DIRECTOR & FOUNDER

Jax (Jackie Heffer-Cooke) founded Freedom as an exploration of both inner and outer worlds, supporting people to feel more alive through yoga, adventure, and meaningful connection. A lifelong traveller, her work is shaped by learning from different cultures and by building long-term relationships both within her local community and with the communities that host Freedom retreats around the world.

A former executive television producer, Jax brings clarity and calm leadership to her teaching. For her, yoga is a lived, practical philosophy — a way of meeting life with presence, honesty, and compassion — and she is known for a calm, approachable teaching style that blends depth and philosophy with ease, humanity, and warmth. She has been leading 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings for the past six years, mentoring new teachers to teach with confidence, integrity, and heart. She holds an MA in Global Social Development from the University of East Anglia and leads community wellbeing work through Freedom Wellbeing Projects (CIC), supporting wider access to yoga and wellbeing.

OPERATIONS & GOVERNANCE DIRECTOR

Susie is the Operations Director at Freedom Yoga & Retreats, overseeing governance, insurance, legal frameworks, and terms and conditions to ensure our retreats are run safely, ethically, and with integrity.

An experienced Executive and Non-Executive Director, Susie is a Risk and Compliance professional, Company Secretary, and Governance Consultant. She has supported both large and small organisations across financial services, technology, retail, and hospitality, building proportionate frameworks and guiding teams through regulatory change.

Above all, Susie works with people — offering clear, practical guidance, acting as a trusted sounding board, and empowering teams to move forward with confidence and clarity.

OPERATIONS & CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER

Lucy Hurrell is the operational heartbeat of Freedom, making everything run seamlessly behind the scenes. From managing day-to-day operations to managing client services, she ensures that every retreat, interaction, and experience feels smooth, personal, and stress-free.

Lucy first met Jax as a student, attending pregnancy and baby yoga classes, and joined the team in 2016 when the timing was right. After leaving in 2019 to build Moco and other hospitality ventures, she returned with even more hard-won calm, organisation, and a knack for making the complex look effortless.

With her sharp mind, endless energy, and a style all her own, Lucy keeps Freedom grounded, organised, and - quite frankly - too cool for school.

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER

Meg guides how Freedom speaks to the world, overseeing our website, digital presence, and the overall brand experience. She ensures that every message - from social media to email - reflects the warmth, clarity, and authenticity at the heart of Freedom.

With a balance of creativity and strategy, Meg helps the brand grow thoughtfully, connecting with our community in meaningful ways. She makes sure our story is told consistently, beautifully, and in a way that resonates with those who discover Freedom for the first time - or return time and again.

CREATIVE

Sam is Freedom’s creative who shaped the brand and its visual language, creating the foundation that everything else builds on.

From establishing the visual tone to ensuring the brand feels real and approachable, Sam’s work keeps the Freedom experience warm, minimal, and genuinely human. We’ve known and worked with Sam for over a decade, and that long partnership shows in the detail - calm, consistent, and rooted in what Freedom stands for. From shaping the visual language to building pages that convert and creating content that feels real, Sam helps keep the brand experience warm, minimal, and genuinely human.

SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE

Tom brings energy, ideas, and creativity to Freedom’s social channels. He crafts engaging posts, generates fresh content concepts, and keeps our online community inspired and informed.

Passionate about storytelling and connection, Tom ensures that Freedom’s digital presence reflects the warmth, calm, and authenticity of our retreats. He thrives on experimentation, collaboration, and finding new ways to spark engagement while staying true to the brand’s voice.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR

Camila has a background in political science and international social development, with experience across community health, climate resilience, and social justice in Latin America, Africa, and South Asia. She began her career in Colombia, working with the Ministry of Health during COVID-19 to support Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, and later contributed to responses to the Venezuelan migration crisis.

She has since worked with international charities and non-profits on programmes focused on women’s health, community-led development, and wellbeing. Camila currently works in business development and partnerships for a global consultancy and non-profit focused on climate and development.

A yoga practitioner for over eight years, Camila brings a strong interest in holistic wellbeing and community care. As Community Development Advisor for the Freedom Wellbeing Project, she supports inclusive, community-centred initiatives across the retreat sites, ensuring local communities are meaningfully engaged and supported.

SOUTH AFRICA RETREAT GUIDE

Sarah is a UK-based retreat guide trained as a Safari Guide in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. She brings deep knowledge of the African bush and a respectful, intuitive approach to moving through wild spaces, with her work rooted in understanding place, rhythm, and flow.

She has curated the South Africa retreat journey using her lived experience of the region, shaping locations, transitions, and daily logistics so participants can fully relax into the experience. From pre-arrival travel guidance to on-the-ground support, Sarah holds the practical details and group wellbeing throughout the retreat.

With a calm and steady presence, Sarah guides nature-led, immersive retreats that balance thoughtful planning with space, ease, and presence — allowing you to feel supported, grounded, and deeply connected to the land.