Insecure was the series I had been waiting for.

After five years at HBO, growing with the company and working on acclaimed programming, this was a shift—not just in content, but in the way we approached our work. For the first time at HBO, a campaign was led through a multicultural lens from the start, which centered my role and allowed me to help establish a new standard for how HBO engaged diverse audiences.

It was a dream project in every sense: the rare opportunity to launch something that had never been seen before, and to do so with cultural depth, relevance, and style. Building these campaigns in close partnership with Issa and her team was as rewarding as it was rigorous. The late nights and weekends didn’t matter—it felt like we were giving culture its due. Each activation was a celebration of the show, but also of the audience it represented.

By season four, I had stepped into a Director role, and with that came the opportunity—and responsibility—to elevate others. While it was hard to step back, I handed the reins to team members ready to lead, knowing they were building on the foundation and relationships I had cultivated. Season four also brought new challenges with the pandemic, and my original playbook helped guide the pivot—Insecure Fest was reimagined as a virtual experience to keep the cultural momentum going. I was on maternity leave during season five, but the framework I created remained central, including the post-pandemic return of Insecure Fest, adapted for the moment but rooted in the same community-first spirit.

This campaign continues to reflect what drives my work across the board: building with intention, centering culture, and creating strategic programs that resonate deeply and last. Looking back, the work we did wasn’t just impactful—it was deeply personal. And it set a precedent for what’s possible when strategy, storytelling, and cultural alignment meet.

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Objective

Develop and lead a multi-pronged campaign to introduce Insecure—a groundbreaking HBO series centered on the Black experience—to a multicultural audience, with a focus on authentically reaching and engaging African American viewers. Build, sustain, and grow this audience season over season through culturally rooted strategy, partnerships, and experiences.

Approach

Supporting Insecure meant crafting a campaign that could live up to the brilliance and honesty of the show itself. It wasn’t just about marketing—it was about community-building, cultural resonance, and doing justice to a story that hadn’t been told this way before. Each season built on the one before, evolving from grassroots energy into large-scale, experience-driven engagement that always stayed rooted in authenticity.

Season One
At launch, music, community, and location became the cornerstones. The inaugural Insecure Block Party in Brooklyn brought together live performances (BJ The Chicago Kid, Kaytranada), local Black-owned food vendors, and immersive screenings. The campaign expanded with screenings and Q+As at HBCUs, salon activations in key cities, a custom microsite (MyBathroomMirror.com) featuring weekly recaps by Luvvie, and a podcast hosted by Franchesca (The Friend Zone) and Crissle (The Read). A partnership with The Fader added a music video based on the show’s breakout moment “Broken Pu$$y.”

Season Two
With momentum in place, the second season focused on scale. Through partnerships with RCA and major music festivals (Roots Picnic, FYF, Pitchfork, Afropunk), the campaign brought Insecure to audiences through sound and scene. Cultural institutions like ABFF, Essence Fest, and Sundance hosted conversations and bonus content with cast and creators. The second Insecure Block Party—this time in Inglewood, the show’s hometown—shut down Market Street and featured screenings, performances (Kamaiyah, Ty Dolla $ign, SZA), and activations from local businesses and community organizations.

Season Three
By this point, the campaigns themselves had become part of the cultural moment. So the question became: how far can we take this? The answer—stadium big. For season three, the Insecure Block Party evolved into the first-ever Insecure Fest at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. Framed as a game-themed music festival and screening event, it featured performances by 2 Chainz, Jorja Smith, Aminé, Rico Nasty, and Saweetie. Long-lead partnerships with Essence, Sundance, and Spotify kept momentum high throughout the season, while digital takeovers (Teen Vogue, Spotify, Hypebeast) and custom creator content brought the experience to new audiences.

Impact

The campaigns helped Insecure become more than a show—it became a cultural touchstone. The first Block Party in Brooklyn generated widespread media coverage and positioned the series as a fresh voice on HBO. The second-season expansion solidified Insecure’s community connection and cultural relevance, growing viewership while deepening emotional resonance. The series consistently drew a diverse, loyal audience and helped redefine what representation could look and feel like on screen.

From a grassroots-style block party in Brooklyn to a stadium-filling cultural festival in Los Angeles, the Insecure campaigns didn’t just support the show—they became part of the culture themselves.

• Season One broke ground, earning HBO its highest African American audience composition at the time (35%). The original Insecure Block Party drew over 400 guests and generated more than 150 million press impressions—remarkable for a series with no marquee names.

• Season Two delivered exponential growth. The MyBathroomMirror.com microsite proved so successful it was integrated into HBO.com. National partnerships and multi-market activations yielded 522 million organic social impressions, while the Inglewood block party welcomed over 1,000 guests and earned 208 million press impressions.

• Season Three took the vision to its largest scale yet. Insecure Fest generated over half a billion impressions and helped grow the show’s audience to 58% African American and over 65% multicultural—cementing the campaign’s role in deepening connection and visibility. Its cultural impact was so profound that Insecure Fest was written into the show itself, with Issa’s character pursuing her own block party on Market Street in Inglewood.

Through layered, intentional storytelling and expansive cultural experiences, the Insecure campaigns helped set a new bar for what audience engagement could look like—strategic, culture shaping and community-centered.