74: Making Money Being Santa, with Mitch Allen

Side Hustle Hero

Do you have a twinkle in your eye and a genuine love of Christmas?

Then consider being a seasonal Santa!

Today’s guest will unwrap all the details.

He’s Mitch Allen, founder and Head Elf at the Santa Claus talent agency hiresanta.com

After landing a deal on Shark Tank, business really ramped up and they’ve now grown to be the largest Santa for Hire company in the world.

This year alone they've added 1100 Santa’s to their database.

Through Mitch being deeply entrenched in the Santa community, he shares valuable insights on the business of being Santa, including;

• the variety of opportunities available,
• the increased diversity of Santa's,
• the costs involved, and
• the earning potential

While Mitch builds his database predominantly from Santa's living in the United States, there are Santa talent agencies in a number of other countries, as well as different versions of Santa represented around the world.

Instead of using an agency, you may choose to fly solo and seek out opportunities on your own.

Be sure to check out the end of episode wrap up where I share some ideas from my own experience about the earning potential of going solo vs. working with an agency.

What You’ll Hear:

02:12 Hiresanta.com started as an accidental business

04:17 The vibrant Santa community

04:50 Mitch’s Shark Tank experience

07:30 The deal with Barbara Corcoran

08:23 This year’s demand for Santas

09:40 Recruiting Santa’s is a year-round job

10:21 Melissa Rickard, episode 29 - you’d never know she’s female

12:40 The criteria for being a Santa with Mitch

14:40 A growing demand for diversity of Santas

16:42 The process of getting a gig once you’re in the hiresanta.com database

18:25 Potential earnings

20:55 Some results from the 1200-Santa survey

21:57 Younger people are Santa’s too!

23:05 Start up costs

23:52 A Santa photo shoot at the self-storage facility, and other unique gigs

26:15 Mitch’s most unique Santa gig - the waterpark!

27:25 Being Santa is a ton of fun, but it’s work - you need to be “on” all the time

29:42 What’s next for hiresanta.com? hiremariachis.com!

31:05 Mitch’s best tip to start or grow your side hustle

Wrap Up

32:45 Get booked through an agency, or fly solo?

Joan's Online Masterclass to help you achieve your side hustle goals:

Turn Your Thoughts Into Wanted Things:

https://courses.joanposivy.com/p/turn-your-thoughts-into-wanted-things

Shark Tank featuring Mitch Allen’s pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWhhqlTYLdY

Hire Santa 2023 Santa Survey:

Shoot us a message via our website or by DM on Instagram and we'll get it to you!

Connect with Mitch:

https://www.hiresanta.com/

Connect with Joan:

https://www.instagram.com/joanposivy/

https://www.facebook.com/posivy/

https://www.sidehustlehero.com/about/

Be on the show!

https://www.sidehustlehero.com/guests/intake/