Growing up in a working-class Kansas family, Janelle Monáe explored her own racial and sexual identity to find success as a singer-songwriter. A film career followed, with acting roles in the commercial and critical successes Hidden Figures and Moonlight. Now, at age 34, she’s mentoring and managing other artists as the founder and CEO of her own label, Wondaland Records.
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 2020 issue of Harvard Business Review.