Jen was born in Rinteln, Germany and knows what life is like in an armed forces family; Jen’s Dad served with the Parachute Regiment and the Army Air Corps over a 22-year career. Whilst based in North Yorkshire Jen met her now fiancé at school. Jen recently relocated to Wiltshire to be with Will, who is currently serving with the Royal Tank Regiment.
Jen is freelance makeup artist, with a passion for bridal and editorial makeup. She fell in love with makeup whilst at University and completed a course in makeup artistry at the weekends alongside her studies. In addition to her makeup work, Jen works as a receptionist for a private dental practice.
Jen is a keen runner and together with Will enjoys long walks with their Border Terrier, Sam. Representing the newcomers to the forces wives community, she found the FWC whilst Will was deployed and found it of great help; she would like to spread the group to others in a similar position. Jen has little experience of expeditions such as this, however, she is determined to excel and push herself to the limit.
“I joined FWC in August after a particularly hard couple of months. A mixture of lockdowns and job redundancies all whilst my fiancé was away on a six month deployment made me really realise how isolated I was. Living off base and my family 12 hours away I felt very alone.”
After settling into a new job Jen found herself looking for a group of like minded women, she never expected to sign up let alone be selected to undertake The Heroes of Telemark challenge.
“I found myself feeling incredibly stuck, due to covid Will was denied R&R and as lockdowns lifted and the world reopened I felt as if I was getting left behind. I wanted to visit family, get back to hiking or visit new places but missed Will and the support of a partner at home. I grew increasingly frustrated with my insecurity and lack of self- belief. I needed to do something to prove to myself that I was capable. I had seen the Heroes of Telemark challenge advertised on the FWC website and had thought it looked amazing but very much out of my league. The challenge however stayed in the forefront of my mind and I realised it would have been a huge regret if I didn’t sign up, even if the thought of it terrified me!”
Jen is extremely excited to go on this expedition, her confidence levels have rocketed and the sense of community and support from her fellow team mates and the Forces Wives community is a huge inspiration for her.
“LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE”
Jen is one of FWC’s HOT Ladies - The World’s First Female team to retrace the Heroes of Telemark mission: