Former Disney star Christy Carlson Romano on finding her voice away from Hollywood: ‘I was fearful of leaving’

The "Even Stevens" actress spoke to Fox News Digital about navigating the pitfalls of showbiz as a child star, how Tinseltown is not as “glamorous” as it looks and her life in Texas with her Marine husband, who as she puts it, “is the advocate I always needed.” Romano has ditched the Hollywood life since her days on the Mickey Mouse channel.

"I never would have thought of living in Austin and making YouTube content in the middle of a park." "There are so many things I could have done with my life outside of the business. I didn't have to live in California, that's for one. I shouldn't have felt fearful of leaving." "If you feel like you have to be there, it's not as glamorous as people think it is if you have to be in that bubble." "I think that people assume that child stars know how to manage their money and that they squandered their opportunities." "Generally, you're not making that much money, especially if you're working for Disney and Nickelodeon because you can make decent money, but a lot of that money goes back into your career." "He's a former Marine and he doesn't take guff from anybody."

In the early-2000s, Romano could also be heard voicing the crime-fighting high school cheerleader "Kim Possible" in the animated series and had many roles in her career that allowed her the opportunity to step away from the industry, attend college and work on Broadway while living off her Coogan Fund – an industry trust fund – for the better part of four years as she figured out what direction to take in her life.

"It's funny because it's a good problem to have when you've been the kind of person who has said yes to everything," Romano said of going away and being difficult to track down after she made her way back to the business. "Now it's like, I'm kind of the master of my own destiny when it comes to the content I'm creating and the time I want to put into it because I've got two little kids and I kind of want to be there for them."