Hello everyone and welcome to the Within Range Coaching podcast. I'm Ranger, certified holistic
success coach, and in this podcast, I'm breaking down the journey that entrepreneurs face as
they start their organization, find solutions to the roadblocks in their way, and create
an impact that lasts. So if you're an entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, or purpose driven community
member that wants to learn how to grow your impact and develop yourself as the person
behind the mission, then this podcast is for you. I know you're just as eager to get started
as I am, so let's jump right in. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, everybody.
And welcome to today's episode of the Within Range Coaching podcast. Continuing on with
my series of the folks that I meet on my walk across America, the entrepreneurs, nonprofit
leaders, community members that are helping make it possible. And today I'm joined by
a married couple duo business, I don't know, super cool community members that actually
helped me out in the Oxford, Mississippi area. And I don't know, I feel like at this point,
my podcast is just me talking about how cool Facebook and social media is. But what was
I made a post on the like, what's happening in Oxford page that I was coming through.
And it just kind of blew up. There was a bunch of people offering help and assistance and
giving advice and letting me know that there was a big concert happening that weekend.
And suddenly made sense. Yeah, why there was no more hotels available for the day that
I was getting in. And I noticed that this woman commented on there and said, you're
more than welcome to stay with us. And it kind of got lost in the sea of other people
that were offering places to stay. And then somebody replied to that and said, Oh, they're
the best Mr. And Mrs. Claus in the country, blah, blah, blah, you'd be so lucky to stay
with them. And that caught my attention. And I said, there's a chance I'm going to stay
with Santa Claus. So I reached out to her, reach out to Camille, and I don't know, got
in contact with them. They let me stay in their airstream for a night, took me out to
dinner. I had my first crawfish boil. Yeah. So I got to do that and ended up meeting Mr.
Kent Breckenridge, but I'll let them kind of introduce themselves. But today we're joined
by Camille and Kent Breckenridge, Santa Breckenridge and Mrs. Claus. How's it going you guys?
Good. Good. We're glad to see your face again. We've been following you, of course, on your
socials and everything since we met you and you stayed with us. So we've just been keeping
up with you. Yeah, we're we're very proud of what you're doing. Yeah. Just yeah, it's
great to kind of be able to kind of follow somebody doing something good out there. And
we certainly appreciate everything that you're doing for folks. For sure. So that means a
lot. Well, I appreciate that you guys. And I mean, I can definitely say the same thing
for you guys. And I don't know, it's always funny whenever I tell people about the different
folks that I've stayed with, like, oh, I stayed at a bird sanctuary. I stayed at a and some
Army veteran shed for a few nights. Oh, I stayed with Santa, you know. So I show them
your pictures. I tell them a few of your guys' stories. And I'm excited that I can finally
direct people to our episode because I feel like I'm butchering some of the stories. They're
so they're so I don't know, I feel like a couple of the ones that you guys have told
me were impactful. And yeah, it's just nice finding other folks that are doing good in
the world. So, you know, the funny thing about stories, and also the great thing about stories
is that every time someone tells it, you know, something else is is emphasized because you
heard or something stuck you that was special to you. And in a story, and it might be something
else next time you hear it. So the fact of you telling a story from your particular viewpoint,
you know, is going to resonate with somebody else. So it's not that you butchered it. It's
just your take on what we do. Yeah, for sure. So you're the best Santa. I don't know about
that man. But we love everybody. Yes, we love being Santa and Mrs. Klaus. We really got
started because we can't started really before I did, I was still working a in my career
full time, and had not retired yet. And so he was working a corporate job. And at the
corporate level, they decided to do the no shave November. For their across company,
you know, everybody could sign up and then get people to, you know, help donate and do
that nationwide or whatever in their note, I was clean shaving, she had always told me
she wanted me clean shaving. And that's true. And matter of fact, I had some hair at first
when we when we reconnected. Yeah. And she says, I really don't like that. Would you
say I don't like my clean shaving for quite a few years when this came about? That's right.
Which is so funny, because right now I'm staring at you and you got the full on beard like
down to your chest. Like it's for sure. I wish I did more with the video for the podcast,
because I think that's like, yeah, you can be clean shaven. It's just this giant. Well,
sure. Maybe some other time and I can put a picture up there the clean shaven guy. This
one. Perfect. Recognize it to carry the clean shaven guy on my driver's license. Oh, my
gosh. Just the jack with people. I just renew my license online and keep this old thing.
And then they wonder who the heck stole this car. You know, it's it's grandpa took this
kid's car. He did look really young. I do have a baby face. Yeah. So he just grew out
of beard during that time for a month and he his beard goes fast. And so he grew out
of beard and my our daughter and I both said, oh, we like it. You know, yeah, you can keep
it for a little bit. Whatever. I mean, didn't look nearly as bad as, you know, I was envisioning
or whatever. And I kind of grew to like it. And so he just kind of kept growing it. And
a little bit later, she our daughter was like, you need to be Santa. I mean, like, look at
this beard. It was great. Our daughter bought it hook line. Oh, yeah. Sure. For sure. Start
taking selfies. Yeah. Hashtag guys. Beard goals. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And it kind of
just evolved from there, honestly, which is sounds crazy. But on the next year, rolled
around and several other people throughout the year, like just strangers we met people
from our town where we were living at the time just said, oh, my gosh, you look like
Santa or you should play Santa or, you know, just kind of saying funny things to him. And
a couple of people were like, I need to get you to be Santa for my grandchildren this
year. They're coming from out of town, you know, for Christmas or whatever. And it just
kind of evolved from there. And the first year that he was like, OK, I mean, I'll do
it for these neighbors of ours. They're like, he's like, OK, I'll do it for this neighbor
and their grandkids, you know, and he just was hooked. I mean, he loved it. He absolutely
loved it. And he was like, oh, I might like this. And so he kind of fell down a rabbit
hole of just researching and things to do and how to, you know, do it and what to wear
and all this kind of stuff. And he went really traditional with the like Coca-Cola classic
suit the first year. And he was like, man, this is a lot of fun. And I did not do anything
with it. I was just helping him get dressed before it was time to go. And the next year.
