Quotes from Karen Civil

I am not quick to call someone a friend. It is OK to have acquaintances and be associates. We make these words sound bad, but it is about understanding everyone's place in your life. I have a great group of people around me. I value them more than anything.

This is random, but I thought I was going to have the biggest Backstreet Boys fansite. I'm not even gonna lie: I thought I was gonna marry one of the Backstreet Boys, and I was gonna be his Yoko Ono.

Now, metaphorically, I sit at any table that I want. I can sit with the jocks, I can sit with the gang members, I can sit with the politicians, I can sit with the CEOs. My brand can fit anywhere.

In high school, I created a fan group for J.D. Williams, who played Bodie on 'The Wire.' I had the chance to meet him, and he took me to have lunch at IHOP. At that point in my life, I noticed this Internet thing was giving me the chance to check off goals off of my bucket list.

People see your life on social media, and they say, 'Oh my gosh, it's perfect,' and I'm like, 'No, every day, it's not even just a struggle: it's something new, and it's a new challenge to make sure that I'm mentally stable and healthy and that I'm okay.' It was just great to finally get it out and talk about it.

I've made social mistakes. We've all made our mistakes and tried things we kind of wish we didn't, but we plan around it. Things happen in situations that are unique and different, and no one is perfect.

When I was in eighth grade, I created a Backstreet Boys fan site. I came in third place in a fan site contest and got to meet them.

Nicki Minaj is one of those rare artists who get the social aspect of their career. She interacts with her fans. She replies to them. She gets them information first.

I just tell myself I gotta get up at 8 A.M. I don't even use an alarm clock.

Chances have been taken, opportunities granted, and because of such, I find myself in a position where some of my biggest dreams are in arm's reach.

People go to their jobs and hate it every day, but they have great ideas. Put that same time and effort into something you love - it really starts with being honest with yourself.

That's the wonderful thing about picking and choosing who we want to work with, because I've been in situations where I've worked with someone, and they thought they were gonna be on the cover of 'XXL' in two months. I'm like, 'That's not how it works.'

You work hard, you sacrifice for everything you do, and in one second, someone can tarnish your name - someone can bad-mouth you, and someone can say things. People let all of the good things gets washed away because someone spoke ill of them.

When I had dial-up, my mom got me a phone so I wouldn't tie up the phone. She used to really pick up the phone, push some buttons, and hang it up so the connection could mess up. Now, it's a joke with her, like, 'Look, the Internet's 24/7. I have WiFi now.'

It's unfortunate that cyberbullying is something that happens to 13-year-old kids in junior high and adults in the workplace. It's something that we have to deal with as Americans.

Do you want to be the girl that's envied, or do you want to be the girl that inspires you? Most people don't know that I am super shy and timid, but online people think I have a big personality. Make sure whatever you do has an overall message and has value.

I wasn't the biggest hip-hop fan, because I had to listen to whatever my parents listened to, so growing up, it was a lot of Dolly Parton, Elvis, and Whitney Houston. When they finally put a TV in my room and I got to listen to MTV Jams I was like: 'Here I am!'

For so long, we were labeled - you're a girly girl, you're a tomboy, you're this or that - but now we can do what we want. One style doesn't define me.

I love my religion, I love everything about it, but at the same time, I love my career, and I want to do it with the same love and compassion.

No one is going to break me. No one is going to stop me. No one is going to remove a vision that I see for myself and the love that's in my heart.

A lot of times, you see everyone's highlight reels because of social media. You don't know the work that went into getting to that point. This is something that's going to take time, hard work, and you have to be dedicated towards your craft.

I give people on my team the opportunity to excel as well, and I think that's what continues to keep me ahead. I may not be able to show or do an interview; I give them the opportunity to run the show, and that has been working.

I'm just me. I'm that cool girl who - as I like to say, I have that Carson Daly effect, where, if you watched 'TRL,' he was able to do interviews with NSYNC, blend right in, and then he would do interviews with Cash Money and blend in there, and you just naturally liked him.

I just knew I loved music, and I wanted to do something in music, but I couldn't sing, I can't dance, I am an introvert. So I was like, 'What exactly is there for me to do? What can I do?' There's all these questions, there's all these things that are telling you 'no' instead of 'yes.' Those are the things I dealt a lot with, my insecurity.