There are times and places for tune-ups and stay-busy fights.

I do feel at times like I'm always proving myself. But I also feel that I'm proven. I've proven I can get to the mountaintop.

Did I have rough days? Days I didn't want to train? Days I thought my career would never get back off the ground and possibly be over? Absolutely.

More time than not, athletes, specifically fighters, have a 15 or 20-year career, and unfortunately, we end up right where we started when it's over. All we have is maybe a round of applause when we walk in a room - Hey, there's the champ! That's great; I want that, but I've got to have something tangible to show for it, too.

When I appear onstage, that's my departure from Momhood - and I transform into Natalie MacMaster: the entertainer, the fiddler, the performer.

For me, the most fun is change or growth. There are definitely elements of both that I like. Launching a business is kind of like a motorboat: You can go very quickly and turn fast.

Acting changed my life. I say God and then acting. Because becoming an actor, I've gained a new respect for humanity. And I believe that it's also helped me to grow as a person. It's been one of the biggest blessings and expressions that I could have ever been gifted with.

Fairy tales are stories of triumph and transformation and true love, all things I fervently believe in.