When I'm performing for the people, I am me, then. I am that little girl who, when she was five years old, used to sing at church. Or I'm that 15-year-old young lady who wanted to be grown and wanted to sing and couldn't wait to be smokin' a cigarette, you know?

For me, 'I Am Woman' is all about transition. I turned 21 in December, so I'm not completely grown up yet but I'm not a little girl anymore. Just in that in-between stage. The song is everything I have ever heard a woman say. I loved this song for me and every young lady, girl and woman to be able to feel empowered in being female.

I want to reach everybody, from the little girls who are 3 years old, to the grandmother who watches my soap, to a young man in love.

I never got to make that transition from little girl to young woman... and that really screws you up.

I am an optimistic lady.

When a young man complains that a young lady has no heart, it's pretty certain that she has his.