Issa Rae Interview: Awkward Black Girl

Stop making excuses. You're the only one stopping you. To be able to create something from the ground up and to be able to, you know, kind of walk in your purpose is a great feeling.

I was just a kind of yes woman, like, "Yeah, okay, I'll fix it. I'll figure it out. Okay, no problem." And I kind of lost what I was trying to say in the process because I was trying to make what they wanted me to make.

What's up, Believe Nation? It's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in you. I believe in your potential, and I want to see that thing that you've got inside you explode out into the world to have a big impact for you, your family, and the world. So to help you on your journey today, we're gonna learn from actress, writer, and producer Issa Rae and my take on her top 10 rules for success. Rule number 1 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. And as always, guys, as you're watching, if you hear something that really, really resonates with you, please leave it down in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired. And when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick for yourself as well. Enjoy!

Graduated from Stanford, uh, studied African American Studies and Political Science, uh, was heavy into directing and producing plays at school, and then I created my first web series my senior year. Eventually moved back to LA and just started doing all these odd jobs and trying to establish myself as a videographer, an editor, and trying to get work that way. And hopefully by, like, in my mind, by filming weddings and filming, you know, talent, high school talent shows, I'd be discovered by a film director who'd be like, "Wow, you really filmed that wedding nicely." But that wasn't the case. Jay?

Oh my God, that is you!

Wow, I haven't seen you since— College!

Right! This is where people who major in African American Studies end up, sweetie.

I'd started a Black film blog. I was super into film. I still am. The same types of Black movies were coming out with the same type of humor, and it was frustrating, and I was voicing that on my blog. And I remember one comment was like, "You complain so much, why don't you make something?" And that, like— I was like, "Oh, well, okay.

I will." Rolling Stone and New York Times reviewed our show. Shonda Rhimes and Shondaland caught wind of the show and asked me to come in for a meeting. And I pitched them a show just in jest, basically, called I Hate LA Dudes. It was just something that, you know, was very true to my heart, and it was true to their hearts. They were like, oh my God, we hate LA men too, and let's do this show. And I was like, this is great. Thank you, trashy LA men. And then developed that show with them. And something that I learned was just like, I was, I felt like this was my one shot, and I like, I was extremely, I say all the time, eager to please, and Shondaland, they were great just in terms of recognizing that I had never written a like TV show before, and were great about handholding, but I think where I fell short was just navigating network notes, and for me, you know, there was a network, and then there was a studio that chimes in, and of course, Shondaland, but I was working with them closely, so we were on the same page, but when the studio network would give notes, I was just a kind of yes woman, like, "Yeah, okay, I'll fix it. I'll figure it out. Okay, no problem." And I kind of lost what I was trying to say in the process because I was trying to make what they wanted me to make. And at the end of the day, they want you to just do you. They want you to funnel their notes through your voice. And I didn't get that at the time. And so they ended up passing on that series after I wrote the pilot. And, you know, I was devastated. And was like, I blew my one shot. And then a month later, HBO called and they were like, hey, we heard you're free. Do you have any ideas for us? And that lesson— You're like, I'll take that call. Please, yes. I'll take that call. I have lots of ideas. And that really helped me to learn, like, I was like, I'll never, like, just dilute my voice again. Like, this is why they hired me. And I had to kind of learn, like, I'm here for a reason and I have something to say. And that's why they called me in the first place.

Advice that I would give to people is just to stop making excuses. You're the only one stopping you because I had to hear that myself. Like, um, because I like, I'm excuse queen, I'm procrastination queen, I'm all of those. And like, I would always talk about how I wanted to make this happen. I wanted to to put a show out. I wanted to make this idea happen, and I want to be a writer and a producer, but once you're coming up with ways that you can't do something, you're not going to do it. So I think that— stop finding the ways that you can't do something and find the ways, all the ways that you can, and just go for it.

I was simultaneously building an online following without knowing it because I have a genuine love for social media. You know, I get a lot of people come to me and say, "How do I get into it?" You know, "How do I use social media to my advantage?" And it just came from, like, I'm always always on it. Like, I love being on Facebook, and I remember when Facebook opened up internationally, you know, I'm half Senegalese, and I was like, oh snap, okay, okay, that's Nigeria. So Yvonne, that's— there's already a lot of you here, so come on, give me Senegal. Um, so there's like 4 last names in Senegal, so I was just typing in last names and friending people like, oh, we're all— yay, we gotta stick together. And ended up building, like, a following from people there. And then in addition to that, had, like, a film blog and reviewed films and TV shows just as an avid fan and started building the audience. Of course, would funnel it through Facebook and would also just, in the midst of having legitimate films and television shows being reviewed, I would slip my own work in there so that people who were coming for, like, film and television news were also seeing my stuff. And, you know, it was like hit or miss. Some people were like, "Mm, that's not what I came here for," and some people were generally like, "Oh, this is pretty good," and so grew it from there. So I was just like tackling different things. Testing. Testing, absolutely.

