obert says of songwriting.  When she went off to do extensive touring, I just didn't want to stop. I had been bitten by the bug. 

When she wrote  Sex and the City,  a self-deprecating ballad about her romantic misadventures, she gained the confidence to go it alone.  I was so moved by my own work,  Hobert says.  I knew it was going to course correct my life. 

Hobert believes in the power of manifestation, which she traces back to seeing the self-help tape  The Secret  in her living room as a child. Recently, Hobert wrote down one of her goals 40 times in a notebook.  I don't feel like sharing what it is,  she says,  but you can probably guess. 

Next year, Hobert hopes to compete for a Grammy in the best new artist category, where her brother, singer-songwriter Malcolm Todd, is also predicted to be nominated. Riding the roller coaster of stardom has been easier with her best friend and sibling strapped in next to her.

 We laugh about how silly it is,  Hobert says of their careers.

But for any contemporary celebrity, it's a rite of passage to endure the inevitable waves of social media backlash. For Hobert, there was a nasty hate campaign following the August release of her NPR  Tiny Desk Concert,  which was fueled by disparaging comments about her appearance.

 Social media is such a disgusting place,  Hobert says.  Instagram came out when I was in middle school, and I immediately called bullshit on it. I remember friends of mine posting pictures from a Memorial Day pool party that I wasn't invited to, and I was like,  Oh, this isn't going to work for me.' 

Her solution is to remember that she isn't defined by what people say on the internet.  Whether it's positive or negative, it's not true,  she says.  I don't need to see mean things about myself. And it's nice to see nice things about myself, but neither of them are real. 

In February, Hobert will open for Charli xcx on a European leg. She technically hasn't started writing her sophomore record, but she refuses to put borders on the creative process.

 Whether or not I'm actively writing music, each day is going to inform whatever I say next,  Hobert says.  I would hate to start thinking about my life in terms of cycles.