Who is Freja’s?
Majken Disch (she/her) - Founder and CEO
Majken founded Freja’s after she became increasingly frustrated with the stories she kept encountering of friends and loved ones not feeling seen or heard by the medical professionals they turned to for help with pain and fertility issues.
A firm believer in the power of storytelling, and with a background in digital and creative communications in the NGO space, she decided to create Freja’s to collect stories and raise public awareness of what life with a reproductive health condition is really like.
Having struggled with painful and irregular periods, multiple miscarriages, and fertility problems she knows first-hand how important it is to open up the conversation and invite people to learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly of living with reproductive organs that just won’t cooperate.
Anna Nelson (she/her) - Director
In 2022 Anna completed a PhD in Bioethics and Jurisprudence from the University of Manchester, where her research focussed on reproductive technology and access to choice during childbirth. During her research, it became clear that in order to ensure that people’s reproductive rights and interests are actually protected, we need to place more focus on listening to people’s voices and understanding their experiences. Anna has also spent many years working in Fringe Theatre settings, and through this work has seen (and experienced) the power of stories and storytelling as a tool for prompting conversation and change.
Julia Nahal Daniels (she/her) - Director
Julia completed a PhD in Education in 2020 at the University of Sheffield. Her research focused on ableism, specifically in disability and motherhood, exploring the stigma and microaggressions directed towards disabled mothers. Her work focuses on issues of privilege and the relationship between the psyche and society. Julia is a firm believer in the power of storytelling, drawing upon her own experiences in an autoethnographical study to deepen the potency of the research methodology. A disabled mother of two, Julia has been a counsellor, teacher, and researcher and she now works as a Bid Writer in the health and social care sector.
Evgenia Macpherson (she/her) - Director
Evgenia is a tech entrepreneur and VC investor with a finance background.
She has joined the Board of Freja's as a Fundraising Director to use her extensive professional experience across a variety of industries and roles - in Banking (Barclays, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas) and Tech & Venture Capital (2xN, Round Hill Ventures) to help Freja's empower women and inspire positive change.
Having spent more than a decade in finance and tech which are very male-dominated environments Evgenia feels strongly about helping women advance their causes in society and the workplace.
Evgenia is French and holds a Master in Management Grande Ecole degree from HEC Paris and an MBA from London Business School.
Volunteers
Our volunteers are who make Freja’s. Without them, we couldn’t do what we do.
Tihesia Riley (she/her) - Content Writer
Tihesia works in healthcare and has an academic background in reproductive health. During her studies, she experienced a challenging journey with painful periods and chronic pelvic pain. Even with a medical background, she found it to be an uphill battle navigating health care and self-advocating. Since then, she has endeavoured to contribute to sexual and reproductive health education and knowledge, to be used as a tool to help others advocate for themselves.
She joined Freja as she recognises that a powerful part of this is the sharing of stories, and felt such strength in community from hearing the stories of others on her own journey with endometriosis.
Izzy Lepone - Content Writer
During her time at university, Izzy met many young women who were suffering silently with reproductive health issues, and feeling disempowered by the lack of resources available to them when seeking support.
When Izzy herself began experiencing symptoms related to a hormonal imbalance, she felt compelled to learn more about the host of reproductive conditions which are all too often minimised and overlooked today.
Izzy have since recognised the importance of platforms which promote the open discussion of female health issues, and by volunteering with Freja’s, she hopes to assist in creating this safe space for those eager to speak out about their struggles, and by doing so, also learning more about the multifaceted experiences of individuals whose stories may otherwise have remained untold.
Victoria Hearnden - Content Writer
When Victoria started fertility treatment to become a mum through donor conception, she began a personal blog to record her journey. Sadly, the road to motherhood was long and filled with much sadness, but her blog became a lifeline to help process emotions, as well as connect with other women suffering from infertility and loss.
Realising the strength and comfort of connection and support through shared experiences, she decided to build on this, completely changing her career to become a full-time writer in the female health industry.
Determined that others should not feel the same sense of isolation, she’d felt after receiving a poorly explained PCOS diagnosis earlier in her life, as well as her infertility journey, she asked to join Freja’s so that she too could join their mission to help educate, support and empower women.'
Natalie Nehme (she/her) - Editor
Natalie has a background in medical publishing and joined Freja’s hoping to use her knowledge and skills to help amplify the voices of women struggling with reproductive health conditions. Having dealt with her own struggles with chronic heavy periods and hormonal imbalances, she understands the challenges that many women face in receiving effective diagnosis and treatment.
She is passionate about natural and holistic health and using online platforms to research natural methods to improve her own menstrual health. She understands the power of good storytelling, and how helpful reading other women’s experiences has been to her personally.
Katie Dickerson (she/her) - Website Editor
Katie became passionate about reproductive health after she started to struggle with perimenopause in her 30s. She felt totally unprepared for what she went through and now wants to help prevent others from having the same experience.
She has spent over 15 years working in digital and design roles, and she currently works for a digital agency as a senior service designer. She has also volunteered with many charities and social enterprises through tech for good organisations such as the Scottish Tech Army and Digital Candle. She loves to talk about accessibility, inclusion, and the power of good storytelling.
Lauren Buchanan - Content Writer
Lauren is passionate about patient advocacy, and self-advocacy, and believes strongly in the power of connection through sharing experiences with others. With a background in patient engagement in clinical research, she regularly witnesses disparities in medical care which are often a result of vast differences in the quality of education provided to patients. This is even more pronounced in the arena of reproductive health, and women’s health generally, which are areas often seen as “too complicated” to research, discuss, and treat effectively.
Having also seen how isolating reproductive conditions can be from those around her, she joined Freja’s as a Content Writer to help amplify the voice of those living with these conditions to encourage others to feel part of a community of advocates and to ultimately lead to better, holistic care.
Tash Vaughan (she/her) - Content Writer
Tash grew up with many friends and family being very open about their experiences with reproductive health conditions, contraception, and conception struggles. Having dealt with painful periods herself, Tash found herself becoming more and more frustrated with the fact that the support available did not reflect the number of people affected by these challenges. She witnessed many loved ones having to fight to get basic treatment and understanding, feeling very strongly that this had to change.
As a freelance content and copywriter, Tash knows how powerful storytelling can impact and change the narrative in society. When she found Freja’s and learned of their mission to do just that by creating a community of real-life stories, she felt it was important to be involved.