Multiple illnesses.
Multiple decades.
One team.
In the deepest chasms of mental illness, addiction, trauma, and grief, Barbara somehow wrote it all down. The result was many thousands of journal entries and other source material tracking her inner torment, suicidal thoughts, therapy sessions, loneliness, failures, hopes, and heartache. Meet the team that spent over ten years bringing her story to fruition.
barbara ruzansky
Barbara grew up in a close knit family, blessed with talents and traits which helped her thrive as a child and young adult. Sometime in her mid-teens, darkness set in and she plummeted into decades of mental and emotional illness. She spent years searching for a way out of this turmoil, hoping to regain the passion and vibrancy she once had as a child. Barbara meticulously documented her decades of illness, preserving this history in dozens of boxes and containers, stacked and buried in basements and closets. The healing process was slow, but after years of therapy, she was eventually able to reverse her condition, commit to a yoga practice (E-RYT 500), open up a successful yoga center [West Hartford Yoga], and connect deeply with others who also sought a holistic spiritual path. Barbara yearned to one day tell her story, hoping to shed light on the stigma surrounding mental illness, and to help those who suffer feel less alone.
kristen wold
Kristen is a LMFT and trauma-informed psychotherapist in private practice specializing in the spectrum of trauma-related disorders. Prior to and while obtaining her master's degree, she was the manager of West Hartford Yoga. Kristen's inadvertent discovery of Barbara's old journals led to the development of Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth. After reading through a few journals, she knew it was an important story to tell and hopes it will provide inspiration for those on their own healing journey. She works as an advisor to the book project.
tricia lavoie
Tricia is a Licensed Social Worker and works for the Veterans Health Administration serving elderly and disabled Veterans. After answering a Craig's List ad for a transcriptionist gig in 2013, Tricia has spent seven years transcribing thousands of pages of journals, letters, and audio for this book project. It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of this project. Tricia lives in Vermont with her husband, Ryan, and daughter, Ruby.
ali hager
Ali is the editor-in-chief of Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth. She came on board in 2016, when the “book” consisted of five or six thousand pages of transcribed materials. One binder at a time, Ali winnowed down the entries into a readable story. Ali believes in the power of a story. She also believes in the power of a community – to come together, to listen, to witness, and to heal.
caresse amenta
Caresse is the visual backbone of Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth. Although she encompassed several roles from project inception, the crux of her energy was focused on book design, branding, and social media. She relished selecting the one perfect “found object” from thousands to pair with the appropriate journal entry, understanding that this story could not be told through words alone. Trust, vulnerability, compassion, and patience were the foundation of this project; she hopes this story can bring a piece of each to its readers.
jude russell
Jude is the resident soothsayer of the BHD project. She brings her wisdom to all aspects of BHD, from editing to visual design to overall project coherence. With a gift for seeing bigger pictures, she helps the team back up and consider new frames that better fit the larger purpose. Jude feels called to embrace the misfits that cross her path. Her clear voice of compassion runs through Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth; her clear sight helps the team navigate their way forward. In her spare time, she does laundry, mops floors, and waters plants.
miranda junggren
Joining in 2020, Miranda was the most recent addition to the BHD project. Once called a "rage of sunshine", she brings a bright energy to the team. Miranda absorbed roles related to project management and helps navigate the logistics of transitioning Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth ideas into outcomes. She's an advocate and ally to those challenged by mental health issues and has a fierce loyalty to both this all-woman team and the Bad Hair Day movement.