I've always been interested in directing, writing, and producing, so when I went behind the scenes, it was like a whole new world that I got to experience.
Sometimes success means having the right idea in the right place at the right time. Other times, it's about not being afraid to quit and move onto something new.
Being told to get out, not being afraid to fail and try new things - that really makes a difference.
If we are paying attention to our lives, we'll recognise those defining moments. The challenge for so many of us is that we are so deep into daily distractions and 'being busy, busy' that we miss out on those moments and opportunities that - if jumped on - would get our careers and personal lives to a whole new level of wow.
I went through a lot of maturing in a year or two. I left all my best friends, and I didn't really want to make new friends, so I spent a lot of time inside just being depressed.
I want people to understand that from the minute Lady Gaga arrived, she created a new set of rules: being different is good; embrace it.
Soul music as we've always known it hasn't changed. There are different players now with different attitudes, but there is nothing new being done musically.
I think being funny was a coping mechanism because I was always the new kid in school.
Me just existing and being myself is making change and making things easier for other young queer kids. I want to be me and express that and break new ground along the way.
When I started Net-a-Porter, I knew nothing. And I was pregnant. Starting a new venture and being pregnant for the first time are pretty similar in many ways. If you knew what was going to happen to you, you wouldn't venture down that road.
In terms of having views and being prepared to express them, yes, I think New Zealand's had a leadership role in a lot of things.
My whole shtick is that I want to contribute to New York's culture via restaurants, nightlife, whatever... but to be more conscious, more aware, more sustainable. It's more than just 'being responsible as a culture.' It's having an ethical chain of production.
I've done a good job of not putting myself in a box, being able to transform, and not being scared to try new things.
So, wrestling, being strong, having good matches? I learned that in New Japan. But as a TV character? TNA was good.
And because no matter who you are, if you believe in yourself and your dream, New York will always be the place for you.
For me, the Sundance Institute is just an extension of something I believed in, which is creating a mechanism for new voices to have a place to develop and be heard.
The imaginations of believers have dressed up and exaggerated the excellence of the style and matter of the New Testament generally, in the same manner, in which they have the moral instructions of Jesus.
I grew up in Belle Harbor, which is in New York City, but it has the most powerful sense of nature and seasons. It wasn't even the beach and the water. I just dreamt about everything that had to do with nature. I read about Thoreau.
We say this is a land of immigrants, and we forget that this was a land that belonged to people. And those of us who are new immigrants and those of us who come from generations of immigrants have to realize we are not that much different from one another.
Writing a new play shouldn't be seen as a mystery belonging to a priesthood, but as a challenge, a technical challenge, just to get into it.
