NINA speaks to Strongest Story on miracles, wake-up calls & peeking over the cliff of life…

“A few years ago, I found myself peeking over the edge of this mortal coil. For two years I had suffered mysterious and debilitating chest pains that got progressively worse. Sometimes it was so bad I would end up lying on the ground in tears (this even happened in the office!) It felt like someone was stabbing me right the way through my chest with long sharp fire pokers. My youngest child was two by then and I had stopped picking her up and carrying her, concerned that this may be what was triggering the pain in my back. All she knew was: “Mummy can’t pick me up. Mummy is sore.”

After seeing many different medical practitioners and being told I was just stressed and this was probably psychosomatic, they finally found a mediastinal tumour the size of a large orange that had invaded my lungs and grown onto my heart. Rather than being shocked by the news, I was incredibly relieved to find out at last what was wrong with me. I had not lost my mind! When they cut my chest open, the surgeon was extremely worried by what he found and could not remove all of what he believed to be an aggressive cancerous growth. He told my family: “I’ve put radiation markers in. You need to take her to oncology.” As I recovered in ICU, he sent the biopsies off for testing and my family and friends started praying. When the results came back ‘benign’, he believed there was an error. The whole area had been inflamed and infected. The tumour had grown and spread. These were the marks of a malignant not a benign tumour. He sent the specimens back to be retested. The lab retested and sent the results back again - ‘benign.’ The surgeon was ‘surprised’ and my speedy, almost miraculous recovery flummoxed the medical staff. I was delighted and still am so grateful and humbled by the experience. I was, however, not surprised. I had felt a deep peace and a confidence throughout that time that I was safe in God’s hands and there was nothing to fear. Even if it was going to be the end for me, I felt peace.

Overcoming this potentially fatal health hazard gave me a new perspective on fear. I realised that there were so many limitations that I had put on myself. There was so much I hadn’t tried because I was afraid of failing, afraid of what people would think, afraid I wasn’t ready. Peeking over that cliff of life gave me the kick in the pants I needed to wake me up and reminded me that life is not a dress rehearsal. If the end was near for me, there was so much I still wanted to be and do! I needed to get out of the wings and claim my place as the leading role of my own life. Since then I’ve founded Creativity Wake-Up with my business partner and sister, Celia Falkenberg, and have begun to fulfil a lifelong dream of being a catalyst for positive change. We help people to leverage their creative intelligence for success. Our vision is to help people to develop the creative confidence they need to find their voices, advance their businesses, serve their communities and solve the complex problems of our day.”

A message from Strongest Story:

The first day I ever laid eyes on Nina was for an arranged business meeting. Nina was booked to be the expert resource for an event we were planning and until then our communication had only been in writing. Nina was whisked into the meeting room fresh off a plane and I was instantly energised by her effervescent confidence, colourful signature earrings and of course those sparkling sea-blue eyes! We spent hours talking and curating a very bespoke event with all manner of minute details. All throughout the planning process, Nina was confident, calm, curious and compassionate. I found the power of her curiosity to be totally infectious; and left the session with an entire rainbow of new possibilities!  Unexpectedly, a few days before the event was meant to happen, our country was thrust into lockdown and our in-person event dissolved. What impressed me most was the way Nina’s mind immediately shifted into problem solving mode. Nothing was an impossibility for Nina. She decisively pivoted into creating an online event with all the necessary bells and whistles. It was the wonder of creativity in action. Nina’s charismatic, bold approach to life left me feeling totally invigorated and braver than ever before!

Nina, we admire you for the way you help others put fear aside and creatively find ways to live their strongest story! Onward and forward, the future is colourful!