So he only did one or two little things that year, spent the next year really researching
it and then did a couple of things the next year.
That was when we also went to. Yes. Went to school. Yes. That's what I was going to say.
So while he was doing his research, we went to the Charles W. Howard Santa School in Midland,
Michigan. And it is the oldest Santa school in the United States in the world, actually
in the world. OK, there you go. And they really spent we spent a week and learned about what
they call the heart of Santa. So how to storytell, how to work on your Santa character, meaning
if you like, for instance, there were some men there that were like cowboy Santas and
there were Santas of different ethnic backgrounds. And so how they did, you know, their Santa
portrayal and there were classes, little sessions for Mrs. Claus. And there was a
gentleman that came over from Denmark and he was a Santa over there. And he brought
stuff and taught people how to sing some of his stuff. And then there was a guy and I
cannot say his name. It starts with an I. And it's about that long. But he was from
Israel and he was a Santa over in Israel. And apparently, even though there's a large
Jewish community, there's still quite a few people who would like to kind of join into
that celebration during the year. And it's kind of a fun thing for the kids. So, yeah,
I mean, you get to see some cross sections. We saw a couple from South America. Those
gentlemen came up. So it was really a world. I mean, just people came from all over the
world to this school. Yeah. So once we did that, we really were kind
of both all in. He we took off a little bit of time. He had some health issues one year
and it took a little time to get those addressed a couple of months. So we didn't really do
a lot. And then he kind of dove in. I mean, he was all in and booking different things.
I helped a couple of times. And then once I retired in twenty twenty, I went full time
as well. And we started booking together. We pretty much and now we only book as a couple.
And he can tell you about why that is. So then when the health thing, you know, one
of the one of the top guys knew that we were trying to really work and excel and all of
this. He's very well known in the community. And he had written a book called Santa ology.
And it's a great big book, but it goes through all kinds of things and stories about how
you go around the world in one night. And it's actually not one night. There's several
nights and the stuff because not everybody celebrates on the same night throughout the
world. So there's all of this stuff that goes on with it. So you can help to build your
stories and stuff and build your own North Pole with your characters and everybody else.
And it helps because really, when you put that suit on and when she dresses up, everything
we do from that moment on is completely unscripted. It's improv. It is. So we you know, that was
one of the big things we learned was that you have to be very skilled in improv. And
we knew nothing about that. So it really equated to the fact of being able to think quickly
on your feet, which is improv. We just didn't know what we were doing at that time. And
we finally got there's a name for it. Yeah. Yeah. And we finally got because she had to
think quick because the kids come up to you. What's my name? What's my name? What's my
name? What's my name? You're supposed to know my name. What's my dog's name? What's my else
name at home? And all of this stuff, you know, so you have to think very quickly and you
have to be able to counter these things. And at the same time, keep the magic alive. So
very much. Very much. Yeah, it's very much a yeah, it's very much a cat and mouse game
almost. Yeah. So well, we work well together. And I think my I mean, well, I know for sure
my 25 plus years in education working with children of all ages helps us a lot because
pick up on a lot of cues maybe that sometimes he misses and he catches things that I miss.
And so we do play off each other really well. And we, you know, work together. And so I
think that's a lot of it. And his thing is always well, first of all, we just enjoy being
together and hanging out all the time. But he likes to tell people that well, he decided
that Mrs. Claus was she did not need to hang out at the North Pole all the time that people
needed to see her too, and that she likes to travel. And he asked me about her. So why
not? So yeah, and I tell people that I outsourced all the cookie making and to the elves. And
so I get to travel to so and see people. So it's a lot of fun. I think we work better
together than we do separately because we're able to help each other. I might pick up on
something a child said before they ever came to us. Or he might pick up on something an
adult said, and then we can play off of that. And we can feed that information quietly to
each other. Yes. So that if I hear the child's name, but she didn't, I can say this is so
and so, or the parent says this or something. So when the greeting comes, it's instantly
because the parents are back in line, they don't realize that we're all listening. So
when we do that, then it's like, Oh, my gosh, right there. And then typically, if we know
three or four pieces of information that a that a parent or a friend or family member
can share with us before that child gets to us, we can keep we can keep a child that's
maybe kind of on the edge of not believing anymore. To help them keep the spirit of Christmas
alive. It's not about Santa and Mrs. Claus. It's about the spirit of Christmas, which
is not one day a year. It's all year long. Yeah. And that's what I was gonna ask you
guys in our work about is you keeping that spirit alone all year long. Yeah. Yeah. And
I mean, but this episode is going to go up in June or July. So I mean, that's the whole
point, right? Is that this this cheer being a good person, like these aren't things that
you just do the week leading up to Christmas and the day after it's it's year round. Nothing.
