About the Bloggers > Vanessa Molina Santamaria

About Vanessa Molina Santamaria

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Vanessa is a writer, editor, creative director and project manager who is passionate about bringing stories to life with words, photography and design. She is the founder of Bits & Pieces Media, which specializes in content development, creative services and turnkey project management. A University of Miami graduate, Vanessa began her career as an investigative reporter and freelance writer before becoming a marketing professional.

After working with notable brands such as Target, Travel + Leisure and Food & Wine, she joined HCP Media (part of the Miami Herald Media Company) as director of editorial and design. She’s been a speaker at national media conferences, judged international publishing awards, served as an ambassador for the United Way, and has mentored young professionals, but her most treasured role is being a mom to Grace and Gianna.

Vanessa loves to travel and go on adventures with her family.

Recent Blog Posts

Dad eating ice cream with daughter and laughing

How Your “Dad Jokes” Can Keep Kids Healthy

When Dad cracks another one of his corny jokes, the family often groans and may even describe the joke as “painful.” Ironically, the latest research seems to indicate the opposite to be true: Dad jokes may be good for your children’s health.

Putting a Stop to Teen Smoking

Parents, teachers and pediatricians often faced the challenge of encouraging teens to avoid smoking cigarettes — or helping them quit if they started smoking. Now that challenge has taken a different form, as e-cigarette use, or vaping, has become the growing trend among today’s teenagers. 

A young girl blows her nose in a tissue

Preparing for Flu Season

With flu season already here and our kids back in school, there are a few small steps you can take to keep everyone in your family healthy this year. Learn more about the 2021-22 flu season and how the flu vaccines are quadrivalent to protect against each of these unique strains of the virus.

A young girl surrounded by family attending a funeral service

Helping Your Children Deal with Grief

There are many factors involved in how your children process loss, such as how close they were to the person who passed away, their age and maturity level, and their support system. However, it's important to let your child know what to expect, so they are prepared for what is to come. Vanessa tells her story about how she helped her daughters through a difficult time. 

Two young children on their first day of school

Five Ways to Minimize Sibling Arguments When Virtual Schooling

When this pandemic started, few of us could have imagined that this would last into the following school year. But here we are, settling into the 2020/21 academic year, with many of us in the midst of managing virtual school again. Although it’s not the most ideal situation, there are things we can do to make the process go a bit smoother.

Two children at a desk looking at at a screen

CEO, mom and… TEACHER?

Prior to this global pandemic, I would have never imagined home schooling my two daughters, ages 6 and 8. I am an entrepreneur who is used to multitasking, but now I find myself in the unique situation of managing a business, a household and virtual school all while trying to keep my sanity — I’m sure many of you are in the same boat!

Two young children smiling while holding a dust pan and broom

The Importance of Chores

As a mompreneur who juggles all the things, it’s important for me to teach my kids the value of hard work.
I remember growing up with my grandparents and helping my grandma around the house. I don’t recall her ever handing me a list of specific things to do, but I always felt like it was something I needed to do. Sometimes she’d ask me to do specific tasks, but I think it was just understood that I should help around the house — even when I wasn’t asked. That’s just the way I was raised.