Vanessa Williams makes appearance in Hartford

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- An ABC star shined at the sold out Phenomenal Women's Luncheon in Hartford.

Vanessa Williams of Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, and now the suspense thriller 666 Park Avenue, shared her triumphs.

"My mom used to take me to all the Broadway shows and theatre and ballet and opera and symphony," Williams said. "I knew that I felt very comfortable and I knew I wanted to be a part of it, and I knew I wanted to act and to be able to combine everything and to have it a reality, it's phenomenal."

The accomplished actress and singer also tackled low points in public life, the lowest coming early at 21 years old, soon after being the first black contestant to win Miss America. Controversial nude pictures led to her resignation.

"The successes and the triumphs come really quickly, but it's the low points that lasts seemingly forever," Williams said, "and the most important thing is to have focus and to have a way to know that you'll get through the tunnel."

She got through the tunnel with the help of her parents as described in her memoir "You Have No Idea," co-written with her mother Helen.

"How things manifest itself from experiences that she would talk about and I'd say that's not really what happened, that's not how I remembered it," Helen said.

"So you remember it from a different perspective," asked News 8's Jocelyn Maminta.

"Yes, yes, I remember it the way it 'really' happened," Helen said laughing.

Vanessa said her mom's best advice was, "you have to do better than everyone else just to be considered equal as a child of color in a white environment and that's something that I've probably applied in my life, probably as early as 2nd-3rd grade."

So what's going on at 666 Park Avenue?

"As an actor, we only see what the next episode is, we can ask and they'll say, 'well we can't tell you, just play this.' All I know is the Drake is where we live," Vanessa said. "The Drake has some special powers and Terry is not the devil and I'm not married to the devil, but there are some bizarre things that happen."

You can catch 666 Park Avenue on Sundays at 10 p.m. on News 8.