KYM WHITLEY

I love Cleveland, and I love going back home. That's where my family is. That's where my roots are.

I come from a long line of architects. I'm the only one who did not become an architect, but I've been around the drawing aspect and construction my whole life.

I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty.

It feels like I'm in a swimming pool, and I am constantly trying to stay above water. Sometimes I feel like I'm slipping, and you try to come up for air, and that's how it is when looking for the next role.

It is a challenge trying not to give in to pleasing other people.

I'm always fighting with profanity and Christian comedy. I'm telling you, it's always a fight. Because my father said to me, he said, 'Well, Kym, I feel like comics and people that use profanity, you have a lack of vocabulary, actually, a whole lot.'

So many people are busy working now, but we need to go back to the old days when grandma and the neighbors helped raise the children, and we were all the better for it.

In the African American community, we are very 'hush, hush' about things in our life.

My parenting style is probably like that of my parents, because you do how you learn. My mother was very nurturing and loving, but very stern. She was a disciplinary. My dad was also very loving.

Carrying envy makes life more difficult.

I encourage people to get a village so that there will always be someone who's like family looking out for your child.

I've always had an entourage. Even when I was a little kid, I had a lot of little children following around me.

The OWN network is all about inspiring and enlightening.

Voice work is the best - no need to dress up, no audience, no pressure, nobody's judging you.

You can talk about reality TV if you want to, but guess what - it was a big commercial for Kym Whitley.

As an actress, our hours can be grueling, and like any mother that has a career or job, it is difficult. Balancing spending time with your child in the morning and after they come home from daycare/school before is the key.

I didn't know that my son had allergies until he spit up eggs one day, and one day he had a little peanut butter and his face swelled up. I took him to get tested and found out that he is allergic to everything.

My parents were funny. My brothers were funny. We just laughed and had a good time. Growing up, it breeds that. It breeds your funny. It breeds your creativity.

I want adopted people to know they were chosen.

'College Road Trip' is colorless. It's not a black film. It's not a white film.

We still have to create things for African American women. Just like Tyler Perry is doing it, we can't wait for things to happen; you have to go and make and create roles and go to people.

A woman is a woman. A woman has male problems, has job problems, and I think funny is funny.

Cooking for my son is a challenge. I have to feed him right. He can't eat French fries and candy every day.

I am a different kind of celebrity; I don't have the big, giant house, the fancy cars, and all the designer stuff. I am just a girl from Cleveland.

I believe that people just want to laugh and have a good time.