Being business-minded so young is more about being passionate with the things that you love. I mean, I’ve had people tell me that I would never have my own show that I wasn’t talented or strong enough. And I’ve had a bunch of people criticize my music and my personal style and everything. I think it’s all about finding something you’re genuinely passionate about that you would never let anything get in the way of. That is a big part of how I became who I am because I love everything that I do. So if you have that passion it will give you the drive that you need to become unstoppable.
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I’m very proud of my background and where I come from. When I was younger I thought I had to have blue eyes and blonde hair and be white to success, I know how some girls feel inside. I know they think if they want to be an actress or a singer they have to have those qualities. For me, I love not having blonde hair or blue eyes to prove that we all don’t have to look that way.
Acting in the movie Ramona and Beezus which is based on the series of books written by Beverly Cleary was nerve wracking. I had to bring these books to life for the first time! We used seven of the eight books and turned it into this movie. I read all of the books in third and fourth grade and I had two or three weeks to prepare for the role so before I flew out to Canada to shoot the movie they sent me the series and I re-read them. It was such an honor to be apart of the process.
It was really fun to play the big sister in the movie because Joey was a good little sister to work with. It was such a transition role and so different from the roles I’ve played. During filming I was always joking around and making sure everybody was having a good time, and so was Joey so it was a really chill set.
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In the entire process of my album, A Year Without Rain, I wanted to be much more involved than I had been in the past. I knew exactly where I wanted to go with this album. Because my first one was more of a learning experience, the album artwork is a little older, it’s a little fun and kind of dreamy and fantasy like. It’s got that dance feel to it and I hope everyone can listen to it. The reason I called it A Day Without Rain is because one of my favorite songs on the album is A Year Without Rain. It’s basically has a sweet melody tune to it and it’s basically a song saying you cant live without that person. A day without you is like a year without rain.
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For the album, Kevin Rudolf gave me my first single, “Round and Round.” I was excited that he and Fefe Dobson gave me that song. Chelsea Dab who did ‘If I Were A Boy’ and ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ with Beyonce and Fergie gave me ‘A Year Without Rain.’ Katy Perry also gave me a song called ‘Rock God’ which has that really cool funky beat. I mixed it with my dancing style and every other artist that I’ve worked with were people that I have worked with before.
I’ve really had the chance to grow up more and I’ve written more of my stuff and I was fortunate to have all those people send me their songs so I think this is much more involved in the sense that I knew what the vision I wanted to be was and the lyrics had to mean something a little more. It was just more of a mature way to portray what I wanted to say while still m
