Issa Rae is the definition of a multihyphenate, and one that inspires us time and time again. From her web series that eventually became the blueprint for her award-winning show Insecure to founding her own production company Hoorae and co-owning a coffee shop, the LA-born mogul knows how to get things done.
But like the rest of us, she’s no stranger to burnout. Rae openly spoke about the exhaustion she experienced after wrapping Insecure, a period that felt like “work, work, work, work, work,” as she described it in 2022. It was most important to rest and recharge to come back from that. These days, she’s even more stringent in preventing burnout from happening in the first place. The one word that helps her avoid it altogether? “Leaving,” Rae told ESSENCE. And when that’s tough, ask if the consequences are worse than staying.
“I know not everybody can afford to do [it], but sometimes leaving for me is just turning my phone off,” the TurboTax ambassador continued, ahead of the tax company’s flagship store opening in New York City. “I’m thinking about my dad. Something happened [recently], and we were all just like, what is he doing? We were all calling him, and he just didn’t return any of our calls. He came back two days later like, ‘I’m fine.’ The courage and the audacity to do that… I need to adopt some of that.”
Preventing burnout and keeping boundaries intentional will be very important for the busy year Rae has ahead. After all, she ended 2025 on a high note — thanks to her One of Them Days comedy movie that grossed almost $52 million — and she kicked off 2026 with a bang.
Rae signed a three-year deal with Paramount mid-January that’ll give the studio a first look before bidding on all her TV and film projects. She’ll also be a producing partner across various divisions within Paramount, now under ownership of the Ellisons.
“I got really excited that they’re buyers in this industry. [Paramount is] a company that’s excited about building from the ground up,” the Rap Sh!t creator said. “They have expressed being excited about the work that I make and produce. [I had] a meeting at the top of this year about all the shows that I have available, and they were like, ‘that is exactly our mandate.’”
Rae acknowledged that it’s a “tough time” right now in the film and TV industry with so much studio consolidation. “When I think about the industry generally, the less places we have to sell, the harder it is for creatives to make an impact. You do want to go where things are being made,” she said.
Ahead, we’re staying excited about seeing the multihyphenate and her projects on the silver screen.