I got picked on a lot as a kid.

As we say in the hood, I'm a stoop kid.

I grew up in East Flatbush in Brooklyn which was an intense neighbourhood filled with different West Indian cultures.

I'm more liable to hurt myself than someone else.

For 10 years, I'd been working as a freelance writer and editor, making money but not a living. It was a good arrangement family-wise, allowing me to stay home with our daughter, but not so great financially or, sometimes, ego-wise.

Anybody who has a career is going to have to deal with a rumor in their time, or something that usually isn't true. I have a great team behind me and a family that supports me. I just care too much about my career. I have been working too long to let it slip away for something stupid.

I think people thought I was crazy for leaving Mexico when I had any project I wanted falling at my feet. But I risked everything to come to Los Angeles, where no one knew who I was, and start all over again. It was a very hard step to take. However, it was the moment I thought it was right to take a risk in my career.

The higher the unemployment rate, the more leverage I have to 'encourage' you to 'do what it takes' to keep your job. And so you work even more hours, pushing unemployment up and wages down. And that, my friends, is one of the little tricks that keeps you poor and me rich.