Ten years ago, I considered going into acting. Every Los Angeles native mulls it over at some point, and luckily I’ve never had to watch my weight, unlike almost all the women in Hollywood. That didn’t mean I had the looks to make it as a star though, and before I could send my headshots out, several people bluntly stated that I simply wasn’t pretty enough to thrive in that industry, so I didn’t even bother trying to get my name and face out there. Looking back, I wonder what could have been had I not listened to the noise. These five celebrities were told the same thing I was — that they weren’t aesthetically pleasing enough or lacked the physical attributes to be famous — and proved their critics wrong. Here are some women who didn’t let the negativity weigh them down or stop them from chasing their dreams.

In today’s #womenathewatercooler Twitter roundup: Washington Examiner columnist Nikki Schwab observes the zen Huffington Post oasis at the RNC, bestselling author Jennifer Weiner jokes about the time she took a “Fresh from Jennifer Weiner” sign from Barnes and Noble and stuck it over a toilet, Katie Couric gushes about scheduled guests for her show, xoJane founder Jane Pratt reveals her Spanx alternative, “Glee” star Lea Michele reminds us of the importance of unwinding, and more.

It’s Wednesday and we are that much closer to the weekend. Glee’s Lea Michele has big plans, writing to her twitter fans about comic-con. Other great tweets today include the latest pitch to MTV about 32-year-old grandmothers, Julia Segal makes a hilariously brilliant comment about a lifespan statistic and the entire world flocks to twitter to weigh in on Tosh’s rape comments. Can you say trending?