Biography
A sought after public speaker, Virginia Carol Varnadore Aebersold was born in Texas City, Texas. She lived in Chicago, Illinois, until she was 12. Her family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where her father, a former Navy man, worked as a lab technician at the Y-12 plant and later at K-25. Her mother worked as a bank teller at the Bank of Oak Ridge. Aebersold graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1966 and attended Tennessee Wesleyan University in Athens. She earned a B.S. in Music Education at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville in 1970. While teaching high school in Cleveland, Tennessee, she met engineer Robert C. Aebersold. They married in 1972 and moved to a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. The pair started a family and welcomed their twin daughters Chanda A Bell and Christa A Pitts, as well as their son Brandon. Mostly enjoying a career as a stay at home mom, she found success as the Co-Author of the best-selling Christmas title, The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition and The Elf on the Shelf: A Birthday Tradition. Semi-retired, Aebersold is currently an Executive Producer for the animated stories being churned out by her family owned production company, Scout Elf Productions. Their first special launched in the fall of 2018, Elf Pets: Santa's St. Bernards Save Christmas. She was also an Executive Producer for An Elf's Story, a modern day Christmas classic produced by Big Canoe Entertainment. She is credited with writing several songs on both animated projects, including the much beloved song, Extravaganzalorious!
Carol Aebersold primarily worked as a stay-at-home mom, earning an award as one of Georgia's Positive Parents (1988-1989) from the governor of Georgia. She held two positions that drew on her writing talent: editor of a local Christian magazine (1984-1987) and account executive in an advertising firm (1991-1994). In 2004, Aebersold fully embraced writing when daughter Chanda A. Bell convinced her to co-author a book about their family tradition-the Scout Elf who listens to kids' thoughts and dreams during the day and reports to Santa at night. Using office space loaned by her husband, Aebersold and Bell crafted the book in six months and sent proposals to agents. Literary agent Jennifer DeChiara took notice and shopped the manuscript, but publishers turned down the unknown writing team.
So they dove into self-publishing and enlisted the talents of local water-colorist Coë Steinwart to illustrate the story. Christa Pitts left her position as an on-air host at QVC and joined the team to run the marketing, sales and operational side of the business. Strapped for start-up cash, the family tapped into credit lines, cleaned out a small retirement fund and used the proceeds from the sale of Pitts' house. By the end of 2005, they sold 5,000 units of The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition®. By 2008, the partners had progressed from selling books out of car trunks and at gift shows and specialty shops to placing products in major retailers, toy stores and bookstore chains. The keepsake box featuring a charming tale and a magical Scout Elf from the North Pole became a timeless Christmas tradition, with the storybook topping best-seller lists year after year.
In 2011, Aebersold, along with her daughters, formed Big Canoe Entertainment with partners Catherine Scorcese, Kenneth Waddell, Tara Burtchaell, and Chad Eikhoff. The entertainment company's sole purpose was to write and produce An Elf's Story. The first animated tale based on The Elf on the Shelf property. An Elf's Story debuted on CBS and is now considered a modern day Christmas classic viewed year after year on Turner Networks: TBS and Cartoon Network. To date, the special has been viewed by a combined audience of over 24 million people. The special has also aired to warm receptions in Canada and in the UK. Aebersold served as an executive producer on the project and contributed as a screenwriter. She also co-wrote the songs "Each and Every Christmas" and "Extravaganzalorious!"
In 2017, Aebersold co founded Scout Elf Productions(TM) with her daughters in order to, "Imaginatively tell the stories of Santa's North Pole and answer the age-old questions about his fantastical universe through the power of animation." A subsidiary of CCA and B, LLC, the production company released Elf Pets: Santa's St. Bernards Save Christmas, in the Fall of 2018. Aebersold served as the executive producer of the 2018 animated special, and is now serving as an executive producer for a new animated property set to release in the fall of 2019.
