Issa Rae Found Joy Through Running & She Wants That For You Too
'It's about feeling good and feeling your best. It's not about being perfect,' she said in a Zoom interview. 'That movement, and running especially has just felt like such a great release. It makes me happy. And that's so weird to say, because it's something my younger self couldn't imagine finding happiness and in movement in that way. I'm not a dancer, I don't consider myself athletic by any means. But this is mine.'
Her movement fuels her to create, prioritize wellness and find a moment to reconnect with herself amongst the hectic world around her. The 'Insecure' and 'Rap Sh!t' creator's latest collaboration with Beyond Yoga is promoting just that. With the Seek Beyond collection, Beyond Yoga and Rae are celebrating the beauty of the journey over the vanity of results, looking one specific way. Rae penned Seek Beyond's mantra, which encapsulates that.
'Not a single second has ever been wasted on joy,' she wrote for the campaign, which launched July 25. 'And here's the thing: you can have as much as you want. Take a second, a minute, an hour, a whole day and breathe.'
With TV and film projects, Viarae prosecco, businesses around Los Angeles and a forthcoming book, slowing down takes intention for Rae. But she's made movement a ritual as she builds her empire and cherishes the little moments.
In a conversation with Unbothered, the mogul dished on her collaboration with Beyond Yoga, how she redefines wellness for herself and the best business advice she has for Black women in 2025.
Unbothered: Congrats on everything that you're doing! You have your hands in so many pots, and they all seem to align with who we know you to be. How did this collaboration come about? How does it align with your personal mission?
Issa Rae: It just came at the perfect time. I've been focused on myself, how I feel in my body and how I want to present and feel in this next phase of my life. So it was just a super natural collaboration. I'm already wearing their clothes a lot. I've taken my passion for running and taking care of myself seriously. When the opportunity presented itself to be a part of the brand and write their mantra, I was basically talking to myself and thinking about what I wanted to hear and what I wanted other people, my friends, to hear, and the people who contribute to my own wellness. Like, what can I say to them?
I tell myself I'm going to run, but I've never been a fan of running. How did you get into running? Are you doing long distances? What does that look like for you?
IR: I started off as an early morning walker. That became like, 'This is my time, and this is the least I can do for myself.' There's a little course trail in my area, and I got recognized looking really ugly early on. I was like, damn, I don't want to stop walking in my neighborhood. So I bought a treadmill so that I could walk at any time of the day. And that turned into just trying out running. Then it turned into I want to run outside and try long distances. And it just became kind of a fun test of what I could do.
And I feel you on getting caught slipping mid-workout. There was a point where I would just put on anything. Now there's more of an emphasis, not only to get dressed so I don't get caught slipping, but also, if I have on a cute set, I think it fuels that movement a little bit more.
IR: You're absolutely right. Not only that, now I want to kind of dress up and take care of myself. And it's dressing up in a way where it's still comfortable. Even with these, these new sets, I took them back to London after I shot the campaign because I was shooting something, and that kind of became my uniform. The wide leg pants I wear all the time. It bridges the gap between showing up any kind of way and showing up for myself.
I want to talk about that bridge between movement, wellness and creativity. I found that when I'm moving, I write better and I'm more focused. How does movement show up in your creativity?
IR: We're the same. Whenever I have writer's block, whenever I feel overwhelmed by something I'm trying to accomplish in writing, I go and take a walk and literally try not to think about it. But you inevitably think about it, and then something comes. An idea comes just because I feel like I'm outside living, and I'm not putting too much pressure on coming up with the idea. There's something about just sitting in the misery of a [writer's] block and then actually walking off and literally getting your creative juices flowing and allowing that movement to complement the thoughts that you're having in your mind. And it just helps to rev up the creative process in the best way. For me, it's so necessary.
I'd be remiss not to mention women in sports, not only on the court and field, but also behind the scenes. I love seeing your journey as part-owner of the San Diego Football Club. What has that experience been for you? Why did you decide to take on this venture?
IR: Sports in general, and women's sports, the moment that they've been having over the last few years, has really thrilled me. It hasn't been a model [like this before]. In the WNBA in particular, I love basketball, but there was always a sort of stigma against women's basketball for some reason. And I think this new generation of players has just completely taken ownership of the image of what a female athlete looks like. I think that generation has grown up seeing women like Serena and Venus [Williams] and even these incredible, beautiful Olympic track stars, and just being like, I can own my definition of femininity and be athletic and be a boss and take on anybody in this profession. And it's so beautiful to see.
I was just talking to the Washington Mystics the other day when they came to LA to play the Sparks. I was also curious about the other ways that they want to show up outside of being athletes. Everyone wants to kind of just show all parts of themselves and not be limited in that perception of being just in one lane. I'm not just an athlete. I'm more than this. I create, I make things, I have passions for this. That's what it comes down to. And that's where my passion comes, even in owning teams, it's just like the stories of each of these individual players.
Yeah, absolutely. I want to pivot to talk about some of the other things that you're working on. What are you most excited about right now?
IR: There's too much. The several shows that I'm working on really excite me. Obviously, we're working on the One of Them Days sequel, which is coming together great, and I'm excited to have news about that soon. But lots of things are in the works that I'll be able to announce really soon. I do have a book coming out in August, I Should Be Smarter Now.
From what I've read, the book feels like such a good retrospective, from your first book, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, to now. Especially considering the business perspective that you give, and right now it feels so important. What is the best advice you have for other Black women when it comes to business in 2025?
IR: Try to find what your niche is in this particular marketplace. It sounds so obvious, but you'd be surprised. I think even in a culture of content creation, there are so many copycats, and we're literally in an era of people repeating other people's words or mimicking other people's videos, and the originality is lacking in some cases. My advice is always just to find what nobody else is doing and what space you're filling. And to also think about yourself because it really does start with you. Then find the community to build around that.
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