About Being... a Child Star (with Alyson Stoner)

Tell Me More with Nicole Walters

Dear Media

Society & Culture, Business

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“We are collectively, inadvertently, signing up young people to be entered onto this toddler to train wreck pipeline.”

Friend, this chat is about childhood fame but it’s also about so much more! I am so honored to bring you this chat with Alyson Stoner, a multi-hyphenate artist and mental health advocate.

Alyson and I chat about her lived experience as a dancer and actress in Hollywood, the journey she went on to heal, and how the topic of childhood fame touches us all.

Alyson will blow you away with her compassion and research-based ideas on what it means to be successful, especially as a child. From mental health reform to creating safe and creative spaces for kids, this chat is a must-listen.

Hit play and grab Alyson’s new book, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, wherever books are sold!

Get the rest of the links and resources from this chat at https://nicolewalters.com/episode511

And WATCH this chat on YouTube at https://nicolewalters.com/youtube

Episode Sponsors:

Use code WALTERS at checkout for 15% off your entire order at www.vionicshoes.com when you log into your account. 1 time use only.

Produced by Dear Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
0:04.6	Welcome to Dear Media IRL, a live experience for listeners, trendsetters, culture shifters, and fans.
0:11.9	This fall, we're bringing your favorite shows and voices to the stage in Dallas for a full day of real conversations on entrepreneurship, brand building, and meaningful creativity, all with the
0:22.6	creators you know and love. If you're in the area or you need an excuse to get away, this is your
0:27.9	sign. Head to dearmedia.com slash events for tickets and more information.
0:48.3	Welcome to the Tell Me More podcast with Nicole Walters, the only podcast where I'm not seeking to make you think more like me, but to help you keep thinking for yourself. So everyone, I have been enjoying our chat, but when I tell you, I think that the biggest thing has been being able to hit on subject matter that is transformative, that is impactful, that forces us to think. And more than anything,
1:12.7	challenges what notions we may have about the world that we're living in and gives us the tools
1:17.5	to be able to create change. And I'm not doing this by myself. In each of our chats, we've
1:21.7	been able to have people who are qualified to speak from their lived experiences and teach us a
1:26.6	little bit more that is different from what
1:28.8	the media may be positioning or what your algorithm continues to feed you. And so today I'm excited
1:35.1	because we have someone here that you already know, believe it or not, you already know you
1:40.9	have been able to benefit from their work. You've been able to experience what they
1:46.2	bring to the world. And now you get to hear from them yourself. Allison Stoner is a multi-hyphenate
1:54.6	artist, advocate and now memoirist. Best known for growing up on screen in iconic roles with Disney Channel, Step Up, and alongside Missy Elliott.
2:06.2	But beyond the fame, Allison has spent recent years reclaiming their story and using their platform to spark honest, healing-centered conversations around identity, trauma, and wellness.
2:18.6	In 2025, Allison released their deeply personal memoir, y'all.
2:22.7	The details are below.
2:24.7	Semi-well adjusted despite literally everything.
2:27.9	You've got to get the book.
2:29.0	I hate to break up the bio, y'all, y'all, you have got to get the book.
2:31.5	Details are below.
	...

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