The Truth About: Casting for Disney & Building a YouTube Empire w/ @thisisdanabowling cover art

The Truth About: Casting for Disney & Building a YouTube Empire w/ @thisisdanabowling

The Truth About: Casting for Disney & Building a YouTube Empire w/ @thisisdanabowling

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From Blake Lively to Bank Accounts: Casting Kids, Quitting Hollywood & Making Money Online

What happens when a former Hollywood casting director walks away from Disney, kid actors, and a very dark industry… and accidentally builds a wildly profitable pop-culture media empire?

In this episode, @thisisdanabowling (TT/YT) pulls back the curtain on everything — from casting Zendaya and Jenna Ortega to why she would never let her own kids enter the entertainment industry. We talk Blake Lively headlines, the uncomfortable truth about child actors, and how millennial women were sold a How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days fantasy career that never actually existed.

Dana opens up about hitting financial rock bottom while “keeping up with the LA mom crowd” (that included actually Real Housewives like Teddi Mellencamp) while quietly drowning in debt, and the exact pivot that helped her rebuild — fast. She breaks down how Daily Dose of Dana really makes money (YouTube, podcast ads, Patreon, brand deals), why content creation is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and what most people don’t understand about going viral.

We also get real about:

  • The hidden power (and emotional cost) of being able to pivot
  • Why your friends won’t support you when you start posting online
  • The Blake Lively coverage that sent her views through the roof
  • Why women are better at reinvention than men (sorry, not sorry)
  • Raising kids in a world where everything is content
  • And what it means to be unapologetically Jewish in today’s pop-culture landscape

If you’ve ever fantasized about quitting your job, side-eyed influencer money, or wondered what actually happens behind the scenes in Hollywood — this episode is the reality check you didn’t know you needed.

🎧 Listen now — especially if you love pop culture, money talk, and the truth about motherhood no one says out loud.

#BlakeLively
#BethennyFrankel

#motherhood

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zarahanawalt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zarahanawalt/

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