Beyond being one of the most formidable forces in music, Beyonce has cemented herself as an astute entrepreneur.

Heading up the Parkwood Entertainment empire, Queen Bey has established success in a multitude of spheres and shows no signs of slowing.

To shape and steer said charge, she on-boarded Steve Pamon as President/COO of her innovative imprint in 2014.

Beforehand, the Morehouse graduate made a major mark in multinationals such as Time Warner and JP Chase Morgan; with his tenure at the latter aligning him with Bey after he negotiated the company’s sponsorship of her ‘On The Run’ stadium tour.

Since joining forces, the pair haven’t looked back.

Their many achievements has seen Billboard name them both as Executive of the Year in the 2019 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players List.

Head below for insights from Beyonce and Pamon about their approach to business and much more…

Beyonce On Pamon & Parkwood:

“I chose Steve as my COO because we share a similar philosophy about business. You Don’t have to be an asshole to get things done. It was important that I found someone with good character as a human being, with values whom I could truly trust, and someone who understands that my priority for my company is always creativity and art over commerce.”

Pamon On Beyonce & Parkwood’s Mission:

“We’re not just doing entertainment. We are moving the culture forward. People use that term all the time, but few understand that culture is defined as a series of art and actions that helps shape a society and its worldview. If you think about what Beyoncé has done for African culture — for African Americans in particular — along with women and others who feel less empowered, she has moved the self-esteem of these groups in a positive direction. That is history. I tell people all the time, “You can make money, but can you make history?”

Pamon On Bey’s Transition From Solely Entertainer To A High-Volume Cultural Voice:

“She got rid of the duality of trying to please everyone — of chasing the dollar — and freed herself of some of the things that not only hold [African Americans] back as a group, but that hold society back as a whole.”

Pamon On ‘Homecoming’ Not Winning An Emmy:

“The recognition that we got for Homecoming, particularly from the young students [who saw advance screenings] at Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern, Grambling State, Morehouse, Spelman, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T — man, that’s 10 times bigger than any award. Look, who doesn’t want to win those types of things? But we smile and go on. Trust me, there are greater things to come. We’ll be back.”

Pamon On Parkwood’s Intense Secrecy:

“First of all, it has become part of Beyoncé’s brand to surprise and delight. The other big piece, mathematically speaking, is the amount of money and effort that people put into hype. B is really trying to create art. She’s pushing the culture forward. So why not put the energy into that instead of a billboard or an advertisement or social media?”

Pamon On Beyonce’s Drive:

“Everyone tries to copy the outcome, but I’ve seen few people really want to emulate the process. One of the things I say all the time is that if people want to be her at 10 p.m. onstage, they have to want to be her at 4 a.m. in rehearsal. And they have to be her at 5 p.m. in the conference room. If you want to be that mogul, if you want to be that entertainer, you put in the work. She puts in the work.”

Pamon On ‘The Gift’ Being Bey’s Quincy Jones Moment:

“In July, we released The Lion King: The Gift album, which was Beyoncé’s Quincy Jones moment. As accomplished a performer as she is, she is also a hell of a producer, director and arranger.”

Pamon On Ivy Park’s Adidas Partnership:

“We think it will be the biggest athletic partnership of all time.”

Pamon On Parkwood Ethos:

“We do more before 7 a.m. than most people do all day. But that’s Parkwood. And that’s the standard that Beyoncé has set.”

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A rivetting, inspiring read and one which you can check out in full over at Billboard. In the here and now, though, what are…

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[Photo Credit: Billboard / Karl Ferguson Jr]