Inspirational Mom: Angela Santomero, Creator of Super Why

My daughter and I have been watching Super Why since she was about three years old. I love how educational the program is with the Super Readers characters as well as the catchy music. So when I had a chance to speak to the mastermind behind this show as well as Blues Clues and the new Daniel Tigers neighborhood – I jumped at the chance. It is always interesting in hear how people started out in their respective industries. Angela Santomero is the creator of all three shows and is the Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC. She also created and hosts a new show called The Parent Show. She has been changing the way children watch television for over fifteen years and her ability to integrate education, entertainment and active participation have helped her programs become very popular with kids and their families. I know I am more than happy to have my daughter sit down for a bit and watch one of these educational shows!

I had a chance to interview Angela and she talks about how she attempts to balance her work life and home life while raising two children. It goes back to what I wrote about in another post about the impractical goal of attempting to balance it all. Sometimes things have to give, but in the end if we just do our best that is all we can do. It sounds like Angela is doing just fine and is an inspiration to go after what you love to do and to do it well!

Angela, you are the creator of preschool educational series for TV such as Blue Clues, Super Why! and the new Daniel Tigers neighborhood. Have you always known that you wanted to create educational programs for kids? How and when did you get your big break?

I was truly inspired by Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as a child and really wanted to influence children the way Mister Rogers influenced me. I received my Masters in Child Development and went on to work in Research at Nickelodeon where I got my first break. Nickelodeon supported the idea to create a “game show” for preschoolers based on Kindergarten Readiness Skills that would get kids involved in the show with this new (at the time!) interactive format.

Where do you get the inspiration for the various shows you have created?

From kids! My own girls are a big inspiration for me, but I’m also in the classroom with preschoolers regularly.

I read that songwriter and fun’s Jack Antonoff wrote the award-winning songs for Super Why. How did that collaboration come together?

Jack’s niece is a fan of Super Why! We were thrilled and honored to work with him. All of his songs get stuck in my head!

As a mom and business owner of Out of the Blue Enterprises along with other projects you have going on such as The Parent Show, what are some steps you take to balance work and home life?

Balance? What is that?? I do some work after the kids go to bed at night so I can be there for dinner and bedtime routine. I also have the best team in children’s television who have been amazing at partnering with me to continue to make every episode of every project wonderful! But I always feel like I’m working at the balancing act…

Any news you want to share with dandelion moms?

My two new “babies” are my Amazon Studios shows – Creative Galaxy, all about exposing kids to creative thinking, problem solving, and art, and Sara Solves It, about a 9 year-old math whiz girl and her little brother, who solve mysteries using … math – Schoolhouse Rock style!

Thanks Angela for creating this great shows for our kids to enjoy and learn from!

You can read more about Angela and her projects at: www.angelasclues.com