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One of the photographers was like, “Can you stop talking and try to look sexy for a minute?”

Tracee Ellis Ross

My mom didn’t adhere to any of those typical rules. She woke us up for school every morning, and was there at dinner or would call at bedtime. She never left for longer than a week. She recorded while we were sleeping.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Mom Morning Myself Record Rule Sleep
My bathroom is filled with hair and makeup stuff and I play with it all the time. What the real lesson is, is that you can own your own sense of beauty. It doesn’t have to be something you get from somewhere else.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Beautiful Hairs Lesson Myself Play
In some of the darkest and hardest moments, there is always a part of me that is okay. And I can always access that part of me.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Access Darkness Hard Time Myself
After college, I shot a pilot for a show on Lifetime, which was basically House of Style for a TV lover. I think I got paid $1,500, and I was like, “Mom, I’m moving out! I made it!” I did two seasons of that, but I felt like a talking head and wanted to do more.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

College Lover Myself Paid Season Thinking
When I’m not working, I spend a lot of time on my hair. When it’s time for my hair to get some rest, I either wear it in a ponytail, bun or my favorite “milkmaid” braid.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Hairs Myself Style Time Work
I don’t know that the stereotypical idea of what it is to be a child of somebody hugely famous necessarily comes into play in my life.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Famous Huge Ideas Life Myself Necessary Play
Sometimes I feel like art is supposed to mirror life, but strangely it’s as if art is trying to catch up to life, to a certain extent?
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Art Feeling Mirror Myself Strange Time
Nothing goes to windward like a 747.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Special Wind
I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Day Inspirational Learning Myself Terrify
The clothing, the makeup, the freedom of expression in [the models’] bodies. It was Linda and Christy and Naomi at the time. So I modeled before college.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Clothing Expression Make Up Modeling Myself
There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Deserve Negotiate Way Woman
We all, as women, need to continue to change our gaze from how we are seen to how we are seeing.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Need Ourselves See Woman
Throughout high school, I was obsessed with magazines. I used to just comb through them and plaster things on my wall.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Magazine Myself Obsession Wall
I’m trying to find my own version of what makes me feel beautiful.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Beautiful Feeling Finding Trying Version
I like to choose compassion over judgment and curiosity over fear.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Choice Compassionate Curiosity Fear Myself
The two things that I thought were really interesting about this character [Bow] for me were that she actually loved her husband, and he loved her. The comedy was not coming from the fact that they hated each other. Which is what television couples are usually based on.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Couple Husband Interest Love Myself Thinking
I’m extremely blessed to have the extraordinary mother that I have, and I don’t mean Diana Ross, I mean the mother. My mom paved a road that didn’t exist, as did Oprah.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Blessing Empowerment Existence Mom Woman
I want to be awake. I want to choose kindness, live & let live. I want joy, gratitude, and peace today.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Awakening Choice Day Gratitude Joy Kindness Peace
My generation is one of the first generations of “choiceful” women – women who have actually had the choice of how they architect their lives – and I don’t think shame should have any place in that. But as that generation, you get cuts and bruises.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Bruise Generation Hurt Live Myself Place Shame Thinking Woman
This is a couple that actually loves, respects & appreciates each other.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Appreciate Couple Each Other Love
I think our culture promotes fear and shame.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Culture Fear Promote Shame Thinking
I’m a farmer’s market girl, so if you go and get beautiful, fresh fruit, that’s local, and it hasn’t been frozen yet, it’s pretty fantastic.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Beautiful Fantastic Girl Market Myself
I have to take some time to dream some new dreams. I feel like there’s a treasure hunt in front of me. A treasure hunt that is speckled with and seeded by a deep-rooted wild freedom.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Dreams Freedom Myself Time Treasure Wild
Somehow [Kenya Bariss] has figured out how to explore these very weighty, sticky, sharp topics, and still be funny and not make fun of the topic.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Explore Funny Sharp Topic Weight
I think television is doing a better job than films in terms of representing people, but television is still not diverse.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Better Diversity Myself Representation Television Thinking
My mom helped me. I was very shy growing up, but my shyness sort of manifested in a big personality.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Growth Manifestation Mom Personality Shy
It would drive the photographers crazy because I would giggle and tell jokes. I was gregarious, and looking back, I realize I had a captive audience.
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS

Audience Drive Myself Photography Realize

One of the photographers was like, “Can you stop talking and try to look sexy for a minute?”

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One of the photographers was like, “Can you stop talking and try to look sexy for a minute?”

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