From high school dropout to American Idol winner to Grammy award-winning artist, Fantasia Barrino is proof that sometimes life can be a fairy tale. In her empowering stage appearances the soulful songstress discusses the joys and pitfalls of single motherhood, talks openly about her efforts to overcome her difficult past and to become fully literate, and draws on her triumphs as a woman and as an artist to inspire her adoring fans to reach for the stars—and grasp them.

The North Carolina native first dawned on the public consciousness with her stirring performances on the third season of American Idol, which prompted Simon Cowell to pronounce her the best contestant of the 70-plus international Idols crowned since the show began.

On the lecture stage Fantasia describes her thrill at being voted the new American Idol, and her joy at the success of her debut album, Free Yourself, and its hit track “I Believe”—which made her the first artist ever to enter the Hot 100 at number one with her very first single.

She also speaks candidly about her powerful religious faith, and about the painful but cathartic filming of the Lifetime Television biopic based on her bestselling autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, which required her to reenact both the triumphs and tragedies of her past.

On October 16, 2014, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Barrino has been nicknamed "Baby Patti LaBelle" by her idol Patti LaBelle. A strong woman whose dazzling musical gifts and courageous spirit have been an inspiration to millions, Fantasia is a delightful and engaging speaker who never fails to enchant her listeners, no matter what the topic.