I wouldn't know the political solution to ending the conflict in those countries that refugees escape from. The only thing I know for sure, however, is that we need to help these people.

It's amazing because I've done so many of these things I've always wanted to do - almost everything - in my career.

Becoming a mother made me better understand how blessed I am to do this job.

It's easy for me to stay grounded because I know I am just a girl, a mother, a daughter, a lover... a normal person who was lucky enough to do this job, and I know it's my job - not the person I am.

And I want to do it the right way, like everybody else, not just a famous figurehead that gets a job because he is a famous basketball player. I want to really learn the business.

I became a sales manager at Digital Equipment, promoted from within the sales team. My peers were less than excited that I had gotten the job, especially one of my male peers who said he just wasn't going to work for a woman.

The reason that it's so easy to go out there and be me - warts and all, critics and everything - is because my family and my career are the only two things that really matter in the big circle of life.

Someone told me there was a publisher that could find a good home for my songs, but I didn't want to give up my pursuit of a career in the business as an artist.