To love on somebody to give them a hug, to give them a smile, to say something nice,
to do something nice for somebody. It costs you nothing, except for time and an open heart.
And that's all it cost. And anybody can do that. So that's what you know, we see as an
opportunity like when you when your post went up, you know, Camille felt that it was a strong
thing. And she says, Yes, this guy's doing something really cool. Yeah, look at this.
Yeah. She says, I think I'm gonna offer a night for him to stay stay with us in the
air stream. I said, Okay, honey, if you're if you're cool with him, I am too. And then
we get to meet you. You know, so it was just the fact of us doing something random but
was made it Yeah, yeah. And again, I appreciate it. Nicest airstream I've ever stayed in.
Hey, listeners, if you're finding this episode thought provoking, and you're wondering how
to take what you've learned and your own experiences to help others, I'd love to chat with you.
Let's dive into a coaching call. And your first one is on me. Just head over to the
link in the show notes labeled coaching call interest form, and we'll set up a time that
works for both of us. I can't wait to connect. With that, we've touched on it a little bit,
but just as like a more pointed question, what does it really mean to be Santa and Mrs.
Claus? Like at the like you talked earlier about the what like the heart of Santa like
for you guys? What does that mean? Well, what I look at is that, you know, people ask me
all the time, are you really the real Santa and us and I and I don't say yes, I don't
say no. I just say I represent the spirit of Christmas, which is peace, love, joy and
happiness. And a glimmer of hope. It might be having a hard time. And so and it might
be a bad day, it might be a bad month, they might be having a bad year. But doesn't mean
it's a bad life. So we're there to let people know that there may be strangers out there
that care about them more than they care about it, that they matter. You know, and when somebody
thinks that they don't, and we've run into some really difficult people, you know, situations
where people needed. They needed a lot. They needed some love. They needed an arm around
them. They needed someone to to sit there and say, you know what, that's tough. You
know, and and just just to listen. And that's that's a lot of it, man. Yeah, I mean, it
really is.
I think that's one reason why we focus more on the the events that we do the gigs that
we book, where we are able to spend more time with each child, we can take two or three
minutes rather than 30 seconds, you know, there are a lot of places where you can go
and get your picture made with Santa like at big box stores, right? You could they have
a display and you can go and get your picture made with Santa. But we want to interact with
the children, with the families. So for us, the the events that we choose to be a part
of, we are able to spend time to ask questions, have the children talk to us, have the families
talk to us. There are many times a parent will let us know, you know, like as they walk
up, my child has, you know, special needs. So we really are very conscious of that and
very aware of those situations. So we try to do everything we can to make the child
feel comfortable.
She's much more cognizant of that because of her time in teaching. I knew that there
was something of there was there was something I needed to know and I didn't feel equipped.
That was one of the main reasons that we went to the Santa school is that I needed to understand
how to be more equipped to work with situations like this, where there was an adult or a child
that might have some sort of special needs. We've got a lot of neurodivergent children
and adults that we deal with. And, you know, you have to figure out how to which is one
of the reasons that we've transitioned a lot of our our costume or our our wear is because
red. And some of those colors are triggers. So you may not see me in quite as much red
as in the beginning. You know, I'm not going to wear that huge red coat and all of that
kind of stuff most of the time. It's certainly inside. You know, I'll have my hat off so
that somebody can see I got hair and that I'm a real person and I'll wear a really nice
puffy shirt that, you know, Santa would probably wear in the workshop and I'll wear a nice,
you know, super cool vest, you know, so that people see that in my big belt and my buckle
and my boots and stuff. So it's really it's it's really pretty obvious who I am. It's
just that I'm wearing something slightly different than somebody else. And the children seem
to be a lot more at ease with that. Yeah. And the ones that are really wary, they'll
come to her first and then we'll kind of play off of that. And then we like those gigs where,
yes, we can interact, but we also like them where we're there a good pit of the day and
we've interacted with lots of children. And then some of the ones who have just really
having a great time can come back and visit with us throughout the day. And hey, let me
tell you what I was doing. I was just petting the pet and the reindeer. I was out there
in the alpacas. I held the bunnies. You know, there was all of this that goes on. They come
back and give us reports, you know, on all of this kind of stuff. It's fun. It's a lot
of fun. It is for sure. I was going to say it's it's funny because it sounds like, you
know, Camille and Kent went to Santa school. But the way that you guys dress, it looks
like Mr. and Mrs. Claus went to fashion school. You guys like you like you said, you're not
just in that traditional red big coat and whatever Mrs. Claus wears traditionally. Like
you guys look like sharp. It looks very much like you said, what you would think that they
would wear going out, but very much still, you know who they are.
Yeah. Well, and part of that is that, you know, we needed to break that stigma. We felt
like we needed to break that stigma so we could appeal to the kids more. And it's like,
where did that? Where did Santa come from? Well, it came. I mean, if you start really
going way back, it was like, you know, in Myra, St. Nicholas of Myra, which, you know,
he was a real individual, but in Myra and there were some there's some miracles that
were attributed to him and things like that. If you start listening, I mean, watching it.
