Angela and Vanessa Simmons Get Fearless (My exclusive Interview)

NoW that you are in California, do you MiSS 

neW york and have you found a balanCe? 

absolutely. i love new york City. i love living here and i love coming 

home, because new york is my balance. i do find that after a few 

weeks or a month i do need to come back home to new york. i’m 

such a new york girl. 

Have you been able to find love in California? 

i just look for someone who is relatable to me. a sense of humor, 

caring, nice, smart, that can have a good conversation with me. 

Someone who can encourage me when i am down. Just a good 

person. it’s hard; it really is hard to find a great guy. itʼs hard to be 

a virgin and look for a guy and think you can find him. it is a hard 

situation for me. Sometimes i wonder what makes it not work. i 

know i am young and i know that i am exploring, you know getting 

to know different people. every relationship i have i learn something 

new. i know eventually at the right time it will happen. 

WaS it a ConSCiouS deCiSion to PubliCly 

announCe that you  Want to be a virgin 

until Marriage. did you do it to be on 

role Model StatuS? 

no, i didnʼt do it for that reason. it kinda came up with me and 

vanessa on the show. i donʼt regret it, it’s who i am. Publicly, i am 

a public figure, being on a show for 6 seasons. i didn’t mind sharing 

a piece of me. Waiting is for me, it doesn’t have to work for everyone 

else. itʼs for yourself. i don’t do it for my dad, i do it for me. thats 

my power and self will. itʼs what speaks to me. i am very good at 

self control. it’s about having self discipline and not doing what 

everyone around you is doing. it’s a little more of a struggle, but it 

will probably make that person and what it will be, that much better. 

Do you feel that being on a reality ShoW haS 

given PeoPle a falSe PerCePtion of you?   

With opinions i kind of learned that people will always have an opin- 

ion, that’s just life. i think you have to learn to accept it. a lot of the 

times i do get pre judged by people who think they know what we 

are, how we are. i’m a down to earth, pretty humble person. but the 

first thing they know before they actually meet me is, “oh her 

father’s a reverend so that means this or her unclesʼ...itʼs always 

something. Whether it’s that we are spoiled, rich, they don’t have 

to work for nothing. i’ve heard it all. but i’ve learned through my 

father, through my uncle and always asking questions, that it’s just 

a part of life. it is what it is. it comes with being a Simmons. it 

comes from being behind this legacy. 

Do you reMeMber the MoMent When you got 

thiCk Skin to the negativity? 

honestly, thick skin develops over time. i was still in high school 

when we were filming runʼs house. i kinda knew what i was sign- 

ing up for but i didnʼt know that there would be so much criticism. 

it was a lot, you know i got hurt a lot. a lot of nights i would cry and 

feel like i wasn’t good enough. People tearing you down. but over 

time you learn. i talked to my father, talked to my mother, talked to 

all four parents, which is a blessing to have so many caring voices. 

Within the last two years i’ve been growing thick skin. 

There SeeMS to have been a Stronger SenSe of 

ConfidenCe froM you thiS PaSt year, alMoSt a 

tranSforMation froM young girl to young 

WoMan. hoW haS that ProCeSS been in the 

PubliCS eye? 

absolutely, the world was viewing me at the age of 17. So you have 

to imagine from 17 to 23 you are going to grow up. it’s a matter of 

me becoming more of a woman, which is still a process that’s 

happening. iʼve grown in relationships and work, everyday is a 

learning experience. iʼve changed since coming to la. heath wise 

i am more aware and am really trying to get in touch with myself. i 

am learning to love myself first. 

What are you loving about yourSelf 

right noW? 

iʼm loving my growth. iʼm starting to push the envelope with my 

fashion. it will be an extension on me moving into my career. there 

are things that iʼm going to get into that people probably wouldnʼt 

even know i could do. iʼm moving at the right pace. 

What WaS your fearleSS MoMent of 2010?   

My most fearless moment, i became a vegetarian. one day i decided 

i am not going to touch meat and that was that. i remember the day. 

i went to eat breakfast and i got a little sick after eating some 

turkey meat. iʼve wanted to do it for so long, being around my uncle 

and i got some pointers from him. at that very moment i stopped. 

definitely a fearless moment for me. i feel blessed, i wake up every 

morning knowing that if i want to do something i can. honestly, 

everyone has that freedom. outside of the job you may have, you 

have the freedom to be as creative as you want 

Angela

Check out the SIMMONS SISTERS at: 

www.lovepastry.com 

and follow Angela Simmons 

on Twitter@angelasimmons  

Credit: 

leather Circle drop earrings by 

found objects; angela’s ring by 

Justine Simmons 

“There are things 

that Iʼm going to get 

into that people 

probably wouldnʼt 

even know I could 

do. Iʼm moving 

at the right pace.” 

