'Prank It Forward' changes the life of recipient

(Chelsea Roff)


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VENICE, Calif. — Chelsea Roff’s life was changed when YouTube channel Break made her the subject of its “Prank It Forward.” A waitress who struggled to make ends meet and bounced back after a severe eating disorder as a teen, Roff was lauded by friends and family as someone deserving of a miracle.

The prank consisted of giving her a tip of $1,000, a trip to Hawaii, a job and a new car. The video documents her day in an escalating series of bizarre acts of kindness by strangers. Little did Roff know, the entire thing was arranged by her loved ones to help her catch a break.

And catch a break she did. Now, Roff has quit her waitressing job at the barbecue and moved to working full time at her own nonprofit, Eat Breathe Thrive. The programs feature a special blend of yoga and therapy to help those with severe eating disorders who may not be able to afford an expensive rehabilitation program.

“The biggest benefit of the whole video … I'm hoping that all of this just allows me to do the work that I'm really passionate about, which is helping people with eating disorders,” Roff said.

Roff was given a great opportunity and she turned around and gave right back, using her new car to drive to trainings and the notoriety she has gained to direct attention to her nonprofit.

Through the day, Roff said she was in utter disbelief about the good luck she kept having. She said the first bout of luck — the $1,000 tip — didn’t even make her suspicious.

“He was so nice, and slightly flirtatious,” Roff said. “He said, 'you have such a positive aura.' He made me feel really happy. So when he left the tip, of course I was shocked, but I had context for it. I just figured, wealthy guy doing something nice for a poor waitress.”

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She said she assumed the tickets to Hawaii were fake.

“I wanted to be excited, but I'm so used to having to work for things in my life,” Roff said. “You don't just get showered with good things out of nowhere.”

And she didn’t think for one second that the job offer was real.

“When she said, ‘yeah, and I'm looking for a yoga teacher to come offer a program at my treatment center,’ I was so taken aback,” Roff said. “No treatment director ever does that. People don't just come to a restaurant and say 'you teach yoga? Come work at my treatment center.’ That’s weird.”

It wasn’t until the woman invited her to come outside — to see her new car — that she finally became suspicious that these strokes of good luck were connected. She said she looked to her co-workers to see what their reactions were to the latest development in a very weird day, and when she saw they were heading outside as well, she finally knew something was up.

“I started the day in a really bad mood,” Roff said. “There was a moment where my boss pulled me aside in the back and said ‘snap out of it, you're a waitress, you need to smile.’ ”

The prank definitely brought a smile to her face.

Roff is heading to Hawaii for her birthday in July, and has been enjoying throwing her energy into the success of Eat Breathe Thrive. She travels twice a month to train and teach and bring her message all over the country.

“One way to support the program is to schedule a training in your area,” Roff said. “I’d love to come to Salt Lake City. Our community program is kind of like AA for people with eating disorders. I come out and train facilitators and they treat people who can’t afford other treatment.”

Without the attention from Prank It Forward, Roff said, she might not have had the means to make the leap to becoming a full-time yoga therapist. For more information about Eat Breathe Thrive, hosting a training or becoming a facilitator, visit http://www.eatbreathethrive.org/trainings.html.

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