24-year-old actress Yara Shahidi felt protected when she entered the entertainment industry.

At just 6 weeks old, she landed a photo shoot gig for a life insurance company, and by 6 years old, she had her first movie audition. In an interview with SoFi, led by Vivian Tu of Your Rich BFF, the actress reflected on her experience, noting that she was able to enjoy acting as a craft rather than as a means to support her family — a privilege she acknowledges isn’t always afforded to child stars.

“My parents were able to set it up so that we had either family members or people that were helping us that were on set with another brother that were looking after me where they were able to dip out and do things for themselves,” she told SoFi. “So it was under that environment where I was able to have a fulfilling career at a young age and even be in my 20s, and say I’m happy I started that young. But it was so particular to being under those set of circumstances, which allowed me to enjoy acting as a craft versus as something I had to do.”

 

Shahidi’s parents, who had also been in the entertainment industry, played a key role in setting financial expectations for her early on. From the beginning, they involved her in conversations about taxes.

This proved invaluable when she landed her breakout role. When she was 14 years old she played the character Zoey Johnson on ABC’s “Black-ish,” notes Forbes. The team by her side would also receive a percentage of her checks from the show, and her mother encouraged her to become familiar with the accounting team as well. Another important addition to Shahidi’s team was a lawyer, and this would be helpful for her to receive the best outcomes when negotiating her salaries.

“Within entertainment not everybody has a lawyer work for them, because there’s that feeling of ‘Oh the lawyer takes 5%.’ Yeah but the lawyer helps you make money you would have never even dreamed of by advocating on your behalf,” she mentioned. “Now that’s an ideal relationship, but I think those were the things that [my parents] had an awareness of that really worked to my advantage at a young age because it meant that I was more equipped to get what I deserved. I came in with a higher salary because I had a lawyer negotiating on my behalf.”