Every episode of 'The Conversation' was created to be a platform for women, to connect women, and to allow women's voices to be heard as much as possible. That's why I launched that show on a television network and online simultaneously.

Female friendships have sustained me from my earliest days as a child.

Some people would say having a feminist perspective is political, but I don't think it is. I think it's just having a female perspective.

I'm passionate about women's issues, and there are no outlets for that on TV, so I wanted to create one.

I remember having my father stand over me when I had driven over my own foot; one leg was out of the car and one leg was in the car. He looked at me and told me that I was a drunk and that he was ashamed to call me his son. That night, I stopped drinking and I never drank again; I was twenty four.

We're always aware of our family being creative, but it wasn't like, 'My uncle is an amazing actor; I want to be like that.'

I'm glad to say my father never felt ashamed of me, but my mother probably did.

It's a common theme around the city of New Orleans; we're resilient people because we have to be. We love this place with all of our heart and all of our soul and I just wanted to try to do something that I could to help make it better.