The Unplanned Podcast with Matt & Abby - Christy Carlson Romano on voicing 'Kim Possible,’ co-starring with Shia LaBeouf & getting scammed by a psychic

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Christy Carlson Romano talks about voicing 'Kim Possible,' co-starring with Shia LaBeouf and sharing her experience of being scammed. This episode is sponsored by Dreamland Baby, Rocket Money, Liquid I.V. & DoorDash. Dreamland Baby: Go to https://dreamlandbabyco.com and enter code UNPLANNED at checkout to receive 20% off sitewide + free shipping. Rocket Money: Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to https://RocketMoney.com/unplanned. Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://LiquidIV.com and use code UNPLANNED at checkout. DoorDash: Sign up for DashPass today and get your first 30 days free if you’re a new member. Subject to change. Terms apply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could you say your catchphrase? Oh yeah! The do do do do! Hey Wade, what's the sitch? WAAAAAAA Everything's messy when you start scratching up people's childhoods. Me representing a part of y'all's childhoods, if I start talking about it, it can offend people.

Because they're like, wait, you're supposed to be this for me. With what you know about Shia now, what would you have done definitely at the time? I can't speak to what would have helped, but if you would put 40-year-y in 16 year old Christy's body I would give him like a big hug because he definitely needed one of them Do you think what you were doing as a child affected your relationship with your mom? Yeah I didn't talk to my mom for like a year

We sat down with the voice of Kim Possible actress Christy Carlson Romano You probably already know her from the Disney movies cadet Kelly or even Stevens But now she's married with two kids and has been very open online about her experiences as a child actress. We talk with her about everything from getting scammed by a psychic to working with Shia LaBeouf all on today's episode. Thank you for being here. I'm so excited to be here. This is very random and very cool. So thank you for having me. I didn't realize until doing my research that you had been on Broadway and done so many Disney movies and TV shows and you have two kids and you're married. Meeting you 15 minutes

ago when you walked in the door, I was just like, I didn't know what to expect, but I was shocked by how like genuine you were. And like, it's cool to see someone so down to earth when they've done so many cool things. For so long, your career as you were talking before this started, started when you were six and a half years old. What was your first gig? Gosh, I did a toy commercial that was eventually, the toy was recalled. Oh.

No. Bummer. But you still got paid, right? Yeah, of course. I think I sang like the jingle in it, and it was called Warm and Tender. It was one of those water heater bags that old people put hot water in before they had electric warming blankets,

which I now use every night. We won't talk about that. Oh, I love a warm blanket. Oh my God, I love that. The heating pads are the best. But this was back when those didn't exist, so you would put hot scalding water in it. And if you did that, but make it the shape of a puppy

that you would hug, what could go wrong, right? So that was why it was called warm and tender. And it was like, there was a cat warm and tender and there was a dog warm and tender. Such a bad idea. But literally you can go on YouTube and we can look, before I leave, you can look at this commercial. I have to now.

Please do. You'll see little baby Christy. Aw., you can look at this commercial. I have to now. Please do. You'll see little baby Christy. Aw. Yeah, that was my first commercial. How did that even get started? Was it something that your mom was like, I have this super talented bubbly little girl that would be great at this? Or were you just like, mom, I need to show the world how I can sing and act.

When it comes to my mom as a stage parent, I don't think that she ever wanted to be a performer. She's actually kind of a wallflower. But when it came to me, and now I'm seeing this in my youngest, who's trying to sing and it's like, oh my God, this is triggering. But she really did have a connection with me, with my talent, where she was like,

well, I've given a lot to my three other children when it came to sports and even beauty pageants and dancing, which is kind of how I got my first manager at that young age. So I think she was really just trying to honor my interests and then go with that at like whatever speed it could go. And I think right place, right time with being so young, there's a lot less competition. And we happen to live 70 miles from Manhattan, where I grew up in Connecticut. So it was kind of like a very easy, easy, I say easy quotation marks, but the lift of being able to access opportunities was possible. So were you, did you do school like online?

Was there even online school at that time? No, there was not online. I'm 40 and it was like, I'm Oregon Trail Generation, I think. And so basically like I think it was going, I'm so old. Oh, sorry. You're good. You're good. We'll bleep it out. We'll bleep it out. I'm so old. But there was a fax machine involved. Let's just put it that way. Initially. There were fax in your homework? Yeah, there was literally like some sort of a facts thing where you'd get your assignments

and there was a pager, my mom, when we would get paged by our agent or manager whether I got a call back or something, she'd go to a pay phone and she would like call and she'd be like, you got the job. That's so classic. Yeah, it was really, really wild when I think back to it now. But really, we did go, I ended up going to a school called Professional Children's School where a lot of celebrities went.

So Scarlett Johansson was in my class and actually Jack Antonoff who's like Taylor Swift's like producer. He was in my graduating class and it was just a tremendous like when you see they give you like newsletters of how our alumni are doing but it's like ridiculous. Yeah. Like the people that are like are the alumni. They're the number one. Yeah. Everything but it's like ridiculous. Yeah. The people that are like, are the alumni. They're the number one. Everything.

Yeah. It's literally crazy. It's like Jenna Malone and Macaulay Culkin and Kiernan Culkin and like the whole Culkin family went there. So it's just this really amazing, you know, good school that accommodated for professional children. So eventually when I started working for Disney, I was about 14 and then I moved out there. They picked up the show around

16. I turned 16 the day we started filming. And yeah, I mean, it's wild, but I was able to make it work and then ended up going to Ivy League school. Wow. Okay. Why don't you get back a bit to all the super crazy successful people that were in your class? Is it hard when you look at all these people from your class that are Scarlett Johansson, Jack Antonoff, all these people that are going bonkers in their careers and is it hard not to compare yourself to that? I think I fell into that trap for years of like, you know, even when I was working at Disney, there being, you know, immense success for people like Shia, Raven, Hillary, like they were all sort of my colleagues and we all took very different roads, very different roads. Mentally, spiritually, I mean, financially,

like everything was so different about us. We were very different brands, genders, races, just like the different infrastructures of our families. You know what I'm saying? Like Shia's family we know was troubled from the jump. And then Hillary had a really, really great family structure to a lot of degrees about what that would look like for her. And I know her sister,

and I think they're a really tight knit family that probably helped in times of there being sort of confusion and fame and financial success, I think has a lot to do with that, the outcomes of that. So for me, I was always told that education was the most important thing. So when I turned 18, Even Stevens was ending, we had done one of the Disney movies. And then right like after that movie like wrapped, I had the opportunity to go to Barnard, which is at Columbia University. And so I was like, either I do this,

or I stay in LA. I think I had had like a pilot with like Fox or something like that and it didn't end up getting picked up. So I was just kind of like, okay, I'm going to go to college and have this quote unquote normal life all of a sudden. And none of that happened for me. The transition of that was like very strange for me. And so at that point when they were like calling me to be like, hey, would you be interested in being Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway? I was like, oh great, like I can go escape to the theater.

And so I guess when you're talking about the comparison thing circling back to this, I think just everybody has their own journey. And for a long time, like you tend to use other people's journeys as a means to motivate yourself through shame. And when you work super young, that shame of not getting the part or not succeeding, it is so loaded for you, because that success means,

oh, I have so much approval in my parents' eyes, and all of their time that they sacrificed is now gonna amount to something. So it's a very thick, complex situation. I'm grateful that now I have the distance from it to be like, I just hope everyone's doing okay. But I will say, I wouldn't wanna be in Shia's shoes because he's had so much that he's had to work past.

And now I've been sober eight years from alcohol, you know, and everything. So it's just kind of like. Congrats. Thank you. Oh yeah, congratulations. Thank you.

Round of applause for that. Having a baby does that, yeah. That's awesome. Forced it. Oh yeah, you kinda got forced to be sober. Yeah. Forced, exactly. But no, it really, it's just the most amazing thing.

So I just look at other people, I'm like, you know what? This is all happening for some reason that we can't understand. I've got to focus on myself. The sobriety thing and I'm like, you know what, this is all happening for some reason that we can't understand. I've got to focus on myself. The sobriety thing, I'm curious, drinking, did it become a problem because of comparison? Did it become a problem? That's a great point, yeah, for sure.

You kind of talked about how like, you want your parents' time to amount to something. Like, do you think that you felt pressure as a kid pretty consistently as you were doing all these jobs while it was maybe fun for you, like also pressure involved? 100%. I think that, you know, child performers are what I call them as high performing children

because that could also be athletes, dancers, musicians, like any child that's kind of growing up in a very like highly competitive environment kind of has the same outcome in terms of them being like, okay, this is my identity, but at the same time, they don't, time is elusive because you're not thinking of your childhood in days, you're thinking of it in accomplishments.

Yeah, I feel like for me, being just your average kid, like I, my marker was summer break. And so like, with school, like it's like, okay, that's another school year. And you guys didn't have those, you didn't have that marker. Yeah, I mean, summer break, which meant that you were on hiatus, at least from when I was working with Disney,

would mean that, you know, hey, I hope Disney gives me a movie to shoot. So like, for example, my movie that I got to shoot was Cadet Kelly, and that was in like the summer of the second season or something like that, right? I was like 16 or 17 at that point. And it was really cool because I felt like, wow, like I'm doing something other than the Even Steven show.

And then after that Kim Possible kind of happened. So I just think like you start to think of everything as I would call it like a transactional mindset, where it's just like a transactional mindset, where it's just like, okay, well, what's the next thing? Or, and as kids shouldn't be thinking like that all the time, I think it can kind of destroy the joy of childhood to some degree. I mean, it also offers, like I said,

like I don't want to come off bitter. I think people, of course, people on the internet are like, oh, she's bitter, that she doesn't have this person's career that, and it's like, it's really not that. Like I said, I'm now 40. And it's like perspective is so rewarding. And so the more questions you can ask yourself or the more conversations you can have with folks, this is just what it is.

