Halle Berry Dishes On Key Secrets For Business Success

FORTUNE: Halle Berry’s achievements are countless. She was the first (and only) woman of color to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, she was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood during the 2000s, and she has been involved in the production of several films.

But in the last five years, her focus has been shifting more and more toward business. She has founded a production company, launched a fragrance line, and bought a 50% stake in lingerie company Scandale.

“It’s time for me to not be the ‘dancing bear’ anymore and do things on my terms,” she said in 2014.

On Thursday, Berry reinforced her commitment to entrepreneurship by judging the Chivas Regal third annual startup competition in Los Angeles, which awards money to founders with social impact companies. She and a panel of judges selected Peetachai “Neil” Dejkraisak to receive $400,000 for his startup Siam Organic, which trains small-scale farmers in organic farming methods to grow Jasberry rice.

In an interview with Fortune, Berry shared insights about entrepreneurship, the role business plays in society, and the best advice she’s ever received.

This Q&A has been edited for length.

Before investing in a company or striking a partnership, what do you look for in a founder?
Berry: I’m looking to see if their business model is sustainable. I’m looking to see how passionate they are about their cause. I really believe that in order to win, it takes a person who just will not stop. You need to have an insatiable passion to succeed.

As someone who’s invested in companies and launched her own ventures, what were some of the biggest mistakes you made along the way?
Berry: I think it’s important to make sure you have the right partner. Whenever I’ve gone awry, I’ve realized maybe we weren’t quite aligned like I thought we were. You need to make sure you’re aligned with your business partners so that you have the same end game, and you both want the same thing out of the company.

How do you make sure you’re aligned?
Berry: It’s about having different types of conversations. I’ve learned you can’t just blindly take someone’s word—it’s about looking at their track record. Have they really put their money where their mouth was in the past? You need to make sure there’s evidence, because anyone can sit down and tell you anything. It’s about learning to see through that and paying attention to their track record more than the presentation they’re putting before you.

Is there a specific problem area in our society you think should be addressed in a bigger way?
Berry: For 18 years, I’ve worked with an organization that provides shelter for battered and abused women and children. I have been heartbroken year after year and very frustrated at how hard it is to raise money and to get people to get on board to help those who suffer from domestic violence. There’s a general misconception that these women are weak and uneducated and they should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and leave. If it was that simple, I’d clean this town up in a week flat. If it was that simple, I’d have it covered.

I’m a child of domestic violence, and I saw my mother suffer and, as a child, I also suffered. I know just how hard it is. It’s frustrating, and I wish more businesses would give more to help these families in need.

What’s the best business advice you’ve received during your career?
Berry: There are two things that come to mind: Only do something that you’re completely and 100% passionate about. You need to wake up every day dreaming about it and thinking about it. You need to enjoy fighting for a cause that is so near and dear to you.The other piece of advice is to surround yourself with people who are smarter. Take their advice. Learn how to allow other people to help you achieve your goals. The most successful business people I’ve met have always said that to me: Surround yourself with smarter people than you and be brave enough to listen to them.

Halle Berry On Taking Risks & Getting Paid What You're Worth

FORBES: I was excited to interview actress, producer, philanthropist and mother Halle Berry when IPG brought her to the Girls' Lounge Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. She has won numerous awards, from an Academy Award for Best Actress for Monster’s Ball (to date she is the only black woman to have won this award) to a Golden Globe Award for Their Eyes Were Watching God to a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.

I knew she was a very talented actress but what really struck me when sitting down with her was how much she is a leader who wants to activate change for women. Her passion was completely transparent, and she shared many lessons that can be applied to the issues women often face when trying to rise up in the messy middle, from advice on mothering to asking for equal pay to how to make your voice heard. You can watch the Facebook Live video to listen to all of her smart insights. Here are some highlights:

On How To Know When It’s Okay to Ask and Fight For Equal Pay:
"I think when you believe you’re worth it, that’s when you’ll fight for it…When you know that the work you’re providing is worth more than they’re willing to pay you, then you’ll ask for it. That’s when you’ll be willing to walk away from it if they say no. But you have to be willing to walk away...We have to own our worth and know our worth."

On Authenticity and Taking Risks:
"When [Monster’s Ball] came to me, I thought, okay, I’m getting no money to do this movie and it could either catapult my career or it could end it instantly. The sexual component to that movie was so risky and…I was so worried about being exploited and having people feel like I was being exploited, but at the end of the day, at my soul, I’m an artist.

I connected to that character and to that woman’s struggle and that interracial relationship, which is so much a part of who I am, being of a white mother and a black father, that it kept calling me to tell that story, to put some light on that dark subject…I risked that this is the end of my career but this is how I’d want to go out, doing something that I believed in wholeheartedly.

Then the opposite actually happened. That just confirmed to me that life is about being authentic and doing what we believe in and not worrying about the outcome. If you’re doing something for the right reasons, then that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do and you have to have a knowingness about this. It’s largely why I’m sitting here…and why I’m able to influence people at all is because of those risks."

On Advice She Gives Her Daughter:
"She’ll ask me sometimes, “Mommy, should I do this?” I’ll say, “Check in with you. Do you want to do that? Does it make sense for you?”"

On Being A Change Agent:
"It’s about daring to do the right thing and daring to live awake. I think many people are not living in an awake way…We have to use our power for good and start being change agents. We have to start walking the walk and not just talking the talk…What little thing have you done to start moving the energy in that direction?"

On Vulnerability:
I’m here at Cannes Lions and this is the first time I’ve ever been here…and I worry…am I asking the right questions and am I getting out of it what I came here for?...I also tell myself, “You’re here to learn, and so what if you don’t know? Ask the questions! That is what life is…find out while you’re here!”