#149: Farrah Storr: Find Your Discomfort Zone

Farrah Storr is the award-winning editor-in-chief of the UK's Cosmopolitan magazine. She took over the brand in 2015 where she was tasked with reimagining it for the millennial woman. The October issue of Cosmo magazine has model and body-positivity advocate Tess Holliday on the cover. It was celebrated across the internet by many who lauded the magazine for championing body positivity and embracing larger bodies but it was also battled out on Good Morning Britain (by Piers Morgan) arguing that it glorifies obesity. Over her 17-year career as a journalist Farrah has done everything from undercover investigations in the world of cut-price cosmetic surgery to reporting from inside some of the world’s most luxurious fashion houses. She was also the founding editor-in-chief of Women’s Health magazine – the most successful women’s magazine launch of the decade.

In 2017 Farrah was cited as one of only 36 BAME leaders in The Guardian UK’s 1000 Most Powerful list.

Her first book is out now called The Discomfort Zone all about the power of discomfort, published by Piatkus, which we discuss a lot in this episode.

Quotes from the episode:

"Being vulnerable is what you have to do as a writer, that is your job.. sometimes that means putting yourself up for scrutiny from other people, but that's what makes the best writers."

"You can have it all....ish. It's naive to think you can have everything."

"True heroes are never that popular."

"Most of success is the climb; the grind to actually get to success. The grind should be the enjoyable bit."