Shortage of Nurses, Doctors … Santas?
‘There are more opportunities to be Santa but fewer candidates,’ say experts, as they explain that being Santa is no longer a case of sitting in a chair in a mall or retail store
By John Addyman
The job requirements are pretty simple.
You have to be nice, someone who likes people. You’re expected to show up for work with a round belly, a hearty laugh, plump cheeks and a full beard — the whiter the better.
And jolly…you have to be jolly and like cookies.
Put on the red suit, remember your knowledge of reindeer and Saint Nicholas legends and you’re ready to step into the world of being Santa Claus.
And this Christmas season, there won’t be enough of you.
“We recruit all year trying to find Santa Clauses,” said Mitch Allen, the head elf of Hire Santa, a company with close to 5,000 Santas from all over the world in its database. “By the time we got to October, we were sold out of Santa Clauses for weekends. There’s a great need for Santa Claus entertainers, someone who appears as Santa Claus professionally.”
As an example, Allen said he was walking through the Los Angeles airport “and there was a guy sitting there. He had the belly, the full beard and he seemed jolly. I told him who we are and now he’s on the road, with the right training, to be a great Santa.”
That road toward being a successful Santa doesn’t have to be long, but it’s important to make the journey.
Because being Santa isn’t so simple anymore.
More opportunities
“There are more opportunities to be Santa but fewer candidates,” said Ed Taylor, founder and head Santa at the Worldwide Santa Claus Network that trains guys to put on the suit and embody the beloved symbol of the season.
It’s no longer a case of sitting in a chair in a mall or retail store.
“Santas are going to preschools, for example. It happens all the time,” Taylor said. “They’ll invite Santa in. He’ll read some stories and answer questions. I don’t think that was common 10 years ago.
“Now we have breakfasts with Santa at country clubs. We’re seeing this awareness that Santa can show up at people’s events, at home parties, homeowner associations, country clubs.
“We have many photographers around the country who set up what they call ‘mini-sessions’ where children come in and visit with Santa for 10-20 minutes, then kids go to different stations to get photos with Santa in different environments — baking cookies with Santa or reading mail with Santa. These things just didn’t exist a few years ago. There’s this whole evolution of events that Santa can now be a part of. I think that has had a large part in the increase in demand.”
Allen agreed.
“We’ve never not needed Santas and this year there’s more need than ever — more companies, corporations and organizations are using Santa to associate their brand with, more than ever before,” he said.
Seventy-year-old Taylor, the founder of Santa at the Worldwide Santa Claus Network, was a much younger man when he first donned the mantle of Santa. “I got a call from a friend of mine who was sick. Would I fill in for him as Santa? ‘Santa Claus? Me? Really?’
“I walked out of there after being Santa for two hours and told my wife when I got home, ‘I loved that. That was so much fun! I’m going to do that every chance I get!’ And here we are, 21 years later.”
The average age of most Santas is 65-70, Taylor said.
“Retired guys, guys who are looking forward to having a little fun and doing new things,” he said. “My first paid Santa Claus appearance was in Los Angeles, where all the kids working in the mall were aspiring actors and actresses. They all said, ‘Hey, you need an agent. You need to get on TV.’ I’d never given that a minute’s thought. The next year I got an agent and I’ve now been in dozens of commercials and television shows and a couple of movies and music videos. Who knew? It was something that came up in my life that I never would have imagined. It’s been a ton of fun and financially, it’s been rewarding as well.”
Allen and Taylor both point out that a Santa “entertainer” can make a living modeling, appearing in music videos, commercials, movies and on stage at corporate functions (to help hand out bonuses or awards). “A lot of company parties invite Santa Claus to come in and very often, there are no children attending.”
Professional Santas generally need some educating before reaching that status and success, and the person responsible for getting all that started was Charles Howard, a farmer from Albion in Orleans County. He decided, in 1937, that the Santa Clauses he saw were damaging the image of the true spirit. Howard saw tattered uniforms and uninformed Santa Clauses wearing them and took it upon himself to upgrade everything.
Howard started the Santa Claus School in Albion, which was taken over by Nate Doan in 1960 and moved to Michigan in 1968.
Tom and Holly Valent run it now, welcoming more than 300 prospective Santas for a three-day October weekend each year.
