Why Women’s Healthcare Still Fails Us (with Maria Haugen)

We’ve all been there—the endless waiting rooms, the dismissive tone, the gut feeling that something’s wrong even when the lab results say “normal.”

This episode of Roar dives into the frustration and fire behind FOXX Health, the soon-to-launch platform designed by Maria Haugen to help women finally take charge of their own health stories. This episode touches on women's cancer research and what's changing in how we talk about it.

After unexplained symptoms and medical gaslighting that left her feeling powerless, Maria turned her anger into action. What started as a personal mission to make sense of her own health has grown into FOXX Health: a tool for women to track symptoms, prepare for appointments, and advocate for themselves in a system that too often dismisses them.

Together, Danielle and Maria talk about:

💥 The moment Maria realized she was being dismissed—not diagnosed—and how it changed everything.

🩺 Why women’s health data has been ignored for decades, and how FOXX Health is changing that narrative.

🧠 What it feels like to be told “it’s just anxiety,” and how that phrase quietly breaks women down over time.

⚡ The balance between tech and humanity: building a tool that empowers, not overwhelms.

🚀 What it really takes to reinvent yourself after burnout and build something from the ground up.

Maria’s story is one of frustration turned into purpose—a reminder that systemic change often begins with a single woman deciding she’s done being dismissed.

“We can’t fix the system overnight. But we can fix how prepared we are to survive it.”—Maria Haugen

🔑 Key Takeaways from This Episode

• Self-advocacy is essential: your symptoms are real, even when the system fails to see them.
  

• Preparation is power: tracking your health and asking questions changes how you’re treated.
  

• Burnout can be a beginning: what feels like collapse can become clarity.
  

• Building change doesn’t require perfection—just persistence.

  
  

🔗 Links Mentioned in This Episode

FOXX Health → http://www.foxxhealth.com

Follow FOXX Health on Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577030940507

🎧 Related Conversations

If you liked this episode, check out some of our previous conversations:

• Anna Hall on privacy, periods, and designing women-centered tech: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3p08LiS2TsABWSPSWS2R6d?si=ky9QSok1Rb6lckQh4zyytg
  

• Lisa Kinsella on changing how we think about comfort and care: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0bva3LMnr1jkuDE5qsYFJf?si=-J6siNG5Te-bD2IXhIxd7A
  

• Jenny Lynn Walding on what it really takes to build in femtech: https://open.spotify.com/episode/04XrrV9FFfosViDY4h9xpW?si=22P3WGZARMC89AmUSvnxBw

💥 Don’t Miss a Conversation

• 🎧 Follow & Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RoarPod/podcasts
  

• 📩 Get Dispatches, the Roar newsletter: https://dispatches.danielledavies.com/
  

• 🙋‍♀️ Want to be on Roar? https://www.danielledavies.com/be-a-guest-on-roar
  

• 🤝 Want to partner with us? Let’s talk! danielle@danielledavies.com
  

• 👕 Roar Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/roarpodcast/shop?asc=u&ref=account-nav-dropdown

  
  💵 Support the Mission: Contribute at ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/roarpodcast⁠
  

• 🔗 Connect:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roarwithdanielledavies/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielledaviesmarketing/

Website: https://www.danielledavies.com/

•