Growing up, I tried to be involved in school a lot, and I had good grades. I was an active kid, and I loved being social.

Growing up in Florida was really amazing. I spent most my time at the beach.

Empowering girls is extremely important to me because, growing up, I needed those empowering women to show me the way. When my parents divorced when I was 11, my mom was a force to be reckoned with. She showed me how to be self-sufficient and independent.

Growing up, my parents loved Bon Jovi and Boston and Rush and all that, but it wasn't really connecting with me. I was still in my boy-band phase - Backstreet Boys for life!

What I decided was I'd be happier not being in the confines of a corporate infrastructure producing music. That's when I was free, and it opened up the door to have a different personality and incarnations. That's really when I had success in my music life. I was able to license my music.

I would love to make my music and be completely anonymous, but that doesn't work. You can't have success and be faceless.

Without failure there is no sweetness in success. There's no understanding of it.

I savored my time on top of the podium by watching the American flag rise up out of the crowd as the anthem played, thinking about how every single second of training I've done was for this minute and how many people played a role in my achievement.