The CWH Santa Claus School subjects mirror in person what the Worldwide Santa Claus Network does online:
• History of Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus
• Proper dress and use of make-up
• Radio and TV interviews
• Voice and presentation skills
• Visits with children
• Business tips
• Marketing advice
• Reindeer
• Keeping Santa in shape
The Michigan course also covers practice Santa flight lessons, Mrs. Claus, making toys in person, baking cookies and the year’s newest toys and gadgets.
Worldwide Santa Claus Network teaches its certificate curriculum through nine 90-minute videos and one of those sessions is specific to participating in videos and video messaging, which Taylor said are becoming more and more popular. Coursework specifically covers community events (tree lightings, parades), how to work a corporate Santa appearance, story-telling, welcoming special needs children and promoting local events on TV.
Beyond those nine “core session” video trainings, Worldwide has more than 300 specific on-demand videos that include training for the entertainment industry, social media (“This has become a very big thing,” said Taylor. “Some Santas have more than a million followers on social media; they’ve become influencers.”)
“Some of our Santas are brand ambassadors,” Taylor said, “where we represent brands or not-for-profit organizations in making their social media videos.”
“A lot of what we do is online,” said Allen. “There is a Santa Claus community; these guys identify as Santa Claus, wear red, the vehicles they drive are red and they have a full beard year-round.”
“The guys who have the heart for it, they’ll just love it,” added Taylor. “They are, for their communities, just the best thing ever to help portray Santa. I think it means a lot to people to be able to do this. And the demand — I hate to have to tell someone, we reached out to everyone we know and we just couldn’t find a Santa for you. That happens every year.
“I’ve gotten several letters from the wives of our Santas saying, “Thanks so much for giving my husband something to do. He made enough money to take us on a cruise or put a new roof on the house.”
Getting training
Getting the training and the uniform isn’t expensive. The weekend class at the CWH Santa Claus School on Midland, Michigan, should set you back less than $2,000 including fees and hotel. But take a look at some of the photos from years past and it’s clear this is an experience you don’t want to miss.
Worldwide, on the other hand, offers its certificate program for $247 and you don’t have to fly to Michigan.
“We get hundreds each year who go through our classes,” said Taylor. “We get a pretty significant number of people who go through our on-demand videos every day. That’s the beauty of online. I had a guy tell me his wife was in the store shopping and he was in the truck watching one of our videos.”
Looking like Santa is an investment. You can get a simple off-the shelf suit for less than $300, but the suits that will be offered to the professionals at the Santa School are more than $1,000, plus boots and gloves, etc. Taylor noted that in the right dress, “a Santa can be extraordinary.”
Hire Santa is in the business of doing just that. Your profile, photo and background check are put in the company’s database, which has 5,000 Santas in it and you get matched to job opportunities.
“On Facebook, we have dozens and dozens of Santas and Mrs. Claus,” he said. “It’s a community where people can ask questions and learn from other Santas.”
“Through our marketing efforts, we find out there’s a Santa needed for a holiday parade in Rochester on Dec. 6,” Allen explained. “They want a real-bearded, real belly, jolly Santa. We reach out to perspective Santas in the area; explain the opportunity and the pay. We send the client your information, they decide you’re the right one and a week after the job, you get paid.”
Worldwide Santa has weekly programs available to people who have signed up for the certificate programs.
“We also book Santas for appearances, primarily in the U.S. and Canada and occasionally overseas,” Taylor said. “We don’t hire directly, we’re a liaison between the people who do the hiring and the Santas. What we do if someone needs a Santa at a certain location, day and time, we let the community know that opportunity is available and they can make a bid for it, a proposal for it.”
“Being a Santa is an ongoing process,” Santa Taylor summed up. “It’s a great community to be part of. Our Santas learn so much from one another and, of course, there are always new things — like how artificial intelligence is developing and all these things that are new every year.
“So many of us, like me, got roped into being Santa and found themselves just falling in love with being Santa.”
Want to Become a Santa?
Here are some companies that offer training and placement:
• Hire Santa LLC: www.hiresanta.com
• Worldwide Santa Claus Network: www.worldwide-santa-claus-network.com
• Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School: www.santaclausschool.com