Lenny Kravitz Quotes

We need role models who are going to break the mold.

I was rejected by every agent in Australia when I was starting out. No one would represent me, because I didn't fit into a particular box, and I wasn't a trained musician or performer, but history has perhaps proven that perhaps I have something to give.

It took a long time for me to have any impact in the business because I didn't look like an actor, I didn't sound like an actor.

Growing up, I didn't think it would be possible to be an actress - I didn't see a lot of Latina faces on TV or in movies. But that didn't stop me from trying. I realized early that anything I really wanted was worth working for.

I definitely want to be an inspiration or a role model for all the little girls out there or anyone out there that wants to break stereotypes. I feel like I'm breaking stereotypes with what I'm doing. I'm not the typical fighter, and there's a lot of people out there that won't do something just because they don't fit the stereotype.

When I started getting so many haters and closed doors, I decided to prove that it could be done. I was a divorced single mother of three at the time and a size 12 - not your typical model artist that labels feel work for the music industry.

Growing up in England, people told you why you couldn't do things. Suddenly, I had a publisher banging on my door, and was given the creative green light to simply make.

If your writing collides with the conventional wisdom, there's going to be some kind of friction.

Obviously, I'm still building a name and reputation for myself. The stigmas that come with my past will remain there for quite some time, but I'm not afraid to challenge those things, and I never have been.

I've always shied away from conventional wisdom, though I know the power of it.

I will keep smiling, be positive and never give up! I will give 100 percent each time I play. These are always my goals and my attitude.

Basically, all my life I'd been told you can't do that because you're female. So I guess I just didn't pay any attention. I just went ahead and did what I could and then, when the stars aligned, I was ready.

A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.

When I was at school, most people were planning on going to university and becoming doctors or lawyers. I wanted to be a singer, and I was laughed at. It was tough, but I never let anything stop me.

I was always told that I was too small, too skinny, too slow, not tough enough, and I never ever believed what people told me.

I've sort of made a reputation by high-stepping my way out of genre. As soon as somebody says, 'He does this,' I'm not standing there anymore.

I've always tried to go a step past wherever people expected me to end up.

No, I'm not the first or last model of my type in this industry. You can make up all the reasons you think I am where I am, but really, I'm a hard worker that's confident in myself - one that came at a time where the fashion industry was ready for a change.

I've always been an underdog. I feel like I beat the odds.

I'd taken the bull by the horns by liberating myself and creating a career. It took guts - it was scary and chancy - but they discounted me as empty-headed: some little piece of fluff without any brain that happened to come along.

You know, I want to be the uncommon one. I think it's pretty cool that I'm only 5'11", you know, and playing in the National Football League.

It's a great place to be as an artist: if you confuse your label, you're doing your job.

Some actors want to keep riding the horse that made them famous, but it's not interesting to me. I like to turn an archetype on its head.

Growing up, I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. There were no limitations restraining me just because I was a girl. Then I joined the military.

When you break glass ceilings, you're going to get minor scrapes by a shard or two from the glass.