I do find it really interesting to talk about, to be honest. Oh, me too, especially with how much the media has been bringing these things to light. As of recently, I was thinking, there's been a long conversation about Jeanette McCurdy's book, and it makes me curious, do you think that what you were doing as a child affected your relationship with your mom? Yeah, sadly, my mom and I have struggled in the past. I think where I was extremely compliant,

quite like Jeanette. Like when I did a YouTube video on my podcast, Vulnerable, which I have actually stopped doing because I felt like there was a tremendous amount of pressure for me to do everything right as a sort of quote unquote advocate. I was like, I can't do this anymore. Like I'm not representing the community the way that,

you can't be all things to everyone. And therefore I was like, I need to just take care of myself and take care of my family. And like, that's where my focus and my sobriety. Like I think that has a lot to do with everything that I've done. And even talking about this stuff is because when you're sober, you have to have like a tremendous amount

of accountability for the things you've done. And so I've tried to do that, but again, everything's messy when you start scratching at people's childhoods. Sometimes I think even me representing a part of y'all's childhoods, if I start talking about it, it can offend people because they're like, wait, but you're supposed to be this for me because if you're not, then what does that mean? Because I used to watch your show. Oh, yeah. You then what does that mean? Because I used to watch your show. Oh, yeah.

You know what I'm saying? Like I used to watch your show because I felt really bad about being bullied. But then what does it mean that you were being bullied by the, you know, it's just like, it kind of breaks my heart when I think about it now that like I would be maybe taking that away from, from people. Because my fans to me are always the kids that, you know, watch the shows. So I've never thought of it that way. And that's so interesting how, yeah,

I mean, people view you as the character that you played. And that's how they knew you. That's how they had a relationship with you through the screen. Because they're kids, not like they're adults. Like, they can't be like, oh, yeah, like Jason Momoa. He's obviously not Poseidon. Yeah.

Well, even, OK, so one of my first memories of going to the zoo as a kid, I remember getting so excited when I came across the naked mole rats because of Kim Possible. I was like, I know that! I was like, that's on TV and like, I want to go look at the naked mole rats. That's so funny. That's so cool. They're really ugly.

They are! They're so weird. Such a random, like I never thought about how random that is. I think I've asked the creators, Bob and Mark, about it. And they were like, you know, we were just looking for some sort of an animal, because it's Disney. And like, we just thought of something that this guy Ron would have

that's not like your typical pet. And you know, we thought of, I think they thought of like ferret and like a pig. Yeah, Matt was a ferret kid, so. I did have a ferret. Ferrets are actually quite cool. I taught my ferret how to roll over. He could jump through hoops.

I wasn't able to have a dog as a kid, so my ferret was my dog. Honestly, like I actually would absolutely have a ferret had to roll over. Yeah. He could jump through hoops. Yes. I wasn't able to have a dog as a kid, so my ferret was my dog. Honestly, I actually would absolutely have a ferret. They're quite clean. Was it clean? They can smell. And there was a spot in my room where you knew where the ferret would pee all the time because it turned yellow in the carpet.

I dated a guy who had roommates that had this ferret, and they never named the ferret. They just called it ferret and they would have it drink beer and stuff like that. And I would always be like, guys, you guys are really wild, but like the ferret was happy and it lived a long life. So I don't know. Wow, okay.

The ferret never had a surprise. I feel like naked mole rat might've been because like for like kids, anything with the word naked was just like funny. That's what it is. Yeah. Naked. Exactly. That definitely's what it is. Naked. Exactly.

That definitely was what it was. I was like, it's naked. Naked. Ah. When people approach you in public, what is the job that they bring up the most, do you think? I think impossible at this point, which is really strange because when you think

of voice actors, you don't think of their faces. You don't think of their faces. I've interviewed plenty of them. I had a podcast with Will Friedle, who was Ron Stoppable's voice, and he's Batman's voice, and he was on Boy Meets World. And it was called I Hear Voices, and it was legitimately a podcast.

We did it on I Heart a couple years ago, and it was like we interviewed Eric, oh my God, and see, I'm not even remembering his last name, Eric Bowser. Eric Bowser, you guys would probably not know, but he's literally the voice of every Looney Tune now. He's the voice of the rabbit. Who's the rabbit? Right, this is so bad.

Bugs Bunny? Bugs Bunny, yeah. He's the voice of Bugs Bunny. He's the voice of like five others, 12 other, and he gets like, literally he has like Emmy awards and like, wow, I'm saying this guy is the most massive, amazing, and a great person, but it's like, you would never know these people's faces, however, they know my face.

And the reason they know my face, because they don't realize it, because they may be on the younger side, is because all the stuff that I had done, Cadet Kelly, or even Steve, it was like all of that stuff kept playing in sort of the world. And so whether it was a commercial,

or whether it was their older sibling that was watching it, it was kind of like my face kind of creeping in somehow. So it's that familiarity. So when I meet folks, it's like they go back in their minds and they regress to being those kids. So that's why I'm always like, I love them so much because it's like, it's literally like seeing people turn into kids.

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unplanned at checkout to receive 20% off site-wide and free shipping. This offer is for new and existing customers. Okay. I totally wouldn't ask you this if we just like ran into you in the street, but because it's on a podcast and everyone can enjoy this moment. Could you do could you say your catchphrase? Oh, yeah Of course, you know the do do do do Let's see then something I did something recently for somebody they were like, that's not the voice I was like, okay guys, come on something critical It's been a while like we don't have the reboot happening.

Okay, let's see. Hey Wade, what's the sitch? What? I hope that was good enough for the internet. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Thank you for doing that. I'm sure I absolutely.

Did people ask you that? I actually really miss doing the voice. I love her voice. It's so clean and pure and just positive. I think there was something about her character that the reason I don't Mind talking about it is because she's just such a good influence on like everybody. Yeah, there's like nothing Especially for like young girls. I think seeing a girl that's just so strong and kicking butt and I think that's cool to see for for yeah young girls young women

I definitely was doing like somersaults in my grandma and grandpa's hallway and stuff after watching it. I thought she was so cool. She was. As a little boy, I was like, I want to be Kim. She's awesome. Yeah. It was very, she was very, people could identify with her and it didn't have to be boy or girl.

And also the power dynamic between her and Ron, it was just different. And then the fact that they ended up dating was like a really big deal in like the whole Disney animation world. And one of the really crazy things about Kim was that she was one of the first Disney characters to get a change of outfits because so many of our young watchers were like, we want Kim to wear this. We want Kim to wear that.

So finally, they gave her different outfits later into the seasons. And you they gave her different outfits like later into the seasons and you'll see her wearing different things but she really only had like she had a originally she had her mission outfit her one high school outfit and her cheerleading outfit but then they really started making her change her outfits and it was like how do you animate that you know that's really detailed work so it's kind of nerdy but that's so cool what how did you animate that? You know, that's really detailed work, so it's kind of nerdy, but. That's so cool. What, how did you think about voice acting? Like, because before you had been acting, was it like, wait, I want to be on screen,

or was it like, this is a really cool, fun, new project and a way to explore acting in general? Having the theater background and using my voice for so many years, it was sort of just a very natural fit for me to be doing that. Being a singer, it was a really good time for me to learn, especially at, I think I was like 16 at the time. So it was kind of like, how do I learn how to use this

side of my voice as a talent, as a feature? And while she wasn't very different, the fact that I can still do her voice at 40 and I've had a lot of miles on my vocal cords. It's like there's something to the training that I had early on. They were like, hey, no, do it like this. This is the intention of why she sounds like that. So there actually is quite much more to Kim than people would think. Somebody was saying, I think they were like, that's her customer service voice.

And I was like, I guess I could see that. It works. That's funny. It works. And landing that role, that's such a big deal. So how did that, how did that all come about becoming Kim and getting that part? Yeah. Kim was basically just synergistic from Disney channel.

I think they did actually have a lot of people. I believe Alison Hannigan was one of the options. And then she ended up becoming the mom in the live action movie. And I find that really funny. But I think they just vibed with the fact that I was the girl's age. You know what I mean?

I was a couple of years older than what she was. And I had some sensibilities that made more authentic sense to her. And I had a sense of like sarcasticness in my voice that could also be not off putting and fun when it came to Will's voice being very slapsticky and crazy. So I was kind of the straight person.

And then we worked a lot on Kim's, we called it stealth mode. So when she'd have to be in mission mode, I'd have to be like really intense. And so that was something we worked on a lot. That's so wild. Is the time commitment like for you, it's less on voice acting job rather than your traditional?

Yeah, because it's kind of like podcasting, like you can batch content if you needed to. So like they'll do, I think, I think for the most, gosh, I don't even remember, this is way too long ago, but I think you can do multiple episodes in one day of sessions if you had to, but you can certainly, even if it's not more than one episode, if say you do a secondary character

that doesn't have as many, they can batch episodes up, and then if they come back with ADR work, where it's like they've animated some of it, and now they just need extra oomphs and whatever, you can do a ton of different episodes. But technically you're a session performer, so there's not that much money in it. People don't realize this,

but there's not a lot of money in it. Dang, I wouldn't have thought that. Shoot, okay, I would have hoped that you would have like, yeah, been rolling it from here. No, no, I know, it's kind of the honor. You have to believe in the honor of it, the legacy of it. That's why I think I am proud of it because it's like, my goodness,

like, how are we still talking about it, right? And it had four seasons. So the impact is just really cool. And I mean, there's obviously been talk about there being a reboot. There was some serious talk about there being a reboot. To was some serious talk about there being a reboot to the specifics of that. I'm not allowed to talk about. But at the same time, it's also kind of a very corporate thing where, you know,

how many times can we express to the powers at be that like it's still relevant, like that people still care and that now those people have kids and their daughters who have red hair. This just happened to me like 48 hours ago when I was at a baseball game. There's this little girl, she's got beautiful, beautiful red hair. I think she was about like 11 years old. And she's like, oh my gosh, the mom was like,

she was KP like three Halloween's ago. We're always trying to find red haired girls for her to be. And she just had the best time. And when she pulled up the picture for me, and now this is a kid who didn't watch the show when it was originally on, she just had the biggest, coolest, fun smile on her face. Because I think there's something about cosplaying as KP

that makes girls feel truly, I don't know, empowered. Yeah. Something about, like you're saying, it's like you just were trying to be her and pretend to be her. So. Okay, even the movie's cadet Kelly to be her and pretend to be her, so. Okay, even the movie's Cadet Kelly, right? Am I saying that right?

