By: Nancy White
Growing up on the west side of Jacksonville, the youngest of five siblings with a working single mom, Shawn Coley wasn’t always so enthusiastic about Christmas. It was his wife Natasha who opened his heart to the magic. For years she encouraged him to portray Santa.
“Even his initials are SC,” Natasha chimes in merrily. One Christmas she finally convinced Shawn to take on the role for their granddaughter and her little twin cousins. “I’d grown my beard out a bit, and she bought me the cheesiest $20 Party City spandex costume you’ve ever seen. I had a black pair of high top sneakers, which we topped with pleather boot covers.
“As I got dressed, I felt a little change in my heart and in my spirit. We took pictures with the girls and it touched my heart when I saw their faces light up.”
When asked to do a reading at a local elementary school, Shawn told Natasha, “I think we need a better suit.” An upgrade was found on eBay. “When we got to the library, a little girl ran up to us and said ‘oh my gosh you do exist! Everybody keeps telling me you’re not real.’
“So I had her tug on my beard, and I gave her what we Santas call a whole chuckle. She jumped back and said, ‘You ARE real!’
“By the time we got to the car, he burst out in real tears,” says Natasha. Shawn had found his calling.
The couple have researched holiday traditions around the world to bring the magic of Santa and Mrs. Claus to life. Although they have a wardrobe full of custom looks, they still have those first two suits, “so we don’t forget where we came from,” Shawn says.
At 55, Shawn is a relatively young Santa, and not as traditional as some of the old guard might like. “We’ve had a few issues with folks who maybe aren’t as open-hearted,” Natasha shares.
While Santa brings the main character energy, Mrs. Claus drives their social media presence, and their numbers are impressive. “The most we’ve had live on Tik Tok was 18,000 people, from seven different countries,” she says.
“We provide an opportunity, especially for our community to say, hey, that’s a Santa and Mrs. Claus that look like me,” Shawn adds.
This season the pair will partner with the City of Jacksonville, IKEA, and they will appear at several public events in Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. People can book selfie sessions at their home, which is decked out for the occasion. “We tell people this is the southeastern headquarters of the North Pole,” Shawn adds.
“To go from ‘I don’t think this is for me’ because he never got to have magic as a child, to now being the person that creates magic for others… It’s amazing to watch,” says Natasha.
“You’re never too young or too old to believe,” Shawn says. “That’s probably the most important reason we do what we do.”