What made her in part distinct was that she was really capitalizing on a relatively new technology and platform to actually build her brand and a name for herself and her work. And it started with Facebook randomly, trying to add all friends. When they opened it up to like the world, I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm gonna add all the Senegalese people because there are like 3 last names. All I have to do is type the last names and, you know, whatever." So that was like a community I created, like an African community where we would, you know, share stuff amongst each other. And 3 shows down the line when I launched Opera Black Girl, like I had accumulated a fan base from the other 2 shows and and really learn from my mistakes, learn what people wanted to see, been studying analytics, and by the time that show was put out, there was an audience. It wasn't huge or anything, but it was enough for them to share with their friends, and they would share with their friends.

When she put that first episode out, I don't think we knew how many people were gonna like it, but a lot of people just jumped on it, and all of a sudden, it just blew up.

I saw Natalie the Flowassist's video, and she had a bald head, and I just thought she was so beautiful, and I was also working at a job that I was frustrated with, flirted with and trying to get Awkward Black Girl off the ground. I tweeted something like, "Man, I wish I had an excuse, like I wish someone would just break up with me so that I could have an excuse to shave my hair off." And then I was like, "Oh, that's a funny plotline of like a show or something," and decided like to tweet that I was gonna, or put on Facebook that I wanted to shave my head bald. And so all my friends responded like, "Oh my gosh, do it!

You 'bout to be so ugly.

Oh my God, what if you have a weird-shaped head?" I was like, "My friends are terrible." But I saw how much attention that was getting, and I was like, "Oh my gosh, I should use this. I should shave my head and then do a trailer for Awkward Black Girl where I feature my bald head. And that way, people who want to see what I look like will also know about this new show that I'm trying to do." Where does your confidence come from?

Uh, my confidence comes from doing what I love, to be honest.

Like, to be able to create something from the ground up and to be able to— you know, kind of walking your purpose is a great feeling. Like, I feel validated in having gotten, you know, to this point. And it's like seeing where I can go from here. And then of course, you know, I love my friends. I have a great group of friends that give me confidence and who also simultaneously keep me grounded. Just like, girl, you not that tight. You good, but you— calm down, you know? And I love that. And LA gives me confidence. Being here, like trying to start my career in New York, it was humbling, you know, in a way. 'Cause I always wanted to be there. That stupid mantra, if you can make it here, you can make it everywhere, like was always in the back of my mind. And you know, I struggled there for a while, but I was like happily struggling until I got to a point where someone kind of told me the cliff was under me. Like, girl, you know, you're like struggling, struggling. You're super broke.

You're like, you just got robbed. Like you're doing the most and you don't have to be.

If you come back to LA, you'll be okay. And everybody you know is here. And I didn't realize how much of a confidence booster it is to be in your hometown where you know so many people, where your family's here, where your friends are here. And it just feels easier. If it makes sense for you to quit your job and you know, you're 100% confident in what you're doing, then do it. But don't just go on a whim and be like, "Hey, my job or this idea that I'm just starting that I'm not too sure about." I think that if you can find a way to balance both, because if you love something, you're gonna make time for it. So if you're not, if you're just quitting to make time for something that you're unsure whether or not you'll be able to fully commit to, then I think that that's not a good idea, but If you're passionate, you know that you're committed to making something happen, and your job is standing in the way, then— So what?

Bye.

Stop trying so hard to be someone you're not. Stop trying so hard, period. You don't have to. I remember constantly feeling like I wasn't— I wasn't what was expected of me. And a lot of that had to do with my skin color, A lot of that had— it feels so stupid, but a lot of it feels— it had to do with not feeling Black enough, like I was the right kind of Black, like I wasn't cool enough, like I wasn't fun enough, like I wasn't— I just wasn't good enough, or what was being painted of me, just even on television and music. And that was really disheartening. And I would tell my younger self now that You don't need to be that. It's totally fine. Like, everything's gonna be okay. And to honestly embrace who you are now, embrace what makes you different. You don't have— people don't have to— if people don't like you for who you are, then those people aren't meant to be in your life. You don't want them there anyway. So stop trying to impress people by being someone you're not.

After Awkward Black Girl, during Awkward Black Girl, you know, I was producing that pretty much out of pocket, and my pockets were empty. So that was hard. And I was fortunate enough to— once I produced the first episode, and I produced it for $25, and that was $25 to take my friends to— What was the $25? Like, what did you get? Qdoba.

