An estimated net worth of $500 million, 28 Grammy awards, seven influential albums, and eight billboard number one hits: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is an inspiration for so many.
While her talent, of course, commands recognition, the icon is a symbol of what women can achieve when we put our minds to it. From her values and energy to her work ethic and business acumen, there's much we can all learn from Beyoncé's trailblazing career – a remarkable example of longevity in a notoriously fickle industry.
As she performs her first live show in four years, here are five things that we can all learn from Queen Bey:
1/ Lift others up
Despite having huge success as a solo artist, Beyoncé is a team player: she knows that successful women are not afraid to share their light. For her 2018 Coachella performance, she was flanked by 150 backing dancers and musicians, and also shared the stage with her sister, her husband and her former Destiny's Child bandmates. During her recent Dubai show, she performed a duet with her daughter, Blue Ivy, and also championed emerging and lesser-known designers through her costumes. Her sixth studio album, Lemonade, featured guest appearances from the likes of Zendaya, Winnie Harlow and Serena Williams.
This spirit of collaboration goes beyond borders. In a true celebration of diversity, talents from around the world had the opportunity to come together for her Black is King visual album, which featured credits from countries including South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Belgium, the UK and the US. Black is King went on to win multiple awards, while a release partnership with Disney+ helped the streaming platform to reach 60 million subscribers. Beyoncé knows that diversity breeds success; working together allows us to have more enriching and authentic experiences.
2/ Allow yourself to grow
"I was served lemons, but I made lemonade". The Beyoncé we celebrate today has worked for her success: she started her music career in 1997 and has demonstrated dedication and growth at each stage of her life. But it wasn't always easy and, in particular, the singer has talked openly about struggling with shyness and being introverted during the early years of her career – famously relying on her alter ego 'Sasha fierce' in order to take up space and leverage confidence. But eventually, she no longer needed her stage persona. “I don't need Sasha Fierce anymore, because I've grown and now I'm able to merge the two," she announced in 2010. Fast forward to 2021, where she talked about feeling "grateful for those shy years of silence". In her Harper's Bazaar cover interview, she explained: "Being shy taught me empathy and gave me the ability to connect and relate to people. I’m no longer shy, but I’m not sure I would dream as big as I dream today if it were not for those awkward years in my head." She stuck with the process, growing into her confidence.
3/ Love your body
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2011, Beyonce said: “I have learned that it is no one else’s job to take care of me but me”. In 2018, she announced that she was going vegan (the benefits of which are said to include improved heart health and a reduced risk of diabetes) ahead of her headline Coachella performance. “I have struggled since a young age with diets,” she revealed, before explaining her decision to go plant-based for 22 days – based on the principal of it taking 22 days to change a habit. Of course, she did not go at her challenge alone; she brought on board her 274 million Instagram followers and husband Jay-Z, and tackled it with the help of celebrity meal planner and author of The 22-Day Revolution, Marco Borges. But with or without a celebrity nutritionist, vegan or not, Beyoncé takes caring for her body seriously. She knows that the way we care for ourselves determines how we show up.
Throughout her career, Beyoncé has always championed self-love and being comfortable in your own skin. "I remember when I started hearing people criticise me after I had put on some weight," she told Harper's Bazaar in 2021. "I was 19. None of the sample clothes fit me. I was feeling a bit insecure from hearing some of the comments, and I woke up one day and refused to feel sorry for myself, so I wrote 'Bootylicious'. It was the beginning of me using whatever life handed me and turning it into something empowering to other women and men who were struggling with the same thing."
4/ Give back
The 2016 album Lemonade tackled a myriad of social issues: Beyoncé took on racial justice, Black womanhood, and even personal issues relating to her own marriage. She never disconnects from her humanity, instead empowering others through her work, and often uses her success and platform to amplify issues around the world. She also donates millions every year through her philanthropic initiative, BeyGood, which addresses issues relevant to homelessness, racial justice, climate change, women's rights disaster relief and more. In May 2015, along with the emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos, Beyoncé visited Haiti, supporting communities affected by the earthquake.
"I started BeyGood to share the mentality that we could all do something to help others, something my parents instilled in me from a young age—to inspire others to be kind, to be charitable, and to be good," she previously told us. "It has always been important to me to help others and to make a positive impact on the world. I have worked to lift my people up, to change perceptions so my kids could live in a world where they are seen, celebrated, and valued."
5/ Define your own meaning of success
"I woke up like this. We flawless, ladies tell 'em." Beyond her singing career, Beyoncé has also forged a lucrative path as an entrepreneur – building her company, Parkwood Entertainment, into a media conglomerate that features a fashion line, Ivy Park – creating her own lane, taking control of her independence and defining her own version of success. "At the time, there wasn’t a company that did what I needed it to do or ran the way I wanted it run," she explained. "So, I created this multipurpose badass conglomerate that was a creative agency, record label, production company, and management company to produce and work on projects that meant the most to me. I wanted to manage myself and have a company that put art and creativity first."
By owning her uniqueness and her talent, in standing up for herself and leading by example, she has become an incredible source of influence. Determined to "leave something we all won’t forget", Beyoncé gives her all and does her best – and in doing so, brings happiness to others. It's something we should all strive to achieve.
