I was always very, very insecure about my height. Even as a 15-year-old I was a foot and a half taller than everyone.

Back home I had always been comfortable around people. I was the troublemaker, always being funny - that's just who I am. I'm Latina; I've always had that extra little flavor. But when I got to New York, it became about being comfortable with myself in a place where I didn't know many people, and that was the big challenge. Ultimately my personality helped me build relationships with the people I was working with, and I was able to stand out.

I was always very, very insecure about my height. Even as a 15-year-old I was a foot and a half taller than everyone.

I also work out because I have scoliosis. I have to maintain certain strength in my core.

I felt most beautiful on the red carpet in Givenchys sheer lace dress at a dinner hosted by Givenchy in honor of Marina Abramovich at the closing of her Museum of Modern Art retrospective, The Artist is Present, in 2010. It was the first time I had been dressed for an event, and everybody just fell in love with the dress.

When you want something so bad and when something great happens, I think it's instinct that you say, 'This is gonna be the moment that's gonna change everything. Everybody is gonna see me a different way.'

I'm Puerto Rican! You can never take my rice, pork, and beans away. Plus, I love to cook. I'm one of those people who stay in the kitchen standing while everything is cooking, checking on everything.