Growing up, I learned that if you are passionate about something, that you can move mountains. Passion is more precious than gold, and it's a currency that everyone craves. It's something that's hard to fake, and when it's real, everyone wants to be on that train. It's about giving people something that they can believe.

I come from a long line of strong and confident women out of New Orleans. My grandmother and great-grandmother were women who ran their homes and were leaders in their communities. I was never taught that there was anything that I couldn't do, and I believed that.

I truly believe in the value that stories have in being able to elevate humanity and make the world a better place.

I would like to see more films being made with people of color behind the camera and in front of the camera, because the more times at bat we have, the better we get.

I've never personally criticized anyone else's music, but I know that the public's real problem is not the music I make but the perception that I play simple music for money only and for the notoriety and to increase my popularity.

Every financial worry you want to banish and financial dream you want to achieve comes from taking tiny steps today that put you on a path toward your goals.

As a former EPA administrator under a Republican president, I recognize that it is easy to hate regulations in general. After all, regulatory action causes people to spend money or change behavior, often to solve problems they do not believe exist.

We know that the enemy of upward mobility is not poverty or even other people's success. The enemy of upward mobility is apathy and an educational system that offers choice to the privileged and traps the most vulnerable in unsafe and poor performing schools.