d

Don’t let the Awkward

Black Girl persona fool

you: Issa Rae oozes

confidence. A confidence

that makes itself appar-

ent in her ability to walk

the Emmys’ red carpet

and say, “I’m rooting for

everyone black.” Or to

share the big screen with and work for a 14-year-old executive pro-

ducer (Marsai Martin) in her latest project, Little. Or to sit down

with a complete stranger after an hours-long photo shoot and have

the sort of conversation usually reserved for close friends.

Frankly, after Issa tells me that she chooses her events wisely

and doesn’t agree to projects she has no passion for, I feel quite

honored that she’s willing to hang at all.

“It’s kind of shady that y’all did this [shoot] now, because I’m

in an eating phase,” Issa says with a laugh. Her HBO brainchild,

Insecure, isn’t filming at the moment, she explains, and those

toned Michelle Obama arms she sports on-screen aren’t necessar-

ily a year-round thing. As we settle in, she shares that in addition

to using the downtime to write, she’s been trying her hand in the

kitchen. “I just started cooking Senegalese food, which I’m really

excited about.” After watching her Louisiana-born mother learn to

cook various recipes inspired by her Senegalese father, Issa real-

ized there was no reason she couldn’t do the same.

That determination and willingness to simply try new things

only adds to the confidence she radiates. She has every reason to

c ome off t hat way: Insecure—which will soon begin production on

its fourth season—is Issa’s baby. She executive-produces, writes,

and stars on the HBO series and has an Emmy nomination to her

name because of it. In 2015 she published The Misadventures of

Awkward Black Girl, a delightfully honest memoir that, much

like her breakout YouTube Web series of the same name, displays a

relatability that has been crucial to her comedic writing fame.

But for Issa, success on the Web looked different from success

on television—literally. “When the Web series started, I was

very, very broke. Then more opportunities began to come,” she

explains. “I was gaining New Money Weight.” As Issa saw it, the

seemingly unlimited access to good food was one of the perks

of her hustle. “When you get a good job, you’re like, ‘I can afford to

eat at restaurants all the time!’ That adds up in weight.”

It wa sn’t long before t hat New Money

Weig ht st a r te d to me s s w it h her sel f- e ste em—

so much so that she was motivated to make

some changes. Not under doctor’s orders, or

because she was trying to hit some magical

BMI, but for herself. “Time to work out is so

limited, but when I first started seeing myself

on TV, I was like, ‘I gotta make time.’ ”

Like for so many of us, the desire to ex-

ercise every day doesn’t come naturally to

the 34-year-old L.A. native, and she freely

admits it. “I was a big excuse person when it

came to exercising and eating right. I’d have

spurts of trying to work out and being good.

Then once I fell off, I’d be like, ‘Well, there’s

always next year. Let me make it my New

Year’s resolution.’ But even then, I would still

be eating wrong while exercising vigorously.”

(Issa is more “paleo-leaning” in her eating

habits now, having rediscovered bacon after

being a vegetarian for 15 years.)

Lacking the time to work out while shoot-

ing Insecure definitely didn’t help her consis-

tency, but what did was finding the exercise

regimen that worked for her. When she’s

intent on getting that work in, her alarm is set

for 4:55 a.m., and instead of heading to her

local gym, she takes to the streets.