Tina Knowles made it her “mission” to protect Beyoncé at the start of her career.
The businesswoman — who is mother to global superstar Beyoncé with her ex-husband Mathew Knowles — signed up to be the stylist for Destiny’s Child when her daughter first made it big in the late 1990s, alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Knowles said was “determined” to look after them amid their sudden rise to fame.
“Very early on, I started doing the girls’ hair to earn my keep, so that I could travel with them because I wanted to protect them. Not because I wanted to go and be on planes every day — because there was nothing glamorous about it — but it was to protect my kids,” she told Glamour. “The industry can chew you up and spit you out. … I was determined that there were not going to be certain elements around them and that they weren’t going to get eaten up by that. It just became my mission. Those are your kids, and you want to protect them and they need protection. Trust me, they need it.”
Knowles — who is also mother to singer Solange — has seen her eldest go on to become one of the biggest music artists in the world. However, Knowles said she is most “proud” that she managed to instill a discipline into her children that has prevented them from letting the world of show business go to their heads.
“There are so many proud moments, and it might sound cliché, but it’s the truest statement I could ever make: I’m the most proud when they do something that is artful that they love, but that also has good repercussions on the world,” the proud mother said to the media outlet. “I can’t stop smiling. After a while, you get kind of used to the big moments, but those kinds of moments are really, really different.”
“I’m proud to say that I do see the things that I instilled in them — treat people well, do not get stuck on yourself — because we had some moments where I was like, ‘Listen, they can pick up their own suitcases,’ ” Knowles continued.
“You look people in the eye, say hello, don’t turn into a diva. That’s not going to work here. You have to teach your kids that. I don’t believe that that’s something that they just get because everybody’s trying to handle everything for them and kissing their butts sometimes. And I am, like, “No, no, no, you’re not helpless.’ ” she expounded.
“So I’m most proud when they’re good people,” Knowles said.
