In Europe, radio stations are owned by a variety of different entities, so there is less uniformity on radio programming and more opportunity for artists to get radio play and break overseas.

Always have clear lines of communication and be open to trying new ideas. Being open to new ideas is crucial to growing as an artist. If you always have the same creative habits, how will you ever excel to the next level? The answer is, you won't. Taking those creative risks reaps the most incredible rewards.

I have to say one of the lessons I learned is to always be prepared.

Eventually as a teenager, I was pulled up on stage by James Brown's saxophone player, Maceo Parker, during one of his concerts and scatted on his stage for 20 minutes. After I was done, Maceo's bass player got down on one knee as if he were proposing, took a string off of his bass guitar and coiled it up around my ring finger. He hushed the crowd and said into the microphone, "Wendy, from this day forward you are married to music. You have a gift from God. You must devote your life to using this gift or else you will deprive the world of something so special." I got the chills.

People get bored of hearing the same genre of music over and over again. Observe the current musical landscape and predict what "mood" people will be in next. Ask yourself what would be the most natural transition or reaction to the current genre. Then create it!

Being a songwriter requires versatility while being an artist requires you to create a cohesive body of work. I truly enjoy both.

Every artist that becomes famous has a team, and needs to convince someone to believe in them enough to have others rally around them to achieve stardom. If I can be that person, then I am happy to do it.