Her sporting success, coupled with a flourishing corporate career, makes her a standout figure in both the ring and the boardroom. Alongside competing at the highest level, Nicola has held leadership roles in one of the “Big Four” professional services firms, managing a team of over 170 people and budgets exceeding £32 million.
Drawing on her unique dual background, she now works with organisations to instil the same mindset, resilience and performance excellence that shaped her athletic career.
Now recognised as a leading female motivational speaker, Nicola delivers keynote talks and leadership training tailored to women in business. In this exclusive interview with Champions Speakers Agency, she shares the transferable lessons from elite sport, how to empower female professionals, and what she hopes audiences take away from her powerful story.
Q: Drawing from your background as a world champion athlete and business leader, what are the key lessons you believe the business world can learn from life inside the boxing ring?
Nicola Barke: “Change. I think there's a lot of translatable elements and aspects of being a professional athlete, especially in the boxing ring, and versus businesses as well. So, some that jump to mind is definitely that preparation—so having the discipline, and you know, yeah, having the discipline to do all of the preparation, create the processes, embed the habits, embed those procedures—so that, for me, on Fight Night, that's when you see all of the gains.
“You don't see the hardship, the struggles, the mistakes behind, where you're sort of trying to get into better working patterns, you're trying to improve your habits. You know, that is very much relatable to a business. For example, for a launch day—you know, you need to have all of the practices in place. Things go wrong, things go well. You know, you need to have that plan for that launch night, for that final show night, and have the discipline to be able to stick to that.
“The second thing I'd say is adaptability. It's a really common theme in terms of—as much as you expect things to go one way in the ring, you know, you might anticipate or have worked on a particular shot this whole fight camp and be like, “Yeah, those are the punches I'm going to land.” And then when you're there in the moment, live, you know—it doesn't work. You need to have that adaptability to be able to change within the moment.
“And similar to businesses is understanding: if things aren't working well, how can we adapt, how can we change, how can we navigate around this so that we can overcome it?
“And then the final I'd say is pressure. Everyone experiences pressure in the ring under the light. Being able to generate that calmness and stillness, but to be able to still make decisions with clarity—but quickly—and that's very much similar to being in that high-press working situation and environment, where, you know, you need to make decisions quickly, but you need to make them with clarity.
“And to keep everyone on a calm base, you need to be able to feel that calmness too, even though there's that intense amount of pressure. So those really are a lot of transferable skills.”
Q: Based on your experience delivering corporate training and leadership talks, what specific strategies do you believe are most effective in helping businesses genuinely empower their female employees to thrive in senior roles?
Nicola Barke: “Yes, I do keynote speaking, and I do a lot of different talks. I'd say the most practical way of being able to empower female employees is actually providing them with that skill set and with the tools.
“So, I also offer a half-day corporate training event that's designed specifically for women in leadership roles. And this programme is really all about helping women step confidently into their authentic selves, to be able to align their work with their core beliefs and values, to become the most empowered version of themselves.
“It breaks down into five core modules to allow participants to gain those tools to align their personal values with their professional goals. It gives them confidence to navigate challenges and lead authentically. Techniques to enhance their productivity through self-awareness and really give them that resilient tools for, you know, creating a mindset that is rooted in empowerment and resilience.
“And yes, I've competed at the highest levels as a professional athlete, become a two-sport world champion. But all while achieving my professional sporting career, I've also achieved a high level professionally, working for one of the big four, overseeing a team of 170 people and managing budgets of over 32 million. So really have that capability and transferability to share those skills and really be able to educate and give useful—useful.”
Q: Your public speeches blend personal experience with powerful takeaways—what is the core message you aim to leave audiences with, and why do you believe it resonates so strongly in today’s climate of change and uncertainty?
Nicola Barke: “Takeaways—I hope audiences leave my public speeches feeling inspired and uplifted. Uplifted to achieve their goals, to tackle that problem with a positive attitude, to embrace adversity as a source of growth, to really come along with me on my journey to the highest of highs in the sporting world, but also the lowest of lows.
“To show that, like everyone else, I'm completely human, and that we are all capable of brilliance if you choose to step into that discomfort, if you choose to step into that growth. Because, you know, as cliché as it sounds—nothing worth having ever comes easy. And, you know, I'm a real firm believer of that.”
This exclusive interview with Nicola Barke was conducted by Sophia Hayes.
For More Information: Champions Mental Resilience Speakers