A lot of people hear '10 year old singer' and immediately feel bad for me. There is a lot of stigma around being a child entertainer mainly because of the past experiences that have been thrust into the spot light by paparazzi and tabloids. I'll admit that there are a lot of aspects that aren't so glamorous about being a child in the music industry but there's a lot that I'm thankful for and would never change. I am glad that I am a performer and that that's how I make my living, but growing up that way wasn't easy. My parents were smart about every decision they had made for me. They tried to balance work and downtime by being very strict about what they had said yes to. The part that I never understood as a child was why I had to give up parts of an ordinary life that I enjoyed to pursue this extraordinary one instead. Through the years I have developed some flaws and battled some demons, from being sheltered from aspects of a 'normal' child's life. I am extremely award and shy around those my age. I trust absolutely no one unless they are family or have passed through years of my life without hurting me in some way. There is also a sadness in me from growing up basically alone. My mother wasn't well when we traveled together, she would sleep a lot because otherwise she would be hurting and nauseous and I wanted my mom to feel better so I never complained. That meant that at 5pm in the afternoon, she would go to bed for the night and I'd be alone in a hotel room without anything to do. Needless to say the cabin fever drove me to tears. I love my mom so much and she only has my best interest at heart but I understood battling chronic illness is totally debilitating.

Throughout my childhood I was also facing another reality - that there were men out there who wanted to hurt me. Some even went to the extreme of claiming they were priests and other disarming occupations to gain trust and easy access backstage, but clearly their intentions weren't so pure. There was also this assumption that I was a stuck up diva when I had returned to school which left me isolated even in social areas because no one wanted to be my friend. There was the fear of stalkers and other dangers of being in the spotlight that my family and I had to deal with. All these things were terrible as a child and yet I'm still here performing and loving it. A lot of people may ask 'Why?' and I say it's my path, my dream, and my passion, with a fire inside of me when I perform. I've learned that there is a lot about the world that is sad. That's just life, but there are also many beautiful parts of life that I cherish and focus on.