My thing is "You don't need anyone else to empower you; you can empower yourself." Whether it's a pep talk or putting on a good shade of lipstick, whatever you need to do, do it, but be yourself. You absolutely don't need someone else to tell you that you're good enough.

I was always confident and comfortable. But motherhood is what really made me feel beautiful.

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.

When you go into mama-bear mode and have no choice but to just go with the flow, that's kind of when I realized...it put life into perspective. Just seeing my little girls and knowing I was going to experience life all over again - I'd be able to take them to the same things that my mom did - it was beautiful. When you become a mom, you gain this vulnerability that is so beautiful. Just the fact that I'm vulnerable but I'm never ashamed is so cool.

I'm accepting of change, and accepting of transforming myself at any given time necessary. At this point in my life, sometimes I have to be mom, sometimes I have to come to work, sometimes I have to be a wife. I love that I don't ever have to be just one thing.

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.

My thing is "You don't need anyone else to empower you; you can empower yourself." Whether it's a pep talk or putting on a good shade of lipstick, whatever you need to do, do it, but be yourself. You absolutely don't need someone else to tell you that you're good enough.