Flashback: Jenni Rivera reflects on her success

Jenni Rivera was known for her incredible voice, but she was also an entertainment powerhouse.

The 43-year-old, who's presumed to have died Sunday in a plane crash, was a budding actress, the star of mun2's reality show "I Love Jenni," and a coach on "The Voice Mexico." A source with knowledge of the deal confirmed to CNN that she also had a show in development at ABC.

Building such a full career, as Rivera said in April at Billboard's Latin Music Conference, did not come easily.

"I'm happy, I'm very happy for the success that I've had, but I've worked so hard at it," Rivera said. "It's not that I feel that I deserve it. You kind of work hard and you have expectations, so I'm living my expectations right now ... Being a recording artist, selling music, selling concerts out, having a reality show, starting film; it's great, it's beautiful."

Rivera established herself as "La Diva de la Banda" following the release of her debut album in 1999, and she stood out from the rest in the male-dominated genre of contemporary banda music.

Praising her "nimble" voice, The Los Angeles Times said that as "the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rivera captured through her music stories about a life that straddled worlds and spoke to a fan base that bought an estimated 1.1 million albums in America and many more worldwide."

Rivera's unique presence in the genre led to chart success. According to Billboard, she had eight albums land in the top 10 of the Regional Mexican Albums chart; seven top 10s and four No. 1s on the Top Latin Albums Chart; and 10 singles on the top 10 regional Mexican Airplay chart, including a No. 1.

Her song "Detras De Mi Ventana," for example, stayed on the Hot Latin Songs chart for 12 weeks, and peaked at No. 6 in November.

In addition to her music career, Rivera became even more beloved to fans as she displayed her authentic self on "I Love Jenni," which began airing on Telemundo's mun2 last year.

"For people to be watching 'I Love Jenni' the way they're watching it, that in itself amazes me. It's really a reality show ... the cameras follow me into things that I'm doing, where I'm just being myself," she said in April. "To me, that people are interested in Jenni not necessarily the artist but the woman, and the entrepreneur, the mother, the grandmother, and everything, it amazes me still that people could even be interested in my normal life. So when I get the responses, when I get the comments from the fans, that's when I'm like, this is really worthwhile."