Sure, it’s easy to see such a beautiful icon, such as Beyoncé, and only see the surface.  If that’s all you can take away from such a power house and success story, I encourage you to dig a little deeper folks.  No matter what mainstream qualms you may have for Beyoncé, one thing you can admit to is that she has built an empire with an unshakable foundation.  Ladies, pay attention!  If you want to learn how to make it in this industry and have the ability to shape your success, take some notes and check out what she has to tell GQ.  She’s more humble than you may think!

While touring, she critiques the show each night by watching the DVD and providing pages of notes to each member of her on-stage staff (dancers, musicians, cameramen, etc.):

“One of the reasons I connect to the Super Bowl is that I approach my shows like an athlete…You know how they sit down and watch whoever they’re going to play and study themselves? That’s how I treat this. I watch my performances, and I wish I could just enjoy them, but I see the light that was late. I see, ‘Oh God, that hair did not work.’ Or ‘I should never do that again.’ I try to perfect myself. I want to grow, and I’m always eager for new information.”

She speaks on her passion for what she does:

“I love my job, but it’s more than that: I need it,” she says. “Because before I gave birth, it was the only time in my life, all throughout my life, that I was lost…It’s like a blackout. When I’m onstage, I don’t know what the crap happens. I am gone.”

Beyoncé explains how being an independent women in this industry is critical:

“You know, equality is a myth, and for some reason, everyone accepts the fact that women don’t make as much money as men do. I don’t understand that. Why do we have to take a backseat?” she says in her film, which begins with her 2011 decision to sever her business relationship with her father. “I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let’s face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what’s sexy. And men define what’s feminine. It’s ridiculous.”

What Beyoncé things of her power:

“I now know that, yes, I am powerful…I’m more powerful than my mind can even digest and understand.”

How she describes her journey of success:

“I worked so hard during my childhood to meet this goal: By the time I was 30 years old, I could do what I want,” she says. “I’ve reached that. I feel very fortunate to be in that position. But I’ve sacrificed a lot of things, and I’ve worked harder than probably anyone I know, at least in the music industry. So I just have to remind myself that I deserve it.”

EVERY interview that she ever does is recorded and taped for her own personal archive (smart business move, everyone):

And this room—she calls it her “crazy archive”—is a key part of that, she will explain, so, “you know, I can always say, ‘I want that interview I did for GQ,‘ and we can find it.” And indeed, she will be able to find it, because the room in which you are sitting is rigged with a camera and microphone that is capturing not just her every utterance but yours as well. These are the ground rules: Before you get to see Beyoncé, you must first agree to live forever in her archive, too.

I absolutely love this woman and not just because of what’s on the exterior, but because she truly embodies what a role model should be.  As a fellow female trying to pave my own way, there’s so much learn from someone who is so willing to share how she created her success within a male dominated industry.  Check out more photos from her GQ shoot and to read the full article, visit: http://www.gq.com/women/photos/201301/beyonce-cover-story-interview-gq-february-2013?currentPage=1