While other people’s lives were falling apart this time last year, Nikki Tiedeman’s was coming together in an odd sort of way.

Nikki, the 173rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, had recently had a baby, returned from a holiday just before the borders slammed shut and moved from hectic Sydney to the laidback Central Coast.

When coronavirus hit, Nikki suspected her job – in the travel industry – would no longer exist when her maternity leave ended. She saw this as a blessing in disguise, because she’d been feeling for some time that she needed to change careers. The long hours and relentless grinding of her job had worn her down. 

So, last April, Nikki founded Slow Coaching Co., which offers personalised life coaching and private mindfulness sessions for go-go-go professionals who need to slow down.

Nikki grew up in South Africa. She had no idea what to do when she finished school, so she took a working holiday to America, and then another to England. During her time in London, she met an Aussie, and later followed him to Sydney.

Several countries and one pandemic later, Nikki is now living where she wants and doing what she wants.