Usually, I'll just be walking from my house to somewhere else, and melodies and words will start coming up, and I'll have to run home to write it all down.

From the very beginning, I had a lot of female role models in music. I would go to shows, and there were always women fronting bands and playing guitar or backing up and playing drums or bass in a band. That probably contributed to my belief in myself to go out and perform for people.

The media, and how we're taught to read it, has a huge impact on who we become as people.

I never considered a career in music because it was too unattainable. I just didn't believe it was possible.

Writing screenplays is not my business. I've written half a dozen, and maybe half of those were made. But it was never a satisfying experience. It was just work. You're an employee. You would be told what to do. Studio execs would cross out my dialogue and put in their dialogue.

I actually had a number of different careers. I worked on Wall Street; I was a Master's in Business. I left that to work in the public sector.

There was a different, visionary team commitment that guided the black community at the beginning of the 20th century, best envisioned by educator, entrepreneur, and founder of Tuskegee University Booker T. Washington.

We all deal with failure. If you're lucky to have a long career, it's part of the experience.