Being a woman is power. Just because we live in a male-dominated world doesn't mean that you're incapable or less than a man.

Exploring many different avenues, especially setting new challenges, has always fueled my passion for learning something new.

I went vegan because it was a willpower challenge. I've been vegetarian, I've been pescetarian, and vegan was the next thing.

If everyone breaks down their walls and stops putting themselves on holier-than-thou pedestals, we can all learn from each other.

Doing the classics is always nice because it's a part of the archive, and that's what people love to hear, and I don't mind that.

You have to take a leap of faith before exposing yourself completely in terms of feelings and desires - especially if you're a woman.

The arts are statistically proven to increase independent thinking, creativity, discipline, balance, and academic improvement in children.

When your back is against the wall, and you feel like you're losing faith and hope because so many things are coming at you at once, hold on.

I didn't really get sidetracked into being a singer. It was just something I started to do for fun in school, like singing the national anthem.

I'm the oldest in my family, and I grew up with brothers, so we would be on the front lawn every day playing football, whether it's tackle or tag.

I have great friends and always go back home to remember where and who the essence of Mya and where I actually come from and to never forget that.

I've had two boyfriends in the industry. Like, relationships. But I never say names because I respect my relationships and what we've gone through.

I'm not Britney Spears, so I still have a life. I can go certain places without getting hounded by little 5-year-olds. So I'm very sane as a person.

I love Broadway. I love live performing. It's really spiritual when you can get to interact with people, and they actually affect how your show goes.

My favorite look would be a fresh, dewy face with a bronze, sun-kissed glow. It looks so tropical and reminds me of a place that feels like true home.

I was captain of the pom-pom team, which was still dance, but we were athletes. We trained on the track and did workouts every single day after school.

I was very protected by my family. But at the same time, I was free to explore womanhood. I was taught that it's okay to be sexy and smart and beautiful.

It took time for me to step away and become an independent thinker so that wherever I am in the world, I understand who I am and that nothing's impossible.

When I moved back home, I took the initiative to involve my entire family in my career because I didn't find that anyone else was as passionate and thorough.

Artists who are passionate about their music and in love with their art go independent because they want to continue making music and serving it to the world.

When I go to the spa, I'm a girly girl. I'm pampering myself. But on a regular basis, I'm a very tough tomboy - I have to remind myself that I'm still a woman!

There's a balance of feminine and masculine energy. Unfortunately, it's an imbalanced world because of the people that are in charge, and that's egotistical men.

If you have any kind of sex appeal, people are quick to accuse, abuse, lie, assume, and make up rumors. And that's not just in entertainment - that's in life. Period.

I think the 'R&B singer' title came from me entering the business at a time when R&B chick singers were the trend. I was fine with that, but I have a lot more to offer.

It's a dangerous world out there when it comes to relationships. And I believe we attract what we are. So I want to work on being my best self so I can attract the same.

Guys will just go out and do something. Females will talk about it - a lot. I don't care if I break a nail. You have to be aggressive to get the same respect as the guys.

There was a time in my life when I wasn't popular and accepted by kids in school. I was made fun of with braces and kinky hair and being from a multicultural family, et cetera.

I was raised on pork... steak, chicken, everything... And everyone in my family pretty much of the older generation has diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer.

I can't always get to the gym, but I make a gym wherever I am: on the floor or on a yoga mat with bodyweight-bearing exercises like sit-ups and crunches, push-ups, lunges, squats.

As teenagers, we go through social, emotional and physical changes... and sometimes, to feel comfortable, we end up doing things that are not true to who we are just to fit in and feel loved.

What always draws me back to the Caribbean vibes are the upbeat vibrations of welcoming melodies and positive energy exchange through the rhythms that make you feel like dancing with someone.

To take a whole load for a whole album on yourself is very challenging and kind of hard to execute when you don't have a reputation as a producer. If you do it for fun, you get a good outcome.

I would definitely tell my younger self not to be in a rush, on anyone else's timeline, and make sure that, along the way, that you take care of you first so that you can reach your destination.

People will always have an opinion. Even if you're over here saving the world, there is a group of people that will love you and a group of people that will always hate you no matter what you do.

I'm not wearing leather shoes, and I have not worn furs since a long time ago. I have to be very conscious when I'm making decisions and saying I'm vegan because I have to be about it all the way.

At an early age through the arts, I was fortunate to find an outlet to learn & apply, express myself, create, develop a positive image of myself, and a feel of importance, and significance to the world.

Get your mind right, get your spirit right, and get your body right. And keep it there. That requires working out; that requires fasting, eating well, prayer, and getting to know who you are. And not bending.

The definition of success, for me, was to have my family involved in everything that I did. But that got stripped away from me due to a very ugly divorce between my parents, who are also simultaneously my managers.

I definitely learned that when I want something done, I'm very tunnel-visioned out. I don't come out of the house. I beat myself up. I don't eat. I don't sleep until it's done, especially if I have a deadline in mind.

I was vegetarian before. I got into a relationship that didn't work out for several reasons, and I went back to my vegetarian ways after the relationship to shed the weight that I had gained, as that can often happen.

The fact that music is my first love and that after almost two decades, the love has grown every year... I'm truly thankful for that and want to always show my appreciation to those who keep me motivated and inspired.

Tomorrow's not promised. You may love someone; you may have a grudge because of something that they did to you, and it was unfair, but life's not fair. Life is very short, so clean up your grudges. Let's not hold them.

I didn't know what I was getting into when I went vegan, but so many things changed. I shed 30 pounds. I felt better. I was doing better mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I was healing myself from the inside out.

I know I'm different. Even when I think about an acting career, there are so many limited roles to begin with. I have the ability to be Spanish, Indian, Italian, black, Persian. What roles do I see that compliment that?

I've really fired a lot of managers that had that mindset or publicists that had that mindset of, 'Oh, you need to go on a date with this person because it's going to help album sales.' No thank you. That's not my flow.

I have a lot of scripts that come my way, and some of them take a bit longer to read than others. There are a lot of things that I have to pass on because I'm just not into it, and sometimes the story is slightly forced.

Best beauty tip... Work yourself from the inside out. Eat right, drink right, look right! Positive energy brings a certain glow, so think positive, choose positive, be positive & attract positiveness. It always shows up on the outside.

Understand that you are going to have to address several things navigating through the world as it pertains to men who have been conditioned to think that they are superior, which I don't believe, in the natural world, that is the case.

Being sexy, to me, is possessing the full package: the brains, the drive, inner confidence, spiritual foundation, a positive attitude, proceeding through obstacles, making a positive contribution to the world, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Being independent gives me freedom to creatively be great. Standing on your own doesn't always get major exposure or support, but because I make music from a pure place, I am more so excited and relieved that it actually gets out into the universe.

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