Strong Women – Kris Hallenga, Founder of CoppaFeel!

Kris Hallenga is a Strong Woman.

The founder of CoppaFeel!, Kris was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. After finding a lump at 22, living abroad in China for 8 months and eventually visiting her doctor 3 times, Kris was told the news that she had incurable breast cancer when she was 23. Kris was unaware that breast cancer could affect people in their twenties and knew very little about the disease. It struck her that there was very little information out there for young people, educating them about the disease, how they could be looking after themselves and informing them that breast cancer doesn’t just affect women over 50.

Our designer was lucky enough to hear Kris and co founder (and identical twin sister) Maren speak at an Asone lecture near our studio in Cornwall and was immediately struck by the positivity, energy and strength the two women had to stand up to cancer and create something positive in the wake of Kris’s life changing diagnosis.

Although Kris will always live with cancer, she wanted to get the message out there to young people that catching cancer early means you have a higher chance of surviving and recovering. She wanted people to learn from her story and become pro-active about their own health. The idea for CoppaFeel! was born.

So, on International Women’s Day, let Kris inspire you to check yourself…. follow Coppafeel!’s Boob Check 101 for all the info you need – they’ll even send you a BOOB CHECK reminder…