On their date, my father said to Renee, "Tomorrow I'm going to come by your parents' house, pick you up, and we're going to go hunt for apartments. T… - Erika Jayne

New York City is such an awesome place with a lot of great artists doing great things at the top level. There was so much going on then and so much going on now. It was really ‘the’ place to go to hone your artistry. I became a member of a couple of girl groups early on and performed at a few clubs around there. But basically, I was doing any job I could just to stay alive. A lot of extra work. I was a starving artist.

All of us have been in situations where we've lost our confidence, even the greatest leaders in the world. We are at the end of the day human — I have no problem telling you, yeah [I have days when] I think, you know, What am I doing? Remember why you're doing what you're doing; talk yourself off the ledge. You know you have to become your own best counselor because really no one is going to take the time and the energy to understand your problems quite like you can.

Don't let anyone else tell you when your time is up or what's best for you, you make that. And if you live by what other people want you to do with your life, you will be miserable, I can guarantee you that.