Nicola brings a wealth of expertise from her law, consulting, organisation development, and coaching background. An Oxford law graduate and Cambridge MBA holder, her 20-year career spans three continents. Witnessing widespread workplace stress, she was inspired to found intogreat. This global well-being platform offers on-demand, learning, coaching, and mindfulness resources to build resilience, manage work pressures, and navigate life’s stressors. It empowers individuals to make the necessary changes before burnout or the need for professional mental health assistance arises. intogreat reflects Nicola’s commitment to helping individuals build the inner tools needed to flourish.
We are delighted to be partnering with intogreat and that Nicola will be speaking in both London and Manchester this September as part of our Wellbeing at Work Summit UK.
We caught up with her to find out how she’s feeling in the run up to the summit.
Hi Nicola, we are thrilled you will be speaking at our Wellbeing at Work Summit UK in September. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today?
We use the concept of Your Line at Intogreat to help you become aware of your feelings. At any point, you are either Above Your Line (feeling open, curious, happy, etc.) or Below Your Line (feeling stressed, judgmental, anxious, etc.). A lot is going on in my life now, so I would say that I’m oscillating Above and Below my Line today!
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing?
Intogreat provides learning, coaching and mindfulness resources to individuals to empower them to thrive without compromising their well-being. The challenges that we see with regards to employee well-being are, thankfully, not experienced within Intogreat because we live and breathe our values and ethos!
What we’re seeing within our clients’ organisations is that there is an unsettled employer/employee relationship characterised by mistrust and anxiety driven by remote work vs return to the office, multi-generational workforce, cost of living crisis etc. Employees are feeling disconnected from their workplaces, especially after the dramatic rise in remote working. This is resulting in fewer opportunities to connect, which in turn is leading to fewer authentic friendships developing in the workplace – something that has been shown to have a great impact on workplace satisfaction and general well-being. The separation between our work and personal lives is becoming increasingly blurry and difficult to distinguish. Employees often bring their personal issues into the workplace resulting in them appearing mentally exhausted, and disengaged, impacting their productivity.
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that is moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
The concept of Your Line has profoundly changed the mindset within our team. Taking a moment to check-in and acknowledge where you are in relation to Your Line, empowers each of us to take responsibility for how we want to show up in all aspects of our life. We are a remote team, and being able to name where we are in relation to the Line at the start of our meetings and check-ins means that we have a reference point for what is going on with each other, which opens up a deeper level of dialogue and interaction with one another. With regards to our clients, much of our work involves supporting HR in helping employees “return” to work in a holistic sense: emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Our goal is to nurture healthy humans – meaning individuals who are more empathetic, authentic, adaptive to change and able to develop others. We know from our data that the biggest pain points for people when they come to us are dealing with stress, work/life balance, and a limiting mindset. Our clients particularly love the awareness that they gain of their inner critics and the tools related to how they can better manage their mindset. Again, the Line is a very popular concept for helping our clients build self-awareness and feel more in control of their life.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
I started my career working as a corporate lawyer for the biggest firms in London before quitting the legal profession to study for an MBA at Cambridge University, after which I worked as a management consultant before transitioning into global HR roles. I eventually set up my own consulting business, which led me to Africa, North America and eventually back to the UK. Whilst outwardly I was very successful, I spent far too many years never truly feeling good: there was always too much to do and not enough time. The pace of life seemed relentless. Even after a good night’s sleep or a holiday, I didn’t feel fully recharged. I spent most of my life busy; consumed with work, stress, and achievement with very little time for myself and those that I loved. This pressure and way of being was not only self-inflicted, but actively championed by the organisations I worked for. Eventually, I found myself on the edge of burnout, and my waning health forced me to listen to the voice in my head that was growing louder, screaming “you deserve better.” I know that my story is not unique. Working in different organisations across different continents, I regularly encountered people who were struggling with the same things – juggling too much responsibility, and feeling like there’s never enough time, money or energy to live the life they truly want. Many of these individuals were accessing some form of well-being intervention and finding transitory respite, but they still felt stuck, overwhelmed and frustrated at the lack of long-term, sustainable solutions to help them meet the demands of today’s increasingly stressful world. 20-years working in training, development and coaching plus spending so much of my time, energy and money trying a lot of snake oil before I found what worked for me, inspired me to start Intogreat. I could see that there was an opportunity to provide holistic well-being support in a more affordable, data-driven, inclusive, and engaging way that better reflects people’s lived experiences.
What are you most looking forward to about the Summit in September?
The conversations about well-being and learning from colleagues about what they are doing in this space that is having a positive impact on the lives of their employees.
Tell us, what is your vision for the future workplace, in terms of engagement, health and wellbeing?
I envision the workplace of the future to be values-driven and mission-focused, where the well-being and development of employees take precedence over profits and shareholder value. Abandoning the growth-at-all-costs mentality, the workplace of the future recognises the importance of being relational and adaptive to a changing world. By leveraging technology and AI, we can free ourselves to harness the unique strengths and capabilities of humans—our innovation, creativity, and networking skills. Technology is a partner, enabling us to focus on more meaningful, value-added tasks that contribute positively to our employees, communities, and the planet. In these future workplaces, individuals feel safe to show up authentically, with ample opportunities to be empathetic, to develop personally and professionally, and to adapt positively to change. Such environments would enhance employees’ lives – financially, educationally, and emotionally—rather than deplete them.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12 months?
There are two areas: building human leaders and getting the HR function ready for AI.
How has your organisation been leading the way?
We’re helping our clients develop human leaders and are building the self-awareness and personal responsibility within the culture of organisations that will empower the organisations to adapt and flourish in the future.
Nicola will be speaking in both London and Manchester at the Wellbeing at Work Summit UK which takes place live and in-person in London and Manchester with an additional day of virtual sessions too. Further details on the Summit can be found here.
