REPORTER: “You have said before you would be somewhere with your guitar and feel sort of disregarded.”

H.E.R.: “I have always had the big support system and foundation, but when I would walk into a studio session, you know, I didn’t always get the respect, you know, from the gate. I really had to prove myself, and I love a challenge. So I feel like that’s my moment to really show people, like I can do this too. I think that’s the attitude that a lot of young girls should have because we can do anything as women.”

REPORTER: “Do you feel that there’s been challenges though associated with being a woman, being a black woman, coming up in this industry? What has that been like?”

H.E.R.: “Absolutely. We have to, like, work a little harder, you know, to get people to listen, especially being a black woman. But I don’t let anybody put, you know, a certain narrative on me, and I think that’s something we all have to fight through as women.”

REPORTER: “Who within the music industry has been a mentor to you?”

H.E.R.: “You know, Alicia Keys I think is somebody that I looked up to as a young girl and she was an example for me because she played instruments and she was very different from anything out at that time period, and I modeled after that.”