Thank you for accepting me as I am, with my virtues and defects.
Jenni Rivera
No one else has ever opened doors for me. I opened them myself.
Being a mother by far is my favorite and most important career.
The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up.
I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other women.
It doesn't bother me at all that some people think I am too outspoken.
I'm happy for the success that I've had, but I've worked so hard at it.
I can't get caught up in the negative because that destroys you.
'Malandrinas' means 'bad girls,' but not bad in a negative way. I wrote it in homage to my female fans.
I realized going back and writing and explaining in details the difficulties I had lived actually became emotional again. It's like therapy but sometimes therapy can be painful. But it's part of life and part of the autobiography so I'll have to finish it sooner or later.
I had no choice but to work hard. I was a straight-A student, went to college, and I loved business. I never thought I was going to be a singer myself. It came accidentally.
I made a living out of singing Mexican music.
If I had the opportunity to speak to a young immigrant girl that just arrived to the U.S. the advice I would have for her would be: ask, speak, search; because there are opportunities out there. And, know that you aren't the only immigrant or the last to come to this country. Many that have come before you have succeeded. It is possible.
I've been recording since 1993. It was a hobby for six of those years. In 1999, I decided to do it full time and take it seriously.
My inspiration is always what I think my fans want to listen to. I often write about social problems. If I'm not going through it or I haven't gone through it, I want to make sure it touches someone. That's what I base my music on.
Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do.
You work hard and you have expectations. So I'm living my expectations right now.
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.
I had no choice but to work hard. I was a straight-A student, went to college, and I loved business. I never thought I was going to be a singer myself.
Mexican music runs through my veins. I loved it. Growing up, my father didn't allow us to listen to English music at home. That's all I heard. I had no choice.
I am the same as the public as my fans.
Being a recording artist, selling music, selling concerts out, having a reality show, starting film; it's great, it's beautiful.
I'm just being myself. To me, that people are interested in Jenni, not necessarily the artist, but the woman... it amazes me still.
Usually, when a young girl is pregnant, she drops out of school and concentrates on being a mother. I thought that's what I had to do, but my counselors told me there was no way they would let me drop out. I had too much promise.
I'm really in touch with my fans. Through their emails, letters and stories is how I decide what music I'm going to perform.
I want to be the Mexican-American Oprah Winfrey. That's a small goal, isn't it? That's something that I want. And of course not just to host, I want to OWN it! So, that's in my future.
