For a decade, Santa Sam has been a familiar face during the Christmas season at the Mall of America greeting children and families as part of The Santa Experience.
This year, Santa Sam will spend close to 300 hours at the Mall of America starting in early November, fulfilling 2,400 timeslots.
"My days are 10.5 hours at the mall visiting with kids," Santa Sam said. "I also have at least an hour of prep which is ironing my shirts, steaming my pants, doing my makeup, and getting my hair looking right. That takes a lot of time."
Santa Sam was just 33 years old when he was approached about becoming a Santa at the Mall of America.
"I had never done it, I had not thought about it. I went to school for theatre and was acting in a lot of shows at the time. The two owners of The Santa Experience took me out for drinks and asked me, 'Have you ever thought about becoming Santa?' and I said no, but maybe someday."
After a little make-up and hair bleach, the journey began and Santa Sam has now spent a decade hearing the Christmas wishes from thousands of people.
As with any journey, there are opportunities to learn and grow, and for Santa, that means figuring out the dos and don't of maintaining the iconic hair and beard.
"The biggest journey for me has been my hair and beard. When I started at 33, I had dark hair and no grey hair. Getting it to be Santa snowy white has been quite the journey of hair falling out, trying different products. The hair and beard journey has been the biggest learning curve. How do I get it white without it all falling out completely?"
The hair and beard growing process begins following Santa Sam's final visit of the holiday season on Christmas Eve when he and his family shave his beard and hair entirely to start fresh for the next year.
"The bleaching process is so damaging, it's destroyed. I start fresh. The only time I shave is on Christmas Eve."
When October rolls around the following year, the professional hair transformation begins spanning three separate sessions, each aimed at achieving the final Santa look.
"The last few years my hair has been very healthy, we really got it down to a system where almost none of it falls out now," added Santa Sam. "But, it is not healthy. It doesn't fall out, but it's not happy or healthy so I have to cut it off no matter what."
When it comes to the actual visits, Santa Sam says it's important for him to treat each one like it's his first of the day, creating a special memory for each person who has waited so long for the opportunity.
"I try to bring the energy and excitement because it's important. The kids look forward to this all year. I hear about the pictures and videos, so I really try to not show that I am tired. I'll stand up and do a jumping jack to have that same energy from the first to the last visit."
As for The Santa Experience, Santa Sam credits the group for finding Santa's that resemble the multiple communities that walk through the doors each and every year.
"It's so wonderful and to have children see themselves represented in Santa is so important. I'm so proud of the company and that it's grown. We keep growing it with bilingual Santa's and Santa's of color."
And when it comes to the actual visits, Santa does have a few tips for parents.
"I feel like some parents talk about it a lot and there is a lot of build-up, which can cause anxiety in children. I think it's important to prepare children for things, I have two little children at home. It's okay to tell your kids that you're going to go chat with Santa, he's a really nice guy, don't worry about it. Go in with a calm energy and I think the kids will feel that."