Yes. Because Abby immediately was like, I knew that movie, it made me wanna be like a tough girl. I tried to pretend I had the rifle. It's true, but those rifles hurt, man. When they hit you, those rifles were rough. Just throw them in the air. I still remember them.

Because they were weighted with like metal, like certain, like the butt of the rifle would be like pretty in the air. Because they were weighted with metal, certain, the butt of the rifle would be pretty heavy. In general, they were weighted. So you'd really have to know how to throw them up. And we got bruises and we got hit a lot. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah.

So you did all that yourself? Well, yeah. I think we had stunt people go in and do it for us. And those women, those young women were gymnasts. But the guys that you would see in our squad or battalion, they were actual military, like Academy guys. Yeah. Junior ROTC.

Yeah, they were legit, but we filmed in Canada, which was really random. Super random. That probably made a lot of women wanna join the military. Seeing you. You think so? I don't know. I wonder.

I had never seen stuff like, I mean, I grew up in a small town, that we didn't have like a, that's like drill. Yes, drill team. Drill team. We didn't have drill team or anything like that. And so I was just like,

I didn't have a rifle clearly. I was just like taking the end of the broom, just like. I hope not. You would practice with the broom after watching the. I would try to do it. That's so funny. I'm telling you,

I watched a lot of TV at Grandma and Grandpa's that I would just get inspired. Your Grandma and Grandpa's were like, they were lenient with the TV. They were like, watch whatever Disney you want. Oh, one of them was Disney. They were like, yeah, it's fine. I'm much more, I think, particular about what my kids are watching and I don't need it to

be entertaining. I'd rather if they're going to have that, not that I'm all that strict about it, but if they're going to have the screen time, the older they get, the more I want them to have something with a lot of value, a lot of purpose, not just entertaining, but educational. In some ways, I can understand why Disney's done these massive franchises like Zombies and the things that have music and stuff. I think that's really great for kids to be enjoying the music aspects of it too. I'm so curious.

What are your thoughts on current Disney Channel? Disney Channel does not exist the way that it did. It is pretty much very different because it's called Disney Branded Partners now. Because of the streaming, I think that it's kind of altered the ecosystem of the way that they can have ratings and stuff like that. So they're very savvy to all of that, obviously. But then from what I know internally they have these amazing what they call tent poles franchises like zombies and descendants and those things are geared towards utilizing all of the aspects of Disney as a like massive company whether

it's like the parks or the toys and stuff like that. So I think that it's a very different like era of Disney Channel and who even knows, like they may get back to what we used to do, you know? But what's cool is that, you know, Ryan Merriman from the luck of the Irish, like some little movie that now kids- Oh, that was-

Did you have a crush on him? No, I just loved all those like Disney Channel movies. Yeah, I know. And it's like all those movies those kids are still watching them. Ice Princess always says, Ice Princess changed my life. You have said that. I've heard you say that multiple times. There are so many that just like, I don't know. I think it's actually so true because Kim Possible, all these, even Stephen's movie, they just play on your imagination in such a way. I don't

know, I just remember watching them and just feeling so deeply moved. I wanna watch them now as an adult and see. That makes me so happy. Like really, I remember watching them be like, okay Blake, okay we're just gonna pretend we're ice skating. I know we're in my grandma and grandpa's backyard but like. So y'all have been together a while. Yeah, yeah.

Well no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait Blake's your brother? Blake's her, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We've been together a while but I wasn't there. Guys, it's literally, can we no, no, no. Wait, Blake's your brother? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We've been together a while, but I wasn't there. Guys, it's literally, can we say how late it is right now? Too late. 10 o' 9. OK, it's 10 o'clock at night, and I was literally

just with my kids at a pizza parlor. I'm so sorry. The Blake thing was not intended at all. We do not worry about it. I'm like, what's happening right now? My brain is never OK. My brain is not. Yes, of course.

But you and your brother would pretend to be ice princesses? I would try to wrap him into anything because those Disney Channel movies, those are so nostalgic for me. The worlds are very rich. Yes. Yeah, and that's the thing is that I think when you were growing up, the worlds were much more in your backyard. So can I-

That's so true. You know what I'm saying? Because now it's a little bit more- Magical and actual Disney magical lore. That's so true. You know what I'm saying? Like it was a little bit more. Magical and like actual Disney like magical lore. And so I get it. Like we love it, but I just have to be a little bit more specific about like, well, what is this movie?

And do I have time to watch it? Mm hmm. Sorry, last call. You're good. You can do your thing. I'm so curious if your girls watch Kim Possible. I'm like, am I interesting? I feel like I'm. You're so interesting. Come on, you're Kim Possible. Oh, okay, great. I'm so curious if your girls watch Kim Possible. Am I interesting? You're so interesting.

Come on, you're Kim Possible. Oh, okay, great. I'm glad you guys. Do your daughters watch Kim Possible? I want them to watch it so badly, but I wouldn't push it on them. And so every now and then I'll be like, hey guys, look at that on the streaming.

Because my avatar is Kim Possible. Cute, of course it is. Of course, I was like, well, do they even have it? And then when they had it, I was like, well, I mean, I'm not going to not have KP as an avatar for our Disney Plus. But yeah, I don't force it on them. Have you ever considered dying your hair red? I did die at once.

And it was awful. Really? Oh, it was not good. It was not good. Thank you. I appreciate that. I have like pale skin. And you think, but no, I think Oh, it was not good. I feel like it worked. It was not good. Thank you.

I appreciate that. I have pale skin and you think, but no, I think like, I don't know. And now I have like, I've tried the like the freckle stuff. Like I've tried the freckle makeup and it's cute, but like, you know, I don't know if I have what it takes to be actually redheaded. Please tell me though that you've been Kim for Halloween before. I've like cosplayed her in like TikToks and stuff too. That's cool.

I've gone for it and had fun with it. And now I think I'm just kind of like, yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna like try to cosplay anymore. I'm like, nah, I'm not 140. I just have to leave it to the young ones at the Comic-Cons and just see the fun pictures and stuff. Every Halloween though, I will say this, every Halloween when people tag me,

I take so much joy in like reposting their stuff. So when Halloween comes around, like send me or tag me, call me or beat me. Your KP, you know content and I will repost it. That's sweet. So a question I've been dying to ask you because I was a little kid in Missouri, seeing all these kids who were acting on Disney.

And to me, that was the dream. Like if I could have been on Disney, my life would have been perfect. And it would have been the coolest thing ever. And so I'm so curious, as someone who literally lived that life, you were in all the movies and the TV shows and like that was your childhood and you did Broadway too.

And so what was that like? Was it everything that people make it out to be? Was it a high that you look back on you're like, man, that was the craziest high of my life of getting to have all these opportunities and playing all these roles. I do think it was an amazing high. And I think that I still get to reap the benefits from that.

Like I think if I didn't acknowledge that like the nostalgia that I've played into with my podcast network or like my content that I've made on YouTube and TikTok and stuff like that, like my fan base, essentially being in conversation with that past, I'm constantly trying to understand what that means. And like, okay, have I talked too much about it? And are people conversation with that past, I'm constantly trying to understand what that means and like, okay, have I talked too much about it? And are people frustrated with that?

And it's like, okay, but then they still want me to do it. And so I'm in constant conversation with the past and sometimes I've called it narcissistic purgatory because it's like, I have to talk about myself, but then it's like, but you wanna grow too. So, I mean, there's, you know who's doing a really great job of this right now? And I've mentioned her, how big of a fan I am is Kiki Palmer.

Kiki Palmer is killing the game with how everybody has known her for a long, long time, but she's just like her own person and she does her own thing. And she has her podcast where she talks about her own points of view and her own interests. So I think that it's, it's really hard to make this transition, but when you're in the middle of it, of course it's the dream. There's so many kids that don't get that opportunity, and so you are very aware of how many kids

did not make it that far. And so you do get this kind of bravado, this kind of confidence about you while you're working, and so that kind of keeps you high for as long while you're working. And so that kind of keeps you high for as long as you're working. And so like, yeah, when you stop working, you kind of get a little bit confused about like, well, who am I now? That happens. And then it happens even more if it's not going to, you know, if it doesn't get handled correctly. So it's just very natural to me, that sounds natural, but to everybody else, they're like, Oh, no. That's like a statistic.

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Definitely. I think fear contributed to me sort of like, you know, drinking, you know, and like essentially like not taking myself seriously enough and not honing into my craft and like managing my finances. Everything about my quality of life was lackluster because I was just not fully understanding my value because I think that when you understand your value,

it doesn't really matter. And I've heard you talk about this too in the past. You can put your entire self into your career, I think you said, and then it's like, if you fail at that, then what do you have underneath it? This is literally what I, I was driving up here listening to this episode and I was like, I heard him say this and I was like,

oh yeah, like I totally know how that is. So that's it, you know, you just gotta have to, you have to build a life outside of yourself. So. Why do you think you turn to drinking? Did you have, did you have good community around you? Did you have hobbies outside of performing and acting? What is your life outside of your career look like and did that affect the drinking too? Mm-hmm

No, I did not have a good community around me I wouldn't say I had people that were actively like You know, I never used like hard drugs. Like that was never my thing. But, um, being out at nightclubs to be able to be seen and then feel sort of like, like you had community with other people that went out. But then also you never went to high school. So you kind of want to feel like you're popular. It's just like this weird toxic moment in your life where you're like, well, I want to be young Hollywood. I'm supposed to be young Hollywood.

I got to go to hide and I I gotta be seen by paparazzi and I didn't get a Maxim cover, which means I can't get the new like Robert Rodriguez movie. So it's like all of this like spiral, and then it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. So basically it's just not fun. And then no, you don't have any hobbies. I mean, like I literally learned to ride a bike,

I think for a commercial or something like that. You know, like I hadn't really been an expert bike rider, but like I had to really kind of get on a bike and like be better at riding a bike because I had an opportunity to do it in a commercial. That was like as a kid. So like a lot of the things that I did, my mom would say, well, Christy,

this is like you cross training, she called it, and we can put it as special skills on your resume. It was never like, are you Christy, this is like you cross training, she called it, and we can put it as special skills on your resume. It was never like, are you interested in doing this? It was always like, oh, cool, I can say that I did horseback riding and I can say I did this. And so it was like, you know, the most interesting man in the world from that like alcohol commercial,

there's like that guy or some tequila guy who's the most interesting man in the world. And it's like, you're the most interesting kid in the world because you could do all these like random things, but not juggle. Not that well, right? Did you learn to juggle? No, I didn't.

