Call her the world’s greatest good sport, a defiant survivor or an unintentional trailblazer. Any way you dissect her, Robin Quivers is a multi-media force to be reckoned with. Best known as the straight woman/news anchor of the groundbreaking and immensely popular Sirius XM radio program “The Howard Stern Show,” Robin parlayed her cutting intellect, deceptively sunny personality and boundless ambition to become a renowned revolutionary of radio broadcasting. As the Black female sidekick to super provocative morning shock jock Howard Stern for what will be 30 years in 2011, Robin has held her own in a boys club of bad asses to amass a legion of fans millions in numbers. Baltimore-born Quivers dabbled in acting on the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” the TV movie “Deadly Web” and appeared as herself in a biographical film about Stern titled “Private Parts”– all while enduring crazed fans writing lewd songs about her to the tune of Beatles classics! But there was also a dark side. She authored her biography Quivers: A Life, in which she discussed, with soul-baring honesty, being sexually abused in her pre-teens. Robin’s story is one of early struggles followed by unprecedented success…with some humbling yet transformative bumps along the way. “In the late ‘90s, I began experiencing health challenges,” the initially athletic Quivers confesses, “but my first doctors misdiagnosed me and treated me with all these wacky drugs and surgeries. My general health became compromised. I gained a lot of weight and found myself shopping in the outer reaches of department stores – a bitter morale-buster. All I could see was spiraling into chronic disease and dying young… Then around 2001, magician David Blaine came on Howard’s show and told us before major stunts he uses The Master Cleanser. I tried it and after the first day I felt slightly better. I started using it 21 days then a week off for several months and lost 60 pounds.” Robin was on her way again until a slip and fall accident in London sidelined her yet again…and she regained all of the weight. Once Howard’s show had successfully transitioned from terrestrial radio to Sirius Satellite, she refocused her attention on herself and discovered the book “21 Pounds in 21 Days – The Martha’s Vineyard Diet/Detox” in a Daily News article. When Robin made inquiries into ordering the book, someone at the company recognized her name and offered to shadow her 24 hours a day if they would broadcast her detoxification progress to the public. Robin lost 70 pounds on this program, became a Vegan, and loves what Bikram Yoga is doing for her body. In 2009, Robin made People Magazine’s “Best Dressed List” for a beautiful retro Donna Karan ensemble she wore to “Comedy Central’s Roast of Joan Rivers,” as well as a “Most Beautiful For Her Age” list” – a complete 180 degree turnaround. Robin is so fired about her health transformation that she is starting a movement toward a Food Bill of Rights in this country. Her ultimate goal: to instigate radical well being via full disclosure of nutritional awareness. “The government should be protecting us not the food companies,” she demands. “There should be some basic things I can expect from a label when I go into a store to buy my food. And for their part, people need to understand that food is fuel not recreation. We have become overly concerned about flavor and variety, which his why we overeat. I am a living example of the change that is possible.” Now Robin Quivers is erecting her own “queendom.” The first step: giving back. “My work became more lucrative than I ever dreamed. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a person progress because of some assistance you’ve given them. It’s a priceless irreplaceable feeling.” Robin’s charitable endeavors include rallying her girlfriends together to raise money for women in Sudanese refugee camps, as well as appearing on “Celebrity Jeopardy” on which she raised $25,000 toward scholarships for The Seeds School of Maryland – a non-profit boarding school. Most revolutionary of all is her affiliation with the United Nations-organized program “The Girl Fund” which advocates educating and uplifting girls in countries where they are too often undervalued and exploited. “Statistics show that societies where women are not valued are more likely to have unstable governments and poor economies,” Robin explains. “We’re trying to change the world by changing the conditions for women.” Robin is starting her own Website and blog to make people aware of all this and more as she prepares for the eminent launch of her own television program, on which she will combine art, culture and education into an explosive multi-media bundle. “I would like to do a show that is female oriented,” she shares. “The story of my life has always been people don’t realize I’m a girl because I hang out with guys so much. When I’m with my girlfriends, I have a lot of information for them. When I was growing up there were shows that made it seem fun to be a woman! Today you look at these shows and think, ‘Oh, my God, it’s horrible to be a woman.’ Too often it’s about victimization. I want to have fun with women in the same way that we had fun with men on Howard’s show. Both women and men will want to watch my show. It will be a celebration of womanhood… and men are incredibly interested in what women want and what they have to say.”
Celebrating Black Women In Media, Communications, and Entertainment 