But from there, that's where the gift giving, um, right. Quite, you know, private little
sneaky little, I'm leaving something for you special at night came from. And it's gone
through that. And of course that's what 1500 to 1600 years ago. Yeah. So if that holds
true, if Santa is still 1600 years old, roughly give or take, then that means Mrs. Claus is
going to be somewhere along that line too. You know, probably a little bit younger than
the, than Santa, but so it was staying to reason that we don't wear the same clothes
every day for 1500 years. So we probably have a closet full of clothes by now. And that's
what that's one of the things we tell them, said, look, you know, you don't wear the same
shirt every day. We don't wear the same clothes every day. Right. You know, but we can change
it that length of time. It's like, yeah. Uh, Blitzen, you know, Blitzen brought the, uh,
the, you know, hooked up and brought us down in the airstream. We're parked outside here
and we brought her and we brought her brought a week's worth of clothes with us because
we're making the rounds guys. Yeah. What about that? You know, so when we, we really do try
to make it fun, but we break it down real too, so that they're like, really? It's not
just candy canes and fairy tales. We, we try to make it and people realize that we're a
real person. And it's gotten to the point now to where there are children who know us
throughout the year and they know us as Santa and Mrs. Claus. Right. That is our true identity
to them. Our alter egos, our aliases are Mr. Kent and Ms. Camille. There's, there are some
kids in our town that know that we're Santa and Mrs. Claus and their job is to keep our
identity secret. Yeah. And they take it as a very, very, very important job. Orders from
the highest power that a child can really understand. Their parents bought right into
it and not tell them, tell anybody who they are. You know, you got to keep the secret.
You should help them keep it alive. Keep that magic alive. So when we walk into a place
and either one of them are there, Etta or Avery are there, you know, they kind of look
us and wink or something like that. Or they put a thumb up because they know, but they're
like, and it's like, we got it. We got it. You know, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So we know
the real people and the same thing at the reindeer farm. Those, those children up there,
they knew, they know who they believe that we are. And our, our alter ego or aliases,
Mr. Kent and Ms. Camille. And we've gone to water parks with those kids and they like,
how cool is it? We get to go to the water park with Santa and Ms. Puff. Oh yeah. But
we can't tell anybody. You know? Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that's precious. And there's,
there's also that layer of like that responsibility that you also have to maintain a certain,
I guess, perception or appearance and public. How does that, is that, is that a lot of pressure?
Like what, what does that experience like for you guys? Some it's, I don't think it's
a lot of pressure, but it does. We, we do, we do think about before we go places that
we might go or what the crowd is going to be like if we were going someplace and there
was going to be a lot of alcohol involved, but there were also children that were going
to be present for whatever reason. If the event was set that way, we might not drink
anything at all. You like a glass of wine or a mixed drink too. But as Santa and Mrs.
Claus, we're not going to, we're not going to do that in front of a child. So that, because
we had that, we, we have that persona that we have to keep up and not that Santa doesn't
drink. I mean, cause they give him Sherry and mincemeat pie and stuff like that. Some
traditions, some traditions, they do it. You know, sometimes there's some tequila left,
you know, and down in, you know, the south of the border. But the thing is that you don't
want to stigmatize the people that you've got there. So we do try to make conscious
choices there. I'm an old, I'm an old soldier and I love a dirty word. I just, sorry. I
mean, that's just military. I have to work really hard on that when I'm around, when
I'm around others and, and look, it's been good for me. It's gotten me to call my, call
my, call my language. Cause I, you know, sometimes, and it's not that I just like to cuss, it's
like sometimes a bad word just seems to be right there, emphatic at a certain point.
You know, it just gets the point across. It just fits in so well. But I think we ought
to stay away from that with our stuff. We also watch things we talk about. Yes. I mean,
you know, a lot of times if there are children around, even if it's not an event, like it's,
it's the summer or it's wherever, if there are children around, we really stop and think
about those things. I mean, just because there are a lot of kids that know us that way. And
there are a lot of kids that don't know us, but they see us out. Yes. And they think they
wonder. And so we would never want to put any sort of impression that if they were to
really think that we were Santa and Mrs. Claus, you know, and be struck, be that, that we
would not want them to ever think that Santa and Mrs. Claus are not good people and want
the best for others. I mean, there have been lots of instances where we've been in stores
and children in front of us will turn around and stare and whisper and point and stare
and whisper point. Parking lots even. Parking lots. We've been at events and we are not
wearing anything relatable to Santa and Mrs. Claus. We're not even wearing red, you know,
like, and it's just like, sometimes kids think, oh my gosh, I think that's them. And you know,
so we do have a lot of fun with that, but we would never want children to think that
Santa and Mrs. Claus are not fun, real people who care about others and want the best for
others. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, it definitely makes sense of how they would make that connect.
Like, you know, the big white beard. And I feel like that's like a very basic thing is
like Camille, you, you look like Mrs. Claus, like how I would imagine, right? But without
Kent right there, like I wouldn't make that connection, but it's the big beard that makes
you kind of go, oh, that guy kind of looks like Santa. Wait a second. Yeah. That's right.
That's exactly right. And they're over there scratching their head. Is he or is he not?
And you see the two kids whispering and pointing back at each other. And then she's over there
like, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You see them. They're like a little sitting up straight
in their church pew. I mean, they straight up, they get like, yeah. And they're like,
we gotta be good in line. Don't grab for that candy. Cause my bank will let you have it.