OK. Don't bring it up. Don't bring it up. That was a skill that I was a jester in a community performance. Wait, really? Of Once Upon a Mattress. So I learned to juggle.

Yeah, so you can juggle? I can juggle. That's amazing. It wasn't on Broadway, though. can juggle? I can juggle. That's amazing. It wasn't on Broadway though. Like all the shows that I did were not, like I feel like your resume as acting as a kid was Broadway this, Broadway this. And mine was like the Kirkwood Community Theater.

Well, they say there's no small parts, only small actors. So that's amazing that you did all that. But okay, where was I literally going? Oh, my question though was, okay, do you think that you getting, like focusing so much on your career, like everything that you did, career, career, career, do you think you almost like dug your own hole in a way because since you were so laser focused on that because that's all that mattered, you didn't have, you didn't like build up community around

you. So it wasn't like you had crappy friends. It was like you weren't putting the time into the relationships like you needed to so it was a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way. Yeah well and what I find interesting for you is that you guys met pursuing you know the arts and you had each other to kind of like navigate through whether or not you wanted to do that and then we were talking were filming and recording and you had suggested to her that like, okay, well this quality of life may not be

the most sustainably happy, you know? If you had to be away from each other and then you're on set with another person, then you have to kiss that other person or whatever it is, it just doesn't feel right. So it is very difficult at a certain point for you to be like, what am I doing with my life? And then you keep at, but there's a big difference

between being conditioned over your entire childhood to be compliant for a certain kind of life and then doing it on maybe a more minor scale where you're like, okay, well, this is regional. Like you're saying it's regional, but like it still matters. It matters just as much because when I take my kids to see the Nutcracker, it's the highest point of connectivity to the arts for me and my daughters right now

because I'm not putting them in the industry. But it matters so much to me because young people need the arts. I'm not saying like, hey, don't act, like don't do this, don't do that. Like of course young people need the arts. But it doesn't like, hey, don't act, like don't do this, don't do that. Like of course young people need the arts. But it doesn't necessarily need to be at such a level that it's like, it's gonna take over your entire life

forever and ever, you know what I'm saying? So that's where I'm saying like, it was great that you guys had each other as community to like navigate through that transition. But that's not the case for most individuals that are on the level that me or other people were like at that time. So when I was a kid, I begged my mom, like crying, after I saw Peter Pan at the Muny,

this professional theater, summer theater in St. Louis. I was four and I like begged her. Four. I really wanted to get into the arts. My dad played baseball in college, my older brother was big into sports, and I love sports, I played sports too, but that was when I knew that I really wanted

to get into the arts. And so of course my mom got me into it and I did that for a while, but like what do parents need to know that have kids that really wanna pursue that? Because like, yeah, I think you've stated before that you don't, yeah, you're kind of keeping your kids out of Hollywood and all that.

So what do parents need to know if their kid truly wants to perform? I mean, there's resources. That's the good news, is that things are, you know, starting to come to light, and I think people are speaking up, and I think that's really great, because I think that we're at a time

where there'll be change, and a lot of positive Growth from that because there's a lot of people that care. I've done a lot of work with the looking ahead program So I'll shout that out because it's a resource for once you become a part of SAG and SAG and equity as well. They have the same program Equity is for those who are kids that are in the theater arts, right? And if you're touring, you know, there's a lot that goes on mentally for those young

kids and it's like I was one of those kids. So I'm really glad that this program exists because it really plugs the parents in to other parents as well as the kids into kids of their same age bracket. So this program is amazing, it's just gone national, that's what I would suggest to other parents. But my overall note to parents would be to go slow. Like don't go fast just because there's an opportunity in front of you. Like that opportunity may come, it may go. But the people that I found that had the most like well adjusted kids were the ones that had parents like Jonathan Lipnicki. He was a little boy from Jerry Maguire.

And then he did the little list vampire. And he was like, he had this like, you know, full career. And then he went away, you know, but then he lived his life and he came back and he's like a black belt in jujitsu, but he still loves acting and he does it on his, he does it, but he does it because he loves the craft and it wasn't sullied for him.

And he's had to deal with quite a lot of people being like, you used to be cute, you know, like that was, I think a podcast or a movie he had, where he was like, people literally like, I'll be in an audition and they're like, oh, you're that kid from Jerry Maguire, you used to be cute. And it's like as a man with like a black belt

or like a double black belt in jujitsu, it's like, he's just like, he's a, he's a badass, you know? But he's grown past that and he's really well adjusted and obviously his money was invested wisely because his parents were CPAs. They didn't give up their careers and throw all their money into that one child in case he had a brother or sister or whoever.

So you've got to take it slow and then just go from there. So I'm guessing you think it's really dangerous if parents, yeah, are reliant on their kid or give up their careers to fully divulge in their, you know, their child and helping them build their acting career just because, I mean, if you think about it, right, like if you're reliant on your child, then it's almost like they can't stop. They have to keep working because if that's how you make money. Yeah, like what's the exit strategy?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I can guarantee you this. If you're the type of stage parent that ends up relying on your child, it will not end well. And whether you think you've got it or not, like if you really think that you can get,

you can keep your child sort of addicted or enmeshed, as they would say, enmeshed and codependent on your approval, like they're gonna grow up someday and they're gonna resent a lot. So I would say do the work on yourself as a parent first, because I'm a parent. And while, I mean, my youngest is starting to show signs of wanting to sing.

And I'm like, okay, what do we do? I'm like freaking out. I'm not saying that I have all the answers. I'm certainly not. But I pray for stage parents. I truly do, because it's got to be really hard for your child to come to you and have that dream. Like you, like as a four year old, your mom was like, okay,

but you probably like, you know, you like the color, you know, black right now and everything's black. Like kids change their minds so, so quickly that sometimes you're like, well, I don't know if this is serious or not. We have to wait it out. I noticed you mentioned on your podcast,

I was listening to it. You were talking about how now children that are on these shows and in these movies, they have a business independent of the show through social media, if they post, if they have an Instagram or a TikTok, which I think is so, so cool. And you were mentioning how they can monetize

those platforms and use them as leverage to build wealth or build a career for themselves. But at the same time, I was just thinking about this, they're able to see all the comments. They're able to see everything that people are saying about them. And so I'm so curious when you look back at your childhood, do you wish that you would have had social media because you could have had more of a business move in that regard and built up a personal brand outside of Kim Possible, outside of Disney or are you thankful that you didn't have to see the comments? I'm thankful that I didn't have to see the comments.

1000%. I think that was one of the biggest privileges of this experience was that I didn't have that. And how I've navigated social media now is just kind of what I've had to do. To like, like I said, deliver from my fan base on talking about nostalgia. Like that's not who I am necessarily. Those aren't my every thought and detail and every choice that I've made in my life. You know, I'm pretty much an open book.

I think maybe too open, but like it's all sort of an exercise in the accountability that I had mentioned before, but also trying to get to know myself and connect with people. And I've always tried to kind of have community. That's the through line of my book that will be coming out eventually, and then just like me, who I am, I'm looking for friendship.

I'm a golden retriever at the heart of it. So I'm a tryhard. You know, youver at the heart of it. So I'm a try hard, like theater, like you know, you're theater kids. So it's like theater kids are these like performative, lovable, goofy, try hard type people. We can't do anything. It's just who we were built to be. And so it's always nice to meet other people.

But the world that we live in is really, really harsh. And there's a lot of people online that like really thrive. Other podcasters, other YouTubers that just thrive on hatred. And it's like, I know that maybe I've been critical and like said things that were about pop culture and stuff like that and celebrities are, but mostly that's just musings. Like I've never gone after somebody in a way that was like, I'm gonna take this person down. It's just seemingly like,

I do see that these young kids have to be so aware of that. I've heard that even people who aren't celebrities don't even dance at nightclubs anymore. They don't even have fun at festivals because they're like, oh no, someone's gonna take a video of me and I'm gonna become a meme. No, that's really sad. They don't even have fun at festivals because they're like, oh no, someone's going to like take a video of me and I'm going to become a meme. No, that's really sad.

They don't dance anymore. The younger people don't have that kind of levity in their lives anymore. It's sad. That is sad. You talking about being an open book. Something that I really admire is your vulnerability, which is ironic given your podcast name, but about your finances, because I feel like you speaking on that,

it was so surprising to hear, but also, I feel like there's so many people that have found themselves in your exact position, that you're bringing light to, and honestly awareness of, kind of talk about where you found your finances. As people are you your name everywhere and all these movies like where you found yourself just years after that So the crazy thing is that I've actually made a lot more money as a social media person But I've ever ever made as a Disney person like I mean, it's just amazing

What social media has done? for creators and like the ability for you to be like we had said, like to kind of like lock into something to be able to empower yourself and one, you're authentic, but also you're experimenting with formats. When I started YouTube, gosh, like, I don't know, six years ago, five, six years ago, it was like I was doing a throwback cooking show where I was like inviting like people from, you know, and it was COVID at the time.

So it was even crazier to even be like, hey, we haven't seen each other since we were 14 or whatever. Like, do you want to come to my house in Orange County and like cook a knock-o? Like, it was just like, yeah, I was like so random. But it worked at the time. It just worked. And so I changed formats a lot and, you know, it's kind of fun that like somewhere along the line,

you find your way to, I don't know, monetizing stuff. Like it's not easy. It's not for the faint of heart, but you can do it. And so I've definitely empowered my finances through doing my own things for myself, not waiting for the phone to ring, not waiting for Hollywood to give me an opportunity. And because of that, I've been able to get opportunities in Hollywood. For example, the thing that I told you guys before, I'm not allowed to talk about. Yes.

Hush, hush. But even the book, like the book wouldn't have come about. And I also am grateful for Jeanette McCurdy's book because she really kind of put that whole awareness on the map for a lot of people. I had been doing stuff on my YouTube for a little bit before her book came out, but she was workshopping her one woman show, which ended up becoming her book.

