She made her official performing debut at age 3 where she sang at a livestock show. At age 5, she was taking tap, jazz, and ballet lessons which led her to joining the Texas Show Team, which toured the Soviet Union and Europe. At age 10, the family moved to L.A. with the encouragement of talent scouts, while Todd stayed behind to finish high school in Texas. Jennifer quickly found commercial work and a role on Disney's "Kids Incorporated" (1984) in 1984. She went through a series of television flops before finally hitting it big on "Party of Five" (1994) in 1995.