We don't want to hear him say that. Yeah. Yeah. But it's a lot of fun. Um, no, a lot
of people ask us like, well, you're just doing this for money. I mean, like, is it a big
moneymaker? That's why you're like, you know, doing this or whatever. I get asked that a
whole lot because people, some of the guys are like, I'll just grow a beard out and do
what you're doing. You probably make a killing. Right. And I was like, not exactly. Yeah.
And for us, it's not about that. Yes, we do charge corporations and some events that we
do, but there are lots of events that we do that we never charge for and we don't intend
to charge for. And that is because we feel like, you know, if I charge a corporation
to we're coming in and we're doing their Christmas staff party or whatever, you know, and then
we feel like we can use those to then give back. So we don't charge when we're in our
local parade. And when we go to a local school and see 800 kids in four hours, you know,
I mean, because and then we go to some single parent homes that, you know, where a lot of
kids are just from situations where the parent or parents or grandparents or whoever they're
being, you know, they're with their guardians don't have the kind of funds that it would
take to pay us to come and visit them at their home or they can't travel to where we are.
And so we just feel like that if we charge a corporation, then we can in turn take that
and travel to these other places to see children and do things for children that may not otherwise
have that opportunity. So and Santa's, you know, typically charged for home visits and
things like that. The problem is that and it's and you have to see it from their side
too is it takes a lot of time and energy and money to have the suits and the up tape and
all of this. And they got to get then they got to get ready and then they got to drive
to your house and they got to do this. And they, you know, there's all of this there.
So they feel like they have to charge, but they're in a different situation than we are.
That's what they typically do is his home visits all year long and they may not do any
corporate gigs. We do some higher. We do a lot of hiring stuff and that just kind of
happened because of people like what we do. And it's revolved into that so that now we
can give back, which is, you know, we're able to earn money at a at a higher rate from those
corporate entities and businesses and things that can't afford to pay for us to be there.
And we we give them a bang up bang up job when we do. But the but the funds they allow
us, yes, to keep up some basic wardrobe stuff. And then the rest of it allows us to travel
and go help these other people who are, you know, they they need it. They need it. Those
children need it. You know, when they're in a single pamlet parent home, sometimes they
need someone to say, hey, I'm proud of you. You know, and we've got we've got a couple
that you know that their mom's message throughout the year and they say, hey, you know, made
all a's, all a's and one B and stuff. And then like I wanted to make sure Santa and
Mrs. C knew that. And they'll send it says I know mama's got the hook up. So, you know,
tell you mama's like, make sure. And then as soon as we come in the door, because we've
seen these children grow up, you know, they come in and just bear hug us at the door,
you know, because they know that we're not related to them. We're not. We're just we're
just a couple of couple of folks that really truly love them. And they don't know us from
Adam's house cat. You know, they really don't. So but that's fine. It's it's about unconditional
love. Yeah. You know, and it's that's a hard thing to find in this world now. Yeah. Yeah.
We're to be placed in that situation. Yeah. Yeah. And it sounds like that's really at
the heart of it for you guys is that peace, love, happiness. And the one that hit me the
most was a glimmer of hope. And it sounds like that's really what you aim to do by doing
these house visits to I can't think of a better word, but the less fortunate or single family
sort of single parent households and kids like kids that really do need that extra little
push. Yeah. And I came up, you know, throughout my life. I'm, you know, I'm in my maybe 58
year and a couple of months. So life has been interesting, but it has been definitely hard.
And I've had a rough go of some things when I was younger. And as a young man and dead
stuff, and I realized that, you know, things could have probably turned out a little bit
differently if I'd had somebody that had done that for me. Yeah, if that makes sense. So,
you know, the easiest way to break something or to stop a stop something is to absolutely
to say, no, I'm not going to be like that when I grow up. Right. So that's the big deal.
And I've had some not so fun careers. And this is the chance for me to be able to love
and give back in a way that I feel good. Yeah. And I can make them feel good. And I feel
like it's trying to me. Some ways you feel like it's almost a penance that you're doing
to try to right the wrongs of, you know, of the past. It's not really that bad. But you
know, you kind of feel that way. It's like, Hey, I am doing some things good. And I'm
not asking for anything in return. I'm just, right. You know what? My heart's full today.
Yeah. You know, and it takes a lot of energy to, you know, when we have those difficult
situations that pulls you down and then you've got children who come in and parents that
come in that are energized and it pushes you back up. Yeah. And we have to, we have to
be full on giving, giving, giving, giving from the heart, you know, all nonstop for
two months, but then, you know, throughout the year when we see opportunities. Yeah.
And I think my background in education, like I said, I was in public education and Mississippi
has a large population of what is considered low, middle and lower class. And I hate to
use those terms, but that is socioeconomically where they are. Okay. And based on different
factors, but I just felt like I saw a lot of needs that I wish I could have helped over
the years, you know, and I was a single mom at one time. So I remember those, you know,
there were a couple of years that were kind of thin in there, you know, the budget was
thin. And so I always felt like I had family that I could fall back on and friends that
I could fall back bump, but everybody doesn't have that. And I just, when we started doing
this and I got involved more, I was like, these are some of the children I want us to
talk, you know, to look for in our community. And so that's what we've done. And yeah, it's
just, yes, it makes us feel good. I mean, I'm not trying to sound altruistic at all,
but it, you know, it gives us, it gives back probably more to us than we give out, I would
say for sure. Yeah, it does. It does because people, you know, it's just, if you do it
with an open mind and open heart and you're just giving, you know, yeah, people don't
realize that in giving that you, if you do it with true intent, that yes, it makes such
a powerful impact in your own life. And you may not see it right then, you know, but it
may be six months down the road. You start to see the fruits of the seeds that you've
planted and stuff. And then you, you know, it helps you to become a better person too.
