My mother raised us to think that if we worked hard, and if we put our end of the bargain in, it would work out OK for us.

My mother was amazing. I guess, in our community, if you wanted to get by you had to work hard. So she cleaned offices. She did everything that you could imagine. We were really poor. But she would say, 'Where you are is not who you are.'

Work hard! In the end, passion and hard work beats out natural talent.

I don't want to overemphasize this, but not a day goes by when I don't think about my mother and what she would think about what I just did. I often adjust my approach.

To help my muscles rebuild after I work out, I have a small serving of cottage cheese.

People think that I work out but it's all t'ai chi.