Mum and Dad always wanted me to do whatever I was happy doing. I nearly went to art college at 16, but decided to do a BTEC in performing arts.
My dad is an art director for BBC TV shows, and my mum does screen printing workshops. Both of my parents played instruments, too, and my mum used to have crazy house parties when me and my brother were young - dub and garage would be banging through my house.
I'm a huge romantic but I've been unlucky in love. My mum and dad have been together since my mum was 18 and the problem with that is that me and my sister are always looking for my dad. And he doesn't exist because, well, Dad's Dad!
My love of music comes from as long as I remember. I begged my mum to learn piano for a year when I was 4; she wanted to make sure I was serious, and I wanted to be Chuck Berry when I grew up! We were a very musical family; my mum would play guitar, and her, my dad and aunt would sing and harmonize!
My mum and dad were very strict with me and I am grateful for that because all I wanted to do was play football and I didn't want to go to school.
Dad and Mom were frustrated artists - Dad wanted to study engineering or architecture and Mom wanted to be an actress - but the world was a different place when they were young so Dad became a public works foreman and Mom became a stay-at-home mom. When I said I wanted to be a writer, they were thrilled. They did everything in their power to support me.
I told my mum recently, when I used to envisage my adulthood, it was just me working at a corner shop that mum and dad could drive me to and pick me up from. I couldn't ever imagine living on my own and having a job that I wanted to do. Because I never saw it.
If I played badly as a kid, my dad would tell me, and my mum would say, 'You were brilliant today'. It's nice to have both: when I need a bit of confidence, I'll see her, and if I need to hear it straight, I'll see my dad.
You do need parental guidance and I was in a great position with both my mum and dad. They split when I was a baby but even though I stayed with my mom they were both very much involved in my upbringing.
I always wanted to be a writer, from being a little kid onwards. My dad and my mum both had phases when that was what they did.
My dad is Greek and my mum Jamaican. My grandparents brought me up for most of my childhood, but I saw my mum and dad all the time.
My mum wanted me to be a doctor like my dad, and at 7, I really wanted to be a politician, and I managed in my mind to combine the two.
When I sold my first business, I wanted to do something nice for my dad. I wanted to give my parents a bunch of money, but they wouldn't take anything from me. They were so happy for me; they felt they didn't need money.
I always remember my mum and dad arguing a lot and one main reason was lack of money. I realized very young that I always wanted to make money so I'd never have the same arguments like my mum and dad.
My mum and dad both worked full-time jobs to send my sister and I to public school, and to allow us to play the sports we wanted.
I always knew I wanted an educational background, and my mum and dad were quite big on that.