Keke Palmer has literally paid the price to be the boss that she is today. On Friday (May 12), the multifaceted talent celebrated the release of her new album, Big Boss, and the 40-minute companion film of the same title.

In a new feature story for Teen Vogue, she opened up about the project’s significance and how it tells her story of growing up in the entertainment industry. Palmer has been acting and singing for as long as she can remember. Now, at 29 years old, she has two decades of work under her belt and a career of envious firsts. The actress credits her work ethic for her success, but sacrifice has also played a hand in helping her reach her potential.

“I’ve sacrificed a lot. I sacrificed my childhood,” Palmer told the outlet of the bittersweet expense she carried as she rose to stardom. “I sacrificed moments in my siblings’ lives, like holidays, their plays, their games, just moments in their life. I sacrificed my peace of mind. It is a very anxious career.”

The Nope actress continued to explain that “time is the one thing that you can’t get back. Time is invaluable. But then, at the same time, I could retire, or I could take at least years and years and years off, and I’m not even 30 yet. You take the good with the bad. That’s what I would hope for people to know and understand, too. I don’t know what it’s like for everybody in the entertainment business, but I know for me, it could seem like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s just the perfect life.’ But it comes with something, just like everybody else.”

Time is something that Palmer still does not have an abundance of after welcoming her and boyfriend Darius Jackson’s first child together, a son named Leodis, in February. The first-time mom has openly gushed about motherhood and all the ways she is embracing all of her new normals, one of which includes a fuller and curvier figure that has turned heads online.