ReAudio: ReAssess Your Workers Comp Toolbox
ReInvent your Workers' Comp Perspective!
Things change. In fact, that’s one of the most sure things in life. Haven’t we learned that these past few years? ReAudio has changed too. Starting as a way to provide tools and value to our partners in the Workers' Compensation Industry, we have changed into a human interest podcast, primarily interviewing people who have overcome adversity to achieve success, however, that’s defined by them. Because change is a permanent reality, ReAudio is hoping to help you see our industry a little differently. Through storytelling and exploring different perspectives, Season 4 will guide you to ReImagine your Workers' Comp ReAlity.
Winner of the BLOOM Excellence Awards 2023 Podcast of the Year
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ReAudio: ReAssess Your Workers Comp Toolbox
Christmas in July: Creating Magic All Year with Santa Claus
Ever wondered what Santa Claus does when he's not busy delivering gifts? Join us for an enchanting journey as we celebrate Christmas in July with the legendary Santa himself! Discover the fascinating origins of this unique mid-year festivity, and learn how it has grown from a 1933 summer camp tradition into a beloved celebration. Santa opens up about his off-season activities, including his heartfelt work with nonprofits like Secret Sleigh, which are dedicated to bringing joy to children battling serious illnesses. Peek behind the scenes at the North Pole, where reindeer training and crop planting for reindeer feed happen all year round. This episode is a warm reminder of the importance of volunteering and supporting charitable causes long after the holiday season has passed.
If you’d like to schedule some time to talk to Santa, check out https://talktosanta.com/
perspective. Perspective is spelled p e r s, p e c t, I, v e perspective, the 30 000 foot view perspective put on someone else's shoes. Perspective can also refer to the state of existing in space or one's view of the world. Perspective rea audio space, or one's view of the world Perspective.
Speaker 2:REA Audio Reemployability. Have you started your holiday shopping yet? Now, if you didn't realize it, the day this podcast posts will be exactly five months until the Christmas and holiday seasons. You're going to be singing Christmas carols and stringing up lights before you know it. Now, when I was a kid, celebrating Christmas in July seemed like it was a bigger deal than it is now. It's a great marketing opportunity and I'm sure you're gonna see some furniture sales going on this week.
Speaker 2:But, believe it or not, celebrating Christmas in July actually had some more innocent roots. According to Southern Living Magazine, Christmas in July was first celebrated at a girls' summer camp in 1933. The Keystone Camp in Brevard, North Carolina, decided to dedicate two days, July 24th and 25th, to the Christmas holiday, complete with cotton, fake snow, a decked-out tree, a gift exchange and, of course, Santa. A few years later, in 1940, the movie Christmas in July opened in theaters and the concept hit pop culture. By the 1950s, retailers had embraced the idea, and the rest is history. So since we're a mere 153 days from Christmas, I hoped to get you into the spirit a little early. This year, we reached out to the only person that really made sense for this episode's interview. You guessed it, it's Santa Claus himself.
Speaker 1:Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, lives in the North Pole. Every year, he brings gifts to well-behaved children on the night before Christmas.
Speaker 3:Well, anytime that I get a chance to chat with someone about how's it going up here and what could people be doing at this time of year, as we're getting ready for Christmas, those are important things to me, and any chance I have to connect with special people and I certainly, as I said, I've been watching you for a lot of years.
Speaker 2:Way more years than I want to admit. You know that right.
Speaker 3:Well, in my world, when you're 1,700 years, you're pretty much a young'un to me.
Speaker 2:Well, that's nice of you to say. I appreciate that REA works with nonprofits all over the country and we always see an uptick in not only need during the holiday season but also like a willingness for people to want to volunteer, and we wanted to take this Christmas in July opportunity to kind of remind people that volunteering is needed all year round, as well as financial support to non-profits. So, santa, are there any favorite non-profits that the elves or you or Mrs Claus like to participate in?
