Does this sound familiar?
You have no time for yourself, but everyone still wants a piece of you.
You feel guilty wherever you are - at work, with your children, with your parents, or trying to take five minutes alone.
You are making decisions for the people who once made decisions for you.
You are managing appointments, prescriptions, care conversations, school updates, household admin and work deadlines - often all before 9 am.
You are so tired but sleep does not seem to fix it.
This is the sandwich generation.
Adults simultaneously supporting aging parents and dependent children often complain of overwhelming burnout & time poverty. Squeezed from both sides, exhausted from constantly shifting roles, navigating complex care systems, and sacrificing their own careers, marriages, and personal well-being.
20+ years supporting people and organisations • International Bestselling Author • CPD Accredited Framework Creator • Founder, Red Mountain Wellbeing • Leadership & Workplace Wellbeing Consultant
Trusted by the NHS, local authorities, charities and employers to support professional women with caring responsibilities, workplace wellbeing and psychological safety.
Hi, I am Nicola, and I love guiding and coaching others to restore calm. For more than twenty years, I've worked in:
Learning and Development
HR
Recruitment
Coaching and Training
Workplace Wellbeing.
I've designed training programmes, taught mindfulness, coached individuals and leaders, and worked alongside charities, the NHS, local authorities and organisations across the UK. But I couldn’t cope with the 9-5 world and juggling caring responsibilities any longer.
So I stepped back and took a breath. When I felt ready, I reshaped everything I'd learnt into Red Mountain Wellbeing. Today, I work with professionals who are balancing careers with caring responsibilities, and with the organisations that want to better support them. I lean into lived experience and combine it with practical coaching and evidence-informed wellbeing & psychological safety.
The results … professionals and employees returning to a place of balance, empowerment and improved productivity.
If you’re ready to talk more … Which of these best describes you?
This is for me
"I'm holding it all together, and I've got nothing left for myself."
You're juggling work, family, maybe ageing parents too, and there's no slack anywhere. You'd like a bit of yourself back, without the fluff.
This is for my team
"Our best people are running on empty."
You value your people and you can feel the burnout coming. You'd rather they stayed well and stayed put than left you to start the recruitment process all over again.
Are you part of the Sandwich Generation?
Today, an estimated 1.4 million people in the UK are sandwich carers, and 61% are women. Most are aged 45–64 - the very stage of life when careers are often at their busiest and family responsibilities collide. Across the UK, there are 5.8 million unpaid carers, providing support worth an estimated £184 billion every year to the economy. Every day, around 600 people leave work because caring responsibilities become impossible to balance alongside employment.
Yet despite the numbers, many people don't recognise themselves as carers. They simply think they're exhausted.
Trusted by organisations including: NHS | East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) | Headway | Legal & General | Disability Resource Centre | NCT | SKF | Essity | Bedfordshire Employment & Skills Academy | Luton Borough Council | Central Bedfordshire Council | DWP | JCP | Northamptonshire County Council | Groundwork East.
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Trusted by organisations including: NHS | East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) | Headway | Legal & General | Disability Resource Centre | NCT | SKF | Essity | Bedfordshire Employment & Skills Academy | Luton Borough Council | Central Bedfordshire Council | DWP | JCP | Northamptonshire County Council | Groundwork East. 〰️
I'd rather they told you…
Kerry Silver
Senior HR Professional
"Even as someone who coaches people professionally, I found a different level of support with Nicola.
She creates a space where you feel completely understood, never judged, and always leave with practical
tools you can genuinely use."
"Your voice is like silk. The moment I hear it, I immediately relax. Every session leaves me feeling
informed, accepted, supported and lighter than when I arrived."
Julia Burnell
Legal & General • Workplace Wellbeing Champion
"Nicola connects with people naturally. Her sessions brought our teams together in a completely
different way and started conversations we're still having today."
"One of the best pieces of feedback we received was that people felt like they'd had a lovely nap
and were refreshed, recharged and ready for the rest of the day."
Mental Health Awareness Day • 3 Workplace Mindfulness sessions
"It wasn't just a wellbeing session. It brought people together. It started conversations, created
genuine connection and permitted our teams to pause."
Claudette Hayden
Support Worker | Headway Luton & Bedfordshire
"I genuinely didn't think this group would engage. By Week Four, they had become a supportive, compassionate community."
8-Week Mindfulness Programme - “Clients we thought would struggle became some of the most engaged members of the group."
Mindfulness & Group Facilitation - "People who rarely followed instructions willingly closed their eyes, relaxed and trusted the process. The atmosphere changed completely. There was patience, acceptance and genuine respect for one another. Nicola's calm approach helped people feel safe enough to be themselves. That transformed the group. The group arrived as individuals. They left supporting one another."
Is Your Organisation Ready to Support Working Carers?
A free 2-minute diagnostic for HR, Wellbeing and People Leaders.
Many employees are quietly balancing demanding careers with caring for ageing parents, children or loved ones.
Could some of your people be falling through the cracks?
Complete the diagnostic to receive your organisation's score, identify opportunities for improvement, and discover practical ways to build a more carer-friendly workplace.