When I was working my way up, it seemed to me that only Westerns and 'Star Treks' or sci-fi movies could afford to get away with presenting the problems -- like prejudice and desegregation, for instance -- that we face in our everyday lives.

When I was working in my first job engineering construction, what I liked the most was working with architects and making buildings that had this creative side coming from the architect and that were making them a big success.

When I was working for Miramax, before Sundance, a videotape of 'The Blair Witch Project' -- of the full, completed movie -- went to a lot of the buyers. And so we all saw it before the festival, and I passed, a bunch of people passed... Then I watched the movie marching toward success, and was reminded by my bosses what a dope I was.

When I was working at the Sprint store, I got laid off. I was bummed out, but I stayed positive. I used the money I had earned while working there to make my first album. Without that job, maybe 'Corazon Sin Cara' would never had been made. It's a very inspirational story.

When I was working at Trio, I was pitched 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' and I knew, whoever gets this, this is a game changer. When I started at Bravo in 2005, it was a hit, and Season 1 of 'Project Runway' was in postproduction.

When I was working at Teleflora, I got booked to do 'Talladega Nights,' so I went and did that. That was really my first big break ev-er. I made as much from my per diem during the three-month shoot as I did for the entire previous year.

When I was working at Sony, I used to live near the beach. I'd get up in the morning, walk my dog, go for a swim with dolphins, and in 25 minutes I would be at Sony.

When I was working at MTV, people would e-mail me asking where I bought my frames, and I always felt a little uneasy telling a teenager to go out and pick up a $400 pair of glasses.

When I was working at Gilt, a lot of people at the time -- this is back in 2009; Gilt launched in 2007 -- were making their first fashion purchases online and at a discount.

When I was working a lot, I felt guilty as a parent. I couldn't pick up my son every day from school, bake him cookies and that kind of thing.

When I was with the serpent-handlers in Tennessee, it was the most bizarre method of worship I could think of. Yet when you sit with these people, you can kind of see how it makes sense.