Wealth & Money Quote by Stephanie Mills

Mills’s line lands like a side-eye from someone who’s watched fame turn grown adults into dependents. On the surface it’s practical advice - keep up with current events, don’t outsource your money - but the pairing is the point. “Know what’s going on” isn’t just about reading the news; it’s about refusing the entertainment industry’s favorite myth: that artists are too busy being “talent” to be citizens, workers, or decision-makers. In Mills’s world, ignorance isn’t innocence, it’s vulnerability.

Then she pivots to “do their own banking,” a phrase that sounds almost quaint until you hear the history behind it. For decades, Black musicians in particular were routed through managers, labels, and “trusted” intermediaries who handled the paper while the artist handled the spotlight. The result: royalty disputes, predatory contracts, taxes gone wrong, fortunes disappearing with a handshake. Mills compresses that entire cautionary tale into a plainspoken rule. Financial literacy becomes a form of creative control.

There’s also a quiet feminist edge. Entertainers - especially women - are often trained to be agreeable, to let the business be handled by someone “serious.” Mills rejects that script. She’s not romanticizing hustle; she’s insisting on agency. The subtext is blunt: if you can sing onstage, you can read a statement, ask questions, and demand receipts. The glamour is optional. Competence is not.