I have a mother that's very strong and family that surround me and constantly tell me they love me.

I wanted to be a teacher. I love children, so I wanted to deal with children. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian. But by the age of ten or eleven, when I opened my mouth and said, 'Oh, God, what's this?' I kind of knew teaching and being a veterinarian were gonna have to wait.

My mother sang with me in her stomach; I sang with Bobbi Kris in my stomach. I believe the child starts to develop within, and whatever you read, whatever you think, whatever you do affects the child.

What's in your soul is in your soul.

I almost wish I could be more exciting, that I could match what is happening out there to me.

I would stay in my room for days, for days at times, just trying to get it together, to know what my next phase was going to be.

Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.