Nicola first encountered Shiatsu, when she joined an Aikido Dojo (Japanese martial art) in London in the late 1980's and volunteered as a receiver for those studying Shiatsu. The experience of Shiatsu was so enjoyable that she decided to study it, as a hobby. After 3 years of study with the European Shiatsu School in London, she decided she wasn't satisfied she knew enough to become a practitioner, though she completed the training. She met a new Shiatsu teacher, Sonia Moriceau, on a weekend workshop in London and decided to study with her for a further 2 years at the Healing-Shiatsu school in Herefordshire and qualified as a practitioner in 1994. Sonia had studied Shiatsu with Ohashi Sensei and also Mindfullness Meditation with John Garrie Roshi, a Zen teacher; so Nicola learnt both mindfulness meditation practices and Shiatsu together.

Nicola's first career was as a Business Analyst in IT at a Bank, this she did full time for 4 years and then part-time for 3 years, whilst she studied Shiatsu.  Prior to this she had done a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Philosophy at Kent University. Nicola left her job at the Bank in 1995 and set up her Shiatsu Practice in Battersea (south London), she also got a job as a Shiatsu practitioner, once a week at the Hoxton Health group, (a charity providing complementary therapies to locals over 65) and volunteered doing home visits for the Wandsworth Cancer Centre. In 2001, she was offered a space to do Shiatsu at a GP surgery in Belgravia, where she worked privately for 18 years. Shortly after, she moved to live in Dorking (Surrey) and set up a private practice there and continued to commute to London to work at the Belgravia Surgery until 2019.

In 2003, Nicola completed a one year post-graduate diploma in Shiatsu maternity care with Suzanne Yates from Wellmother. Since then, Nicola has done Shiatsu work with pregnant women and postnatally with mother and baby.

In 2009 Nicola became a registered teacher with the Shiatsu Society, having completed first a year of teacher training with Well mother in Bristol and then a City and Guilds Teacher training certificate at Guildford College. Nicola has taught Wellmother introductory courses for Shiatsu practitioners, Doulas and Midwives. Additionally, Nicola teaches 'Grassroots Shiatsu', which includes Shiatsu workshops for family and friends and quarterly Self- Shiatsu classes for beginners.

Alongside her Shiatsu practice, Nicola teaches Aikido and Kenjutsu in Westcott, near Dorking. She holds a 4th Dan black belt grade.

Having grown up near Barcelona in Spain, Nicola speaks Spanish (Castellano), Catalan and French.