The Santa Claus Business

On this special, two-part episode of the Colorado Springs Business Podcast, we welcome Santa Claus and Mark Barsocchini. Both Marcus & Andrew serve up questions regarding the history of Christmas along with how the tradition stays alive in today's ever-changing world.    0:00 Intro-hook  0:43 Intro segment   0:57 Beginning - How have thing been for Santa this time of the year?  2:00 How did Santa come to be?  6:23 Sponsor segment  8:20 Logistics for Santa  10:14 Most impactful moments for Santa  12:44 How does Mrs. Clause deal with Santa working?  16:12 How has Covid impacted Santa?  17:56 Does Santa do social media?  18:34 Does santa make any profit?  19:46 Santas plans in Colorado Springs  20:14 Santa interview wrap up  21:28 Transition to Mark  21:37 Mark interview beginning - How did he get into being one of Santa’s helpers  25:04 Santas in Colorado springs and a special moment   27:53 How does Mark market himself for Santa work?  32:27 Private gigs vs public pro/cons  37:41 How is the spirit of Christmas in today's times?    41:32 the Story of Norad  45:22 when to charge when not to charge,  values and expectations   50:14 start up costs for becoming a Santa’s helper  55:14 Becoming santa  58:35 challenges of being Santa in todays age with trusting stranger  1:00:35 beginning outro   1:02:45 Where to find Mark  1:03:34 Final outro