It was food. It was food.

And it was 2 people. Tacos for everyone. Yeah, I love it.

Yes.

And so they were just generous enough to support their time. And they knew that I just didn't have the funds. And they were just down for the cause. And then as we continued to grow, one of my producing partners, from— was a writing partner from college, and she came on board and was like, "Let me help and get my USC crew to work for free." And then, you know, they were working for free, and then after a while, you feel guilty just as a creative asking people to donate their time when, you know, there's exposure and things like that. And so we've just felt like we needed to have something to give people who were working 18-hour days for us. And so we started a Kickstarter, and that was, you know, we set a goal of $30,000 and ended up raising close to 60, and then that was the start of just the media being aware of us, and Pharrell contacted us, you know, in the middle of our season and asked if he could, you know, fund the second season, and that ended up changing the game. This is a huge full circle moment for me because, you know, this is my favorite event to come to. As Ava said, it's such a genuine, like, real event. It's the only one my publicist doesn't have to to force me to go to. And it's also the first event where I walked a red carpet. And I remember the day distinctly. It was 4 years ago, and I was fresh off of, I think, season 2 of Awkward Black Girl. And I was already nervous because I had to go to the event by myself, which awkward black girls don't like to do. And my publicist, Vanessa— shout out to you, girl— she was like, if you do anything, "Hey, you better walk that damn carpet." And I didn't know what to expect, but I knew I had a specific task now, so I had to go. And I remember arriving and standing in the red carpet line, and the woman in front of me turned around, and it was Sanaa Lathan, y'all. So Sanaa turned, and she smiled at me, but I looked down, and instead of saying something, I immediately text my younger brother and my sister I knew they'd understand. And my brother wrote something back like, "Did you tell her you're a lesbian just for her?" And my sister wrote something back like, "Say something to her!" So I put my phone down, and I straightened up, and I walked the hell out of that line because I did not belong there. I was not about to be in anybody's red carpet line. So when I got back in line, Sinéad had already passed through, so I stood there by myself and scrolled through my phone, which is an awkward girl defense mechanism. And I looked up for a moment, and I met eyes with Niecy Nash, who I loved from Reno 911 at the time. And she was in the front of the line, and she winked at me and waved. And I looked at her like, you know me? And she just gave me an encouraging look like, They were like, "You belong here, girl." Aja, I feel you. I do not feel like I belong. So I got to the red carpet and I was ready. I gave the carpet publicist— I think that's what they're called, the people that ask you for your name and then shout it out. Anyway, I gave the carpet publicist my name and he announced, "Izraëlle, everybody!" And I took a deep breath and then I stepped onto the carpet, hand on my hip. Ready for the cameras, and no sooner than 5 seconds that I stepped on the carpet, I heard, "Oh, Leila Ali!" And everybody turned. The cameras. And they all turned to this gorgeous goddess, and I stood in the middle of the carpet, like, not sure what to do until a kind photographer photographer helped me and he said, "Hey, can you move? I'm trying to get Laila." If you look at the footage from 5 years ago, you can see me in the background of somebody's interview asking to no one in particular, "Where do you— do we go just this way? Is that— do I just walk off?" When you try to act like other people look stupid with you, girl, she said go this way. Girl, let's go. Come on!

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Sunshine Shauna asked me to. If there's someone you'd like me to cover in a future top 10, check out the link in the description and go and cast your vote. I'd also love to know what did you learn from this video? What lesson really hit home the hardest? What are you going to immediately apply somehow to your life or to your business? Leave it down in the comments below. I'm really curious to know. To find out. I also wanna give a quick shout out to Steph Reveron. Steph, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, taking that picture, posting it online. It's great to see you at the cafe cracking open the book. Hopefully you're getting tons of value from it, and I really appreciate your support. Thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love.

I'll see you soon.

What's the best career advice someone has given you? Um, oh, someone was like, "Boss up, you a boss bitch, so stop being soft." That was the best advice. I was being soft, I was in my feelings, and a girl was just like, "Stop acting soft, like boss up, be a boss bitch." And that was the best thing ever. I think it's what you learn out of each failure, and there are a lot of failures. Like, I can't go a day without failing. At something, but it's just like what you, what you take from that. And like, that's I think where I thrive is just like, okay, I'm not going to make that mistake that same way again. How can I use that to my advantage?

So let me give you the one word secret to happiness. One word. This is all you need to be happy.

The most important word ever.

If you had to think of one word that's most important to you or that sums you up or that would be kind of like a little Hey, Believe Nation!

If you want to know what the most important one word is for Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah Winfrey, will.i.am, and Howard Schultz, I have a very special secret video for you. Check the description for details.