It’s important to be fearless yet vulnerable. It takes courage to do both.

I was a very quiet, shy child. I grew up in a small town, Louisville, Kentucky, and there weren't too many Hawaiian-Filipino girls, so I stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn't look like everyone else and didn't feel I belonged... But these things only build character and make you stronger. It taught me to grow into the woman I was to become.

Music is my passion - it's what I love and it's in my blood. You can never take me away from my work.

You cry and you scream and you stomp your feet and you shout. You say, 'You know what? I'm giving up, I don't care.' And then you go to bed and you wake up and it's a brand new day, and you pick yourself back up again.

Confidence comes with maturity, being more accepting of yourself.

In normal life people say, 'You're so different than on stage!' Offstage I'm down to earth, simple and a very goofy girl... I like to make goofy faces, be dorky and not take things too seriously. I just love to laugh.

I'm no diva but I can be annoying in a recording studio. Of course I try to be a diva in terms of confidence of performance and owning a song but I've never behaved like one in terms of the negative connotations of the word.