I could never have predicted: I’d be this happy. There was a time when getting up in the morning was hard. I thought I couldn’t run a company, have a public persona, balance motherhood and do it all well.
The key to happiness is: Not being concerned with what other people think about you. If I believe the good things, then I have to believe the bad. So I have to stop believing any of it.
You will never regret: Being fearful but doing something anyway. The key isto just keep moving.
But you might wish you had: Been kinder to yourself. I am very competitiveand have a type A personality. I wish I had said to myself that it’s also important to spend time working out. Now I know I need to be kind to my body.
The biggest risk I ever took: I don’t consider anything I’ve done to be a risk, and it’s important to think of it that way. I only do things I feel fairly definite about.
Never be impressed by: Someone’s money, clothes, car or man. Looking at those outer things, you don’t know anything about what a person’s really going through.
I hope people will remember me most for: Being a daughter, sister, mother and friend. And for writing crazy, entertaining characters who talked about stuff that mattered.
This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of ESSENCE Magazine, on newsstands now!