The biggest problem I had - and the biggest problem teenagers have - is not how they dress, how they look or how they act or talk. It's how they see themselves - their self-esteem. In the tenth grade, I realized I am who I am. I've got big ears and big feet. I can etiher sulk around or I can be happy with who I am. The minute I decided to be confident with who I was, all that other stuff stopped. It's all in the way you carry yourself.

I never want to produce anything that a family could not enjoy together. I never want to create art that would embarrass my own children later.

In my ideal world, no child would suffer. Charitable instincts would prevail. There would be global acceptance of all different types of people.

If my career detour from special education to singing has done one thing, it has afforded me the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.

When the answer to all my dreams is as close as a touch away, why am I here holding back what I'm trying to say?

It's important that I make a difference in some way. It's not necessarily how I make a difference, but I want to make sure that I do.

My mother taught me that we all have the power to achieve our dreams. What I lacked was the courage.