Lisa Smith Molinari is an award-winning syndicated columnist, author, and speaker. Her column, The Meat and Potatoes of Life, appears weekly in Stars and Stripes and other newspapers around the world. Her hilarious memoir, The Meat and Potatoes of Life: My True Lit Com, about her life as a Navy wife and mother of three, has won numerous humor book awards.
Lisa also wrote “Secrets of My Success” in Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life about the difficult decision to leave behind her career to manage her military family.
She says, “It took an argument with my fifteen-year-old son for me to realize that I was not a failure for not being able to manage my legal career while juggling the responsibilities of being a military wife and mother to three children, one of which had significant developmental delays.”
Through the stresses of military life, parenting, and marriage, writing became a lifeline, says Lisa, a way to find meaning and humor in the day-to-day, particularly when her husband was deployed.
She describes herself as a small-town kid who channeled her quirky nature into a good sense of humor, “evidenced by my prestigious appointment as Class Clown in high school.” During more than twenty years as a military spouse, Lisa found that having a funny disposition helps her cope with the frequent challenges. She eventually decided to share her perspective with other military spouses through her blog and syndicated weekly newspaper column, The Meat and Potatoes of Life.
The column won First Place for Humor in print publications under 50,000 circulation in the 2018 National Society of Newspaper Columnists Awards. She says, “Making my fellow milspouses laugh at our uncommon life has been a truly rewarding experience.”
Lisa’s work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including: The Washington Post, USA TODAY, and Military Spouse magazine, and in several books including Chicken Soup for the Soul: Military Families, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of America, and Miracles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Moms.
Lisa’s wide-ranging experience as a speaker includes keynotes, panel discussions, and comedy events, covering topics from family life to legal and journalism issues.
She is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, Pennsylvania Bar Association, and District of Columbia Bar Association. She is also a past president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.
Lisa lives with her family in Jamestown, Rhode Island.
