You know who helped me a lot? Jane Fonda. She said, Look at how many times I've been up and I've been down. So don't worry about anything.

I don't walk around with fear. I walk around with strength. I believe in cause and effect.

There's nothing wrong with a male's point of view, obviously, but it's just a different way of telling a story.

I would be really happy to be working and be able to do my craft.

It's important to work with a team if you believe in the project. If I'm not happy, I leave. This is true for everyone in every job.

So the only things I was being allowed to audition for were small roles in comedies. It broke my heart. No one would see me for anything else. I knew, in order to open up my career, I had to leave or that's all I would ever be given.

Artists such as Lorna Simpson, Zoe Leonard, Byron Kim and Stephen Andrews and I are around the same age, and I know them personally. The discussions I have had with them over the years have influenced the work that I have made throughout my career.

In 1989, I started the National Association of Business Women. We incorporated microfinance and different job training for women. We did a survey, with USAID, that found women lacked training, credit and information.