would I like for,

48:45

for Christmas? You know ? Yeah . What

48:48

you know, and I , I , I guess I get a little Phil philosophical

48:50

on some of this stuff, but what what's missing,

48:53

I think what we really need is

48:55

, is just a greater understanding

48:58

of each other, greater acceptance, just

49:00

, you know, we, I just, you know, peace

49:03

and love and all those things are great, but you

49:05

know, I , I just think we need to individually

49:08

say it's for

49:11

us to be different and , and still love

49:13

each other anyway, still be kind and

49:15

considerate and thoughtful to one another. It's

49:17

a , you know, I , I call the Christmas spirit love

49:19

expressed, right? It's the action of

49:22

loving. And , um,

49:25

and that's what I think is , is more in need

49:27

now than ever is, is simply that.

49:29

So I would just love to see more

49:31

and more people move in that direction

49:33

of being more accepting of others and more understanding

49:36

of others

49:38

Very well said very well said

49:40

. I was gonna ask you because this

49:42

is really a time of reflection that we're

49:44

in Christmas, the holidays,

49:46

and then new year's . I was gonna ask you,

49:48

what is your hope for our world this holiday season,

49:51

but you answered it that

49:53

,

49:55

Yeah , no , that really is it. That's awesome. You

49:57

know, I tell people, you know, to , to

49:59

me, and , and I heard this from a, from

50:01

a , a fairly sharp guy. I , I thought he

50:03

was smart anyway, but he said, love

50:06

is a verb, right? In, in

50:08

order for love to have any meaning, there

50:10

has to be action Associa with it . It

50:13

has to , you have to do something right. And,

50:16

and , and that's my view of the

50:18

Christmas spirit. You know, that what the

50:20

Christmas spirit is a wonderful thing.

50:23

When you do something, you

50:25

know, charitable giving is, is at an all

50:28

time high during the holiday season. And there , I

50:30

think a reason for that and multiple

50:32

reasons, no doubt, but there's, it's

50:35

this time of the year when darkness in

50:38

the world, especially here in the Northern hemisphere

50:40

kind of prevails, right? The days

50:42

are shorter. The , the there's more cold,

50:45

more darkness and, and the Christmas

50:47

spirit brings that light and hope to

50:49

, uh, to us all. And I think that, that's what

50:51

I , you know, hope, hope is a , is a , is

50:53

an important word and Christmas helps bring

50:56

that into people's lives. I think. Yeah

50:58

. Yay.

51:00

Well, I love that. Love it. Scott is

51:02

one more question. That's great . And then we have a

51:04

surprise for you.

51:05

Yeah. Last question is,

51:08

what is your favorite Christmas Carol,

51:12

Ah , favorite Christmas, Carol. And

51:14

then you asked me earlier about growing up

51:16

and we as a family, whenever we

51:18

would take a , a driving vacation, which is the only

51:21

kind of vacation we ever took. But if we were going anywhere,

51:24

we , that was a long drive. We would sing in the

51:26

car. My parents were, none of us were

51:28

great singers, but we liked to sing in

51:30

the car to pass the time and the most

51:32

popular song, I think in my little

51:34

family, my brothers, sister, and I and parents, it

51:36

was we three Kings, right? We

51:39

three Kings.

51:40

Yeah . Yeah .

51:40

Three Kings .

51:43

Okay . Yep . Mm-hmm I don't know that

51:44

One . That , that one was good , but

51:46

then there's all the other

51:48

, you know , the more traditional songs , the Rudolph

51:51

jingle bells,

51:52

Jingle bells. Well guess what?

51:55

Yeah . Famous , famous , fun . And yeah,

51:58

You may see little faces

52:00

popping up around us. J

52:02

visitors here . So we are going to give

52:04

our headsets over to

52:07

these four adorable

52:10

children who are just dying to meet

52:12

the real Santa. So here

52:14

you go. We gotta put headsets on you so

52:16

you can hear him, right

52:19

?

52:20

Oh my goodness. Look at you all

52:22

. Oh, I'm so happy to see you . Oh

52:25

, I love this

52:28

Go . All right. So

52:30

I'm gonna introduce you. Okay . This

52:33

is Hailey and Emma

52:36

and Preston and Paisley

52:39

Paisley. Oh , I love that. Well,

52:41

I'm so happy to see you all now

52:44

. Do you guys know any Christmas songs?

52:47

Oh yeah . Should we , should we sing jingle bells

52:49

? We sink

52:51

Jingle. I look

52:53

, you ready?

52:55

Jingle bows . Jingle

52:57

Balls jingle all the way. Oh

53:00

, what horse

53:03

? Jingle

53:06

bows . Jingle Jing. The

53:14

Yay . Yay .

53:18

I see that . Have oxygen plus

53:20

Bottles. You recognize that. Do

53:22

you ? Yeah .

