Brandy Norwood

There’s a lot of people out there who go through hard times, and they feel alone. They feel like nobody is there. But I’m in the same boat.

All I could think about was, ‘I just wanna blow him away. I wanna make him proud, because I really wanna sign with Timbaland and spend the rest of my career making music with Tim.’

You do not send me to Brooklyn to get a cheesecake and then I come back and you’re gone.

It’s her first grandchild, so she’s really, really, really excited. I guess my mom is a little more stressed out than me.

Now that the baby is coming, I will do a lot more balancing. I’m going to be a real mommy.

I think it’s really finding that belief in yourself, where you just have it no matter what’s going on, no matter what anyone else says. I think that’s the challenge, is to really have that belief in yourself.

Always remember your kid’s name. Always remember where you put your kid. Don’t let your kid drive until their feet can reach the pedals. Use the right size diapers … for yourself. And, when in doubt, make funny faces.

My father was very energetic; my mother was very energetic. He lived to a very old age, and so did my mother. I believe that I just have it from my father, from my parents. They had wonderful energy.

The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend.

The times when Barack and I are at our most relaxed are when we invite some friends over who we have known forever. And you put a little music on top of that? Some good food? It renews your spirit to get back in the game.

I have to be in tune with my husband, where he is, how he’s feeling. I have to be in tune with where my family is. The same thing is true in the work that I do. It’s all about me feeling where people are. So that’s why I try to be really present, even when I’m on a rope line. I never take for granted my interactions with people. And it’s never black-and-white. I’m usually reading the crowd, reading the people that I’m with. I guess if this role has changed me, it’s improved my ability to do that. I’ve gotten better at sensing where people are at any given time.

Nobody loves me but my mother – And she could be jivin’, too.

How do you build a relationship when you’ve hardly shared a word but suddenly share a child? How do you love a daughter you don’t see for nearly two years? When does she become your daughter? How does she become your daughter?

People say: “Oh yeah, jobs for the boys”. I wish. You’ve got to fight even harder with a family like mine.

My most important title is “mom-in-chief”. My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the centre of my world.

They say that no matter how old you become, when you are with your siblings, you revert back to childhood.

Father was the eldest son and the heir apparent, and he set the standard for being a Rockefeller very high, so every achievement was taken for granted and perfection was the norm.

There are a few things that were just sheer, unadulterated joy, like the birth of my children.

You know, it’s the silliness in me. It has always been there. I love to make people laugh. It comes from my family. My family is funny.

Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring, quite often the hard way.

You leave home to seek your fortune and when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.