At just 26, Belcalis Almanzar, known professionally as Cardi B, has already had a legendary ascent from working as a stripper in the Bronx, New York, to becoming a Grammy Winning rapper.
The Instagram celebrity — she currently has nearly 43 million followers — is known for her unfiltered talk on many things, but especially on her ambition to make money.
On that front, Cardi B says she's made some mistakes, and she wants others to learn from them. Here are the two biggest pieces of business advice she gave at beauty industry trade show Beautycon in April.
1. Take a business class
"I am going to give you some advice that a lot of people aren't going to tell you. … Let me tell you what they don't tell you in high school when you go to college. If you in college, I don't give a f--- what you studying, take a business class," Cardi said.
Cardi attended Borough of Manhattan Community College, but eventually dropped out.
"I wanted to take a business class, but I didn't because I had to take a math class for it and I was like, 'Oh no, I hate math, I am not going to do it.'"
But that is not what she recommends for others: "Always take a business class because sometimes, the career that you study for one day is not going to make you happy and you want to become your own boss, but you can not be your own boss because you don't know how to manage a business," Cardi told the audience.
Now that she is doing well financially, Cardi B said because of her own lack of knowledge, she had to hire someone who knows what they're doing.
"Me, I got mad money, mad money — but you want to know something? I have to hire business managers and s--- and pay extra money for these people that develop business because I didn't took the class. So I gotta depend on somebody else to run my business," Cardi said.
"That's why you gotta take a business class."
2. Ask questions
But no matter how much or how little you know, "when it comes to business, don't be ashamed to ask questions," Cardi B said.
"[S]ometimes I used to see contracts and I used to be like, 'Oh my gosh, this is such a big opportunity. I am not even going to ask the question because I don't know if this opportunity is going to come back again.
"And then next thing you know, you sign something and you stuck in some bulls---. So don't be afraid to ask questions.," Cardi said.
And hire a lawyer while you're at it.
"Get lawyers for everything. Cause that's something that I f--- up at," the rapper said.
"Sometimes these lawyers are very expensive when you opening a business, when you trying to buy a business, when you trying to open something online, get a lawyer. ... All the time. Even though you think it is expensive, it's the most necessary s---. You always want to review those words that you don't understand because," Cardi said, "… trust."
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A new study suggests women earn about half what men earn
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