53:23

<laugh> that's the only

53:25

Thing I saw.

53:27

Yep . Well, I tell you , I am so

53:29

happy to see you guys. Yep . This

53:31

, this is really, really fun. I'm

53:34

so happy that we're all here together. <laugh>

53:37

And you guys have a question you want to ask Santa?

53:41

Um , Hmm

53:45

. Do you work with

53:47

the LS when they make toys for you?

53:49

Well, I , I don't spend as much time in the

53:52

workshop as I used to. I , you know, they , they're

53:54

pretty busy down there and nowadays I

53:56

have just a lot of other stuff to

53:58

do. We have to practice with the , the

54:00

sleigh, make sure everything's working on that. It's

54:03

more kind of business stuff really, but

54:05

they , but we , we fortunately we have good helpers

54:08

down in the , in the workshop. Hey, you

54:10

know, I wanted to ask you guys a question. Um,

54:13

do you, do you know what kind of animals we have up

54:15

here?

54:16

Um , reindeers. Reindeer .

54:18

Yeah ,

54:20

We have , do you have penguins?

54:22

We have penguins are mostly, we have some, but they're

54:24

pet penguins, but most actually

54:26

live at the south pole. Okay

54:28

. Yep . Um , but

54:30

we do have a kind of bird. Do

54:33

you know what kind of bird do we have up

54:34

Here? The snowbird

54:37

Kind of , yeah. Let me give you a clue a little bit. It

54:39

says this.

54:40

Ooh . Oh

54:43

Yeah . Right . You guys are.

54:46

I like her . I think she has a question. She

54:48

has a question. Oh, good. Yes. You

54:51

seem , I can't remember. I'll tell her. I can't

54:53

remember it . I'll tell it for her. Okay . And it's

54:55

, um, she asked, when

54:58

you go into your sleigh , do you need a

55:00

blanket or not?

55:02

Well , um, you know, the clothes are

55:04

pretty, he , oh, you know what, in fact, I have my

55:06

head out right here. Like when I'm on the sleigh, you

55:09

know, I put the head on and,

55:11

and then of course I have my coat and everything on. And

55:14

uh , so it keeps me pretty warm. The

55:17

, so I don't usually, I don't usually

55:19

wear, I , I have a blanket in

55:21

the sleigh, but I don't use it most of the time.

55:24

I'm just wondering Santa, is that a cashmere

55:26

lines top? The fur of the hat is

55:29

that cashmere or wool? Like , oh , what kind

55:31

Of woo. This is wool. Yes.

55:34

Not

55:35

KRE .

55:36

Not CA not , not

55:38

Does Mrs. Claus wear wear cashmere ?

55:40

She does actually . I think we have a cashmere

55:42

hat over here too. Woo . Down

55:45

when an oxygen plus <laugh> , that's

55:48

why we have two . You always have a backup plan.

55:52

Um, yes, yes, yes.

55:54

But so we have a lot of stuff to keep it warm, you know? Well,

55:56

you know, when you live in cold air , you have stuff to

55:58

keep you warm. Of course. That's

56:00

What we do in Minnesota.

56:02

Yep . Exactly.

56:03

When you sleep, do you need a hundred blankets

56:05

on cuz it's very cold at night.

56:07

I'm sorry. Didn't hear you. Good.

56:10

Um, when you sleep, do you need

56:12

a hundred blankets on <laugh>

56:16

<laugh> no, we , we could taste

56:18

pretty morbid in our, in our

56:20

, in our home and in the workshops and everywhere.

56:22

Cuz we have a lot of heat up here too. Um,

56:24

we , you know, we'd like you guys, we have heaters. Um,

56:27

so we could , we could keep pretty toasty,

56:29

but we do have nice blankets too.

56:31

I sometimes I just like to have nice

56:34

blankets on and like if we go outside,

56:36

I don't know if you know this or not, but up here we have what

56:38

they call the Aurora bore

56:40

Ellis or, or the Northern lights I've

56:42

heard and up in our sky and they're green and different

56:45

colors that they're sometimes they're red and

56:47

we like to go out and watch those and just watch

56:50

'em in the sky. And , and then we'll take out a

56:52

, be bundled up and take out a blanket and

56:54

Mrs. Claus , you know Mrs. Claus, right ? My wife

56:56

mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah, we go out there and we watch the

56:59

lights and, and visit for a little bit and

57:01

talk about, you know , talk about,

57:04

well , we like to talk about the children like you guys

57:06

and how , how good you're doing, how proud we are

57:09

to see you guys doing so good, being so

57:11

kind and thoughtful. And so many

57:13

of you like you guys you're , you're like Santa's

57:15

helpers, you know, like when you, when you have old toys that

57:18

you kind of are , they're not worn out. They're

57:21

not like broken or bad, but you just don't you

57:23

just out grow 'em what do you do with them

57:25

? You

57:28

donate 'em right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah.

