Nollywood actress Funke Akindele has spoken out about the sacrifices she made to build her career, revealing how years of discipline, isolation, and hard work shaped her journey to success.
In a recent media chat, the 48-year-old actress and mother of two said she deliberately stayed away from social activities and personal comforts while focusing on building her brand and creating content.
She disclosed that she locked herself away inside Amen Estate for three years to work on several projects that later became her source of pride.
According to Akindele, the decision meant giving up parties, vacations, friendships, and leisure time in order to stay focused on her goals.
She said, “Hard work is hard work. You work hard, putting in the work when you need to, depriving yourself of things many will go after so as to achieve the success you are aiming for.
“When I say hard work, I mean locking myself away in Amen Estate for three years building the Jenifa brand, working on Industreet, Aiyetoro, My siblings and I, and other content.
“I deprived myself of vacations, parties, events, no friends, nothing, just me and my team, working tirelessly, creating and working hard to achieve the success many now see. So, when I say put in the hard work, I don’t just say that carelessly, I mean putting in the real hard work.
“When I am on the set of my films, I am not a diva, I am everywhere and very hands-on, no wig, just on my rough corn rows, working hard and seeing that everything is in perfect order. I go through all that till work is done, and then we can now start preparing for marketing and all the glam and dancing. So, it’s hard work that turns into success.”
Akindele’s latest movie, ‘Behind The Scenes’, recently made history after crossing N2 billion at the box office