After starring for 10 years in the Freeform series “The Fosters” and “Good Trouble,” its successful spin-off, Cierra Ramirez is now saying goodbye.

As the executive producer and star of the ensemble drama Ramirez, 28, is sailing away with a flourish:  Tonight’s episode marks her directorial debut.

It’s but the latest challenge for an artist who has been a pro since she was 10.  “I began as a singer,” Ramirez said in a Zoom interview last week.  Her music producer dad was her manager.  In 2013 she was cast as Mariana Adams Foster in “The Fosters” which segued into “Good Trouble” in 2019.

Like the series, Mariana – and Cierra — have gone through changes.

“I was 17 years old when I started ‘The Fosters.’ Still doing school on set. So it’s pretty crazy to think about how now I’m 28 years old! It’s really weird that I’ve known this part of my life for so long.

“When we saw her at the beginning Mariana had just started a job as a software engineer at a tech startup. Now she is CEO of that tech startup which is pretty wild. Over the past five seasons I’m really proud of the person that she’s become.

“She’s always going to get into some trouble but it’s always in good trouble, always for a necessary reason.”

Directing, she said, “is something I’ve always definitely been interested in. But it is an absolutely different world and definitely one of the craziest roles I’ve ever stepped into.

“But it was such a dream from start to finish. I caught the bug truly,” she said, “and want to do it all over again. I think that the experience overall really made me a better actress. It was such a great, great time.

“I will say however, my first time stepping on that set, I was super, super nervous. And my first day I had my first scene as an actor.  That was something I was really, really nervous for — directing myself.

“But I actually wouldn’t have it any other way because getting done first with the scene that I was most worried about really helped ease my nerves. Once I got that out of the way, I was ready for anything.”

As to her new chapter, a leap into the unknown, “My New Year’s resolution was to let go of the fear of the unknown. Having this amazing show that I’ve been a part of for 10 years has been so wonderful. But stepping out to see whatever the future holds is also exciting. I can’t wait for it.”

The Cierra Ramirez-directed episode of  “Good Trouble” streams on Freeform Jan. 23 and Hulu the next day