Surrey Coach Who Beat Burnout Named Coach and Trainer of the Year at the Enterprise Vision Awards

A mum who burnt out so badly she could barely get out of bed, and went on to invest over £120,000 in her own personal development, has been crowned one of the UK’s top coaches, after turning her own recovery into a method that helps high-achieving leaders succeed without sacrificing their health.

Nicky Anstey, 51, from Elstead, Surrey, founder of Transform to Perform Coaching, scooped the Coach and Trainer of the Year title at the 2026 Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAS), at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool earlier this month, an award that attracted more than 1,000 entries.

Her work has seen her interview Joe Wicks on stage in front of 800 delegates at Business Mania, and Dragons’ Den stars Sara Davies and Sarah Willingham on imposter syndrome and how to handle success, and her message lands at a time when pressure at the top is in the spotlight. A 2026 survey of 1,000 employed professionals across five European countries, including the UK, found that 51% sometimes felt like they were faking it at work, while Gallup reports that global manager engagement fell to just 22% in 2025.

The EVAS win caps a stellar run for Nicky, who was named Rising Star of the Year at the Business UK Awards 2026, picked up an Impact Award in 2025 and an Inspiration Award in 2026, and is now a finalist for Surrey New Business of the Year, with the winners announced in November.

The judges said: “Nicky has turned her own experience of burnout into a powerful approach to developing stronger, more resilient leaders. Over 15 years she has supported more than 1,000 clients, combining neuro-linguistic programming, psychotherapy and coaching to deliver measurable results. The judges recognised Nicky’s credibility, proven impact, unique approach and ambition to help more leaders perform and grow without sacrificing their wellbeing.”

Nicky said: “When they read my name out I honestly couldn’t believe it. Fifteen years ago I was hiding under the covers, convinced I’d failed everyone, so standing on that stage in Blackpool felt like a full circle moment. This award isn’t just for me. It’s for every leader I’ve worked with who was brave enough to admit that looking fine on the outside isn’t the same as feeling fine on the inside.”

From burnout to breakthrough

Nicky’s own story is the reason her work exists. With a BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Psychology, she built a successful career that took her from the NHS into food science research and on to FTSE 100, where she worked alongside Jamie Oliver’s team at the start of the drive to transform school meals. But behind the scenes, the stress she carried was taking a physical toll, and every year it seemed to land her in hospital for another operation.

She walked away from corporate life to become a consultant nutritionist, but the pressure followed her. “I’d changed jobs, but my wiring hadn’t changed,” she said.

The breaking point came a few years after the birth of her miracle son, who arrived defying a difficult medical prognosis, when she was told he was falling behind at nursery and would struggle in school. Exhausted, in pain and waiting for yet another back operation, she finally hit rock bottom.

“I’d always been the strong one, the one who coped,” said Nicky. “I tried everything, from yoga and meditation to self-help books and counselling, but nothing was changing.”

Determined to find answers for her son’s future and her own, Nicky became fascinated by how the brain creates and repeats our patterns. She trained as a Master NLP Coach, Master Time Line Therapy™ Practitioner and Master Hypnotherapist, and went on to specialise in executive psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy and neuroscience. Applying it all to herself first, she rewired the people-pleasing, perfectionism and imposter syndrome that had driven her to burnout, and combined everything that worked into one approach, the REWIRE Method™.

The Curse of the Strong

Today she works with founders, senior executives and leadership teams who are outwardly successful but quietly running on empty, and has rewired more than 1,000 leaders and high achievers one to one since 2011.

“The more successful people become, the louder that inner imposter voice often gets,” said Nicky. “I call it the Curse of the Strong. The people closest to burnout are often the ones everyone relies on, the ones who always seem to cope. We keep giving struggling leaders more strategies and more to do, when what they really need is to change the wiring underneath.”

With her new website just launched, Nicky is now working on her first book and a hybrid online programme for corporate teams and individual leaders worldwide, alongside her 1:1 REWIRE work. Her mission is to help another 1,000 leaders enjoy the success they have worked so hard for, and to help businesses build empowered, engaged and happy teams.

“We need to stop measuring success purely by what people achieve and start considering what it costs them to achieve it,” said Nicky. “Success shouldn’t come at the cost of your health, your happiness or your relationships.”

To find out more about Nicky and Transform to Perform Coaching, or to explore her free self-reflection resource, the Diagnosis Room, visit transformtoperformcoaching.com.

Founded in 2011 by Coral Horn, the Enterprise Vision Awards celebrate women in business, innovation, leadership and social impact, and this year’s glittering ceremony brought together attendees representing more than £80 billion in annual turnover.