Rihanna admits she loves competing with men in business: 'I enjoy it and I thrive on it'
No one in their right mind could call Rihanna's music acumen into question considering the 31-year-old has had two number-one albums on US charts in the past decade and sold a staggering 250 million records and single worldwide.
She's translated that success into the world of business as well. The singer has become a household name when it comes to beauty accessories and lingerie thanks to Fenty Beauty, Savage x Fenty, and Fenty Luxury clothing collection, and took to sharing words of advice to other women aspiring to hit it big in the cutthroat world of entrepreneurship.
Speaking via video link during a Q&A at this year's Global Conference on Women & Entrepreneurship in Hangzhou, Rihanna shared her opinions on how she competes in a men's world, what it takes to succeed, and much, much more.
"Overcoming stereotypes as women in the entrepreneurship industry, it's an industry that's usually looked as a man's industry," Rihanna told the audience. "A man's world, so you have to work twice as hard to prove yourself and to get half as much but it doesn't stop my fight."
"I love competing with men," she continued. "I love that challenge. I enjoy it and I thrive on it."
The 'Rude Boy' and 'Diamonds' hitmaker went on to explain that, while it may be a "man's world," women ultimately still "have the power to overcome anything."
"I believe that females have a lot of disadvantages when it comes to starting a career because a lot of times people see it as a man's world and a lot of times it's dependent upon a man to even let you into that," she said. "But our strength as women, we have the power to overcome anything. We have been doing this since the beginning of time, to multitask and overcome challenges."
The 31-year-old also brought up her humble beginnings in Barbados and implored the audience to never let their backgrounds influence where they could dream of going.
"I came from a small little island out of nowhere," she said. "No music industry, no fashion industry, no makeup industry and I did it... here I am and here you are being a part of things I love to do."
The biennial conference was first launched in 2015 by Alibaba with the aim of starting a conversation amongst women on empowerment and personal fulfillment as entrepreneurs, leaders, policymakers, and role models for future generations, and Rihanna's invitation to deliver an address speaks volumes of her success in the business world.
Her first fragrance Reb'l Fleur, which she launched in 2011, grossed an estimated $80 million within a year of its launch. Her next three fragrances, Rebelle, Nude, and Rogue, similarly proved to be huge successes.
Besides owning multi-million dollar brands such as Fenty Beauty, Savage x Fenty, which recently received a $70 million investment after a strong first year of sales, she's also a co-owner of music streaming service Tidal.