Question: As two young women, how have your lives changed since Switched at Birth became this big phenomenon the last couple of months?

Vanessa Marano: I honestly wouldn’t say my life has changed that much, other than the fact that I have a job, which is awesome. It’s a job with fantastic, talented, wonderful people, and I’m so pleased that I’m part of something that really has hit home with both the hearing community and the deaf community. So, if anything, I think my life has changed in that aspect is that I feel like I’m a part of something that people genuinely love and are genuinely caring about.

Katie Leclerc: For me, it seems quite a bit. I was working as a receptionist before this job and I was able to, literally, have my dreams come true. I was able to quit. I became successful in something that I had worked for ten years to achieve. I’ve made incredible new friends. I’ve gotten to go places and experience things that I never would have otherwise. Every day is a new lesson in gratitude.

Catch the Switched at Birth winter premiere Tuesday, January 3 at 8/7c!