I found The Elf on the Shelf the way you find a roommate or a used futon — through a Craigslist ad.
“Marketing assistant,” it read. $15 an hour. I was 23, freshly out of college and just desperate enough to answer it. I had no idea I was about to walk into the North Pole.
The job turned out to be at a small family-owned company built around a children’s book called “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition.” Independently published in 2005 by a mother-daughter team, the book told the story of Santa’s scout elves who visited families and then fly back to the North Pole each night to report on children’s behavior. What made it unique was that each book came with its own scout elf — a soft-bodied pixie in red felt that families could adopt and name, turning the story into a lived tradition in their own homes.
When I joined the company in 2011, the brand was on the cusp of a major shift — the elves were headed into Target after years of relying on independent bookstores.
Within months, I was promoted to marketing manager. And somehow, in the middle of all that, I became known as the Head Elf.