Speaker 3:during the off season. I'll just tell you right up front, there's an organization called Secret Sleigh where there's an arrangement for a center to go and visit with a child that maybe can't get out of their home. It's quite an honor to do that. It's very nice to connect with them. I remember one this year where the dear mother said to me well, santa, she's playing possum. Today she's not being very responsive, but I can tell you, santa, she knows you're here, I can monitor, I can watch her heart monitor and her heart is going wild. So I kind of believe in that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:I can also tell you that when I'm actually traveling throughout the world, of course I do that frequently and I have places around the world.
Speaker 3:In Arizona I have a place where the simple vehicle that I'm driving it's my transformed sleigh, but it's a simple car. The license plate simply says High Santa, but beneath that High Santa is the background here in Arizona that I found and I choose. It says curing childhood cancer. That I found and I choose. It says curing childhood cancer. I would say I kind of believe in trying to help those that otherwise they may not have as pleasant a Christmas as they might otherwise have. So we have our visits and we have a nice time.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. That's awesome. I know that you have tons and tons of opportunities to do wonderful things throughout the year and, gosh, you know, I don't know anybody that doesn't get a smile on their face when they see you, either during the off season or when they're visiting you wherever they are, you know, during the on season, which which kind of leads me to the question, and you probably get this asked all the time but you know it's July and we're in Tampa, Florida, so it's pretty darn hot down here. What's the weather like up there in the North Pole? And like, when do things really start getting rolling for you?
Speaker 3:Well, they never stop rolling. I'm running a, you know, a 724 operation, 365 days a year. I mean Mrs Claus will tell you it never stops up here. Now you may not know, todd, we have a giant dome over the North Pole.
Speaker 3:You can't see us because of course we're elves and we need the privacy that we have. So we've got a dome that makes it look like just a regular ground but underneath it's a full operation, a full city. It's quite a large one but at this time of year we've got the dome up and it's very pleasant inside. I've been quite busy actually in that first of all I make sure that I oversee with the elves this whole matter of planting crops for the reindeer feed. We've got to have special feed for the reindeer. I mean you're talking, you know, roll Christmas Eve. Well, I don't tell them exactly how far I'm going, but let's say the estimates that have been out there about 85 million miles in one night aren't all that far off. So we've got crops in the fields up here doing quite well. I'm pleased with that. We've got reindeer training going on all year long and you know, for me some of the reindeer training are one really practicing what I call dry roof and snowy roof landings.
Speaker 3:I mean it's kind of different. If you don't get the dry roof landings right, then I've got to have my roof repair elves come up behind me and mop that roof and that's no fun at all. And we work on jumping. I've got a certain way. I want the sleigh to take off and then, of course you may find it interesting, we actually practice pawing on the roof.
Speaker 2:Pawing. What's that?
Speaker 3:P-A-W-I-N-G.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:You've read the stories where it says they can hear the reindeer hoofs Just like you. There's a certain way we want things done.
Speaker 3:Yeah, of course, and so I want that particular sound, that when you hear something on the roof you're not kind of saying, well, that really sounds odd. It sounds like a squirrel in the attic. No, no, no, I want you to know, it's the reindeer. So we practice that certain sound of the reindeer tapping on the roof so that it's meaningful. Some other things going on. I'm studying the children's early dreams of the year and their spoken ideas. Mrs Claus, she's working on some new recipes, of course, for yummy cookies and hot chocolate, and then the sleigh. The sleigh is pretty interesting, todd and hot chocolate, and then the sleigh.
Speaker 3:the sleigh is pretty interesting, todd. I thought you know I'm running centuries ahead of you folk.
Speaker 3:My propulsion system. You know, in order to crank 85 million miles in one night, my propulsion system's got to be pretty trick. But you know, I actually have been running into a problem here the last decade. The current propulsion system is gated to 100 million miles. Okay, the first route designs coming to me are over 100 million miles and I've got to turn to the elves and say, all right, get me the operations research elves and let's crank it down, get their route right. But I know I've got to get ready for it. So I've got a new propulsion system coming online. It'll be there in about 10 years. It'll be 250 million miles in one night.
