Budding young star Kiara Muhammad may not realize it, but she has a very important job in the black community. She is the voice of  Disney’s starring character in the cartoon “Doc McStuffins,” which is about a little African-American girl who takes care of all of her sick and broken toys and stuffed animals. She also teaches them lessons along the way.

Essence.com recently got a chance to sit down with Kiara to talk about the character, her career and more. Check out the highlights below:

On if there are any similarities between her and Doc McStuffins:
I think we both strive for what we want. I really want to be an actress, so I took acting classes and I study my script before I go into the audition. In every episode, she always strives to help the toy and she always gets it done

On what it’s like being an idol for children:
I just think it’s really great that they look up to Doc. The thing that’s special about the show is that it has those healthy messages, like, ”Don’t stay in the sun too long; you’ll get dehydrated.” “Always drink water and wash your hands so you don’t spread germs.” So I think that’s really why it’s getting this extra attention, because it has that healthy message, but it’s also a fun show to watch.

On the big response the show has gotten from African-American doctors:
I think that’s awesome because they all were once little African-American girls who wanted to be doctors. These doctors are starting this kind of movement that are saying, “We are Doc McStuffins. Thank you so much for doing the show because we were in that place not so long ago.” And now, there’s a show that a lot of girls can look up to. They can do that

Fun Facts: Kiara lived in Boston growing up and her parents saw her creative side and wanted to nurture it. They started with photo shoots for Reebok and moved to NY when more opportunities came up and finally moved to California for some commercial work.

Doc McStuffins” airs on Disney Jr. and has been signed on for season number two!

Read more with Kiara at: Essence.com