Yara Shahidi is both brilliant actress and soon-to-be best friends with Malia Obama, obviously.
Ok, so we're just basing that on the fact she's heading to Harvard at the same time as the ex-first-daughter, but we're not beyond imagining her and Malia hanging out on the green swapping textbook notes.
Star of TV show Blackish, Yara is emblematic of the modern 'it' girl.
She works hard, she reads, and she tells people all about her views.
Speaking to Teen Vogue, the 17 year-old discussed failure for the 'Like a girl' campaign she did with Always.
In many ways,it's hard to imagine the child-star has ever failed.
As a small girl, she modelled for the likes of Guess and since her success as an actress, has been pushed to onto the international stage, modelling for Ivy Park and getting her Harvard recommendation letter written by Michelle Obama.
But, as we all know too well, nobody's life is perfect and despite all the money, acclaim and opportunities, she's still a woman and a teenager and that can be a challenge for anyone.
She spoke to the magazine about how the seminal writer James Baldwin helped her learn about the importance of failure in your life. Read on for some extremely mature advice from someone who is younger than you:
I recently read Giovanni's Room and there was a whole thing on identity and embracing who you are, really based on these characters who feared erasing who they are.What I really appreciated about Giovanni's Room is the overarching message is about embracing every facet of your identity, and with that you embrace what you deem as failure and you reassess it. I think ultimately, the goal is not to say failure gets easier, failure gets more fun, falling is the best thing ever — but if anything, what I like to say is when you build your support network, when you find rituals that calm you down, you find moments to take care of yourself and not stew in the failure, then you're not really afraid of falling because you know you won't fall too far anyway.
That's some stellar advice from someone who can't even drink yet.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
