We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Philana Aiken. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Philana below.

Alright, Philana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

In a family business there’s always positive and negative outcomes. Overall , having a mutual understanding of how you want your brand to be represented and what you would like to have your business look like in the future is a great start. I would want my children to join my business because it displays unity within the family and they can help create generational wealth. Every establishment goes through the hardships of setbacks and sometimes everyone is not able to have the same schedule. I feel it is important when working with family to keep it close. Santa Your Way has been able to expand and thrive during the last 6 years because of our dedication and love for what we do. With a variety of different looks , seasonal sets , and designer wardrobe we have created a Holiday Experience like no other.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My love for photography came from my mother when she put a camera in my hand at a very young age. As time went on I developed a great passion for visual arts and creating beautiful memories and because of that photography has become my career. My first job was for CPI Images. From there I began to work for Noerr programs seasonally while I was in the process of creating my own photography business Phenomenal Reflections. Through Phenomenal Reflections, Easter With Buster and Santa Your Way was established. A unique, positive and diverse holiday experience featuring Long Island’s Favorite Chocolate Easter Bunny and the number one Black Santa in the state of New York. As a result of that we have expanded and now have Santa Your Way in North Carolina as well. We are a family business that provides a wonderful Holiday Experience, great customer service with exceptional quality photos. I’m very proud of the growth within the business over the years and all of the community work and free events that we have been blessed to provide.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I already had a huge following and fan base due to all the hard work throughout my 28 years of being in the business. Providing great work to my clients and building wonderful long lasting relationships with every person that I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with along the way has helped as well. Consistency and great quality is key within the industry. Also, keeping up with the now and interacting with your followers plays a big part in keeping people engaged and growing your fan base. We enjoy what we do so creating tik toks and displaying our environment becomes second nature.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

A Black Santa with great representation is very important in so many ways. It is my duty and ultimate goal to show the world just how important he truly is. I would love to make Santa Your Way world wide. Being able to provide options so that people can have their choice of Santa is an incredible feeling. Seeing the kids eyes light up and their big smiles definitely fills my heart with joy. Most of all being able to give back to the community and those in need is extremely important to us and it’s very necessary to help others along the way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @santayourway

Image Credits

Philana Aiken of Phenomenal Reflections