Over the past 25 years, Dana Owens, better known as "Queen Latifah" has been steadily building a media and entertainment empire that can rival anyone in Hollywood now.
As soon as Queen Latifah began making money with her music she made a wise decision and started investing it instead of blowing it all away like many do. Her first investment was in a delicatessen and a video store on the ground floor of the apartment she was living in at the time.
A few years later 21 year old Queen Latifah made yet another very wise move and started up her own company called Flavor Unit Records and Management Company. Not only did she begin managing her self but within 2 years she had signed over 17 rap groups which included the very successful Naughty by Nature which she also has been credited for naming. Her company would also go on to manage groups such as Outkast for period of time and The Almighty RSO which included the former co-owner of The Source magazine, Benzino.
In 2003 Queen Latifah decided to refocus her company primarily on movies and TV shows which lead her to launch Flavor Unit Entertainment along with her first film Bringing Down The House which stared herself & Steve Martin. It managed to bring in over $130 million dollars.
Here are just some of her stats:
Associate producer, writer, actor - Girls Trip (movie)
Producer, writer, actor - Bringing Down The House (movie)
Writer, producer, actor - Living Single (TV Show)
Producer - VH! hit series, Single Ladies (TV show)
Producer - BET's Let's Stay Together (TV show)
Part Owner - New York Spring Water
Producer, actor - HBO Emmy-winning movie Bessie
Producer - The Cookout (movie)
Producer, writer, actor - Just Wright (movie)
Producer - Joyful Noise (movie)
Producer - Life Support (movie)
Producer - Steel Magnolias (movie)
In July 2016, the former MC was honored at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors celebration honoring the queens of hip hop. Queen began the performance with a slightly-tweaked version of Chicago’s “When You’re Good to Mama.” (If you forget, Queen Latifah was nominated for an Oscar for playing Mama Morton in the 2002 adaptation of the musical.) She went right into “Come Into My House,” an epic cut from her debut album All Hail the Queen (1989).
And then Queen Latifah brought in her girls: Rah Digga, The Lady of Rage, Da Brat and YoYo joined Queen Latifah on stage for “Had It Up 2 Here.”
The tribute ended with (of course) Queen Latifah’s hit song “Ladies First.” Monie Love and Queen Latifah brought the house down.
In fact, Queen Latifah was not only honored at the Hip Hop Honors, she was also the executive producer of the star-studded show. She has been the producer or executive producer for a number of projects including, the VH1 Show, "Single Ladies", The BET show "Let's Stay Together", and the movies, Bringing Down The House, The Last Holiday, The Perfect Holiday, Beauty Show, Just Wright, The Perfect Match and countless others.
Queen Latifah also represents a line of cosmetics for CoverGirl called the Queen Collection. She has also launched a perfume line Queen" and Queen of Hearts.
Because of her brand, Queen is the spokesperson for Curvation ladies underwear, Pizza Hut and Jenny Craig.
On top of all that Queen Latifah was taking care of her mother who had an autoimmune disease and heart issues.
To put it bluntly, Queen Latifah is quietly building a kingdom, or "queen-dom" you might say.
And not one to stop there, according to The Hollywood Reporter Queen along with other heavyweights, created We Do It Together (WDIT). It's aim is to empower women in film, TV, and other forms of media by working with both male and female directors, actors, and producers.
The non-profit company hopes to team up with outside voices to create a new series of gender-led films and ensure more opportunities for established and upcoming female talents.
In an interview on CNN Money, the 50-year-old Queen outlined three steps that she applies to all her business ventures:
1. Define yourself and set the tone for how you want others to embrace you.
“I didn’t want to be emcee Latifah or, you know, all these different monikers that you could have put on, but I thought, Queen, you know. My mom raised me to be a queen. Queen. Queen Latifah. And I asked all my boys, and they thought it was cool. So I went with it.”
