Everyone has a sense of humor. If you don't laugh at jokes, you probably laugh at opinions
If all else fails, a few deep breaths.
I knew I liked art. I knew I liked photography. I remember seeing photos of Linda Evangelista in Italian Vogue as a teenager, and at the time I didn't know who she was. There were two photos - one shot by Fabrizio Ferri and another one by Steven Meisel. I didn't know who any of those people were. I think it was the first summer I was modeling, I saw these magazines sitting out and looked at them. I remember thinking, These are the kind of images I want to make.
My mom was proud but very hands off. She didn't really know enough about the model industry, and she didn't have the time to stop her life to go chaperone me. I think she trusted me.
I don't even know what would have happened to me had I not become a model. I don't know if I would have gotten out of Oklahoma. I was so young when things started happening for me and I realized I could make a living.
If I hadn't become a model I thought of doing many things. I wanted to be an archaeologist at one point, but I was a little kid. I wanted to be a social worker.
One of my half-sisters just couldn't deal with it. I think she saw me as someone she had a hard time relating to. We're super-close now, but I probably came home from Europe with weird opinions and attitudes and weird clothing. I probably looked so different to her, and I couldn't show up for things she would have liked me to. My life picked up speed, and I couldn't really stop the momentum.
My thing is, I know kids cuss, they do their thing, but I tell my kids, 'Don't do it in earshot of any adults, or you're in trouble. '
One of the greatest gifts my father gave me - unintentionally - was witnessing the courage with which he bore adversity. We had a bit of a rollercoaster life with some really challenging financial periods. He was always unshaken, completely tranquil, the same ebullient, laughing, jovial man.
I do know that when I look around in show business, I see a lot of people who were in my drama class in high school.
Here in Silicon Valley, I have taken part in hundreds of conversations trying to convince people to dive in and become entrepreneurs. All too often, innovators with good, safe, jobs are unwilling to put their family's access to health care at risk by walking away from company-backed medical insurance.