So she had been doing that for like years before and she was really working on herself. You can tell just by reading the book, right? So she's kind of a pioneer and she deserves all the support. I don't have, we don't even know each other. Like we've, I think I've, she followed me at one point. I think she does, I don't know, but like we've connected and she's like hearted my stuff when I said,

hey girl, like congrats on the whatever. And she said, thank you, I think. So it's like one of those things where it's like, I don't know you, but I am you. Kindred spirits in a way. Right, it's like that thing of like, we have had different lives, but there's been some things that tether us together

in some of that human experience. Is that like 1% of 1% kind of thing. Right. Do you relate to her story in many ways? Well, I wasn't, the abuse, absolutely not. Like that abuse was just so garish to have to get through. It was very, very hard to get through that book, of course. But like in terms of me seeing similar kinds

of stage parents around me that were doing things like that, that's what you then feel guilt by proxy because it's like I was right there when Shia was going through what he was going through with his parents or like whoever else. Like I won't even name names. And it's just like, okay, like, wow, I guess I'm lucky question mark.

And like, maybe I should just think about my life and just say, oh, it was so much better than this person's. But it's all kind of like the Wild West of child welfare. It's like nobody's really thinking about it in a way. But they are, like I said, they are kind of now, and again, I'm sorry, what was the question? You're good, I mean, actually, well, I was asking about Jeanette McCurdy,

but I'm so curious, because you've been mentioning Shia. I'm curious what you would have done differently. It was the money thing. You were asking about the money. Oh, yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Go ahead. Go ahead. Sorry about that. But yeah, I mean, with what you know about Shia now, what would you have done differently at the time? I would have hugged him more, man. I would have made him give me a hug. I don't know.

He probably wouldn't have liked that, but he was like kind of like, he was kind of a brat at times. We started when he was, I was 14, which means that he was probably like 11 or 12 or yeah, like very, very, very young kid. And we were oil and water. I mean, I was this like preppy girl from the East coast and I really think accent in the pilot when I look back and he was just this like wild Venice kid with like two toned hair and like they brought us in

for the chemistry read and it was like we couldn't have been more different and they were like that's the show and they were so smart because it was like we could, like they didn't care if we got along or not. It meant that our chemistry was authentically that sibling rivalry existed from the jump. So whether it was stoked by the materials or it was stoked by executives being kind of like, hey, you guys are kind of funny.

You can't explain it, but it's like a vibe that you have where it's kind of like, is this shyest show? Is it the family show? And so it ended up becoming more of an ensemble show just by the nature of having to film at different times. So like being certain ages, like they would stagger our, our like, so again, we wouldn't be in the same storyline so that I could have hours of filming

and then he would have hours of filming. And that's how they would stagger us to be able to do like a full TV show. Otherwise it would be too hard to coordinate us being in the same like scenes all the time. So we ended up having two different shows. There was the Wren show kind of like when you would watch it I would have a storyline and then he would have one.

And his were arguably like way funnier than mine. Mine were just more like the Lizzie McGuire like I like a boy and blah, blah, blah. But that was what we had to do because mostly girls were watching Disney Channel at the time. And so that's what was unique about even Stevens was cause he was really just like so talented for comedy.

Sometimes I think like, God, I wish he would just be funny. Like I just wish that there would have been more, there would be enough joy, there would have been enough joy in his life for him to continue with comedy. But as we know, a lot of comics are plagued with depression and a ton of darkness in their lives.

So I can't speak to what would have helped, but I know that, God, if you would put 40-year-old Christie in 16-year-old Christie's body, I would give him a hug, like a big hug then. Because he definitely needed one then, yeah. Thank you to Liquid IV for sponsoring this portion of today's episode. Matt, which Summer Olympics events

are you most looking forward to? Probably the gymnastics, because that's what you would want. Did you just take my answer? Yeah. Gymnastics is by far the most entertaining as a viewer. I feel like, well, I mean, they're all exciting because you're like, oh my gosh, what's going to happen?

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Get 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code UNPLANNED at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code unplanned at liquidiv.com. Finance-wise though, like I said, I didn't make that, I just started thinking about all the nuances of how much I made. I didn't make that much, arguably. There isn't a lot to invest.

You don't make that much on Disney Channel in 2001. It's not like it was high school musical times. It said your net worth, you had mentioned on your YouTube, it said your net worth was like three million or something before, like from Kim Possible or something. What? All lies, all lies. In one of your YouTube videos,

you said in a YouTube video talking about, yeah, finances and all of that, how your net worth according to the internet was $3 million and you were like, I don't even have according to the internet, was $3 million. And you were like, I don't even have a million dollars. I have student loans. I made a million dollars one year and spent a million dollars one year,

is what you said, if I'm remembering correctly. That's right. Because you were, I don't know, I think you just, from what you had said in the video, it seemed like you never thought that the rules would stop coming. Uh-huh, correct, yes. I think like when you come off of a TV show, you're like, oh, I'm gonna find my way, I'll figure it out.

And your agents and managers are like, we're gonna package you, you're gonna do this, and we'll get you in this room. And so you're just like trying to be super optimistic. And like I said, you're coming off of the bravado and the high of being told that you're like, you know? And I remember I dated somebody who had been on the show Freaks and Geeks and then, you know, that show was really popular.

It was a Judd Apatow's first TV show that he'd ever done. And it was a huge cult classic. And, you know, this, this guy was an actor and then stopped working for a really long time. And so he was like, you know, you're not going to like keep working, right? Like it's going to be a while. And so you get on in their show and I was like, ah, you're ridiculous. And I was like, I wish I would have stuck my foot in my mouth because it's like, that's true. Like it takes a while, you know?

And again, I left, I went to college immediately after, like after even Steven stopped, I was like, bye. And I should have, I could have, should have, whatever, stayed and took whatever momentum was left and kept trying to find the next thing. But I didn't want to. I was kind of like, you know what, I don't need, I guess I was blind to the idea of the privilege that I had, I don't know.

I didn't want, I also didn't want to wait to live my life and I still feel this way as reflective of me kind of doing my own content now. I just don't want somebody to tell me how to live my life and I still feel this way as reflective of me kind of doing my own content now. I just don't want somebody to tell me how to live my life. Like, oh, you can't have kids because you're an actress, you know, like you have to look this way because you're an actress. You can't cut your hair and dye it because you're an actress. You can't get married and have a healthy marriage because you're an actress. Like you need to be on set and you do this and you do that. And it was just feeling like, and I could never,

I didn't even wanna live in LA. I didn't even travel. That's one thing I think I do regret from the 20s. I'm not bitter, I promise, but I do regret not just being like, you know what? I'm going to go to Europe. I have a little money or I'm gonna try to save money from residuals that come in, you know,

when those reruns happened. And I was like, never thinking about, Hey, I'm going to go like explore the world. Because I was always like, I have to stay here because if the phone rings, I have to, I have to be here because I have to call and I can't leave. And I, I, maybe I can go to New York, but then if I go to New York, maybe I could do a theater audition. It was like literally like that kind of tone. And it's like, no, like at least when I was,

sometimes I think when I was 18, I was so much smarter than I was in most of my twenties. But at the same time, like, I feel like finally after eight years of sobriety and being a happy mom and a happy wife, like I've come full circle and I'm back to being that Ren Stevens character. Like, you know, she's, she is that try hard and she really does love her family and you know, she understands

that you know, she's got a lot of privilege, but at the same time, she's not perfect. It's really kind of poetic and that the person that I thought I lost, I've found again. Obviously you can't change the past, but if you could go back, are you glad that you went to college when you did? Do you wish you could have taken some of that momentum and used it to boost that career high you had for a little bit? Or are you glad that you took a step back and you know changed a lot of things in your life? When we talk about hey if I look back and if I try this I try that like it's super toxic for me to do that Not that your question. Yeah, you're taught, you know, your question is really valid

Because it's so easy to be like, well, what if I did that? But it is toxic because it sends me down the what if road. And so it's kind of like there's no conclusive evidence that would show anything. And I think when you get to the point where I've turned 40 in March, I'm starting to perceive time a lot different and that like, oh, wow, I'm not going to perceive time a lot different in that like, oh wow, I'm not gonna live forever. Oh wow, I'm aging and that's cool and how do I feel about that and will I ever get to Europe?

And there's gonna be a time when your body isn't going to be as healthy. You just start thinking really big thoughts, really important thoughts and then you're like, wow, it really doesn't matter, like any of that stuff that coulda, would've, you know, any of that. It's funny you bring that up because I voice those deep thoughts all the time

and Abby's like, can you please? Stop giving me a crisis every single day. She's like, you know, we probably lived like 30%, I'm like, stop with the numbers. Oh my gosh, there's this calendar. You know the calendar with the boxes? I don't, but I think about this every day where I'm like, I just turned 26 and I think like,

I probably won't make it to 100, so I've lived over a fourth of my life. He tells me that constantly. Okay, so then this is the most macabre thing that you could buy, but there's like this calendar of your life that basically suggests that most people live, I think to be like,

I don't know, like 80 something, 85, 86. So it's got a week for every single week of your life. And you're meant to cross off, when you first get it, all of the weeks of the life that you've already lived, and then you've only got this many boxes left. Oh my gosh. So if you were to buy it, maybe you could stop having to bug her.

Okay. She could see a crisis. I think I wanna get that calendar though, cause I think it puts life into perspective, especially because not every single day is guaranteed. Like I could die in a car accident tomorrow. You know, who, how do I know that's not gonna happen? And when you have kids, especially multiple kids do,

I mean, it's just like the stress compounds on like what you're going to leave them and like, you know, what do they remember of you and how do you protect them? And so yeah, I just think like community becomes more and more important to me as I realize that the days are short. What is it? The days are long and the years are short. That's what they talk about like with early parenting parenting Yes, but it stays true. It stays true because I mean you're a mom now you have two Wonderful children. How is how is that been? How is mom life then? I would say that being a mom saved my life

You know, I think it gave me purpose outside of This identity as an actor and so, you know, it And so, it wasn't something that I thought I was valuable enough to do. I think like me getting that like gift to be able to do it with a really amazing partner is what I never thought I would have. I tried really hard in other relationships and it was just failure after failure

and having the kind of partner I have in my husband and then now we have our pod co which is our podcast network and it's like we do everything together. So I love that you guys do the podcast and do everything together. It's so refreshing that we have the mom and pop shop is literally digital now. It's like, that's so true. That's crazy. That's what it is. It's like, I know so many husband and wife teams, especially in media.

