#AolBUILD Presents Strong and Powerful Women

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Woman are known for being physically and emotionally strong. AOL BUILD had the opportunity to interview women who are mentally strong, Maria Manounos, Padma Lakshmi, Ellen Paige and Keke Palmer just to name a few. Maria Manounos, was promoting her cooking book, "The Every Girl Guide to Cooking", she talked about growing up as an immigrant in the US and how she used cooking as a way to communicate with her teachers in school. Maria did not speak English at the time as she said: "cooking is a great way to show love." Padma Lakshmi another powerful woman who visited AolBuild to promote her new book "Love, Loss, and What We Ate" who revealed her personal struggle of being diagnose with Endometriosis, and how her diagnosis affected her marriage at the time. Along with being molested as a child; Lakshmi wants women to be aware of the disease (and her personal struggle), she also discussed racial issues in India between the lighter and the darker skin people.

Ellen Page and Ian Daniel came together to create the docuseries "Gaycation". Page and her best friend travel around the world bringing to light the daily struggles of the LGBTQ Community, whether it be negative or positive, they show LGBTQ community deal with in other countries. As well as Martha Plimpton who came to promote her new show "The Real O'Neil" and mentioned her organization called The 'A' Is For, which helps women who do not have the resources to get a safe and legal abortion.

If you needed a little motivation, we had the multi-talented Keke Palmer, the former nickelodeon "True Jackson VP" star, open up about feeling depressed during her career. Palmer talked about how she overcame this hardship, by staying positive and keeping her faith. Now at twenty-two, the pop star wants to pass the message to her peers that there is always a way to overcome your struggles.

At fifty-three, Vanessa Williams has done it all. From signing to acting and now a fashion designer. Vanessa now has her own fashion line "V. By Vanessa Williams" that is manufactured in New York City. The former Miss America Winner discussed how it felt when she received an apology from the Miss America pageant Executive Chairman Sam Haskell during the Miss Universe live last year. Vanessa mentioned that she was very happy that her mother got to see her received the apology after the pageant took away her crown after her nude pictures were leaked in 1984.

Each star is using their celebrity power to promote a cause that is closest is to them and to influence people. They want women to be aware of the resources that are out there for them when they are going through a hard time. It was nice to see the courage that they had to share the personal details about their life. If you want to see more of the interviews go to Aol.com/Build or Check out AolBuild on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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