Growing up, I ate a lot of candy. If you were my dentist, you would know that, you know, but I eat a lot of candy, so from eight to probably, like, 15, you wouldn't see me without a pack of Skittles.

I've come to realize I'm a professional, no matter if I'm 38, no matter if I'm 19 or 20. I'm a professional.

I just want the respect I deserve. Not for what I can do in the future but what I've done in the past. And I just want a fair opportunity, a fair chance, a fair shot to play basketball.

A large part of my career is due to perception, what people think what I am or should be.

Passion gets an entrepreneur through the startup days and the enormous efforts it takes to build a business.

Raymond Chandler managed to write about L.A. his whole career. Should I keep going writing about New York? Is that what I should be doing? Songwriting doesn't work that way.

In a sense, I revolutionized the operatic scene because I proved you can make a great international career without the Metropolitan. I'm the only singer who's done that, and I'm proud of that, so it's all worked out for the best.

I started working at age thirteen. I'm a product of public schools, I'm a product of a public university. I started my first company when I was 21. I've subsequently never worked for anybody else. I started that first business when I was still in college.