I would tell my younger self, just be yourself — that who you are is good enough.

Actress and producer Viola Davis, one of “TIME” magazine’s most influential people in 2017, is also one of only a few people to have won all four of the major American art awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (collectively referred to as an EGOT). Davis rounded out her EGOT status in 2023 by winning a Grammy Award for her narration of her memoir, “Finding Me.” This quote, which she tweeted in 2015, just days before winning an Emmy for her role in “How to Get Away With Murder,” is a reminder of the adversities Davis overcame on her path to success. As she explained in her Grammy acceptance speech, “I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola — to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything.” With each success, Davis honors the child she was and inspires others to do the same.