(upbeat music) - We're now joined by Angela Santomero who is co-creator of "Blue's Clues," you remember that series "Blue's Clues," and creator of "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," and the author of "Life Clues: Unlocking the Lessons "to an Exceptional Life."

Angela, great to see you again.

- So good to see you again.

- Tell people how far back we go and where you were in your career at the time when I did that first interview with you.

- I feel that we were just launching "Blue's Clues," and it was just getting really big, but I don't want to say how long ago that was.

- Don't do it.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

So how about this.

I remember that interview.

I remember, I mean, our kids all grew up on "Blue's Clues."

Explain to folks your connection to "Blue's Clues," how that happened, and how it changed the trajectory of your life professionally.

- Well, thank you.

I have a master's in child developmental psychology, and I wanted to do an interactive game show that would have kids learn kindergarten readiness skills and that they would love and fall in love with Blue, a little animated blue puppy.

Anyway, it took my career into a whole other direction: 10 years, 80 people, full-time.

Then we took a little break.

We came back.

We did more productions.

And we just launched with season five of a reboot of "Blue's Clues & You."

- Could you do this?

As people who grew up in public broadcasting, Fred Rogers was and still is Fred Rogers.

But, for you, Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers, huge impact.

Talk about that please.

- I was such a fan, like a real fan, right, as a preschooler.

And then, as I got older, I realized that he had a master's in child developmental psychology, and he really made sure that what he was telling kids was with respect, and he looked right into the camera.

Anyway, it really moved me, and so much so that we really did study "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," and I got a chance to call him and talk to him and meet him, and we became friends because I would talk all the time about that show and his show, and he was such an impact on me as a person and then me as a career.

- What particularly inspired you about Fred Rogers?

- He looked through the camera in such a way that was so mesmerizing that it brought you in, and the kinds of conversations he was having on the show were so impactful.

He was talking about anger and divorce and, you know, just literally having big, big questions.

- And racism.

- And racism.

- Racism and prejudice.

- Brilliant, right?

So ahead of his time.

So brilliant.

So, it was like, it was a huge dream come true for me to do "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" in honor of his legacy.

- That was in honor of Fred Rogers!

How so?

- It's literally, it's the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, but we animated the whole thing.

We animated it, and all of the characters have grown up, and they all have preschoolers of their own, and we follow a little 4-year-old Daniel Tiger, and we also added a little real life street so that we could meet Music Man Stan, and we could meet Baker Aker and have all of these helpful adults in that world and mimic what, or be inspired by and mimic what Fred did.

And for the first seven seconds of the show of "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," it's exactly as Fred did it, where Daniel has a little red sweater that he zips.

He has little sneakers that he throws from.

It was a dream come true to work with The Fred Rogers Company and make that happen.

- Let's shift gears to the book.

"Life Clues: Unlocking the Lessons to an Exceptional Life."

So this is a quote from, I'm not gonna obsess over Fred Rogers, but I want you to take this and go with it because it's life clue number one.

"I like you just the way you are, every part of you, "your skin, your eyes, your feelings, "whether new or old, old or new.

"I hope that you'll remember even when you're feeling blue "that it's you that I like."

Fred Rogers. "

I like you just the way you are."

Why is that so important to you?

- You know, it still brings me to tears, those beautiful lyrics of that song and that idea that we can give that to kids, that you can literally look through the camera and say, "I like you just as you are."

It's such a beautiful self-worth elevating thing that we need as adults as well.

And I think that we forget that.

We forget that we need that, and it really does fill our cup.

And so that was why it had to be the first clue.

You know, having even just one person who believes in you can make such a huge difference.

- I want to ask you about other clues but real quick.

Social media.

Our daughter happens to be 13, and it's scary sometimes.

I look at her Instagram account.

I think she wants to block me, but she can't.

And I look, and I don't want to go into a whole big thing about this, but I do ask myself to what degree young men and young women, boys and girls, like themselves just the way they are.

And I know I'm complicating things, but I'm not convinced they do.

- It's hard.

It's a really hard time for them.

And I do think it's our support and us knowing what's going on as much as we can, and saying it as parents.

The weight of our words, no matter what's going on with friends.

You know, it's really important how many likes you have.

It's really important that they know that we believe in them, and we support them, and we love them.

