Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.

I always wanted to be a fashion designer and I learned costume illustration in high school. That was an incredible high school. It was more like a college. I'm moving more in that direction, just kind of merchandising my name.

I'm crazy about Diane Von Furstenberg. It's a relationship that's very different; I don't see Diane a lot. So when I saw the article in New York magazine she looked so beautiful and it was talking about her work, too. She set up the interview and it was happening. That's different than someone writing a book about you who you've never met.

I try to choose the songs that really are basically coming from my heart. I think that through the songs that I select, people know what's going on in my life.

You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.

I'm from a singing family, but they're not professional singers, only gospel - my grandfather was a minister. I started to sing the music that was out then because my mother used to play it all the time. It was the end of the '50s, the beginning of the '60s. There was Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers, Etta James... We used to sit outside on the stoop and sing. We even used to put our radios and record players outside.

Take a little time out of your busy day to give encouragement to someone who's lost their way.