Speaker 2:Let me ask you so I mean, the only kind of visual picture we have of the North Pole is through movies, and so I'm kind of curious is there a movie that is out that gives the best representation of what it's like at the North Pole? Like I think of the movie Elf and I think of the movie like I don't know Polar Express there's, you know, the modern movies that kind of show what it's like in the North Pole before Christmas and after Christmas. Before Christmas and after Christmas, is there one that kind of you've seen that you're like, wow, you know what this is. This is pretty close to what it's actually like.
Speaker 3:Well, I tend to like the Polar Express A lot of grandeur, a lot of yeah, it's a little bit fanciful, I admit it, but it captures the spirit of the North Pole. We have so much positive, wonderful energy up here and we do things in a very big but kind-hearted way. We try to really encourage each other.
Speaker 3:To me, that's very very important Encourage each other so that we can all be the best we can be, and I think Polar Express does that about as well as you'd want it to be done, short of it being a real guided tour of the North Pole, which of course I can't give because there are some reasons we have secrets.
Speaker 2:No, that's great, I know in Polar Express there's the part where some people can hear the bell and some people can't hear the bell, and when you were talking about the paws on the roof, I was thinking about that. Like I imagine there's probably some children that can hear those paws on the roofs and others that can. Is that true?
Speaker 3:Well, when you say children, Todd, I've interacted with some people over 100 years old and they still believe. And so you're right. There's a time and it grieves me, of course when that wonderful child stops believing, they say, well, that wonderful child stops believing, they say, well, life's become too real for me, I can't believe in it. But I'll meet those people in their 30s, 40s, even 50, 60, 100 years old that still believe and trust me. They hear those bells. They hear those bells.
Speaker 3:It really is a matter of you know if it's important when you say they believe, they believe in the goodness of Christmas, the message of love at Christmas, the care for one another at Christmas, the desire to be good in all your connections and all your relations at Christmas good in all your connections and all your relations at Christmas, offering that extra little word of cheer and encouragement, that opportunity to give and more importantly than receive. So those people they'll believe their whole life long and I've had that experience of meeting with some of them. Oh goodness, a few years ago I remember a dear lady, 103 years old, came over to see Santa in a wheelchair. She stood up, came over and sat down beside me and she said oh Santa, I haven't had a picture with you in a long time.
Speaker 2:Oh wow. Well, we're going to take care of that right now, aren't we? We have a wonderful picture.
Speaker 3:She got up and she started moving to her chair and she turned around and she said well, you're a good santa. Well, that blessed my heart, of course, because I bet I just wanted her to know that she was special to santa. So I think that's my answer. That's my answer that's super awesome.
Speaker 2:I asked a couple people around the office that if they had an opportunity to ask you a question, what would it be? So I've got a couple of questions from folks around the office and you may or may not have an answer for them, and that's fine. That's fine too, but one person wondered if you have a favorite sport or sports team.
Speaker 3:Well, I do. But if I did that I would create some frustration with some others that I hadn't named their team. I think it's fair to say that I follow some well, they call it football the rest of the world.
Speaker 1:In the.
Speaker 3:United States they call it soccer mobile sports, so I admit that I follow some of that. I call it soccer mobile sports so I admit that I follow some of that the US arena. There are some college football teams I like to follow. I would admit that, but I'm probably better off not naming names, just so I don't discourage or alienate some people that are hoping I'd cheer for their team.
Speaker 2:That's very well positioned, Santa. I feel like maybe you've done an interview or two in your past before Well played. Here's another question, and this absolutely comes from a mom, and you'll probably see why in a second. Did you come up with the elf on the shelf idea?
Speaker 3:Well, it was actually. It wasn't me directly. I was wrestling with how do I connect with children even more, because, obviously, as I said, I'm centuries ahead. So I had the technology, but I wanted to be able to let children connect with me a little more and I had some letters coming in from parents asking about that. Santa can, can, we can, can you come up with something that would allow us to have you get a little better eye on how the children are doing? Other than just letters and finally I allowed that.
