“Get a Job’ is about all the rich kids we knew when we were younger, kids who never had jobs but always had money for partying or getting their hair done.”

Growing up as a chubby kid with a ton of imaginary friends and a Cyndi Lauper obsession, I learned about rejection early on and was constantly trying to avoid it.

I have learned so much making first collection that I am excited to use all of it towards making the next one even better! It’s been an amazing learning curve and experience.

I’m 90% performer, 10% musician. I’ve always said that Gossip are a band I would go see, not a band I would listen to.

I was born fat and have always been, which was just fine and even healthy and cute until I turned ten or so. Puberty hit like a hurricane and brought a new set of rules. All of a sudden it was my fault I was chubby.

When you see a fantastic colour or cut in a magazine, perched up on some famous so-and-so’s head, it’s tempting to ask your stylist for the same, but DO NOT BE FOOLED. The hair in those fancy photos can be very high maintenance.

We all seek approval, and our mother’s seal is usually the most important. The nitty gritty is that we have to accept ourselves, even if it is just to be ready for the next cut-down. Mom’s blessing or not.

I never said I wanted to be a singer for the rest of my life.

Someone told me once that Lucinda Williams takes six years between albums, and that’s what stuck to me; it’s like, you really are a factory. You don’t do things to make them, on your own time.

With a stretch belt, anything can be a dress – a dinner napkin, a tablecloth, even a towel. Just wrap and snap, and away you go in an incredible outfit. Another plus is that the belt will pull all eyes to your lovely curves, and they even look good around a coat or a jacket.

I work really well under pressure but I really hate doing things on a timeframe.

There is no rule in the pink-triangle guide to coming out that you must wear a rainbow flag cap and organise a full band parade.

I have a lot of feminist idols. My favorite thing about growing up in Arkansas – well, not favorite but something I’ve always felt grateful for – was that I really had to dig for what I could. There was no Internet. There wasn’t tons of feminist literature floating around.

Sometimes love can mean letting go and loving each other from a distance. Maybe that’s what you’re feeling?

I don’t have a good attention span and can’t spend long in record stores or video shops or games emporiums without getting grumpy.

I really worshipped Mama Cass a lot. Mama Cass, who was really fat and she didn’t lose weight. Yeah, she went on diets but for the most part of her life and the better part of her career she was a big person.

Even talking, I’m super-loud. I could never have that kind of meek, little wispy whimsical lavender and lace voice. It comes from my body. There’s no way I can fight it.

There was a time where I chose my jobs based on what jobs were available to me, so I would choose 100 percent of them.

Labor should not be about creating monuments on hills or statues in parks. Labors monuments and statues are when a young person can find a job, when a person with disability can get access to the ordinary life that others take for granted.

Jobs that cannot be delivered must never be promised. It’s unfair to raise people’s hopes that way.

Back of the job-the dreamer Who’s making the dream come true!

The whole time I was a union leader, we had to put up with John Howard and Tony Abbott attacking workers’ conditions.

What I believe to be every Australian’s right – a good, safe job with proper pay and conditions.

We know our job. We are grinders and we are physical and we need to make their (defense) look back over their shoulders.

At a time when U.S. jobs are heading overseas at a record pace, and amidst increased sanctions on our manufacturers and producers from other countries, it’s imperative that we do all we can to provide our businesses a climate to operate successfully.