57:30

See you're sad . Helpers. Just write that they're you're

57:32

a giver. See, and I love that. That's why

57:34

we're so proud of you cuz , cuz you're doing that,

57:37

you know ? So they'll keep up the good work. Okay. A

57:40

question . Okay .

57:43

I , I have a question. How

57:46

do you get , um, in, in the

57:48

house without letting the alarm get on?

57:50

Yeah,

57:51

<laugh> right . You know, that's a little bit of the Santa

57:53

magic, you know? And in fact I have a

57:55

, our magic key right back here.

57:58

Um, and I know this doesn't look like

58:00

your house key, but this is the magic kind of key

58:02

that I can use to , to get in a , all

58:04

the doors and turns off all the alarms.

58:07

So, you know, I don't know what we would do

58:09

if it weren't for the magic. Right. We , uh

58:11

, and it's , it just really helps us do

58:14

a lot of things. It would otherwise be impossible, even

58:17

like delivering all those presents in one night, you

58:19

know, I tell people all the time, they ask me to say, well, what is

58:21

it like to deliver all those presents in

58:24

one night? You and I tell 'em

58:26

for me, it's almost like a dream. You know, I like

58:28

on the , on Christmas morning after I did

58:30

my deliveries and I , I take a

58:32

nap when I get home. And then when I wake up it's

58:35

like, did I really do that? You know, it

58:37

seems like, like it was just like a dream or

58:39

something, but I don't even remember like every

58:42

detail of it, but I just know all

58:44

the presents are there and I'm back home. So

58:46

I can tell you ,

58:48

I can do magic as I'm

58:50

, uh , imagine something too

58:54

magic . Huh ? Somehow .

58:56

Well, we might have future Santas

58:59

in

58:59

Our midst . I like that idea. That's

59:01

good. Yeah . A little bit of magic is helpful. All

59:05

Right . Every wish Santa

59:07

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,

59:09

Merry , Merry

59:09

Christmas.

59:11

Merry Christmas. <laugh>

59:14

thanks. You guys.

59:16

Santa Claus. Can you tell

59:18

people where they can find you not

59:21

the real you in the north pole? We have to keep

59:23

that secret, but just where they can find

59:25

Santa ed or at that Santa guy .

59:27

Well, Santa ed.com will

59:29

work that Santa guy.com

59:31

will work. They'll both take you there. Zoom

59:34

santa.com will work. You

59:36

know, I , I it's kind like Santa be

59:38

, you have to be a little ubiquitous, right? All over

59:40

the place at the same time. Multi-location

59:43

so yeah. Yeah. Santa ed.com

59:45

or zoom santa.com or, or

59:49

uh , that Santa guy.com

59:51

yeah. Check. Yeah, come visit. And uh

59:53

, yeah . Hope I hope we can visit with

59:55

some of your listeners.

59:58

We would love that. Yeah, we would love

1:00:00

that . Great . Awesome. Well , I hope our listeners share

1:00:02

or our viewers go look and see and, and

1:00:05

sign up and find you and share

1:00:07

this with their family. Like we had with

1:00:09

some of our family today. Yeah . And

1:00:12

Santa Merry Christmas to

1:00:15

you and to all anybody

1:00:18

a good night . A good night . Goodnight

1:00:20

. Hi , Go

1:00:26

right and review. We're an app . Hot air.

1:00:28

So more people are aware of wellness and

1:00:30

business stuff that deserves more oxygen and

1:00:33

subscribe to our podcast. So you never miss

1:00:35

an exciting episode.

1:00:36

Thanks for listening. But before we go

1:00:39

check out this episode's featured artist,

1:00:41

singer song writer , Stacey blue

1:00:43

, with her song, Christmas star.

1:00:50

If you can see it's

1:00:56

the wedding you

1:01:04

love cause of you

1:01:07

glow . And I love when

1:01:11

you found someone you want and

1:01:27

noise better hearts . Now

1:01:29

the winters on its way , be

1:01:47

you . Now , here you

1:01:51

my C I

1:01:53

love it . My

1:01:56

heart , no matter what you

1:01:58

, my

1:02:02

C I'm

1:02:05

hanging this . I , this miss

1:02:09

my heart is being louder than

1:02:11

a drum . When I see we'll

1:02:14

get some normal weight and playing

1:02:16

, and I'm saying you

1:02:19

are wrapped up and you love , and

1:02:21

I love Christmas . When

1:02:24

you found someone you want the

1:02:31

, the

1:02:33

season and noise

1:02:40

that a hearts make now thes

1:02:43

on its way. You

1:03:02

now here , youre . My C

1:03:06

I love you . You

1:03:09

my heart , no matter what

1:03:11

you , you

1:03:15

, I

1:03:19

, no

1:03:23

.