Christy Carlson Romano has candidly told of how she was left "flat broke" after years of success with Disney. The actress, 42, found fame as Ren Stevens on the sitcom Even Stevens in the early 2000s before going on to voice the leading role in the animated series Kim Possible.
The cartoon franchise is thought to have generated $1 billion for Disney and Christy, who made millions during that time herself, also starred alongside Lizzie McGuire star Hilary Duff in the 2002 DCOM Cadet Kelly.
Return to education and a paid internship
But just a few years later, when Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato had begun to dominate the network as the latest batch of teen stars, work had dried up for Christy and she was forced to return to education, ultimately taking a paid internship at the company that made her famous.
She said: "I was flat broke, I hit rock bottom. I went back to college at 26 years old, I did not know what I was gonna do, I was scared.
"So I decided to was gonna get a job. And the job that I got was a paid internship with Walt Disney Studios. That money to me actually meant something. I used to run one of the networks by being on the posters!"
Executives' shock and career struggles
Christy recalled the shock of executives who realised she had taken such a minor role at the company after previously being a star for the network but insisted that she was just "hustling" her way through like anyone else.
Speaking in a video posted to Instagram, she said: "I was told by executives that I was too old to play the kids and too young to be a mom.
"For 20 years I was creating an entire career and I just wasn’t gonna get cast anymore. I felt as if I was sticking it to the man until I ran into a massive Disney executive. I’ll never forget his face, it was full of shame and confusion. I don’t know what is expectations were but I was hustling."
Financial regrets and lessons learned
Christy previously opened up about how her financial decisions had led to "losing millions" despite her success. Speaking in a video posted to YouTube, she said: "There's a law called the Coogan Law that protects minors from their parents spending all their money. That's not exactly what happened to me but I made and lost millions of dollars. Basically, you start to make money every week, you negotiate at a certain rate. Eventually, you get to renegotiate, that's why agents are super important.
"So assuming my shows were in syndication, we'd do that after 65 episodes, they were in syndication for a long time. I really regret not investing my money wisely. I didn't get a house, I didn't take any money and store it away other than the Coogan money, that money I put towards going to college at 18. I left the business and went to college."
But Christy eventually dropped out of college and was suddenly left with a huge amount of money at her disposal. She explained that, at 21, she decided to part ways with her family for a year so she could make her own financial choices, opting to buy designer clothes and expensive cars.
She added: "You think you have this extravagant life and then real life hits you in the face. Now you have to maintain the car. Overall, I was not being taught how to manage my money. When I was 21, I had a book deal and a record deal. In a year, I made about a million dollars, and in that same year, I spent it."