It's like, you guys both benefit, it's cheaper. Like you can trust each other. You've got each other's backs. You've got four eyes, right? Like it's great. I know managers that are husband and wife teams. I know so many creators that are husband and wife teams. It's so cute.

I love it. And then even like, I'm pretty sure our tax guy is a husband and wife team and our- Even in Arizona, do you know all those signs on the highway that say husband and wife law firm? Yes, yes. If you live in Arizona, you'll always see this big billboard that says husband and wife law firm.

I don't know how they're doing that. It's called husband and wife law firm. It's called husband and wife law firm. Huh don't know how they're doing that. It's called husband and wife law firm. I hope they're not divorce attorneys or something. I know, right? That would be bittersweet. Yeah, they switched into that one. Oh, that would be, I shouldn't have said that.

You mentioned something though that made me kind of sad and you just said how you didn't feel valuable enough to be a mom and I'm wondering why. When I got pregnant, I was pretty burnt out. You know, I was trying to make ends meet with, I was doing a lot of like national, I would go to different cities and do like acting classes for kids. And I wasn't happy doing that because it was triggering

and these were things I hadn't handled. And then I was away from my partner. And then I would be doing like small weird movies that weren't really my heart wasn't in it. And I was doing it so that I could get enough money to, cause when you do movies, they pay into your health insurance. And so I was trying to keep health insurance.

And so I would do like lifetime movies, although the lifetime and they were like smaller than lifetime movies, or they were like horror movies and stuff like that. So I was like, I wasn't thinking of myself as an artist anymore, or an actor. It was just more or less like, what do I gotta do? Let me just work.

I just like acting and I just wanna work. I don't mind being on set. But then I would, I even did Comic-Cons, actually. I did Comic-Cons for a while and I love Comic-Cons. I just don't wanna do them now. It's just a lot of work and the money is not as good as if I were on maybe like some sort of TV show, you know what I mean?

Like that would probably be like, Walking Dead or something. Like certain kinds of TV shows make a lot of money. And if Kim Possible had a reboot, Comic Cons would probably pay a lot more money. But for me, they're not. At the moment, I love the fans. I loved everybody.

But I was just like, I can't do this for a whole weekend and be away from my family kind of thing. So that's kind of, and I was also like pregnant at times I would do Comic Cons and I did audio books. I did a lot of like, I guess you would call them odd jobs. You know what I mean? Before I found my way to just do social stuff. And so I, you know, I just kind of wasn't

in a good place with it. I just didn't feel like, I felt like so much of it was out of my control. And yet I had gone to school and it ended up taking me 12 years to finish, but I had a production, I have a big production background and then had my film degree from Columbia.

So I was like, oh man, I should be doing this myself. How can I use my know-how, right? And my sensibilities as a person who grew up on sets? It's like make stuff and so weirdly just kind of like you guys you weirdly slipped with tik-tok and like this stuff it kind of just kind of all lined up eventually to be like well everybody eats and We should lean into the nostalgia of what all your comic-con fans are like. Where are you now? What are you doing now? And it's like, cool. What if you did this with other people

they have that question for? So it's kind of like he and I put our heads together and for some reason we always do it in a hot tub. We happen to have a hot tub. And we were like, Christy's kitchen throwback. Yeah, yeah. And so it's like we vibed and it was such a great process to have him as that partner.

But we'd already had, what is it, two kids at that point. So it's like, yeah, I mean, man, we struggled for a while. But again, I was at a dark place, but the pregnancy brought me out of it in a way that just, I never wanted that to end. And I've never looked back. Like I said, it's changed my life. And meeting your husband, how did did that happen you keep mentioning him.

Wait before we talk about the husband respectfully because this was a long time ago were there any Disney Channel crushes on set? Uh-huh yeah I dated Sean Ashmore who was the boy Brad in Kelly and he was a student. During filming? Yeah like right after filming for a while. I would say like maybe like six months and then, okay. And then it was like very, very innocent. Very, very sweet and very innocent. He was just a good guy. And then he was like in, he was like Iceman in the X-Men movies. So he started like building a career outside of like,

he, cause he was a Canadian actor and he kind of started making his way in Hollywood and stuff. And so, I don't know, I think I got nervous and like didn't want to be in the big leagues with somebody who was like doing like big movies and stuff. I was just like kind of a shy girl. I was very shy. But I mean, I had a big crush on him when we were filming and then I was like amazing that we actually started dating. No way. But I haven't seen him since. He's obviously married with kids and it's like he's a great guy. Him and his whole family are just, he's from a good family. Who do you keep in touch with from those days? Okay, so like I had my 40th birthday and because of my podcasts, I've really touched base with so many different people. If you go

on my Instagram, you can see on my birthday party, I have this scroll of so many cool folks that I had there, and that's not even everybody that was there. I had some really just across the board Nickelodeon and Disney people that you would totally know. You would be there and you'd be like, wait, this person, wait, that person, wait, this person. It was all because of the podcasts and because of the community that I was trying to create, like for better and for worse, like we weren't all connected to each other before that. And so a lot of people had pockets of knowing each other, but then just that night alone on my 40th

was like such a euphoric experience of like, wow, everything's come together so that everyone can kind of just celebrate, you know, in the same space. So that's really cool. Just that simple. Like I'm and that's the thing is like, again, not only am I an open book, like, if somebody were to reach out to me and be like, Hey, Chrissy, I really just kind of want to talk

personally about this experience I had, like my door is always open. I've had like people, young performers who've had issues with their employers or like issues with their employers or like issues with their mentors and they've like reached out to me confidentially through DM and I'm like, what do you need? Like can I help? Do you need inspiration? Do you need a pep talk? Like do you need resources?

So I'm kind of the real deal when it comes to that stuff. It's been interesting because sometimes people get it wrong, you know, on the internet and it's been frustrating because I just feel like, like I said in the beginning, like I stopped vulnerable because after the Quite On Set documentary came out, I felt like very exposed. And because that was a podcast as we all monetize our podcasts, it was like, oh God, I feel kind of yucky now. Like this whole thing feels yucky. And I can't do this anymore. Really? Yeah. Why yucky?

I don't know. I just, I got a lot of flack online for monetizing my podcast. And I was like, but I have to keep producing it. And it's not really making that much money. Like it really wasn't. So I'm doing my own thing. I'm really excited about Annalisa vanpolen-Meyes' podcast.

It's called Big Names, and we've been doing it for just about a year. And it's small, but it's fun. And we're having fun together, and she's gonna start coming to Austin, where I live, and we're gonna start doing crazy fun vlogs. And just vibing. People want us to come do live shows.

Do you guys do live shows? We've actually never done one. You should do live shows? Do you guys do live shows? We've actually never done one. You should do live shows. Write in guys if you want them to do live shows. Oh my gosh. I think that would melt. I'd be like, I'm so sorry. And then you're gonna sing Peter Pan.

You guys stand up and I'm just here. He's gonna come in from a Peter Pan harness. I have no doubt that Matt could be entertaining. I just doubt myself. I was, this is completely a joke, but I was telling Abby, I'm like, because Abby doesn't want to do live shows, like she, she, I mean, I don't want to speak for you. No, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I just don't, I want to do something that people want to see, and like if they are paying for tickets, like I want to put, I want to

feel like I have something to offer. See, you don't feel valuable, I'm reading that, you don't feel valuable. You are awesome. Wow, I need to talk about this. I just want to feel like I have something to offer them for their time, and their, you know what I mean? You'd have to, you'd have to come up with like, I don't feel valuable. You are awesome. Wow, I need to talk about this. I just feel like I have something to offer them for their time and their, you know what I mean? You'd have to come up with like, I don't know. I know, Matt was saying he can sing and I'll dance to his songs.

No, no, no, no. I was joking. I was like, we pull a reverse UNO card and they show up and it's actually a concert for my music. Yeah. We would never do that. We would never do that. Although your music could be in it.

I mean, I don't know that was just a big joke But like if I were ever to tour for my music I would want it to be because people actually it would be for people that actually wanted that we would never We never fake people out be like it's a podcast live show. Just kidding. I'm performing my original I think it'd be fun. I would like to see that. It would be really fun. You gotta give them variety. Maybe someday, maybe someday.

Yeah, exactly. Oh, but, oh crap, what were we even talking about? How did we even get on the live show? This is what happens when you talk to them. What just happened? Gosh dang it. No, we were talking about Disney crushes, and then- Oh, right.

Then we got onto- No, now we're gonna talk about your current crush, which has been going on for a long time. Oh yes, the current crush. You met in college. We did. Well, I was 26 and he was 27 because I had left. Oh yes.

I had left at 19 to do Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. As Belle? Uh-huh. Oh my gosh. Because Disney was like, oh, you're KP and you're this and you're that and like people know, cause my stuff was in reruns, but like still the kids were like thinking it was new cause it was new to them.

And so I was still kind of relevant in that way. And so even though I was like 19, was like, okay, cool. Let's do this. That's amazing. It was amazing. Growing up sort of doing theater, I had started very young doing that stuff amazing. Growing up sort of doing theater, I'd started very

young doing that stuff. So it was sort of like, that was like the pinnacle of anything that I could have thought I would have gotten to be able to do. But yeah, I did that for like eight months. I was gonna ask, it was probably a long run. That's a long time to be doing that. It was wild. It was really wild. And I was very tired. I was burnt out. That was the first time after those eight months that I was burnt out. And then at that point, that was actually right before the psychic situation.

