Jillian Hervey

Half of my family is in Los Angeles, so my cousin was the first person to play me, like, Snoop Dogg, and I would always feel like, 'OMG, I shouldn't be listening to this,' and my other cousin was the first to introduce me to Aaliyah, so every time I'd go to the West Coast, I'd get those West Coast vibes.

It was always important to me to be confident and strong with myself. It didn't happen overnight, but I've learned that the only way you can start to control things is if you feel a certain way about yourself.

For me, it's about being comfortable... but I can feel comfortable in a thong leotard and on stage. Growing up as a dancer, that's how I'm comfortable in my body. It's about where you grew up and those things; it's a way of communicating your spirit to the world.

The importance of heart health became very real for me when my father died of heart disease seven years ago. Having experienced the loss first hand, I am inspired to do everything I can to break the cycle and prevent families from losing loved ones to this preventable disease.

There may be some backward countries where the mass of the people are on a subsistence level and where, as an aftermath of wars or partial crop failures, the standard of living has to be drastically reduced, but this certainly is not the case in our prosperous nations.