Hey, everyone, just a quick message. You know that my mission with this podcast is to share
stories of influence and impact so that we can help more people help more people. But
to do that, I need your support. Please rate, review and share this podcast. If I could
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Thank you so much. Now back to the show. What's also sticking with me from your guys,
a story is this all started because you didn't know shave November. Like it's that's such
like a small, but you didn't do that to do anything. Like that was just like a fun, oh,
it's, it's for awareness. It's for this. And I feel like that's something that people do
kind of forget is these things can happen by accident by happenstance like that. And
what you're just saying right now is you can do good things and not see the fruits for
six, seven months, years down the road. Yeah. And I think that's something to kind of for
folks to keep in mind too, is that nothing, nothing that just happens overnight, whether
it's purposeful or an accident or whatever. Yeah. So I say like that young boy that, you
know, first young boy that, you know, he gets his report card sent to us all the time. That
little fella is the sweetest kid, but he's had a hard, he's had a hard go of things.
You know, he's in a single family home. She, his mama loves him. Okay. But he needs a daddy.
He needs a male, he needs a stable male figure in his life. And, you know, when he sees us,
he's able to kind of realize that there is somebody out there that does take an interest
in him from not just a female side, but from a guy side, you know, every guy at some point
in their life needs, needs some guy time. Okay. That's just part of our development.
That's who we are just as much as we need mom time, you know? So it's just crucial at
different times. And I think that was, that's the ability to be able to, to help these kids
like that. You know? Yeah. And with that, something that I was curious about in your
guys's take on is that you went to Santa school, you met all these other different types of
Santas, different ethnicities, colors, languages, you know, like what is the, what is the significance
of that representation by skin color, by accents? Cause that's something that I noticed right
away is like the Santas that I've met have, I guess more California accents. Apparently
there's a California accent. I didn't know that was a thing. But when I started talking
to you guys, I was like, okay, it's obvious. And you can hear hours. Yeah, exactly. So
that's what made me curious is there's another, there's a podcast I did before where the woman
original was kind of on the fence about it because of her Southern accent, because you
know, people think you're uneducated or you're this, or they make up these stories about
yourself. And I was almost like, I think that's even better of a reason for you to do it because
what if there's a little girl out there with that accent that, that sounds the way you
do and has been told those same things and can now see you and be like, oh, she has her
master. She did this. She's working for this nonprofit. And so to kind of pull it back
to that original question and your guys's experience, what is the significance of that
representation in the world of Santa? Well, I will tell you, this goes back to my, you
asked for, what is our intent? Okay. With this episode. And for me, my intent with the
episode, with everything I do with Mrs. Claus is it matters not what you sound like, look
like, or dress like. It is how you treat others that is going to create that connection. That's
what people are going to remember. So I have a lot of times that I've had people say, but
you're, you know, you're not wearing the little bonnet or you're not wearing your apron and
you're not at, you know, cooking cookies at the North Pole. You know, do kids really believe
that you're Santa, that you're Mrs. Claus? And I always say, it doesn't, none of that
matters. It's how you made that child feel a warm smile, a kind word, and a pat on the
back will have any child convinced that you care about them. And that's, that's all that
matters to me when I went in this role, that is all that matters to me. That's my intent.
And we're active with the kids. Most of them sit in a chair and you come by in a procession
and you're just like, Hey kid, what do you want for Christmas? And stuff. And then they're
older gentlemen. I get it. They may not be able to stand on their feet. We're younger.
And yes, we tend to be more active with them. We're, we don't sit down hardly any, most
of the time we're up and we take pictures with them. We're, we're interacting with them.
If we can sneak up behind somebody and, and be mischievous and look over what they're
writing on their list or something, we try to do that. Or we might even go over and say,
Ooh, that cookie looks good. Well, it is that, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think, you
know, the diversity that you're talking about really is like the whole point. I mean, first
of all, some children don't know that they're, that Santa's out there. They, you know, this
portrayal of Santa from the Coca-Cola Santa in the fifties and sixties is it's a big,
fat, jolly white dude with pink cheeks and you know, a hearty laugh. But that's not the
case. I mean, I think Santa, because of the way we feel about it, Santa is all colors.
He's all ethnicities. He's all religions. He's, you know what I mean? Like, and I, I'm,
it's just hard for me to think that you have to put Santa and Mrs. Claus in this little
box because as children, they're all different. We're all unique as human beings, no matter
what race, what age, what ethnicity, what socio, anything. We're all different. So why
wouldn't Santa be different? And I think it lets children see that you, those different
Santas that we met, Santa speaks your language or, you know, Santa's the same skin tone as
you, or Santa comes from the same area that you do, or Santa likes cowboy boots just like
you do. And so there are a lot of different ways I feel like to look at it. And for me,
Santa is just as Kent said, Santa is a spirit and a kindness and a generosity and a caring
person and he can look all different sorts of ways to us.
