In this episode of Mid-Career Change, I’m joined by Nina Stephenson-Camps, founder of Thrive Always and an expert in helping leaders and teams stay composed under pressure. Nina specialises in what she calls real-time resilience — the practical, in-the-moment tools that help you think clearly, steady your emotions and take better decisions, even when work (or life) feels chaotic.
Across our conversation we explore what resilience really looks like for mid-career professionals navigating uncertainty, shifting identity and increasing responsibility — and how small mindset resets can make the difference between feeling overwhelmed and moving forward with confidence.
We start by exploring Nina’s career journey — from early roles in brand and communications, to working with global organisations like Google and Microsoft, and eventually building her own business focused on mental agility and performance.
Nina shares how her experience in fast-paced creative environments revealed a pattern: talented, high-achieving people trying to perform at their best while privately feeling stretched, stressed or mentally overloaded.
This insight led her to develop simple, accessible mindset tools that could support clarity and calm in the moment — not hours or days later.
Nina explains how real-time resilience differs from traditional wellbeing approaches.
Rather than asking people to find more time in an already busy week, her work focuses on short interventions you can use:
mid-meeting
mid-decision
mid-feedback
mid-career wobble
These rapid resets help you access your best thinking exactly when you need it most.
Before discussing tools, we pause to hear what Nina has learned personally. Running her own business while supporting others through high pressure has taught her that resilience isn’t a fixed trait — it’s a practice.
She shares the strategies she comes back to when juggling competing demands or navigating periods of uncertainty. These insights set the tone for a grounded and authentic conversation.
We look at the specific pressures mid-career professionals often face:
success on paper but stretched internally
identity tied to long-held roles
responsibilities increasing while energy dips
feeling the need to “hold it all together”
fear of losing relevance or momentum
Nina reflects on what she sees in her work with leaders and teams — and why these patterns are so common for people in their 40s and 50s.
Career transitions bring a unique emotional load. Whether the change is chosen or unexpected, people often describe:
feeling untethered
questioning their identity
overthinking every decision
fearing they’re “starting again”
Nina shares how mindset work can help you stay grounded while exploring new directions, and why clarity doesn’t always come first — sometimes calm comes first, and clarity follows.
One of the most practical parts of the episode.
Drawing on her recent piece in HR Director, Nina talks listeners through:
A short breathing technique that helps calm the nervous system and restore clarity when your thoughts are spiralling.
How shifting from “I can’t cope with this” to “What’s the one next step?” helps reduce overwhelm and re-activate problem-solving.
A way to interrupt self-criticism by giving yourself a moment of grace — vital for high achievers who often push themselves harder than anyone else.
These tools are ideal for interviews, job applications, difficult conversations, moments of doubt or any career transition where emotions run high.
We discuss how the mind tends to catastrophise when things are unclear — and how to shift towards curiosity instead.
Nina explains that uncertainty can open up a creative space, allowing you to explore ideas you’d previously ignored or dismissed.
This aligns beautifully with the themes in Mid-Career Change: possibility, experimentation and opening up the space before making decisions.
High-achievers often see self-compassion as weakness, but Nina explains why it’s one of the most practical performance tools we have.
When the mind softens, thinking improves. When criticism reduces, motivation returns.
We explore how a simple pause can prevent spiralling and help you return to the situation with more composure.
We talk about how stress blocks creativity — and how becoming calmer allows you to think more creatively about your next chapter.
Nina shares ways people can tap into creative thinking when imagining new roles or future possibilities, helping them escape narrow “either/or” thinking and instead explore a wider landscape of options.
For those in leadership roles, Nina reflects on how personal mindset shapes the mood and resilience of the team.
We explore how leaders can create psychological safety, reduce reactivity and model the calm they want others to feel — a particularly relevant theme for mid-career professionals stepping into bigger roles.
We close with a simple, practical tip from Nina: choose one moment today and pause.
Take a breath.
Notice your thoughts.
Add a moment of compassion.
Then take the next step from a steadier place.
A small reset, repeated consistently, becomes a powerful way to think more clearly through change.
This is a thoughtful and practical episode for anyone navigating the messy middle of career change.
Nina brings clarity, calm and compassion to the challenges so many mid-career professionals face — and her tools are accessible, effective and instantly usable.
If you’re exploring what’s next, feeling stretched, or wanting to think more clearly under pressure, this conversation will give you grounded strategies to help you move forward with more confidence.