TAMRON HALL

I will never answer that question of what are the challenges I face. You speak it into existence, and I choose to use that air for other things.

I've been given an opportunity to make a difference.

Trust me: I do hit the snooze button about 4 times.

Looking back, I've always enjoyed hearing about the lives of other people, their experience through their jobs, their lives, and their children. It's always been a treat to hear about others.

The thread that has always connected my family was the news.

When I was a kid growing up, I always thought I would be a journalist, and I thought, you know, I'd cover stories about other people, and we're always taught never to make the story about yourself.

One of my favorite memories was one time Prince picked me up and said we were going to Michael Jordan's birthday party.

I love edgy comedy. 'Coming to America' still gets me and 'Friday.' I watch old Richard Pryor stand-up on VHS, too.

We're not monolithic. What is blackness? To me, how do you define that?

It used to upset me - now it makes me sad - to see people use patriotism and our troops as a pawn in their political argument. Because I know personally, growing up in a military family, the sacrifice that is made on a daily basis.

The best advice I received came late, and it's this: Don't read the comments section of any story that mentions you!

Al Roker is one of the most sensible people you'll ever meet. He's raised two daughters and a son. And I love him, in that as jovial as he is, he's a straight shooter. He's a New Yorker, as they say.

My ability to not be afraid to ask tough questions or to confront, that matters.

I think when I first straightened my hair, I was a teenager. I don't believe that I was consciously doing it to look white or to be on television. It never crossed my mind. All of the girls in my neighborhood got perms and their hair straightened. But I know that historically it was to assimilate and there are some people who do it for that reason.

So I have people who tweet and ask me, 'You can't be this happy all the time. You can't be this cheerful.' Well, yes I am. From where I've come from and my family and what I see as real struggles in day to day life, through my reporting. I'm never going to look at challenges.

What I've learned is that people have a desire to talk after the first line of reporters go away, and they are no longer speaking out of shock.

As a kid from Texas, it always amazes me when city kids don't know how to ride a bike.

Someone - a man - advised me not to become a news anchor because my eyelashes were too long, and they would distract the viewers.

I mask every single day. I mask every morning - since I was 27 years old. I don't care the brand: it can be from the drugstore or high end. I can be walking my dog in the mask scaring children and people off, but it's my routine that I commit to every single day.

Women, teenagers, we have to really empower each other.

I met Bon Jovi on the way to Washington, D.C. I think I called him Jon Jovi. Ugghhhh. I just smiled and pretended it didn't happen. I love him and his wife; they're so sweet. I was very nervous.

It's not my job to judge or assess. I think single, black, white, married - people are doing the best they can.

I've not given up having a child. But I hope whatever route of parenthood I choose, whether it's adoption or I'm able to conceive, I just hope that I'm able to give someone as beautiful a life as my parents gave me.

The two things that I require for anyone who's around me: you need to love food, and you need to be able to laugh.

I remember reading the cruelest, most awful thing about my hair online. A person speculated about who I was as a person and even read into my personal life based solely off my hairstyle. He or she said I must be lazy because I have short hair. It was just devastating.