Selena Gomez has been through so much - from very public breakups to battling an autoimmune disease that almost took her life.
Despite the many challenges throughout the years, the pop star managed to emerge on the other side stronger.
At 29 years old, Gomez has evolved from being a Disney star to an executive producer, and more. She has so many new titles to add to her growing resume, proving to everyone that she is more than just a pretty-faced pop star.
Ever since she was a kid, Gomez already knew that she wanted to be a star.
She landed her first big project at just seven years old. Selena was cast as one of the kids in Barney & Friends. Eventually, she got her breakout role as Alex Russo in Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place.
The Texan native also signed a record deal at 16 years old, later on becoming one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
While Gomez's popularity was rising, her health was failing.
In 2014, Selena was diagnosed with lupus - a chronic autoimmune disease that attacks the body. She had to undergo a kidney transplant in 2017 and step away from the limelight to recover.
Gomez has also been vocal about her struggles with mental health. In an interview with Elle, she shared that her life's purpose was to help people.
“Every time I went through something, I was like, ‘What else? What else am I going to have to deal with?’ ” “ ‘You’re going to help people,’ ” she told herself. “That’s really what kept me going."
Despite the challenges, Selena remains to be such a hard worker. She is not only a singer and actor, she is also a producer.
She founded July Moon productions and released impressive projects with Netflix including 13 Reasons Why and docu-series Living Undocumented. One of her latest ones is a cooking show with Hulu titled Selena + Chef, which features the star learning to cook with chefs over a remote set-up.
Future projects under the same production company that Gomez will be starring in include biography movie In the Shadow of the Mountain and psychological thriller Dollhouse.
Aside from her production company, Selena also founded makeup line Rare Beauty. Along with the brand, Gomez also launched the Rare Impact Fund, which aims to raise $100 million to make mental health services accessible to all.
“Society constantly bombards us with images that are heavily photo-shopped and filtered. It’s really important for our mental health to not compare ourselves with others. Rare Beauty is all about celebrating what makes us unique because that’s what makes us beautiful,” says Gomez.