-Angela  

.........................................................

 Vanessa's Interview Exclusive

are there eXPeCtationS to being a 

PreaCherS daughter in the PubliC eye? 

i don’t really give into those expectations. i think i do what 

makes me happy and what works for me the best. i learned a 

long time ago that, the pressure to be great and good has made 

me better, but it didn’t force me to be something i am not. 

WaS there PreSSure to be in entertain- 

Ment being that it iS SuCh a big Part of 

your faMily life? 

oh no, my parents didn’t really want me to be in entertain- 

ment. they wanted to make sure that it was something i 

really wanted to do. that’s why my dad was like, “you want 

to be an actress, why?” that was kind of their reaction. but 

growing up in the circumstance of having entertainment 

around i think it was natural that i did do that. 

What Would your dreaM role be? 

i used to have all of these ideas of dream roles, but as i got 

deeper into acting i realized that whatever the universe 

throws my way i am willing to do. i don’t think there should 

be any barriers from what i do or what people think i would 

act like. i am willing and open to expand my horizons and 

take myself out of my comfort zone. i am waiting to read 

that script that really blows me away. Something that makes 

people say ʻoh wow, that isn’t the same vanessa we saw on 

daddy’s girls. 

Would you be CoMfortable taking a role 

that Would Move againSt your PerSonal 

MoralS but iS needed to Move the 

CharaCter forWard in the Story? 

it is acting and i feel i just want to do my job. i know that there 

are going to be some scripts that come across my desk that 

are not going to be in line with my personal morals. but all i 

want to do is my job and that is part of my job. i want to be able 

to go outside of myself for a minute and step into someone else. 

as long as i don’t get suck there for too long and go crazy. 

do you feel that you have found your 

indePendenCe aWay froM PeoPleS 

i think that finding my independence has been a life long 

journey. Since high school, i wanted to seek independence. 

everyone will have an opinion, but i think over the years even 

without runʼs house people will have opinions. even 

growing up in school, going to college people had their 

opinions about me, whether bad or good. over the years i’ve 

learned to not really give a crap. i’ve actually had people say 

bad things about me and then meet me and say, “oh my 

gosh, you are nothing like i thought.” and in my mind, i am 

like, well thanks for judging me. 

do you feel that MakeS you Put your 

guard uP, knoWing that you are being 

Pre-Judged on your faMily ConneCtionS? 

in the past it made me put my guard up and i fell it has made 

me more of a guarded person. Which is also another reason 

why i probably didn’t show people so much of myself on tv. 

but growing up and getting old i have learned to not care. 

trying to be a successful actress will not allow me to keep 

that guard up. i used to feel that way for a long time. it is 

just this past year that i am like, ʻscrew itʼ. in order for me 

to be successful at my dreams need to let that guard down 

and i need to let go.  

What iS the SuCCeSS that you hoPe to reaCh? 

oh my god there are so many different steps i feel like i want 

to take in my life. it started with Pastry and angela and i 

building a brand. taking that from zero to where the brand 

is now. and of course, there is acting which i don’t feel like 

i have hit the top of that iceberg of where it will go. it is 

happening now. i am very excited about where it is headed. 

i also want to be a hotelier. Me and my sister want to open 

a hotel. angela and i also just started a production company 

called Simmons 2 for quality tv programming. there are so 

many levels to where i want to go to reach my successes, 

one day at a time. 

What have you been Working on lately?  

i am writing a screenplay with my friend. it is pretty much 

done, we are going to go back to it at the beginning of the 

year and make the necessary changes to complete it. i will 

probably start shopping that around and hope it gets some 

interest. So we start form there and here comes another step 

in our lives. 

With PaStry aS the firSt buSineSS you 

and angela got into did you See it aS 

a Way to alSo Send a MeSSage? 

We wanted to make an impact, to show people that their 

dreams are very possible. i am sure that some thought they 

come from a successful family, so it was a lot easier. Part of 

that is true, yes we did have a head start. the other part of 

that is we worked extremely hard to do this. We worked at 

it every single day and made sure that it could be a tool to 

inspire others that anything is possible and to believe in 

yourself. i think if you push and do the work, and put your 

passion behind it then it will come to pass. i love using 

Pastry for that. 

hoW haS it been, Starting a life in a neW 

PlaCe? 

yeah i definitely started over here. it was hard. i came to la 

with no agent. technically no reel, only little work pieces 

here and there from the guiding light. it was extremely hard 

and i am now pretty proud of how far i have come on the 

career side. it may not be where i thought i’d be by this time 

in my life, but it is shaping up pretty nicely. i don’t think in 

life we are in charge of all that stuff. i think there is perfect 

timing and everything is coming along pretty well. i actually 

feel now for the first time in life that i can call myself an 

Vanessa