Meet the founders behind Herizen

Laura Robillard

Laura Robillard is the co-founder of Herizen, a menopause and midlife wellbeing platform supporting women through hormonal change with science-backed education, expert guidance and community support. Alongside building Herizen, Laura has an extensive background in customer transformation and leadership within major UK organisations. Following breast cancer treatment and medically induced menopause at 38, she became passionate about improving access to honest, empowering menopause support and helping women feel less alone during midlife transitions.

Cassie Harrison

Cassie Harrison is the co-founder of Herizen, a menopause and midlife wellbeing platform dedicated to supporting women through hormonal change with evidence-based education, specialist insight, and strong sense of community. Alongside her work with Herizen, Cassie has spent more than 15 years in senior leadership roles within the healthcare sector, driving innovation, strategic growth, and patient-focused change. After being diagnosed with breast cancer aged 46 and experiencing the impact of treatment-induced menopause, she became committed to helping women access trusted information, compassionate support, and open conversations around menopause and midlife health.

Tell us about yourselves, your backgrounds and the journey that led you to launching Herizen together.

Herizen was born from two women navigating life-changing diagnoses at the same time and realising just how little support existed for women thrown into menopause, burnout and hormonal chaos while still trying to hold together careers, relationships and everyday life.

Laura came from a senior leadership background in customer experience and transformation, leading large-scale change programmes while balancing motherhood, treatment and recovery. Cassie built her career in people, wellbeing and leadership support, always passionate about helping women feel seen, empowered and less alone.

During breast cancer treatment, both were pushed into medically induced menopause at 38 and 46. Suddenly they were dealing with brain fog, anxiety, exhaustion, sleep disruption and identity shifts, while still expected to function normally. They found themselves overwhelmed by conflicting online advice, endless wellness trends and a healthcare system that often left women feeling dismissed or unsupported.

What started as conversations between friends became something much bigger: a shared belief that women deserved one calm, trusted, science-backed place to understand what was happening to their bodies and minds. That became Herizen – a menopause and midlife wellbeing platform designed to combine expert education, practical tools and deeply supportive community in a way that feels empowering rather than overwhelming.

You both went through life-changing experiences. How did those moments change the way you looked at women’s health, hormones and menopause support?

Both of us were shocked by how unprepared we felt – not just for cancer treatment, but for the hormonal impact that came with it. We realised very quickly that menopause is still something many women are expected to quietly “get through,” despite it affecting sleep, mood, confidence, cognition, relationships and work.

What changed most was understanding how interconnected everything is. Hormones influence far more than periods or hot flushes. They affect nervous system regulation, mental health, energy, metabolism, identity and confidence. Once we experienced that ourselves, we understood why so many women feel like they’re “losing themselves” during this stage of life.

We also became passionate about translating science into language women can actually understand. There’s incredible research and expertise out there, but so much of it feels inaccessible or clinical. Women deserve education that is evidence-based but also compassionate and human.

Friendship became such an important part of your story. What did you both find in each other during treatment and recovery that helped you keep moving forward?

We found honesty. Neither of us had to pretend we were coping perfectly.

There’s something incredibly powerful about having someone say, “me too” during moments that feel isolating or frightening. We could laugh about the absurdity of symptoms one minute and support each other through fear or exhaustion the next.

Our friendship created space for vulnerability without judgment. We weren’t trying to fix each other – we were reminding each other that we weren’t failing. That became one of the foundations of Herizen itself. Women don’t always need more pressure to optimise every part of themselves. Often they need reassurance, clarity, practical support and community.

Starting a menopause and wellbeing platform during such a difficult chapter in your lives couldn’t have been easy. What gave you the confidence to take the leap with Herizen?

In many ways, we built the thing we desperately needed ourselves.

We kept thinking: if we feel this lost, overwhelmed and unsupported – despite being educated, proactive women with access to resources – how many other women are feeling the same way?

That gave us purpose. We weren’t trying to create another wellness brand based on perfection or unrealistic transformation. We wanted Herizen to feel calm, inclusive and genuinely helpful.

The response from women early on also gave us confidence. The moment women started saying, “I finally feel understood,” we knew there was a real need for this kind of space.

At the same time, we were also hearing from women in senior leadership positions who were quietly struggling at work while trying to navigate symptoms, treatment or burnout. That opened another important conversation for us around workplace support and how much more employers could do to support women through midlife in a meaningful way.

There’s often a lot of noise online around menopause, midlife and hormonal health. What kind of space were you hoping to create for women through the app and community?

