When I was growing up, every Sunday was a rest day, so after church, we'd get all my cousins and sisters together, and my parents would take us all shop hopping. We'd go to all the different shops, and Target was always the last on the list; we'd walk in, and Mum would say, 'Go on, go crazy!'

There's been moments where I've felt, as an indigenous woman growing up in Australia, there's been that kind of rivalry of being indigenous... I've had that experience of someone saying, 'I don't know if she's going to go that far.'

I've always looked up to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey for their outstanding vocal performances. I've always been inspired by them.

When I go back home, I am just Jess, no-one special.

When I came home for the summer after my first year of college, I told my mother that my best friend and I were driving to California. She laughed out loud - 2,000 miles in a what? Well, my best friend had an old Chevy. What could go wrong?

I was afraid my family would lock me up and give me electroshock. I was a screaming queen.

I am not preparing myself or my family for anything but life.

You want to provide for your family, of course, but you also want them to come along on the journey with you. I haven't achieved all I want to with my life, so I need to continue to push myself.