That psychic situation that is on my YouTube, if you Google, there's like one video. That one went viral, and then the other one about my money went viral. No, okay, I've seen the money one, but what happened with the psychic? Oh, God, Jesus, okay. Basically, a psychic came to the stage door when I was Belle, and she was like,

your whole life is going to be ruined and you're unlucky in love. And I had had my heart broken by my college boyfriend or whatever, and so I gave her a call because I was like, oh, she's so forward, like she really cares. What? So I basically started to get codependent on the psychic for I wanna say five months, four months or something. Yeah, like, and so basically it was basically like I had this relationship or a friendship. So I thought with somebody who would like spiritually tell me

like this isn't good for you and this is what's gonna happen. And then it became more and more fearful and there was more and more money involved with it. So I'm actually really open and honest about it but what I've come to understand is that unfortunately I was kind of targeted by somebody who was like kind of you know a con person. So that's what happened and it can happen like I think gosh I feel like I'm almost lucky that I didn't get like some other things that happened to people. She made you pay her? Yeah, that was it, right?

It was like, well, we have this crystal and I've got to buy it and I've got to bless it and I've got to do all this stuff to it to make sure that your future will be intact. But if you don't pay me X amount of money, and it was like $40,000 or something like that, it was insane. 40 grand? It was insane.

But at the time, I just thought, okay, well this is the cost of doing business and I'll be blessed by doing this. And that's what I'm saying, my financial fluency, which goes into the other YouTube video or whatever, it wasn't well enough developed by my stage parents. And you're young. Yeah, I was 19, but I was a young 19.

Because again, I might 19, but I was a young 19. Cause again, like I may have, you know, I might've been able to act older and go to clubs and do whatever. But it was like, my brain upstairs was like super young. Did your parents or anybody know that you were paying $40,000? They ended up knowing, they did. It was so embarrassing.

And like I had to like tell them and you know, it was all very embarrassing. But I mean, whatever. It's kind of cringy. It's my cringiest moment. It's an interesting story. But other people have contacted me and they've been like, I'm so glad you opened up about this

because this happened to me. I'm sure. You can't. The more that I've learned about life, I feel like things that we're like the most shameful of, like there's so many more people that are in the exact same boat, but they're just silent about it too.

And so good on you for, but you're like, this is the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. I have to laugh about it, because it's wild. And putting it out there, and I feel the same way about a lot of things that we say. I'm like, I know there's other people out there

that maybe need to hear this, but. What are the warning signs though to look out for? Cause I'm guessing she, the day that you guys met she probably wasn't like hey i know all this stuff about you give me 40 grand it probably wasn't like that right oh no i mean she got more than that for me right like over the yeah i'm sure it was like it was little things like 200 here 200 there like little things it's just wild so So yeah, I mean, look, these people exist and usually they don't come to you, right? So like, real psychics, I think, like, don't ask for money, or if they do, it's in a very specific way. So I would probably like do your research on that.

I don't know how you do your research on that. But they never come to you like that. They never give you a card. It's like they're they're very private about it and some of them are don't even like want the gift You know, like some of them are like very shy about it Sometimes it's just like oh my family friend is a person who says they do talk to angels or they do numerology like there's some things that people just Friends of friends or family members and that's kind of how it happens is like, you have this wise person with these gifts, these intuitions that you can like access through your family network.

I don't know. I mean, it's very strange. It's a very strange world that I'm not in anymore. And like so much so that like, I even feel weird about having the CoStar app on my like, it's like Zodiac stuff. It's just basic Zodiac stuff. And like, I try not to like put too much effort

into thinking about it, but it was me at 19. Thank you to DoorDash for sponsoring this portion of today's video. I DoorDash my food probably twice a week. It is so convenient, you guys, especially if I'm trying to, you know, clean and take care of my kids and do all these things like multitasking. I suck at multitasking.

So having food delivered to me whenever I'm trying to multitask and do a lot of stuff at once. Oh my gosh, it's a game changer. DoorDash makes it so convenient too, because whenever you're like, oh, I want to get that same thing that I ordered at that one restaurant that one time, you can go into DoorDash and just with the tap of a button, you can order the same thing that you've ordered before because it remembers your order history. Yeah, that's very, very convenient. And DoorDash also offers something called DashPass, which is an exclusive membership from DoorDash that gets you unlimited zero dollar delivery fees on eligible orders and members only deals and discounts. So we are actually proud DashPass members. Indeed we are. It has saved us so much money and so much time.

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have saved ourselves a ton of money. Get the best deal and exclusive items for your favorite brands like Taco Bell, Popeyes, and Ulta Beauty even. Order on DoorDash and save big during summer of DashPass. Sign up today. Plus you'll be getting $0 delivery fees and lower service fees with a DashPass membership. DashPass benefits apply only to eligible orders. Terms of plot. I know you mentioned having kids really helped with your mental health and everything. Yeah, was marriage a part of that as well? For sure. I mean, it also helped his mental health too. I think, you know, my husband's a Marine veteran and he's been deployed and he's an amazing human being for his service to our country.

And I understand him now more than ever for a reason I cannot say. But the reason guys is because I did something, I did a project and I can't talk about it. Oh. That's why. Matt's sitting here. The secret. The thing that probably people can deduce but at the same time I'm not saying anything

but I'm very excited about the fact that there's more connectivity to my husband's experience in life anyway. I love being connected to him in all things. So that's kind of like, what's brought us together, the kids, the business, you know, the life experiences, stuff like that. It's like so intimate at a certain point where there's, I think there's a big difference between co-dependency too, because I've been in co-dependent relationships with the psychic, with my mom, with, you know, other boyfriends and then fiancees and stuff like that. And where we excel is like having our own

identities, having our own dreams and aspirations and personalities and then coming together and then making each other better. So there's been times when we've been through really hard times financially and we now can spot each other a mile away and see a crisis from like a month or two down the road and like come together and be like, okay, how are we gonna divert this? And we just know how to like, we know how to be the heads of our family.

It's like when we met, we weren't like that. We were like two drunk kids in love. Like, you know, like making out like our first date, we went to some birthday party. We had pretty much met the week before, we had a coffee. And I was like, oh, my friend's having a birthday party. Would you go down to the Lower East Side and be my, I guess be my date?

I was very brave, but I didn't want to lose him. You asked him out? I did. That's epic. I was like very nervous too. It was that Kim Possible energy. It was, it was that KPE KPE um and so yeah I mean we had a great time and and immediately hit it off I mean we were inseparable ever

since then and yeah I'm happy I am I love my husband 13 years that's incredible how long have you guys have known each other obviously for your whole life now been together eight years we've been married for almost five it'll by the time this episode's out it'll be five years congrats five years is a big deal. Thank you. We just celebrated our ten. That's amazing That's a big and by the way, sometimes they say That five years can be some sort of weird time But I think because you guys have young kids that you will die you will not feel it Yeah, and I feel like that really keeps you keeps you on the same of like, and you're such a person that leans in, I can tell that you're not like the kind of person

that's like, I'm gonna be over here in this room and you can, you know what I'm saying? Like it's. We're attached to that. Do you like, so we were talking about mom and pop shops and how the new mom and pop shop is digital, which I've never heard that before. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you're onto something there.

Do you like working with your husband? If I could, I would work with him all the time forever, you know, because I know he has my back. I feel like I've had a lot of people get commission on things just by picking up a phone, like agents and stuff. And it was because somebody called in and they're like, would Christie be interested in this? And it's like, but you didn't do anything.

You didn't call on my behalf. It's like, I know tons of people in the entertainment industry that are literally just paying their agents because they got a phone call and they picked up and it's like, what? This is so busted. And then you have taxes. So this was another reason why I like made

and spent a million. I had a business manager in one year when I was what? 20, coming out of the Broadway, Beauty and the Beast. And it was like, I had a book deal and I had a record deal coming off of Broadway. And it was like, I did not allocate that the proper way because I had the business manager and I had the taxes

and I had a lawyer's fee and an agent fee and a manager fee. And it was like all this stuff. And it was like not properly dispersed in a way that like, it just wasn't handled right, you know? And so I think then you start to think to yourself, like I can't trust anybody, you know? And I don't even wanna make money, you know?

It's just like, you start to get very self, you know? So the fact that I have somebody that's in the trenches with me, who has actually been in trenches. Yeah, oh my trenches. He's like a real soldier. We're soldiering forward together and we're very resilient in this way. You know what? It's actually kind of strange. Him being a veteran and me being a child actor, there are some strange parallels and I can't exactly explain it,

but it's something that I'm starting to really truly see like the reason why we make sense. The reason why I'm so happy with somebody who's been to war, you know, and literally had to see some really crazy awful things and who has seen death and now comes back and is like a civilian. And like think about that.

Like whereas I was a kid but then I wasn't a kid and then I felt like then I wasn't anything. So it's like this strange kind of like fall from grace where then you're like who am I now kind of thing. And so he had to go through that too and then we met in a screenwriting class of undergrad. But he happened to be 27 and I was 26. That's how we met.

He really wanted to be here and you guys spoke on the phone and he really liked you. Oh, that's so nice. I'm bummed. I know, he was putting your kids down for bed so it ended up not working out. Parents duties come first. Yeah, I mean, you're parents,

so you gotta do what you gotta do. Yeah, we like, I wasn't gonna row-cham-bow, but like we were like, I was like, no, I'm gonna go. And you know, he's like, go, you gotta go. So, you know, whatever. Tell him thank you. He's sleeping right now. He's asleep right now. If you told me to tell him to thank you for your service,

that thing, they don't actually like being told that. Did you know that? Wait, really? Oh, shoot. I think maybe it's a marine thing. So if somebody comes up to Brendan and says, thank you for your service, he says, thank you for your service, he says, thank you for paying your taxes.

And it's kind of this like funny, kind of like flippant way of being like, you know, I did what I did because I chose to do it. And I did it and I did it and I don't think about it kind of thing. Which is when you think about it, the mark of truly a brave person, where it's like they don't want the recognition.

