connected with is. she was mistreated by her own family, which is even more upsetting. but she stayed true to herself. she didn t believe them when they treated her like she was less than them. and i think for children, when a child s bullied, they tend to eventually believe the bullies. they think, i am. i must be the problem. and cinderella didn t. and then her life got better. these beautiful things happened, things evolved, and she brought her authentic self to the ball, i d like to say. and.and that, in my opinion, is what shined through, was the time of love at first sight and things in all fairy tales. but that s not really what it was about for me. it was about that. and even the beauty of the fairy godmother, of this trusting there will be people out there who can see you for who you are, the best of you, and will help you and look for them. and it helped me persevere through it. and i look back on it now, and i think it helped drive me towards what i do now. hmm.
and it s a place ofjoy, imagination. it s where you can just truly escape and dream about what s possible. and i ve been committed to that idea since i was a small child, and i guess it never left me. and we are, of course, going to talk much more about disney. but i d like to just get a sense first of who you are and how you got here. i think you were born on rhode island, in rhode island, and grew up in a single parent family. your mother worked two jobs to support you and your sister. and as i said at the beginning, you ve talked about being bullied. what was it about watching cinderella that helped you cope? oh, i think definitely the part about cinderella that i m most connected with is. she was mistreated by her own family, which is even more upsetting. but she stayed true to herself. she didn t believe them when they treated her like she was less than them. and i think for children, when a child s bullied, they tend to eventually believe the bullies. they think, i am.