I feel like you can hope and dream and wish, but until you do, nothing is going to happen. So whatever you're passionate about, whatever your hopes and dreams are, you have to go full-steam ahead. But of course I have my moments where I'm trying so hard, and it never seems to break through. It's always when you want to give up that something's going to happen, right? So you just can't give up.

I'm not an actress; I'm not a singer. I guess I'm in the entertainment industry, but I'm in a different category. Hopefully, a young girl will see me and think, Oh, I want to be a chef! Or, She's a mom, too? Oh, cool, I didn't know you could do both! I want to empower people so they don't have to feel like they're putting themselves in a box. Growing up, I only saw one thing, and it's great that we're changing the mold and paving our own paths.

There were moments growing up where I felt beautiful, but I truly didn't feel beautiful all of the time until I became a mom. It really allowed me to realize no one is perfect.

My mom is Jamaican and Chinese, and my dad is Polish and African American, so I'm pretty mixed. My nickname in high school was United Nations. I was fine with it, even though I identify as a black woman. People don't realize it hurts my feelings when someone looks at my hair or my eyes, and says, "But you're not actually black. You're black, but you're not black black, because your eyes are green." I'm like, "What? No, no, I'm definitely black." Even some of my closest friends have said that. It's been a bit touchy for me.

I feel like you can hope and dream and wish, but until you do, nothing is going to happen. So whatever you're passionate about, whatever your hopes and dreams are, you have to go full-steam ahead. But of course I have my moments where I'm trying so hard, and it never seems to break through. It's always when you want to give up that something's going to happen, right? So you just can't give up.

You look on the Internet, and people are transforming themselves on a daily basis, and it's not a superficial thing, it's not a vain thing, and it's not an "I don't like the way I look" thing. It's people truly being creative. It's a way of making your mark and making a statement, and I love that. Beauty is making a statement in whichever way you choose to do so, and I think that's a beautiful thing.

Beauty to me is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty comes in all different shapes, sizes, looks, qualities, but I truly believe that everybody is beautiful in their own way.