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92NY’s Goldman Center for Children and Family provides an exceptional array of programs designed to support children at every stage of their development.
Oct 05, 2026
Please submit questions for the speakers in the chat starting on October 5 at approximately 7:30 pm ET.
For millions who grew up watching Even Stevens, Kim Possible, and Cadet Kelly, Christy Carlson Romano seemed to embody a particular kind of Disney kid success: talented, ambitious, and effortlessly composed. The truth was a lot messier.
Romano stops by to open up about her life as a child star in a conversation about her new memoir, Once Upon a Trainwreck — an unflinching account of growing up in the spotlight and the personal costs of fame.
Thrust into the entertainment industry as a child, Romano’s life behind the scenes was a chaotic pressure cooker: a roller coaster of bullying and exploitation marked by the relentless pursuit of personal and professional perfection. And as she got older, her natural people-pleasing tendencies took a darker turn: she dated controlling men, started partying in to order fit in, descended into addiction, and was emotionally blackmailed into giving thousands of dollars to a manipulative psychic. Then she turned her life around. With honesty, humor, and hard-earned wisdom, Romano reflects on the journey that followed: rebuilding her life, reclaiming her voice, and learning to parent herself before becoming a parent to her own children.
Don’t miss Romano in a revealing and inspiring conversation in which she tells her story on her own terms: a story of resilience, self-discovery, and finding out what it takes to chart a new path and create an authentic life after fame.
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