Being a Santa during the Christmas season is hard work. And according to Chattanooga Santa Dewaine Fisher, the off-season is just time to prep for the coming year.

"There's a lot to being a Santa," Fisher said. "It's a lot of fun, and it's also a lot of work- incredibly tiring. But I don't see an end to it. I wish my beard was white year round."

This Santa got his start when dealing with a family loss.

When you look like Santa, you kind of just take on that persona and carry it year round. Dewaine Fisher, Chattanooga Santa 

"I got started because my parents both passed away and Christmas was really depressing," Fisher explained. "I saw a Santa having fun with it and I said ‘Hey, I can do that.' Next thing I know, I'm buying a suit and entertaining kids."

Fisher takes his job seriously. He sports a leather belt with "Santa" engraved in the leather, even in the summer. His house is permanently decorated for Christmas and this year his Christmas tree will remain up as well.

"I don't want to take it down," he said of his tree.

During the "rest of the year," Fisher works in building management, doing facilities planning for an insurance company. And the season can always be seen there.

"My office at work is decorated like Christmas year round," he said. "When you look like Santa, you kind of just take on that persona and carry it year round. We have about 3,500 employees at work and I'm Santa to all 3,500 employees- that's pretty cool."

In addition to taking children's wish lists, Fisher uses the spring and summer months to catch up on regular joe activities.

"I've got a broad variety of things I like to do- painting, I'm a musician, I ride four-wheelers, I like to hunt, I like to camp," he said. "Other than the white beard at Christmas, I'm an outdoors kind of guy most of the time. Can't tell by my belly, but I am."

Fisher also fills the non-Christmas season with Santa seminars and training.

He attended a four-day seminar in Missouri last year, which drew a crowd of more than 300 Santas from across the United States.

He said the first two days of the convention were led by Santa America , an organization he belongs to that visits children with terminal diseases or ones suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

"I didn't have to go; I went voluntarily," Fisher said. "There's a lot more to being a Santa than just putting on a red suit, sitting down and saying ‘what do you want for Christmas.'"

"You need some special training to know how to deal with a child who's lost a parent or who's gone through something like Hurricane Katrina."

There's a lot more to being Santa than just putting on a red suit, sitting down and saying 'what do you want for Christmas.' Fisher

Fisher later attended the Charles W. Howard Santa School in Michigan, a school started to preserve the integrity of Santas.

"In these schools, they teach you how to take care of yourself, how to take care of your suits and your boots...how to market yourself," he said.

Being a Santa is more complex than it looks, Fisher said.

"If someone pays me $100 an hour to visit with them, they are expecting more than me to go sit down for 2 minutes with their kid," he said. "They're expecting some kind of entertainment, so they teach you how to be an entertaining Santa. It was a lot of fun."

Marketing oneself is key to becoming a successful Santa, he said.

"You actually have to advertise and sell yourself just like you're a product," Fisher said. "You have to sell your services. Putting a sign up is not enough. You have to get out there and promote yourself. Make cold contacts with people."

Fisher is involved with several organizations, such as the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas , an international organization 1,200 Santa's strong, all sporting real beards.

Being part of this group takes guts though.

"It takes about 8 hours to bleach my beard," Fisher said. "Four bleachings, four conditionings, a toner and a lot of pain."

The key to being a successful Santa: Patience.

"You've got to be able to work with people," Fisher said. "If you like children and you like being around people, it's definitely a way to go. I've had a lot of fun with it."