And also that they control the social media on their point of view, right?

They can control it, what they're putting out in the world, how they're using it.

It's not controlling them, which I think is also a really important thing to remember.

- You're a parent.

How much does it impact the life clues you write about?

- You know, actually, these are the clues that I wanted my adult girls to take with them.

So, you know, they're lessons for preschoolers.

And then I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh.

All of this research that we put into this, these are the clues that I want the girls to take with them as they go out into the world as adults.

These are the things that they should still remember about how to deal with disappointment and anger and believing in themselves.

- Let stay on clues.

Give us a couple of other clues that, 'cause there's so many, and there's the book right there, "Life Clues."

Another clue that you say... You know what?

You know what, I'm gonna be more specific.

I'm a communication coach in my other life, and I studied this in my academic life, public communication, and you have such an interesting communication life clue.

"Pause before speaking, and be an attentive listener."

How the heck is that a life clue?

- It changes your perspective on everything when you can literally allow yourself the gift of focusing in on somebody and their conversation, and it is a gift that you're giving someone else.

And I think that we obviously communicate in so many different ways every day, probably every minute of every day, and to remember that it's such a gift to put ourselves into that space and be one-on-one with somebody, right?

We're not looking at our phone.

We're not multitasking.

We're literally just focusing.

And that five minutes can even be uplifting to you because you're making that connection with somebody.

So, for me, it's critical to living a joyful life, to living a life where you're feeling grounded in yourself.

- I'm pausing before I'm speaking.

(laughs) So how about this?

Is it harder than ever to be present?

- Absolutely, it is harder than ever to be present, and it's even more important to take that pause before saying yes to everything, before instantly gratifying and buying the next thing that you see on an Instagram ad, right?

It's like taking a minute to just kind of reflect whether or not you should say yes to something, whether or not you should say no to something.

We're multitask.

We're available 24/7.

You know, it's that kind of thing where I can put do not disturb on my phone, but my kids can break through that in case there's a problem.

(laughs) So you're always available.

- You have another one.

"Never stop playing."

- Yeah.

We are...

Right.

Life is so serious; life is so hard.

As an adult, we age so fast as soon as we really fall into it.

- Yeah, I noticed on my end.

- (laughs) You do!

And you get that fear, and it's true.

All of these things are true.

It's stressful.

We have a lot to do.

But if we can look at things through the lens of this is a journey.

We're gonna make mistakes, right?

These are all the things that you do when you play, right?

You're trying something new.

You never stop learning.

You're being a little bit more playful.

You're adding some of these really fun bonding questions when you're having a dinner party, like you're breaking the ice.

Like, it's just everything is so much more fun.

Even the things that are hard can be a little bit lighter.

- You have a quote here from Deepak Chopra under life clue number nine: cultivate routines.

"See the world as if for the first time.

"See it through the eyes of a child, "and you'll suddenly find that you are free."

Deepak Chopra.

Cultivate routines.

What do you mean?

- It's exactly what we do for little ones, right?

We make sure that they have snacks when they're hungry.

We make sure that they nap when they're tired.

We make sure that they have a specific type of routine that they do every day because there is such a relaxation to that security of knowing that.

And it works for adults as well, right?

Having a weekly meeting in the morning.

Figuring out what you're doing over your coffee.

Like, having these little routines and really remembering to eat when you're hungry and those kinds of things.

Like, those little routines and that ability to nurture yourself should never go away.

- Before I let you go, first of all, it is wonderful to see your success from the first time we talked to each other when you were just breaking in as a very, very young professional in the field.

To see the work you've done and that you'll continue to do is so exciting.

The passion that you have for what you do is off the charts because?

- You know, I love it so much.

I'm not really sure.

I'm such a kid advocate.

I love the process.

I love what we're saying to kids, and I love getting the feedback back from parents and adults when I write and the messages that I put out in the world.

So I do.

I just love it.

- Angela Santomero, co-creator of "Blue's Clues," creator of "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," and the author of "Life Clues: "Unlocking the Lesson to an Exceptional Life."

See you next time.

I'm Steve Adubato.

That's Angela.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by Johnson & Johnson.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSEG Foundation.

Valley Bank.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by Kean University.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by BestofNJ.com.

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