We wanted Herizen to feel like an exhale.

There’s so much fear-based messaging, conflicting advice and pressure online – especially aimed at midlife women. We wanted to move away from extremes and create something grounded, supportive and science-backed.

The Herizen experience combines education, symptom tracking, nutrition guidance, sleep support, movement tools, expert sessions and community conversations in one place. The tone is intentionally warm and non-judgmental because women are already carrying enough pressure.

Most importantly, we wanted women to feel validated. So many women arrive feeling like they’re “too young,” “too emotional” or “just not coping well enough.” One of the most important things we say inside Herizen is: you’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone.

Herizen also supports organisations and workplaces. Why was that important to you both?

One of the biggest things we’ve realised through building Herizen is that menopause is not just a personal wellbeing issue – it’s a workplace issue too.

Women are often navigating brain fog, anxiety, sleep disruption, confidence shifts and burnout while still leading teams, managing careers and caring for everyone around them. Yet many workplaces still don’t know how to support that in a meaningful way.

We’ve been fortunate to work with some fantastic organisations that genuinely want to support women properly – not just tick a menopause policy box. Many offer Herizen memberships for employees going through menopause or hormonal health challenges, giving women access to expert guidance, tools and community support in one place.

Alongside the app, we also deliver workplace education sessions, leadership workshops, expert talks, coaching support and menopause action plan delivery. For some organisations, we help shape the strategy. For others, we support the implementation and ongoing colleague support.

What’s encouraging is seeing more businesses recognise that supporting women through midlife isn’t just the right thing to do culturally – it impacts retention, wellbeing, confidence and leadership progression too.

Ultimately, we want women to feel supported both at home and at work – because they shouldn’t have to choose between their health and their careers.

Outside of work and building Herizen, what helps each of you relax, reset and feel most like yourselves again?

We’ve both become much more intentional about protecting our nervous systems and energy.

That can look surprisingly simple: walking outdoors, strength training, slow mornings, music, good food, spending time with family or just having honest conversations with friends. We’ve also both learned the importance of rest – real rest, not just collapsing from exhaustion.

One of the biggest lessons midlife has taught us is that wellbeing isn’t about perfection. It’s about rhythm, balance and learning to listen to yourself again.

You’ve both balanced careers, relationships and major personal challenges. Has your definition of success changed over the past few years?

Completely.

Success used to look much more external – achievement, productivity, pushing through, constantly performing. Now success feels far more connected to alignment, health, impact and presence.

We still care deeply about ambition and growth, but not at the expense of ourselves anymore. Herizen itself reflects that shift. We want women to feel empowered and ambitious, but also supported, rested and connected to who they are beyond output.

Inside the Herizen menopause app

For readers discovering Herizen for the first time, can you tell us more about the app, the community and the kind of support women can expect when they join?

Herizen is a menopause and midlife wellbeing app designed to support women through hormonal change with expert guidance, practical tools and community support.

Inside the app, members can access a 12-week guided programme covering hormones, symptoms, sleep, nutrition, movement, mood, nervous system support and confidence. There are trackers, downloadable resources, expert-led sessions, journal prompts and supportive community spaces designed to help women feel informed rather than overwhelmed.

Members also gain access to regular expert webinars and live sessions covering topics such as hormone health, strength training, sleep, nutrition, emotional wellbeing and navigating menopause in everyday life and work.

We’ve designed Herizen to feel supportive whether someone is just starting to notice hormonal changes or is deep into menopause recovery. The goal is always the same: helping women feel calmer, more informed and less alone.

For someone feeling nervous about reaching out for menopause or wellbeing support, what would you want them to know about the Herizen community?

You do not need to have everything figured out before you join.

You don’t need to be “bad enough.” You don’t need the perfect words. And you certainly don’t need to struggle alone first.

The Herizen community is built around compassion, honesty and real conversations. Women arrive feeling anxious, confused or isolated – and quickly realise how many others feel exactly the same.

There’s huge power in being able to say, “this is happening to me too.”

When you think about the future of Herizen, what excites you most about growing the app and supporting more women through menopause and midlife?

What excites us most is helping change the experience of midlife for women at scale.

We want Herizen to become not just an app, but a movement around hormonal literacy, community and modern women’s health support. We’re excited about expanding expert support, workplace wellbeing partnerships, live events, personalised tools and future health integrations – but at the heart of it all is still the same mission: helping women feel less alone, more informed and more empowered in this stage of life.

Because midlife isn’t the end of something. For many women, it’s the beginning of becoming fully themselves again.