Quotes from Erica Mena

People will do anything for ratings and that's the scary part, and I learned the hard way.

Granted, there's been mistakes made immaturely, but a marriage is a marriage.

I think what people have to just naturally give me the respect for is the fact that me being a woman and no matter what I've done, fault to mistakes or right to wrong, that I'm able to step out and be like, 'This is who I am and this is who I love to be with. This is what it is, this is my life. I'm on a reality show so you get what you get.'

I feel like people have seen me on reality TV having to fight, but at this point in my life, I deserve peace.

Once they put you in like a label category it just haunts you.

DJ Envy's definitely talk about me, but I'm one of many. I was under the assumption that he had kids but wasn't actually married. I found out around the time that I started filming 'Love & Hip Hop.' After I found out, I was still in shock because we were together for so long.

Writing the book automatically made me accept myself and love myself more.

That's what it is, once you find a man that loves you, you instantly have no choice but to give him all the respect in the world.

Yeah, I've been in booty magazines and did music videos but guess what? I can be on Nickelodeon too if I want to!

I'm constantly going through the transition of love and hate at the same time and it just makes me who I am.

I'm able to send my son to a really, really good school. My mom is taken care of. I'm able to take care of my sisters. For the first time in our lives, we live comfortable and that feels good.

I'm definitely one of those chicks that when I feel it, I say it. It is what it is; I'll deal with the consequences later.

The first video that made me want to get into entertainment was Janet Jackson's 'That's The Way Love Goes.'

Cyn's actually met my son and I'm the youngest of eight girls, so naturally he has to deal with a lot of women in his life. I haven't really sat down with him to kind of say this is mommy's girlfriend because we haven't taken that step on full on commitment.

Me and my family had our fair share of troubles.

In the Concrete Jungle, there's definitely no Southern hospitality.

You can't ever move on without the proper closure.

I was doing catalog work for a while at 14 and eventually, it was one of those days I was just moving around New York City and I got stopped by an MTV scout and I ended up doing a Jennifer Lopez look-a-like contest and I won that.

In the past, I've been very open and affectionate towards females. It's definitely no secret.

At the end of the day, life and the way things are nowadays, you have to mentally prepare your kids. Whether I'm with a woman or not, walking down the street with my son, he's going to see a man and a man holding hands, so eventually I have to give him that conversation.

You definitely get different stereotypes and I've worked so hard, especially in the beginning, proving not that I was just more than a video girl but that you can do more than people expect you can and carry yourself a certain way and have some type of integrity or credibility.

As grown women, we have kids and we should be able to sit down and discuss issues without getting violent and having to cross someone's territory.

As a mom, I want to be that mother that steers her children to be whatever they want to be, but also lets them know that the world will never give them anything.

I just feel like our children should be given the right, once they know better, whether they want to be on TV or put into the limelight. We have the choice.