They did it for their own reasons. You know, he was also 19. He enlisted the day after 9-11. And so it was like such a, such a crazy critical time in our country. Something you mentioned that I kind of stuck out to me and I wanted to ask more about it. You were saying instead of like saying your mom, you said your stage parent. And so I'm curious why, yeah, why use the term stage parent instead of mom. Man, you're so good, you guys. You caught that. I think that I'm starting to have sort of like an understanding that who I have now is my mom and

who the person was then was the stage parent. Like I used to say that like my mom could have, there was like a like a pyramid and I said on the top is like Friend and manager and it was like picked like two At any given time like you can't be everything And therefore i'm missing out on one of those she couldn't be everything right? So in dealing with that disappointment, I think now i'm identifying as okay She was the stage parent and she had limitations as the stage parent because there's other people out there that are stage parents as well and they don't see the blind

spots. They think like, oh, I can fix this and my kid's not going to get preyed upon or my kid's not going to lose their money or my kid's not going to have residual damage from not succeeding when they go to college. You know, it's just like there's so much that can go wrong. Sometimes I'm like, but why would you even want to subject your kid to the possibility of any of it? But at the same time, it's not my kid. So I have so much sympathy for them to have to put themselves through that too. It seems like from the outside looking in, it seems like you almost have those distinctions

because I'm guessing things with your mom are good now. I'm assuming that it's worked out in the end, but maybe there was a time where things weren't so good. Yeah, I didn't talk to my mom for like a year. I didn't talk to my entire family for a year because I thought they were like mismanaging my money. So I think I got really attitude-y about that. And then I was like, I'm piecing out. Like, I don't want to talk to you guys anymore. And I'm in this relationship with this guy.

And I just kind of like went from one co-dependent relationship to another, and I never really fixed anything. And so I didn't talk to my family for like a whole year when I was 21. Did these guys try to tell you what to do with your money? That one did, yeah. That one was like from a really wealthy family. and he was like living on his father's money So it was kind of weird that it was like a trust fund person and

He was just like you don't know how much money you have and you should know and you should break away from them And it was like okay, but now you're living off of me So I just like I said, I never really feel like it was easy to find community in LA. And so I think that's why I'm like always kind of grossed out by LA. How did he, how did he take advantage of you? I rented him a Ferrari for his birthday one year. We were only together for a year and four months, but I rented him for a Ferrari. When he broke up with me, I moved him out and I like bought him like an Hermes ashtray because he smoked scars. I was like, is there anything else I can do to make it more comfortable for you to move

and break up with me? It was like, who was I? I would never want my daughters to be this way. I would never want them to feel like, God, just apologizing for oneself. But I'm not that person, I guess. I think I've been loved enough now to like feel like so whole and I don't know, it's really deep. Did your parents help connect you with maybe a financial advisor or somebody that could help?

I only had one business manager and that person was not decent, I feel like. I feel like when I look back, they really weren't trying to help me. They would sit me down and have these conversations with me about my money, and they would be like, making it like very, very difficult. And I was not dumb, like I'd gone to college,

but it was like, I don't know if I was tired, I just didn't understand it, but like, it wasn't fun. Like those conversations where he was like, so this is why you have to show a loss for your S-corp, and like this, and then look at this XL, and that he would make it almost like needlessly complicated, so then I'd be like, so this is why you have to show a loss for your S-corp and like this and then look at this Excel and that he would make it almost like needlessly complicated so then I'd be like, well, I need you. Versus like, I'm gonna make sure that you know this

to the point where you don't need me anymore. And so after the whole psychic thing happened, I remember he was on the phone, my manager at the time and then my lawyer was on the phone and they were like, Christy, are you okay? And I was like, no guys, I'm fine, because I didn't trust them. And I was like, I'm fine, I just wanna make this purchase,

like just, you know, free up this money for me, this 40,000 or whatever, which was huge for me, because I'd never had control of my money. And I was like, just let me do this, and I'll be okay. And they're like, really, Christy? And I was like, yeah, like just mind your own business. Like you guys don't, you know, I was, I was kind of rebelling.

Hey, real quick, I don't want to take much of your time. I just wanted to thank you all for being here. It means the world to Abby and I that you're watching or listening to our show, whether you're doing laundry or in the car on the way to work. Thank you for being here. I hope that you've learned something.

We really have a lot of fun putting on the show and it's unreal that we get to do this. So thank you. Your support means the world to us. If you wouldn't mind sharing this episode with someone, if you learned something, that would be awesome. But if not, just enjoy. We really appreciate you guys being here. Seriously. So, okay, back to the episode. You're awesome. Thank you guys. During that time, I guess you had to call the bank and say, hey, my parents no longer have access to my accounts. I don't want them to.

I fired my mom. Whoa. Yeah. So my mom technically worked for me and I fired her because she paid herself a salary, which is pretty standard, I think, when it comes to trying to show like a loss when you have a corporation because she was my employee. Everything that she had could be like her own tax deduction. And you know, but then my mom had like a separate apartment and it was like, oh, well I wanna be here in town with you

but you should have your own apartment and I'll have mine. And it was like, we should have bought a house. Like why don't we buy a fricking house? And then we could have figured it out but like we never did that. And so it was just kind of like kind of frustrating like with some of the, some of those things house and then we could have figured it out but like we never did that and so it was just kind of like kind of frustrating like with some of the some of those things that just weren't maybe she obviously didn't know right like she

just didn't know what to do it must have been a very emotional conversation to you know to fire your mom to oh it was horrible that whole like season of my life because I was dating this person, my dad got involved and he flew out and he was like, what are you doing? It was very weird and very awful, which is what made that breakup that much worse. This is the Ferrari guy, because it was like,

I just left my family for you. And now I'm out in LA and I have nobody. So I had to basically go back to my family with my tail between my legs and be like, he broke up with me and so sad. But- Did you have anybody else out there at that time? No, not really.

Where was your family? Where were they when all of this was going on? My brother was always there for me. So like when I started having like little bit, little bits of money problems and stuff, my brother was always the one, because he's in finance. I would call him and I'd be like, how do I get through this?

And he'd be like, okay, well, you need to be on this budget. You should just try to do this. But he was busy, he was living his life. He was working for the World Bank at the time and traveling to all these different places in the world. So we were close, but not close enough where I knew to lean on him or something. But we traveled together a few times.

I went to India with him. He always tried to help me. My brother was always like, that's why it's like, we're still so, so, so, so, so, so, so close. Because he just has always fought for us to be like an actual sibling relationship. Because he knew, I'm gonna cry, you guys. God, stupid. But like, he just always knew that like I needed him. But like he never wanted to try. He tried sometimes to be really strict with me and that never worked. And I think finally we've found a way where it's like,

we'll have business questions about our podcast network and he's so good at finance. Like he's such a boss with what he does. He does private equity and emerging markets. He made me memorize that, but he does even bigger things than that. And he's like helping us with podco, like scaling up and like the fact that I can now love on his nephews and my girls and that's why we're visiting them, you know, in Nashville frequently. So yeah, we're really them you know in Nashville frequently so yeah we're really close and I would I would be remiss to say that he wasn't a part

of that it's just that he wasn't like flying in to see me as much as maybe that could happen that's that's really sweet that you yeah that you have your brother in that like you're even in Nashville right now we just got to Nashville today and kind of spoiler that we we're like all here. But I love that. I love that he was there for you. What would you say to somebody who might be in that same situation where they, I don't know, they're struggling on knowing how to manage their money or maybe they feel like they don't have community and they don't know what to do. Like maybe they're in a bad relationship with someone who's taking advantage of them in some way.

What would you say to somebody who's going through that? I think the best thing that you can do is look inward. And like in looking inward, you have to find your higher power and you have to find the strength within yourself. Like if there was anything that I would wanna teach my girls when they start becoming young women, and I know my husband will do that too, but I really want them to understand their value from a young age so that there's no confusion about that and that they don't waste any time.

I think when people are hurting, we waste a lot of time. We waste a lot of time on comparing ourselves to others and we waste a lot of time in thinking about the toxic what ifs. a lot of time on comparing ourselves to others. And we waste a lot of time in thinking about the toxic what ifs. And so really the girls just need to live in the present moment. I mean, the longer that we can live in the present moment, the more fulfilling our lives will feel, I'm assuming.

I don't, I'm not saying I do it. I just think that like, if you have a running head start on this pathology as a younger person, how great would that be? So that's what I want for them. And I would want that for anybody. start on this pathology as a younger person, how great would that be? So that's what I want for them and I would want that for anybody. Did you turn to, obviously there was the thing with the psychic, but was there any spiritual awakening that you had or any sort of like place where you found purpose?

I'm curious what that was for you at that time or even now, you know? I have spiritual experiences when I'm in the present moment and it's not that often because I'm trying to constantly build my social media following and I'm always trying to push to like, you know, have a million followers on Instagram or like, now I'm trying to do affiliate links and stuff like that, which I actually really love doing that stuff, but there's. But there's only green lights. There's never, whereas when you're in the Hollywood industry traditionally, there's only red lights. Maybe some yellow that quickly turn to red.

But with social media, it's all green lights. You are your own boss, you are your own destiny. So for somebody who's a toxic tryhard, sometimes you can be like, okay, no, I don't wanna to be toxic. I want to be really doing this from a place of like empowerment rather than like desperation or something. So that's kind of where I'm at if I'm being really honest.

But I do love working with my husband. I love our podcasts. We I think are creating something really cool. That's so cool. Well, I love that you have your own podcast network and company and that you have your own podcast. Where all can people find you on social media? I mean, PodCo has its own Instagram, but I obviously have my Instagram. So please, if we haven't like if I haven't completely repelled you from all of my honesty, please come see

the Chrissy Carlson Romano on Instagram. I think it's Christy Carlson Romano on TikTok and I'm also on LTK. But my YouTube is my name. But right now the only thing that's there, well, there's vulnerable and there's like all this like back catalog of stuff. But my focus is on big names because I moved big names to its own channel but now I've moved it back to CCR like to my YouTube so that we can like really test out this new format where me and Annalisa Vanderpool who's an actress that was in That's So Raven for a long long time, she's the redhead in that show okay um Chelsea. Chelsea yes Chelsea, Chelsea Daniels is that her last name? That sounds right yeah big? Big fan of Chelsea.

So she's this like, she was also Belle on Broadway. No way. You're like, we have a lot in common. Yes, we really do. And so, and we grew up together too, back in the day. So it was kind of like, cool. Like let's go have some fun and film it. And so that's what we're gonna do.

And yeah, that's it. We're just gonna live in the light and have fun and I don't know See what comes. Well, it's been wonderful talking with you. We'll let you go off to Sleep sleep because it's like really late, but I've literally my husband called me like a couple times Okay, you better go well, we'll all go to bed and thank you guys for watching We really appreciate you being here and this is crazy that we get to do this. So thank you for being here. Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Thank you guys.