I remember reading an interview Vanessa Williams gave after the groundbreaking success of the 2006 hit tv show, Ugly Betty.

Did she ever imagine being this successful after the Miss America scandal?” 

Inquiring minds wanted to know. 

Vanessa’s response?  With a signature shrug of her shoulders, she said:

“I always knew that it would be just a matter of time before I got my chance—there was never any question of my talent.”

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you respond to a question that is designed to make you feel like you have to prove you belong at the table (even after you’ve been given the proverbial second chance).

By this time, she already had several successful hit albums, movies, and broadway shows (including stepping in for Tony Award winner Chita Rivera in the highly acclaimed Kiss of the Spider Woman). 

My biggest takeaway from the exchange was watching Vanessa give credit where it was due: her talent.

She knew her worth. She knew that winning—and ultimately losing the crown—did not define nor detract from her talent. She didn’t rely on her pretty face to pave her way and therefore did not need validation from a competition characterized as a celebration of beauty.

Her hope was in what she knew was true about herself.

Knowing is the beginning of hope.

And where there’s hope…there’s a way.