Stay true to yourself because it goes a long way. If you don't know who you are, who are you really?

I knew I had to make a sacrifice to do what I've always wanted to do.

The extra opinions and the extra praise is just a bonus, it's not the main thing. The main thing is how I feel about myself. And I feel really good about myself.

I was just so honored to play the role of Cinderella and to just be the first African-American princess, that's just historic for me, that's such a mark in my life and my career and then the bonus of just working with my favorite person in the whole world, Whitney [Houston], like her voice just did something to my spirit.

I would love to play a main character and then play different characters as well. I would want for it to be a sitcom, multicamera, audience - that's definitely a dream. It's in the works, so... it's closer than everybody thinks it is.

In my life right now, in my music, and just overall I feel like I'm winning. It doesn't matter what this person is saying or what the charts are saying or what award shows are saying, the public opinion doesn't matter. I feel like I'm winning in my spirit.

The idea of kids helping other kids is such a great way to introduce children to being involved in charitable causes and volunteer work, setting them on the path to doing good for others throughout their lives.