Yeah. And people do have, you know, do people do have some pretty strict thoughts about
that. Some like, Oh, I don't like Santa because, you know, that's represents commercialism
and not, you know, the true, there's true reason for Christmas, the reason for the seeds
and everybody says, right. And it's like, no, that's not necessarily true. You know,
we're, we're doing that. Yeah, we're doing that. I'm not, I'm not trying to promote
commercialism or anything there to represent. And she is too. There's the spirit of Christmas.
Yeah. And that's completely different. And that actually aligns with, you know, the,
the reason for the season, the Christian beliefs of that, you know, but that's the way that
believe that's the way we believe. We don't care who you are. We don't know what your
background is. We don't care whether you believe or not. Well, actually we do. I mean, you
would believe and, and, you know, and, you know, and have, and have some of the same
faith that we do, but if you don't, that's okay. We still love you. We don't care. I'm
still going to hug you. I'm still going to pick at you. I'm still going to play with
you and stuff. And we're going to have a good time. And I don't care where the, where are
you from? You know, if, if you give me half the time of the day, we're going to have a
good time. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of just like getting back to that again, that root of what the
spirit mean, like the holiday spirit, the, the, what Santa means, what Christmas is all
about. And yeah, sure. There, there is that aspect, like you said, like the Coca-Cola
Santa, like it, it does very much play into that commercialism, right? Like it's, it's
basically advertising for the most part, but just because that's the perceived, the perceived
perception, I guess, doesn't mean that you guys can't really fall and live and walk in
that what it is really about. Yeah. Well, the red, the red suit, that was Coca-Cola.
If anybody goes back and really looks at it, Coca-Cola's marketing team actually came
up with that and put the guy in red suit and did not wear red suit like that. Interesting.
A lot of times it was browns. A lot of times it was greens. It was an old world type look,
things of fur and things because he was trudging through cold weather to come visit kids in
the middle of the night, you know, and leave gifts. But, but yeah, the current vision that
people now see with it is there. And yes, it is hard going out in public sometimes.
And you know, somebody made up, made up, and I don't, this is not my thing, but somebody,
somebody told me, he says, yeah, yeah, you don't, you guys don't get any rest. And I
was like, what are you talking about? He says, you're one of the second most famous individuals
on the planet. Says everybody knows Jesus and everybody knows Santa. And he said, and
I was like, and I'm like, yeah. And I said, I'm not, you know, I don't want to be in that,
in that thing. Regardless of your image, the image of Santa is, is, is, is almost as powerful
as the image of worldwide recognition as, you know, Jesus or somebody else. And I'm
like, well, yeah, great. That's your thing. But it made me think about, yeah, people do
recognize us more than we thought. Yeah. Well, more than they registered, if that makes sense.
So that, that also played into, well, you know, we have to make sure that we keep a,
keep a good image. Yeah. I was going to say, maybe, maybe don't put me in that category
with that. But I hear what you're getting at and that is true. That part is true. Yeah.
I said, that's some stuff I'm not even, that's a different, but yeah, we don't want to be
in that category. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah. I'm not that good. You know,
I love it all and everything and I love Jesus, but I'm telling you, I don't measure up.
Gotcha. So, yeah. And I mean, we're, we'll get more information from where everybody
can follow you on socials and everything in a moment, but there is one story that you
guys told me about that I thought was the one that I, in my opinion, butchered about
there was that little girl that her dad said her name. Yeah. Can you just tell that? That's
the story I want on record for me to even go back on and re-listen to. Okay. So, we
spend a lot of time every season at a reindeer farm. It's a fully functioning agritourism
reindeer farm in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And the owners are friends of ours and their
family. We just, we love them. But anyway, we go up there and spend a good bit of time.
And one of the first years we were there, it was probably the second year we were there,
a mom and dad came with their daughter and they were in line with some other friends
that they had come with. So a little group of the girls that were friends. And while
they were in line, I heard someone referred to the child by her name. And so, but they
were two or three people back, children back, and we were working with other children. And
when it was her turn, I called her by her name and I said, Oh, Valentina, we are so
excited to see you. We've been waiting on you all day. And the dad absolutely was gobsmacked.
I mean, he had no clue what had just happened. He was asking his wife, like, did you tell
them her name or, and she was like, no. And so he just was floored. He had no clue what
had happened. And so we had a lot of fun with the child. We talked to her, there were other
children in line, so they left. So later when we didn't have any children with us, he walked
up and he asked me, how did you know her name? And I said, well, Santa told me. He said,
what? And I said, well, you know, he's Santa, right? He knows all the children's names.
Like we have a book and he was like, ha ha ha. Yeah. Okay. I mean, he still was like,
what in the world? And he just kept on. So we just kind of kept it up and you know, it
was fine. It was a lot of fun. They came back two or three times that same within like a
week because the little girl had such a good time at the reindeer farm and enjoyed being
with us. And she had an emerald green dress. She was the first day with the Christmas star
on it. Yes. And she loved my fancy dress. And she had been talking about nothing but
the emerald green dress. This is called. And so the dad still kept asking questions. And
I was like, where's where where the clauses it's, it's really okay. So I never told him.
Well, apparently the mom didn't either. So the next year they came back and this time
she brought her letter, the little girl did. And the dad had also written on the letter.
