I wanted to be the first female, young teenager producer, and it didn't happen. And when it finally did happen, I was shelved because I was signed to Warner Bros.

I used to read the criticism on blogs about other people - mostly female actresses and singers - and even when they are extremely perfect and harmless, people still go after them. So I figure, if I'm going to get negativity regardless, why do I have to worry about what somebody thinks of me?

The hardest thing as somebody who does both is - and I'm very serious as an actor, and I consider myself very serious as a musician, engineer, music artist - is learning that it's OK to be versatile.

I've always been involved with charities and things like that, but when I started communicating with the fans and hearing their stories about the lives they lead, it really made an impact on me.

I'll have to say winning the Olympic gold in Atlanta is a crowning achievement, along with the gold in the relay in the same games.

It's always the big question in our lives if you have a lot of success. What do you do with it? Buy more houses, buy more cars, buy more stuff, be wealthy and distant and unengaged? Or do you take all that good fortune that has come towards you and spread the love, do something with it?

We've been working hard to have a career in music. We're happy we're having so much success. We don't want to turn anything down. We want to do as much as we can.

We're not afraid of risking what was our success yesterday in order to explore some new field. We're adventurous. We like the challenge of unknown territory, unknown artistic field, and that's what stimulates us.