In the mid-nineties, diversity in the fashion/beauty business was hard to come by.

I kind of do high-low style a lot.

When I was younger, I was one of the few girls in the neighborhood who could break dance. That's kind of my local, ghetto-celebrity claim to fame.

With all this talk of Going Green, Buying Green, Living Green, and Green being the new whatever, I've come to realize that, although we had no green, my grandmother was actually the 'greenest' person I've ever known.

Failure isn't really an option because, as my grandmother used to say, "Nothing beats a failure but a try."

You have to move to your own beat. There will be times when no one believes in you or understands what you're doing and why you are doing it. The most important thing is for you to believe in you. Following your own vision is one of the only things that will sustain you.

We live in a country [USA] where the belief is that anyone can succeed, but for so many here, and for the majority of the world, that's not the case. In many parts of the world, women and poor people are at a huge disadvantage - certain rights and protections don't exist, and they don't have the chance of upward mobility.