Work with Nina

For 10 years Nina criss-crossed the globe writing stories for travel publications, journeying through Mongolia in ex-Russian military vehicles, exploring the Namibian desert in safari trucks, dodging Antarctic icebergs in an icebreaker and beyond, to over 60 countries.

In 2019, after an eye-opening assignment in the Arctic, she was faced with the impact her travels were having on our planet. Nina now writes about travel that conserves, educates and uplifts more than in destroys.

Her latest book is the memoir The Mindful Traveller, which followed the release of her journaling prompt cards The Writer Within. Her second book Go Lightly: how to travel without hurting the planet released globally in 2021, following her 2020 book Make a Living Living: be successful doing what you love, which has been translated into four languages.

Previously a lifestyle journalist at Fairfax Media’s magazine division since 2008 for titles including Good Weekend, Sunday Life and the(Sydney)magazine, then staff writer for the Sydney Morning Herald’s Traveller lift-outs since 2012, Nina now freelances for Traveller, Life & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveller and more. She holds Bachelors Degrees in Journalism and in International Studies from Sydney’s University of Technology.

 

Portrait by Peter Windrim

MENTORING

Having written professionally for 17 years, published four books, taught hundreds of students and redirected her career to make a difference, Nina has the expertise and resources to support writers and creatives craving a more intentional, purpose-led life and career.

She offers 1:1 online mentoring sessions. A series of three 45-minute monthly sessions is $900, or six fortnightly sessions for $1500. These are tailored to your specific needs and can include:

  • Developing live writing projects including articles, content for websites and socials

  • Industry advice and assistance in writing pitch emails

  • Creating a proposal for your book project and working on structure and timelines

  • Unearthing your authentic purpose and working through creative blocks

  • Brainstorming and tools for more conscious, values-driven career development

  • Time management advice and goal setting


These sessions don’t include:

  • Editing your project

  • Nina writing content for you

  • Guarantees of a publishing deal

  • Concept creation (you must arrive with an idea)


All sessions include personalised notes from Nina, two follow-up emails per session, and support via WhatsApp in between.

In an effort to keep her offering grounded and spacious, Nina only takes on a few new students each season. Please connect to see if it’s a good fit.

 

TESTIMONIALS

“Working with Nina was a wonderful support as I wrote and published my first book. Her knowledge and great practical tools have really improved my writing.”
- Emma Drady, author of Women & Nature

”In a notoriously gate-keepery industry, Nina is everything but. Beyond being a sounding board, she offered her own ideas, including contacts, concepts and ways to work.”
- Lucy Pearson, bibliotherapist & library curator

”With Nina’s help, I made a major structural and tense change to my memoir, which is much better for it. Nina also made powerful industry connections and imparted important marketing guidance. Money very well spent.”
- Aaron Tait, writer, speaker & impact entrepreneur

“I love the unwavering attention, encouragement, wisdom and generosity Nina brings to sessions. She empowered me to think outside my ‘limiting box’.”
- Simone Thorpe, Style with Soul

”Nina helped me get my book idea out of my head and into a professional proposal, clarifying what I was hoping to achieve and how it could fit in the market. I’m so grateful to be able to tap into her brilliant mind.”
- Natalie Woods, writer & editor

”A woman who inspires and teaches as brilliantly as she writes, to have Nina guide me through my project from a budding idea to a finished manuscript has been incredible.”
- Gemma Davis, integrative therapist & author

“I felt energized and inspired after each session. Nina helped me tremendously with her knowledge of writing, publishing, and guiding my book from idea to sincere proposal.”
- Alexa Owen, contemplative coach & podcast host

”Nina sees you in your fullness and potential, and asks the right questions to help you realise the answers were there all along.”
- Cassie Wilkins, travel writer & creative mentor

WORKSHOPS + RETREATS

Nina runs dynamic workshops for brands, hotels, corporate groups and individuals, offering tools and inspiration to spark creativity and connection.

Previous clients include Nagnata, Sun Ranch, SOMA Byron, Silk Laundry, 28 Degrees and Bower Camp Co.

Workshop topics include ‘Writing As Ritual’, ‘Creative Untethering’, ‘Writing For Earth’ and more. Prices start from $1200 for a two-hour group workshop. Social media marketing assistance can be included at extra cost.

Nina also leads mindfulness- and sustainability-focused expeditions. Her last was a women’s trek in Nepal’s Everest region in 2024, next will be the iconic Larapinta trail in central Australia in May 2025, both in collaboration with World Expeditions.

These trips combine mindfulness exercises and generative conversations, with hiking through stunning natural landscapes and connection with nature. The aim is to inspire deep presence, reverence and action, since we protect what we love.

Sun Ranch weekend workshop

 

Nagnata retreat workshop at SOMA

Mindful Travel trek in Nepal

SPEAKING + PARTNERSHIPS

As a passionate environmentalist and sustainability communicator, Nina speaks regularly at events and on panels, on topics including conscious and transformative travel, creativity and female empowerment, and crafting a life of meaning and purpose.

Recent speaking engagements include:

  • Moderating a SXSW Sydney panel on the role of tourism and women in the climate fight

  • Keynoting at the Council of Australian Tour Operators International Women’s Day event, on conscious travel

  • Performing a letter to her younger self at Women in Environmental Leadership Australia’s Stories of Change event

  • Speaking about regenerative travel at Intrepid Travel’s Adventure Travel Summit

  • Keynoting on sustainable travel at Creative Mornings Sydney

Nina sits on The Conscious Travel Foundation’s panel of experts, and is an alumni of the Heron Island Fellowship, a collaboration between the Climate Council and the climate action funding platform Groundswell.

Watch Nina’s Creative Mornings talk