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Gabrielle Union has a multi-faceted career as an actress, producer, author and entrepreneur. In business, she has learned to roll with the ups and downs and embrace change.

“It’s the power of the pivot,” Union said Thursday at the Variety Entertainment and Technology Summit in West Hollywood. “When it’s not working or it doesn’t sit right in my soul, I’m losing sleep. It’s wrong. I have to pivot, and there’s no shame in my game. I didn’t like it; it did not work for me. I’m going to try again.”

Union was honored at the event with Variety’s inaugural Entrepreneur Impact Award, presented by Wells Fargo. The kudo celebrates an individual in entertainment whose impact and achievements demonstrate their success in connecting with audiences through entrepreneurship. 

Union was selected as this year’s recipient for co-founding Proudly, a sustainable baby care brand with products designed for infants of color. She founded the company with her husband and former NBA star Dwyane Wade. Union is also the co-founder of the haircare product line Flawless and the children’s healthy snack brand Bitsy’s.

While accepting the award, Union reflected on how her unwavering desire to serve disadvantaged communities laid the groundwork for business ventures. 

“All I wanted to do was to help and ensure I covered the most vulnerable while centering the needs, wants, desires and fears of folks who have been historically marginalized,” Union said. “When I do that in my arts and entrepreneurship, my soul sings. That’s what it all boils down to.”

Following the award presentation, Union sat down for candid Q&A with Angelique Jackson, Variety senior entertainment writer, to discuss how she leverages her career success to make an impact.

Union is best known for her roles in “10 Things I Hate About You, ” “Bring It On,” “She’s All That” and “Being Mary Jane.” Most recently, she produced the Amazon film “The Idea of You” and the BET+ docuseries “My Journey to 50.”

Union said she realized the power she wielded to make an impact when she took part in her first major press tour, for the 2003 film “Bad Boys II.”

In the film, Union played the love interest for Will Smith’s character, Detective Mike Lowrey. She recalled headlines fixating on her comments about their kissing scenes as a pivotal moment where she understood her influence and how she could use it to help others.

“While I had that microphone in my hand, I knew I could speak truth to power and make real change,” she said. “That was the first time I was like, ‘Wow, people are listening to me, they’re printing what I’m saying and it’s traveling around the world. So I should say something of substance that helps more than just me.’”

As she discussed her journey with using her entertainment background to build a line of branded consumer products, Union credited her success to remaining consistent and transparent with the audience she’s cultivated since her career began in the early 1990s.

“I’ve never betrayed that trust, and that allows me to tell different kinds of stories and create companies that center the most vulnerable,” she said.” If those people can trust that I have their best interests at heart and I’m gonna do right by them, I can do anything.”

As a businesswoman, Union also spoke from experience in creating new ventures. Three years after launching her Flawless haircare line, she relaunched it in 2020 with a new product line after reviewing issues of accessibility, ingredients and other business factors. 

The conversation also touched on the 25th anniversary of Union’s 2000 hit film “Bring It On.” And she reflected on the arc of her career and what it took to discover her voice in Hollywood.

“If you never have access to look behind the curtain to see how the sausage is made, you think what they show you is all that there is,” Union said. “The second I peeked behind the curtain, I said, ‘Oh hell no.’”

She was inspired to expand her work beyond acting. “There’s more to this,” Union said. “I wanted to be a part of making that happen. I wanted to be a part of how the sausage is made and not just eat whatever they handed me.”