Every December, Santa Claus literally does the impossible. He delivers presents all over the world with a team of flying reindeer. So when someone becomes a stand-in for Santa at your local mall, or work party, those are big boots to fill.
But as it turns out, being Santa is a teachable skill.
Susen Mesco founded in Denver in 1983. She says more than 5,000 Santas have attended over the years. And that means she has four decades of expertise in getting your local Santa acting and looking his best.
Susan got her start back in 1982 when her event planning business got an offer to train and manage some Santas at local malls. And she saw a lot of room for improvement. "I went around spying on my competitor, and what I actually found was everything not to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ommies were miserable. Children were being forced at Santa. Santa was cranky and slouchy, and his beard was falling off. So I went to work writing kind of a manual.鈥�
Host Erin O鈥橳oole talked with Mesco about what makes a great Santa, the extensive training her school offers, and how she trains Santas to answer particularly tough questions from kids.
