Jennifer Lopez pursued a career in the entertainment industry to impress her mother.
The singer-and-actress says her experiences growing up influenced her decision to make it as a global star. Realising that her mother had never fulfilled her ambitions of making it as a musician spurred Jennifer on to be a success.
"Well, my mother loved musicals and she influenced me a lot. She loved acting and musicals, but she never did it herself. But she exposed us to it, and it stuck with me," Jennifer admitted to ELLE Canada. "So, I guess she had a lot to do with that."
The superstar continued to discuss the impact her mother has had on her life. Jennifer recently featured on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful women, but laughed off the accolade claiming no-one is as powerful as her matriarch.
"The most powerful woman to me now? I would have to say the women who raised me: my mother and my grandmother," Jennifer continued. "They were very powerful [laughs], very strong Puerto Rican women. And they taught me everything I know about working hard, being proper and being a lady."
Jennifer is following her mother's lead by teaching her own children life's lessons through leading by example. The driven 43-year-old revealed how her focused attitude towards her career is also mirrored in the way she is raising her four-year-old twins Max and Emme.
"I hope I'm teaching them about life by example. Like that with hard work you can accomplish anything; that you have to be charitable; that you have to treat people the way you want them to treat you," Jennifer explained.
"You can tell kids things until you're blue in the face, like ‘Don't drink!' But if you drink all day, they're going to probably wind up drinking. [Laughs] They will pick up on that. I just try to be a good mom and set a good example."