Speaker 3:well, let's let them know about the elf on the shelf and I know there are some parents that kind of wish they'd never seen the elf on the shelf. There are others that for them it's a good experience in that it gives them another pair of eyes on the children. Maybe if the parents are both working they can say well, you know, we've got that elf on the shelf and they're kind of watching to see how you're doing. And I've got some connections with some places that actually talk about elff on the Shelf and how they're doing. And I get a chance to remind some of the children that hey, I saw you the other day and you were kind of being kind of mean to your brother or sister, and I don't think we want to do that. And when you get that kind of a special moment, that child looks at mom or dad and says how did Santa know that?
Speaker 3:Well, there's an elf on the shelf. The other thing it's done for some of the parents is it's allowed them to have a little fun Because you know, sometimes they are actually elves and of course elves can be a bit ornery. Can be a bit ornery, yes, to have the elves moving around the house or maybe doing a little bit of mischief. That's. You know some of the parents can interact and they can laugh with the children over the elf antics. Mm-hmm, when I'm talking to children and I know that you're aware oh, there's one company I chat with, someone called Talk to Santa.
Speaker 3:And I have a lot of visits with them and I know that when I'm doing that visit with a child, I may say you know, I know you've got that elf on the shelf, sparkly, and, by the way, I need a little bit of help. What's that, santa? Well, sparkly wanted to come over and check on you the other night in your bed and they couldn't get to your bed because the floor was littered with toys and clothes. Can you help me with that? And the child will look at mom and dad off camera. And how does he know that?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I'll end up saying, because I'm Santa that's right, that's right, and he told me about it. So, you know it was another opportunity to connect with children. I'm very big about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like that, I like that. So you know, the elf on the shelf keeps an eye on kids and, as I remember, my parents would, you know, especially around the holiday season, remind me that Santa was watching and there was the naughty list and the nice list, and when they would tell me that it would mostly be you know, don't do this because Santa's watching I wondered if there are any things that you can think of that a child or even an adult can kind of, instead of not do. But are there things that kids or adults can do that would help to get them on the nice list? Anything proactively positive?
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely Like at this time of year. Here in the United States, I know, and other countries like the United States, children are going back to school and Santa is a really big fan of doing your best in school. He believes in education. Obviously, I've got to be pretty doggone smart myself to be able to do what I'm doing here at the North Pole.
Speaker 3:So I'm the first to tell children look, it's important you pay attention in the classroom. You do your homework to the best of your ability. You always give your best effort. So I call that a proactive do your best. And I think with the parents. I know we've got a lot of parents, the parents. I know we've got a lot of parents, adults in the workforce that they kind of think maybe their job's not that interesting. Well, I've got too much background hundreds of years. I end up saying, yeah, but do your best. Look at it as an opportunity to make a statement that you're not going to be drugged down by the politics of the office or the difficulties of the job. You're actually a brand of you and what are you going to do to make sure your performance is something special? Are you showing integrity in everything you're doing? Are you dealing with that employment opportunity with honesty? So I think that's a very positive thing.
Speaker 3:I think also another thing I stress a lot is talking to people. We've got a lot of children and adults. Maybe there are grandparents that aren't getting any calls. Maybe there are aunts or uncles that they never hear from any of the family. For weeks and months on end I'll end up challenging a child or asking an adult child hey, could you maybe give grandma or grandpa a call and say hey, how are you doing I?
Speaker 3:think that's proactive. We have an awful lot of people that around the world I can tell you. How are you doing? I think that's proactive. We have an awful lot of people that around the world, I can tell you, that are lonely. We're connecting with them, particularly not unlike what you deal with, todd. Some of them are shut-ins. They aren't getting around very much anymore and their speech isn't the best. Their words don't come as easily as they used to.
Speaker 3:But all I can tell you I know this the thrill they get when they get a call, whether it's a phone call the old way or maybe a Zoom call, oh my, oh my. So I think that's another very positive type behavior. And then I'd turn to some of those adults and I'd say you know, when's the last time you invested real time in your child? When's the last time you took them out for an ice cream? When's the last time you got out to one of their ball games? How about did you really get out to the parent-teacher conferences this year? I use that word, todd, invest, invest in that child, because it's amazing that time of being a child goes so quickly.
