I love school, and I love learning, and school really does inspire me for a lot of my writing - just being in public school with people and watching things happen.

There have been contestants on 'The Voice' from past seasons that didn't even win, and I have been so inspired by them. To think that I am now one of those winners? I really, really hope there is a little girl out there that is believing in herself and knows that she can be here.

If everyone loves you for the person you are, let alone your music is incredible, I think that's a really great place to be.

The support from back home has been more than I ever expected. They always knew me as the lacrosse player or the girl playing field hockey. Now they're seeing me on national TV, and they've been so supportive.

On September 11, 2015, only hours before my mother passed away, I learned that the man I planned to build a life with was a convicted felon and con artist whose criminal career spans more than 25 years.

We're blessed to be at a level in my career where I can afford to take out a bus of my own and bring my whole family with me, so that's great, too. The boys are out with us all the time, and it's just great to be able to turn around onstage and see my wife back there behind me.

In the '60s, my father, Wally Amos, had been a talent agent and a personal manager before taking a major career detour in 1975, when he opened a store selling chocolate chip cookies.

I think I've got my business notions and my sense for that sort of thing from my dad. My dad never had a chance to go to school. He couldn't read and write. But he was so smart. He was just one of those people that could just make the most of anything and everything that he had to work with.