Taraji P. Henson is phenomenal on and off the movie screens.

Not only is she an exceptional actress, but she has a presence that lights up the room. As if that's not enough, the woman is filled with a ton of wisdom she's not afraid to share.

Taraji has recently captured the hearts of many fans for her role as Cookie in the hit TV show Empire. This Hollywood star was extremely transparent and genuine when sharing her story with hundreds of women at the Women's Empowerment Expo in Detroit this past weekend. The messages Taraji shared during the event's keynote address had the room feeling inspired, refreshed, and fearless. The best part of her story, if you ask me, is that she believed she was the baddest actress out there before anybody else ever told her so. Her confidence early on surely paid off, but self-confidence was just one of the many lessons learned from Taraji this weekend.

The Empire star shared how she picked up and moved to California at 26 years-old with $700 and her newborn son and how she believed in herself and worked hard until her moment arrived. She also gave an inside scoop on the struggles she faced when writing her newest book, Around the Way Girl and even addressed the rumors about her getting plastic surgery done on her face. Taraji emphasized the importance of togetherness for women, self-love, self-care, faith, and self-confidence when going after your dreams.

When I say she dropped some gems… She really dropped some wisdom and challenged women to lead better lives! Here's what Taraji taught us:

1. When you see another woman doing her thing, big her up. Comparison is a trap.

Taraji spent time talking through why she learned to "big up" or celebrate the successes of other women. It's imperative in a society where we are consistently surrounded by and reminded of negativity, especially among women. Here's what Taraji had to say:

"I never hate on another woman. You know why? We have so many burdens to bear: men break our hearts, we raise our kids and sometimes they break our hearts, this world is mean to us. Women are always fighting for this, fighting for that. I would never hate on another woman. Why would I give her that kind of pain? [If] I see a woman doing good, I "big" her up because God knows what it took for her to get there. Bigging her up doesn't take shine away from me. That’s God saying: she knows her season’s coming!"

If that's not profound, I don't know what is.

She further goes on to say that, "If you're out here moving in a selfish way, hating on the next person and [you're] mad, you're never happy. You'll never be happy because you're always comparing yourself, and that's a trap."

"Guess who I’m looking out for? My sisters. Because somebody did that for me. My dad always told me: If you're blessed, you go out into this world and you be a blessing."

"I don’t hate. I love. I big people up. I love to see people winning. It excites me. I say, 'Uh oh, they’re winning. My season is coming.' I never compared myself… Well, I wouldn't say that because then I wouldn't be human. There were days that the devil made me try to compare myself. But then I corrected myself and remembered God made me, and my own path. So take your head, put it back in your lane and keep pushing."

2. You have power in your existence. The world needs you.

"If you weren't supposed to be here and the universe didn't need you, trust me you wouldn't be here… Know that you have a power just by being [alive]. So while you're here, don't waste your time."

3. Self-care is important. You have to empower and love yourself first.

Taraji's advice to women was: "Empower and love yourself first. If you can hate on someone else, that means you hate yourself…. When you love yourself, you learn how to love other people, but you show people how to love you." That's deep.

Taraji also shared how she recently had an issue with her health, and she addressed rumors about getting work done to her face. This health issue made her refocus her attention on self-care, and now she spends more time working out.

She addresses the rumors like this: "People on the internet are talking about 'she did something with her face'. If y'all don't shut up with that! I just lost some weight, alright? [My health issue] forced me to look at the way I eat. I'm saying all that to say: love yourself and what you put in your body – what food you are digesting, what information you're digesting, what energy, all that."

4. We have to be loyal to each other as women and take care of each other.

"I've always been the type of woman that I’m so loyal to my sisters that I don’t want your man. We got to take care of each other like that because men are weak. Y'all know it. Men know it. There is no way if I know a man has another woman around, just remotely, y'all look like y'all have something going on then…" *Taraji dramatically walks away in the opposite direction.*

"I’ve been the hurt woman before. Why would I put that on somebody else? Because when you do that, remember this: karma. Karma is so real."

