Melissa Francis: From 'Little House on the Prairie' to broadcast journalist

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11) - Melissa Francis has come a long way from her role as Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie." She's a successful broadcast journalist with a beautiful family of her own.

The former child actress joined us on Good Day LA -- a place she used to intern for and credits giving her the "news bug" -- to discuss her new book "Lessons from the Prairie."

"I left every day with a splitting headache," she said of her time interning at KTTV. "I went home and I was said, 'Mom and Dad, this is it! This is what I'm going to do!'"

She went on to pursue a career in journalism and said she learned a lot of resilience from her childhood, which has helped her in the news business.

"I've been brought to my knees so many times in life, and I've drawn on the things I've learned as a child," Francis said.

In "Lessons from the Prairie," she delves into important life lessons learned on set as a child actress as well as from the show's creator, Michael Landon, to help others turn "disaster into golden opportunity."

Watch her full interview above!

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