About

Nina is an independent writer, ceramicist, guitarist/singer and mother of 2 enterprising young adults.

She's a University of Kwazulu Natal English and Drama graduate, has an honours degree in Drama as well as a Higher Diploma of Education.

Nina's career spans many different roles. From high school English and Drama teacher, to musical performer at luxury hotels and other venues in Durban, Nina then developed a fascination for IT that led to her working in IT support for a top property firm in London. This was followed by working as IT Operations Manager at a nationwide clothing retailer based in Cape Town.

She left corporate to start her own business Natural Ethical Organic Trading (NEO Trading) with a partner, getting involved in the theatre of retail, distributing locally produced natural and organic products to South African retailers.

Owning a business and writing newsletters to customers taught her about the power of language to introduce new ideas and how words can shift perceptions. After selling NEO Trading, she began Switched ON Media, where she provided online marketing services to businesses.

Since 2016 she's found herself powerfully drawn to the work of Nancy Klein and the Thinking Environment, a coaching process which facilitates clients to think independently and for themselves. She trained with Trisha Lord of Braveheart to gain her coaching qualification in 2022. This has led Nina to segue into her third business Switched ON Life specialising in writing for business and Thinking Environment coaching.

She's currently writing a memoir about finding her unknown Japanese father. She serves on the EXCO of the NGO Life Righting Collective which runs courses to encourage self-exploration through life writing. She's part of a jazz duo and makes earthenware hand-built pots.

I've experienced times when I believed I would not survive, would never come through in one piece. I've felt frozen, paralyzed with fear, shut down, directionless. On the very furthest, far, far side of being switched on.

Divorce, financial anxiety, death, loss, grief, betrayal, toxic relationships, difficulties with health for which I seem to find no healing, have all been an intimate and profound part of my life.

What got me through?

Other people.

Encouragement, understanding, listening, skillful interventions. From therapists. Coaches. Podcasters. Books. Random strangers who in one way or another lit up a moment in my day. Family. My amazing colleagues and clients. And dear, dearest friends.

In the flow of life, there's a constant exchange of energies on a vibrational level. Giving, receiving, contracting, expanding. Words are resonant with power. Being present for another person is energy in action.

I believe this is what my work is.