"See a wedding ring? Keep it going. I don't want her to have that kind of pain. And if you catch him cheating, it ain't her fault. That business ain't hers. That business is with your man. Ain't no way I'm going to get into a brawl with another woman because I know he done lied to her. Even if she's bold enough to knock on your door. Well, [he] made her bold enough to do it. [He] made her feel comfortable enough to do it, so my beef is still with [him]. We [women] have to love each other more. I love y'all men, but y'all be making some dumb decisions."

5. Women are more powerful together. We need to collaborate more.

"[As women], we have to be there for each other. I look at men all the time collaborate in the industry. With men, it’s about, what? Getting money. But with us, we’re so used to being pitted against each other that we can't even see that we're more powerful [together]. But when we get into little silly things like, 'well her hair is curlier than mine, her skin, her butt is fatter than mine, her breast'… Those are silly little things the devil likes to keep us occupied with so that we can’t see the bigger picture."

"There is a bigger picture: women can save this world. It’s no coincidence that Hidden Figures came out at the time that it did… Do you feel this movement happening? My message is: get it, catch the wave because it's here. Women are in the forefront. We have to turn this thing around, and it's up to us. We can’t do it if there’s inner fighting and inner hate amongst each other for silly little things.”

"I also know that people have pain. Everybody has pain. I don’t ever take that for granted. Somebody might be on their way to take their lives and a 'Girl, where you get that dress from? You look fly, girl!' may make her think: 'Wow, I have a reason to live'.”

6. Having supportive women around is key to success. You aren't going to get anywhere by yourself.

"I have only become this successful because of the women in my life. My girlfriends don't care that I'm Taraji P. Henson that plays Cookie on TV. When my friends call to check on me, they check on ME. When they look at me, they look into me. 'I need to see your eyes. I need to see how you're doing. I need to check on your soul, your spirit.' Those are the type of women that help propel me, that gave me my wings to go out to LA with my baby and $700 in my pocket."

Taraji talks about how as women we need extra care because we go through so much. So she prays for us all the time because "we’re preyed on all the time".

"You aren’t going to get anywhere by yourself. You're a fool for thinking you can… Anybody who has made it has had a hand reach back. I didn't get here by myself… It took incredible women to big me up to say 'keep going'."

6. Embrace your difference & learn from others' uniqueness.

"God put us on this earth to look different, to sound different for a reason. If we all looked alike what would we learn? If all our stories were the same, who cares?"

7. If you have a story, tell it.

"Taking your story and keeping it is not helping, not even your self."

This was one of the most powerful messages that Taraji shared. She made it clear that you cannot change other peoples' lives if you're not willing to share your story, your journey, and your pain.

For Taraji, writing the book Around the Way Girl, "Was both horrifying and therapeutic. I remember when I got to the chapter about my son and my son’s father. I was like, 'I can't. This is too much. I didn’t want the world to know this.' I literally almost wrote the publishing company their check back. When I decided to write the book, it was pre-Cookie. So I was still under the radar a little bit and not as much in the forefront. It felt a little safer."

"Once Cookie became such a phenomenon, it was like all eyes on me, and I didn’t know if I could take the pressure. I thought I was going to be judged, so I almost punked out, and that's not me. My makeup artist said, 'You know God is doing this for a reason', she’s like, 'You have touched so many people'. She recalibrated me. Once I finally wrote the book, and I started getting feedback, it was doing exactly what I wanted it to do. I'm so glad I didn't punk out."

8. Be fearless and dream big. Don't let other people project their fear on you.

"I'm just scratching the surface. I'll be 47 this year… They told me I was crazy for moving to California at 26. [People said], 'you're too old'. What?! Well, what am I now? When people tell you [negative] stuff, that's their fear. Don’t let them project that. Duck and dodge that because that doesn’t belong to you."

