My mom was always saying: 'Be whatever you want to be, but stick with it. Don't waver. Don't change who you are for anybody.

I think being a Texan - we sort of have that extra fire in us as a breed. I just felt like from day one I had something to say and I wanted to make sure people heard me, and it's worked.

I think I find new idols every day - someone that says something really inspiring, is successful, has character.

I do write a lot from personal experience, but I also embellish a bit.

You have a career, and you start as a business person. And you work your way, you reach this peak, and you know the time's going to come when you go back down.

There's just a lot of really, really great male artists right now, and it's good, too. And there's so many different influences in country right now, too, like hip-hop and rock 'n' roll and some blues. So I feel like if you turn on country radio, you will find something you'll love because it's so diverse right now. And that's a great thing.

Yeah, I have a tough-girl image.