Joan Smalls Quotes

If I walk into a room, I'm quite content to sit in the corner and chat with people who walk by. But coaching forced me to come out of my shell.

Growing up, sports was my outlet, my way to portray a personality. I was very shy around people but, through sports, something I was good at, I was able to make friends.

I have a really hard time meeting people, so I wanted to take classes to get out of my social shell. Eventually, I opened up and realized, 'Wow, I really enjoy this.'

I'm from a rural town outside of Stockholm, so in coming to L.A., I've been able to not think that much about my background. It's much easier for me in this big town, this big bubble to isolate myself from that and be a little more self-confident. I'm here to do my take on soul.

My first and most loved real novel was 'Little Women.' I identified with the Jo character even though we were opposites. Jo was very strong-minded and brave, and I was shy and kind of a wuss, everyplace but in my own home. I wanted to be Jo. She was my alter ego. I think reading that book gave me courage.

It's just a continuous process, trying to work through it, trying find that comfort zone and go from there. That's kind of where I'm at. I feel pretty good about where I'm at.

I'm astonished to say, but people are really pleased to hear what happened to me, the way I got a little bit more confident, the people I've met, and the things I didn't know.

Moving gave me confidence. I was really reclusive when I first moved. I stayed home a lot or went to shows alone. But by the second semester of my freshman year, I started making friends.

We went from playing small clubs to quite big stages quite quickly, and a lot of the time, I felt like I was trying to catch up with myself. Figuring out how to take up space was an interesting journey.

Even though I was 34 or 35 or something. I was like, “People can do that? Women can actually just say what they think?” It was an extraordinary experience to do that movie with her because every day was a lesson in how to just be yourself.

Sometimes we become bound by other people's thoughts because we are not sure about ourselves.

The more people I meet, the more cultures I start to embrace, the more people I open myself up to - it's a growing process I'm excited about. But it's also a challenge for me, to be at this level and still be able to connect with somebody who's living that everyday life. At first it was something I struggled with, because everything was moving so fast. I didn't know how to digest it. The best thing I did was go back to the city of Compton, to touch the people who I grew up with and tell them the stories of the people I met around the world.

Let your light shine today, and let your personality blossom, too. You don't have to be a people-pleaser, just a people-lover.

I've never hidden the fact that I used to be shy, even when I was 30. However, I might have been self-conscious on the inside, but I was never inhibited about my body.

You think you can go into all those auditions not knowing who you are? The work came after I found my sense of self - when I wasn't so manic and desperate.

I didn't think there was life after modelling, believe me. It's a hit to the ego when you are not the diva on the set any more. But I think what keeps me going are challenges. I love when people tell me I can't do something.

I was very, very shy in public and school, and quite loud and brash at home.

I have so much more to go through as a young lady. But oh my God. I feel like I can do anything.

A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness, as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men - and people in general.

We all need a firm sense of identity.

When I was married, I wasn't loving myself. Now I'm in love with myself. I will get married again.

Being home alone at night makes me a bit nervous. If I'm at home alone, I have to sleep on the sofa - I can't face going to bed. I'm there with the TV on and all the lights on. I'm not very brave about anything in life. In tennis, yes. In everything else, not very.

When I first got into the league, I tried to fit in. Now I don't care.

I think anyone taken out of their comfort zone and put somewhere else will change.

I really feel sorry for new generation. It's hard to find backbone. I never had crisis of identity. But I think many Americans have it.