Spring can mean a new start and a fresh outlook. But getting rid of your winter blahs and feeling good about yourself isn't always easy. We talked to one music star about self-confidence and the need for self-esteem in teenage girls.

Twenty-one-year-old R&B/pop singer Mya has the perfect life. She's a star, she's beautiful, she sings and dances for a living, and graces glamorous awards shows with poise and confidence.

But Mya wasn't always a vivacious performer. A talented dancer, she started competing at a young age and eventually quit because she was frustrated with never finishing in first place. Her technique was perfect -- the right sounds for tap, the precise form for ballet -- but she was lacking the one thing that could give her an edge.

Mya Photo: Stephanie McGrath

"I just realized that I didn't have the persona or perkiness that they [the judges] wanted or they were looking for in the competitions, and it's called entertainment and I began to realize when I got compliments later on when I got back into it I was about 12," says Mya.

"A couple very positive compliments came my way. They said: 'Wow, you really light up the stage when you smile,' so I thought, maybe I should try smiling a little bit more. So I tried it, and then I began to open up a lot more and be more personable. People don't really want to see a drummer just playing the drums onstage. They want him to feel it. And that's how you feel it, by giving yourself, and I realized that's what it takes to make it."

Mya's new-found self-esteem shone through and pushed her into the entertainment world, where she released her self-titled debut album in 1998 and its recent follow-up, "Fear Of Flying".

Now Mya is determined to help other young girls feel good about themselves. She takes part in the Secret To Self-Esteem Program and the Teen Esteem tour, which saw a panel of health professionals and athletes join her in talking to groups of teens about pressure, stress, and body image.

Mya even tells the girls about her own experiences with self-esteem problems, which can exist even if you're a celebrity.

"I'd speak about the reality of the business and seeing what goes on with artists," Mya says about the self-esteem tour. "I used to think, 'Oh gosh I wish I was Michael Jackson, 'cause his life is perfect,' and oh ... that's not the case at all. We [celebrities] probably have more issues with our self-esteem than the common person. We have more advantages and opportunities, but as far as living up to this expectation that you've created for yourself about being beautiful ... When you take that make-up off we're not the great, wonderful artist that we've presented ourselves to be. Plastic surgery, a lot of people telling you that you should look this way or lose weight or gain weight or dye your hair, cut your hair, grow your hair, wear a weave."

Mya understands that the pressures she's under can also apply to the lives of normal teens.

"It's more focused around image, and that's what happens when we're teenagers. We want to please so many people, especially boys, because all these hormones start jumping and we end up giving a little bit of ourselves away in order to please the next person. It can lead to a lot of things like eating disorders, pregnancy, dropping out of high school or a low self-esteem in general."

So Mya and the rest of the self-esteem panel set out to help young girls get over their image issues and feel good about themselves.

"In the program, we teach girls to set goals for themselves and focus more on things that don't go away in life," says Mya. "Looks go away. Our education stays, our bloodline stays, people we're related to stay, our dreams, our drive. We're always going to have a dream no matter who we are. As long as we're here on Earth, we have a choice in life."

Meanwhile, Mya herself is growing up and learning to stand up for herself. She says one of her personal goals is to become "business smart" so she can control her own career.

For more information on the Secret To Self Esteem program, check out the official website.

By STEPANIE McGRATH--AllPop