Robyn Hussa Farrell (Editor)

ROBYN HUSSA FARRELL, MFA, E-RYT (Author/Editor of Real Deal — Founder & CEO, NORMAL) is an award-winning Off-Broadway producer and actor, educator and author. As a writer, she re-imagined and is Author/Editor of the award-winning body image blog site We Are The Real Deal (www.wearetherealdeal.com), she is Author of the books Healthy Selfitude and Meditation & Mindfulness For Eating Disorder Recovery and – for seven years — has been creating and producing the more than 14 award-winning live events, theatre and film programs for NORMAL. She recently released the BE stress-management and wellness program for leaders in schools, which is being piloted and measured in schools throughout the country. Some of the documentary films she has co-directed; include, Speaking Out About Ed and ED 101 – the result of her interviewing the leading researchers in the field of neurobiology, eating disorders, obesity and nutrition for the last 7 years. All of these are being tested with Harvard School of Public Health’s STRIPED prevention program in eating disorders.

Robyn is also producer of The Walking Hospital documentary film project which focuses on a team of alternative healthcare providers who travel to remote regions of the world to deliver free service (www.TheWalkingHospital.com) as well as the 2012 adaptation of The Peer Gynt Project (I, Peer), featured in the 2012 Ibsen Festival in Oslo, Norway. For her work creating the NORMAL programs and initiatives, Robyn received the 2010 Champion in Women’s Health award from former Wisconsin First Lady, Ms. Sue Ann Thompson.

People often ask what is it that fuels her forward … “More than 7 of my closest friends and loved ones sought treatment for mental health issues as a direct result of these programs. That was the ‘aha’ and catalyst for me. So much more needs to be done to raise awareness of mental health, wellness and stress management in schools.”

Prior to her work with NORMAL, Hussa was co-Founder and Founding Executive Director of the award winning New York theatre company, Transport Group, for which she and her partner, Jack Cummings III received the 2007 Drama Desk award for the company’s breadth of vision and challenging productions. She lives in New York City where she manages her production company, whitelephant, and the NORMAL nonprofit and teaches yoga, mindfulness and stress management workshops in Manhattan.

Robyn holds an MFA-Acting from the University of Virginia, is a member of AEA, AFTRA/SAG, the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), The International Association for Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP), Women In Film and Television (NYWIFT), and is an E-RYT Certified Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She and her husband, Tim Farrell, are currently co-directing NORMAL’s new documentary film about the mental health side of obesity and the damaging effects caused by bullying children due to weight bias and stigma: www.beneaththefloorboards.org.

Read Robyn’s posts, here