MADE Maven Special Women's Issue April 2018 | Page 46

How Mentors Played A Huge Role
In Her Success
I always say no one made it to where
they are alone. It’s just impossible. No
one just woke up and was whoever
they are. That goes for a rapper,
singer, producer, actress, VJ—it’s just
impossible. Along the way people
have to help you. I look at it like stairs.
People help you get from one step to
another as you continue to climb. I’ve
had many mentors in different times
of my life. It started with my mom and
then it became people in business—the
guy who gave me my first internship to
Chaka Zulu to Ludacris’ manager who
allowed me to get my first internship at
16 years old and taught me everything
I know about the music industry—it’s
just so many people along the way
who kept uplifting me and taking me
to the next level. Now I would say
a strong mentor for me is Courtney
Kemp who is the creator and writer
and showrunner of Power and she’s
an African American woman which is
amazing. She has just helped me along
the way with my acting and learning
about writing and producing.
Creating
the Career
You Love
La La shares her advice on
cultivating the career you
want…
“Find your passion. You have
to love it to do it every day. You
definitely want to be motivated
to do it every day.”
“You have to come up with a
plan and work at it. It’s going to
be re-worked many times be-
fore you feel like you’re getting
to a place you need to be, so
don’t get discouraged. Nothing
worth having comes easy. It’s
just not reality.”
“Find a mentor. Find someone
you can attach yourself to who
can to help you grow in whatev-
er your passion is in or become
an intern. I’m a huge advocate
of being an intern because you
can learn and see what you
want to do or not. That’s how
I started and I really learned
what I wanted to do.”
All Photos by Robert Ector
made-magazine.com |
46