Speaker 3:And you're left very quickly with only memories. I'd rather see that that parent have special memories of look at all the things we did, look at the vacations we went on, look at the great memories we have where. Oh, I remember when the child a son or daughter helped me paint. Oh yeah, there was more paint on them than there was on the wall, but that's why we painted the garage together, the inside of the garage. It wouldn't have hurt anything. Well, you were asking for proactive. I really am big on investing with each other. That's my message.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes memories too, which is ultimately probably one of the most important things a family can do. Santa, you have no idea how much of a pleasure it has been to chat with you. I feel so fortunate to have been able to have just a few minutes to talk to you. As we roll into celebrating Christmas in July we're only what five months away from the big night. You got to be super busy, so I appreciate you taking some time to chat with us. I wanted to ask you that, as we get closer to the holidays, I know that there's opportunities sometimes for you to chat with kids and adults, either through video or calls. Is there a way for parents or caregivers to reach out to you to schedule something like that?
Speaker 3:Well, there certainly is, and I actually interact with several different well let's just say, human companies that do that kind of thing, one of them that I've enjoyed for years because of the way we've kind of worked together collaboratively, but one company called Talk to Santa.
Speaker 3:They will allow me, as you just suggested, to do both live video calls from my studio in the North Pole. We also can do prerecorded, if getting that live call is kind of tough to do and we get to have a very nice 8, 10, 12-minute interaction with the children. And the children can be anywhere, as I said, from three days to 103. They actually do a lot of extra work to help Santa connect with special needs children and adults and I do mean adults too. Some of my most precious visits are with those special needs adults that they really can't get out.
Speaker 3:They can't get out of the house. Their words don't come easily. But, boy, having a face-to-face with Santa or having a recording like that. And then even now, you know we're doing some audio recordings kind of early in the season, just a little bit of only in a minute or two, giving them one or two reminders of some interesting things I'm aware that they're doing. So that opportunity is there. So, yeah, and I know there are others besides Talk to Santa, but I cite them because they really, like you, they have done their best to excel at helping Santa make that connection with his friends literally around the world.
Speaker 3:You really haven't enjoyed your time at Christmas until you've had that inquiry. Santa, can you talk to a dear little girl in Russia? Santa, I know it's after Christmas, it's December 29th, but can you visit with that little girl? And you get on a live call and there's a precious little five-year-old and the mother right beside them. The mother's saying Santa, she's learning English and we wanted her to speak with you this year because you know, english is the language of the world and, santa, I'll help her with any struggles she has communicating with you. When you have that kind of a call, you kind of count that as precious and you say that's a nice way to connect and just make a difference in somebody's life. And that's what it's all about for Santa. How can he make a difference? How can he help them, whether that's a little girl or boy or an adult? How can I help them to be the best they can be and be a great contributor to the rest of those around them?
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, santa. We look forward to seeing you in a few months, and we're going to keep in touch with you until then too. How's that?
Speaker 3:Oh, I would so enjoy it. I have a lot of fun with this idea of really making a difference. This world's got some challenges and people like Santa and you, todd, we can make a contribution to try to turn it around a little bit, to make that difference a positive difference. I really respect what you and re-employability are doing. Job well done, job well done. And never forget that Santa is watching. He likes what he's seeing.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Santa.
Speaker 3:Merry Christmas everybody, and thanks for letting me visit.
Speaker 2:One thing I always think about, especially during the holiday season, is non-profit giving and volunteering. There's a big upswing of that type of stuff in November and December, but non-profits need help during the rest of the year too. So as we start making plans for our holiday season this year, please keep in mind the need of local nonprofit organizations throughout the year and see if you can do a little to help them today.
Speaker 1:In 2023, roughly 2 million nonprofit organizations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service in the United States.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to REA Audio. Please make sure to follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. We appreciate you. Have a great rest of your week.
