For Queen Latifah, who has released three films in 2022 and stars in "The Equalizer" on network television, having a wide and varied career was always the plan.
Ever since her big break as a rapper in the later 1980s, Latifah says that her mom has advised her to "never to put all my eggs in one basket."
"When my career first started as a rapper, I thought to myself 'if I'm not the best rapper, period, there's no way I'm gonna put all my eggs in one basket,'" she told CNBC Make It. "I have to do some other things and have to explore other avenues."
Latifah, who is currently promoting her new partnership with Lenovo's Evolve Small Initiative, did just that.
She quickly branched out from rap to singing, sitcoms, films and even hosted her own talk show at one point.
When she had an interest in pursuing something, she says that she always felt like it was worth trying.
I've never felt barriers or ceilings. I just wasn't raised that way.Queen Latifah
"I've never felt barriers or ceilings. I just wasn't raised that way," the "Chicago" star tells Make It. "It was just 'if you can do it, go for it.'"
The willingness and ambition to try new things has paid off handsomely for the 52-year-old. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won a Grammy and an Emmy.
Her mom helped the multi-hyphenate star handle money 'the right way'
The financial windfall that accompanied her success as a young person was something Latifah says she was careful not to squander.
"It's difficult when you're learning financial literacy as you're making a lot of money," she says. "You can go broke, you've heard the stories. You have to handle this money in the right way."
Latifah said that before she started experiencing success, her mother made her agree to a rule of thirds in which two thirds of her money would be set aside for savings and investments while the final third would be hers to spend.
"I mean, I'm a kid, so you gotta let me spend some of this money that I'm working to make," she says. "But we're gonna put some away and make sure that things are covered."
But Latifah has also always made a point to give charitably, sometimes "in amounts of money that my accountant is like 'you want to give how much?"
"It's not about being materialistic. Don't hold onto money too tight, so that it becomes who you are," she says. "Money is a thing, it's not a person."
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