Every artist, true artist, struggles with an overwhelming sense of feeling like you're not worthy.

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When your passion and drive are bigger than your fears, you just dive.

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Self-deprecation is not an answer to keeping one's balance. I think that it's very damaging.

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You cannot live to please everyone else. You have to edify, educate and fulfill your own dreams and destiny.

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I’m a black woman who is from Central Falls, Rhode Island. I’m dark skinned. I’m quirky. I’m shy. I’m strong. I’m guarded. I’m weak at times. I’m sensual. I’m not overtly sexual. I am so many things in so many ways and I will never see myself on screen. And the reason I will never see myself up on screen is because that does not translate with being black.

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Each role has its own different challenges.

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Let me tell you something: The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.

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I think that you always want to gravitate towards people who absolutely are great at what they do and go for authenticity.

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At the end of the day, nobody can tell you how to tackle failure or how to handle change. The world is very good at encouraging you to go along with the status quo and at basking in your successes. But when you hit a wall in your personal life, and you screw up, people don't give you a chance to navigate your way through it and tap into what's extraordinary about you.

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You have two stark choices when you find yourself in a really desperate situation. You can either fold and cave-in to it or you can become really passionate about getting out of it. When you're really passionate, you're going to grab hold of every rope you see, and wrap them around your arms and legs to claw your way out. And that's the way I've felt in my life.

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