"If God planted that inkling in you to want to dream that big, you can't let anybody throw their fear on you. What if I listened to those people? I wouldn't be on this stage talking to you all right now. You wouldn't know Cookie. You'd know a different Cookie."

9. It’s important to have an inner circle of positive people around you.

"It's important who you have around you because they'll block the haters… Whenever I feel a certain kind of way, I call my girls and they're like 'Chile, you the baddest thing out there'. Bigging me up. Giving me wings. Not only do you need to have that type of support, but you need to BE that type of support."

"I have an amazing core group of women surrounding me. I didn't get here alone."

10. It's never too late to go after your dreams. You are your only limitation.

"Get your dreams in order… It’s never too late to start. You want a degree? Go get it! Nowadays, you don't even need to leave the house to get a degree. You can do that on the computer. What’s stopping you but you? You give yourself limits. The world is like this: Come get it! You’re the only person that can stop yourself."

Although Taraji was scared when moving to California with her son, she faced her fears and went for it. Her admonition was this: "How do you know that you can fly if you don’t try? You have to spread your wings and try and not be afraid to fall. The one thing I know is: God is."

11. You have to believe in yourself and have faith.

Taraji says, "I have an unshakable faith." It was her faith, self-confidence, and support system that helped her get to where she is now. She clearly emphasized that you cannot give up on your dreams so easily.

12. Real friends pray for each other. Prayer makes a difference.

"It was a lot of beautiful people in my life that held me together. Prayed with me, cried with me. I know how to be a friend because I have amazing women who are friends to me. I advise us to take care of each other more. Look out for each other."

13. Intuition is a gift. 

"Intuition is a gift. That’s why God gave it to us. That’s God talking, and you need to tap into it because that is power."

14. Learn to cut out what's not good for you.

"You know what’s good for you and what’s not. You need to learn to cut it. You have to cut certain people off. If someone is depleting your energy, you have to cut them off."

15. When you mix passion and faith, that's the perfect storm.

"When I’m passionate about something, nothing can get in my way. I'm wired like that. When your passion drives you and you have faith, that’s the perfect storm."

16. Be wise with your money – especially when you make it big.

"With my first big check, I paid off my student loans. I was running from that thing for like 6 years. I was like, 'Can I go to jail for deferment? lol'. From there, I started building my credit. One thing was for sure: I wasn't going back to the hood."

17. You tell the world who you are. Don't wait for the world to tell you who you are.

Taraji talks about the importance of knowing who you are, being confident, and believing in yourself until everybody else sees what you see in you.

"Fight harder. Expect people to say, 'you're too old, you're too that'. Once you look that fear in the face and you smile at it, then there's nothing to fear anymore. So when people say that, you'll fight harder because they're conditioned and you already know what they're going to say. Your job is to un-condition them and show them that you belong. You have a voice and you have to move like you do."

"[When I first moved to LA], my struggle wasn't whether or not I had the talent or whether or not I would get a job. It was a matter of when. I went [to California] thinking I was the baddest actress alive. [Other people] are not going to think it for you. You have to kick in the door. I knew I was trained, so for me, it was scary because it was a matter of how would I maintain until my day comes… I never looked at whether or not someone would open a door. I moved out there for someone to open a door. You tell the world who you are, don’t wait for them to tell you."

18. If you can survive where you’re at, you can survive anywhere.

"If you can survive in Detroit, you can survive anywhere."

Taraji was clear about not letting anything become an excuse for you not to go after your dreams. You can survive anywhere, and your dreams are worth it.

19. Find your peace and make time for self-care.

As a part of self-care and staying grounded, Taraji loves to have a scenic view on any property she owns because she loves to find peace in her quiet time.

"I find my serenity and peace in quiet time. I may have my girlfriends home for wine, but sometimes I like to just shut up and stare at the horizon."

20. Lead by example.

When posed with a question about how to keep the attention of our youth, Taraji answered: "I think that's the question of the century… We have to keep leading by example. We can’t save them all, but we can save some!"