P.S. My dad wants, and he named a specific shirt color, a little design it had on it,
what size and all of this. And so, but he wasn't with the little girl this time and
the mom. So I talked to the mom and she said, oh, I have seen the letter, of course, and
he's trying to be sneaky. So I have found the shirt that he is looking for and it is
going to be wrapped under the tree from Santa and Mrs. Claus. And I said, oh, wonderful.
You know, so she really kept this up as well. She had figured out by that point that I had
obviously heard the child's name from someone else the prior year. But the husband had
not. He had no clue. No. And he's like an engineer. They're from Germany. It's like
this super powerful engineer over in bowling. Very intelligent, but he was floored. He could
not figure it out. Since he didn't come that time, I said, well, let's do a little video
for him. So we called him by name and he had never introduced himself to us, but we called
him by name and we just sent him a little private message. We're on video. She sent
it to him and apparently he was so excited. He showed it to everybody in his office and
just like that. But we think he was more excited about us than poor old Valentina was. And
Valentina loves her. Yes. I mean, I look for her every year. She only comes from where
they are. She looks for me. They call ahead to make sure we're going to be there. She,
we just have a wonderful time with them. And this past year they went to Germany to visit
family and it was like in October and they have Christmas markets there. And Germany
has lots of Christmas markets year round, but especially during the fall. And so she
had written her letter already because her parents had told her when we go to Germany
to visit grandparents, we will be able to see Santa and Mrs. Claus when we were there.
Well, she thought that the parents meant us. So when she got there with her letter, she
walked up to the market and could see the Santa and her parents were like, there he
is. And she said, where that's not him. And where's Mrs. Claus? She's not here either.
And they were like, well, this is, this is him. You know, this is, they were trying to
kind of appease her and say, well, go ahead and give your letter. And she said, no, there's
no way I'm giving my letter to these fake Santa and Mrs. Claus. I want the real deal.
They're at home in Bowling Green. When we go back, I'll go see them. So there are,
she carried that little letter from Kentucky to Germany and then says, not no, but heck
no. I'm going back to Bowling Green. I know where the folks are. So, and gave it is really
one of the funnest things. And so this is our, this would probably be our fourth year
to see her and I can't wait. I mean, we watched her grow up and just have formed a special
bond with this child. And it's just, it's kind of her family too. I mean, it's gotten
yeah, for sure. And it's just really one of the funnest things that we do, but that dad,
boy, I had him go in. They've invited us to go to Germany with them sometime. I mean,
it was like, yeah, it's, it's, it's pretty crazy. And then she was like, Valentina wanted
to come home with Mrs. Claus, you know, and stuff was like, yeah, you know, we don't have
any grandkids right now. So heck yeah, come on kiddo. So anyway, it's a lot of fun.
Absolutely. I love it. Yeah. Perfect. I'm glad I have that story on record now. Awesome
guys. Well, we're getting closer already at the hour. So if people want to go ahead and
follow you on socials, check you out more, where would be the best places for them to
find you?
On Facebook, we are Santa Breckenridge. I think it's actually santa.breckenridge. And
Breckenridge is B-R-E-C-K-E-N-R-I-D-G-E, just like in Colorado. And then on Instagram,
Santa Breckenridge with no spaces or anything. And yeah.
And I may have a link to an article that was written about us in Mississippi Today magazine
last year. Yeah. Today in Mississippi. Yeah. It's the largest magazine in Mississippi,
but they picked up on our story last year and came up. Yeah. We were actually the cover
feature story. So they came and talked a lot about, you know, what we do. And they actually
were watching us in an event and they took pictures of us while we were interacting with
kids and adults and stuff like that. So it's a, it's a really fun, feel good, feel good
story. So we may have a link to that out there. I don't know whether we got you a link or
not. I think you saw the magazine. You saw the magazine. Yeah. You saw the magazine.
I saw the magazine. I think I took a picture of it and I should be able to find it, but
yeah, as always all the information, your guys's socials are going to be down in the
show notes as well. And if I find the link, it'll be in the description. If not, maybe
people won't even hear this part. So we'll see how it goes. But yeah, no, thank you guys.
I appreciate it. Have fun doing whatever Santa and Mrs. Claus does during the summer. And
I will see you guys later. All right. Well, we'll say one other thing. You gotta stay
frosty. I love it. Thanks guys. Bye man. Love you. Bye. And as always, thank you guys for
taking time out of your day to listen to today's episode. I had such a wonderful time reconnecting
with Kent and Camille, and I'm sure you guys learned some great stuff from this episode
as well. I think that my biggest takeaway from today's episode is just how important
it is to be open to opportunity and just really understand that whether or not you plant these
seeds on purpose or on accident, like in the case of Kent growing his beard out for that
very first time, that things take time, that opportunity doesn't always happen the moment
you make a decision. Sometimes it's a little bit down the road, but it's those seeds that
grow into the fruit of change, of possibility, of joy, hope, and just really being a glimmer
of happiness and alive of someone else. Thank you again to today's episode sponsors. All
their information will be down in the show notes. And if you guys could take just a quick
second to leave a five star rating and review for today's episode on this podcast, I would
truly appreciate it. It takes five seconds to go down, leave a rating and review. Let
me know what you think of today's episode, what you think of the podcast overall, and
be sure to share the episode. The more people that we can get to hear the messages that
we push on this episode and in this podcast, the more we'll be able to help more people
help more people. So as always, remember to have fun, stay safe, and be yourself. I'll
see you guys next time. Bye.