2. Put on your crown and remind yourself that you can have what you want.
“Putting on your crown is really like accepting the fact that you are a queen. You’re a great woman. Wherever you are in life, just keep on that path, and so for me, sometimes as women, we forget — we forget that about ourselves. So, putting on your crown is sort of reminding yourself that, hey, I’m a queen, and I can do what I want in this life and take it.”
3. Enjoy this exciting journey called life.
“It’s about living every moment to the fullest, as best you can. It is hard sometimes, but to me, it’s a...
...goal. It’s a goal, if you will. I try to keep it in mind, in, you know, whatever I do, I’ll try to make sure I have a good time doing it, that I enjoy it, and that I get every full moment out of everything that I do.”
Queen Latifah is Ready for Kids?!
"Give it to 'em Queen!" are the words that many concert goers shouted when Dana Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, used to rock the mic during her many hip hop concerts. The Grammy Award-winning rapper, songwriter, talk show host and SAG Award-winning actress has come a long way. She says she's even ready to be a mother.
In an interview, the multi-talented producer said, "I'm little bit of a procrastinator. But, I had some things to deal with. I had to get a lot of partying out of my system early in life for about 40 years. You know what I'm saying. I'm good now," she said. "I think I'm ready."
But she's not sure just how many kids she's ready for.
"I can't say what God has for me, but you will see," the actress and talk host said. "You'll see when I'm lugging the baby on the hip that there is actually a youngin' around here."
Now, the Queen is "giving it to them" in another way: branching out as she brought Bessie Smith to life in HBO's biopic on the legendary blues-jazz singer. The experience has presented her a list of firsts.
“I’ve never done that before. It was a little odd but it was also a quiet, relaxing thing,” the New Jersey-native recalled of the scene. “Sometimes she was so alone, and it was a moment for Bessie to acknowledge her vulnerability, which I can completely relate to ... I don’t find [this nude scene] any more uncomfortable than kissing a girl in 'Set It Off' and... sticking to the script.”
“You have to take your mind off of yourself and honor that character. Respect Cleo, respect Bessie."
In addition to the mental fitness it takes to pull off scenes like that, Queen makes sure her body can keep up as well.
One of her secret weapons is her trainer, Hollywood trainer Jeanette Jenkins, who makes sure that the Queen keeps her royal court in shape from the inside out. Jeanette even got Queen Latifah to start drinking more water. “Drinking water is huge," admits Queen Latifah. "It makes up 60% of your body weight. So when you are drinking at least half your body weight in ounces you are going to lose. I have my meals automated, ensuring that I eat the right thing when I get hungry.
Jeanette says practicing yoga is also amazing for maintaining and building on your progress. When you hit any plateau in your fitness goals, it’s important to explore new foods and get variety.
Jeanette shared her list of foods that will boost your weight loss, help you burn fat, and look like royalty, too:
Green tea stabilizes your blood sugar, decreases your appetite and decreases your risk of all cancers.
Yerba mate has the “strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoria of chocolate” all in one beverage.
A probiotic is a healthy bacteria that’s important for your stomach for healthy digestion and elimination. If you are constipated and you are not eliminating waste, it is going to be very difficult to burn fat and lose weight.
Grapefruit and all citrus fruits have a powerful flavonoid called naringenin that helps stabilize your blood sugar so you will burn more fat. It also decreases your appetite, helping you fight off sugar cravings. The fiber also helps slow down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream so you burn more fat.
Green vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber. Eat three servings of green vegetables a day, and a serving with every meal.
From healthy eating and exercise to teach the world about autoimmune disease through the condition her mother endured until her death scleroderma, Queen Latifah really is the Queen of healthy living and doesn't plan on giving up the crown anytime soon.
Scleroderma is an auto-immune disease which affects many organs, including the... skin and internal organs. It affects more women than men (about 4 to 1) and occurs in about 300,000 people in the USA. Its peak incidence is in the late 40s and early 50s, but people as young as 3 and as senior as 80 can develop scleroderma. A cure has not been found to date but treatments are encouraging with better outcomes from new therapies compared to even 10 years ago. Research is leading to better understanding of genetic factors and possible causes, but there is a long way to go.
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