You Have To Succeed – Shakira

“When I was eight years old, my dad underwent an economic crisis, a financial crisis. He lost his business and we struggled economically for many years. We lost our car, we lost our furniture, and I remember vividly the day I walked in my house and all the furniture was gone because my dad had to pay his debts. It was quite, well, shocking for me. I was seven, eight years old. When I saw this, I was so frustrated on my dad. I’m so upset with my parents because I couldn’t understand how they did so poorly in business. I’m like, “Why? Why?” I couldn’t get it. My dad and my mom took me to the park where they showed me other kids, my age, sniffing glue. They were orphans. They had no one to watch after them and they were barefoot, and they were abandoned to their own luck. It probably left such an impression in my impressionable mind at that age that I remember that day, and I remember that I made myself a promise. I said to myself, “Shakira, you have to succeed.”
– Shakira