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Women’s wellbeing club founder nominated for top industry award
A Bristol-based female entrepreneur who launched a wellbeing group has been nominated for a top UK award recognising excellence in business.
Meet Nicole Askwith Williams, founder of The Women’s Wellbeing Club, which supports women with hormonal health, mindset and movement, empowering them to maximise their career potential.
An alumna of UWE Bristol, Nicole has called the city home for the past 12 years. Originally from Kent, but she fell in love with Bristol and decided to build the next stage of her life in the West Country.
With a strong background in corporate finance, Nicole was well aware of the expectations and challenges women face in the business world.
Nicole Askwith Williams launched Women’s Wellbeing Club after a career in finance
During the pandemic, with time to reflect and reassess her priorities, and being inspired by her own personal experiences, Nicole launched the Women’s Wellbeing Club. Just a few years down the line, she has been recognised among the top movers and shakers in the UK business sector.
Bristol24/7 recently caught up with Nicole following the news of her nomination as Female Entrepreneur of the Year in the UK Small Business Awards 2025, which celebrate the remarkable achievements of businesses across many sectors, ranging from beauty to bakery.
For Nicole, it all stemmed from a deeply personal place – her own mechanism for coping with the challenges that come simply from being a woman in business.
She said: “I had a corporate career before this. I worked as a product manager in finance and insurance companies, and I struggled with various symptoms. I also saw other women — across different age groups — going through similar experiences.
“Even from a younger age, during my teenage years, I had issues with my skin and frustrations with doctors who would just put me on contraception without really addressing the root cause. So it’s really been a lifelong thing — this desire to understand what’s going on beneath the surface.
“When things reached a point in my corporate career where I felt completely out of balance, that’s when I made the decision to leave the corporate space and focus full-time on women’s health.”
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According to Nicole, Women’s Wellbeing Club supports women through every stage of their hormonal health journey, whether it is navigating the ups and downs of natural cycles, managing the transition through menopause or simply learning to work with their bodies rather than against them.
Nicole said: “I coach women one-to-one, ranging in age from their early 20s through to their mid-60s, because our focus is on hormonal changes. That could mean anything from menstrual cycle support to navigating menopause, or just generally wanting to feel healthier and more in tune with their bodies during hormonal shifts.
“We look at nutrition and movement, but a big part of what we do is centred on education and mindset. We also run larger community events, but everything is tailored to the individual — it’s about what that person wants to work on at that point in their life.
“We typically support women through a programme-based approach, helping them get from where they are when they join us, to where they want to be.”
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The approach is there to foster open, constructive conversations, helping to prevent many of the misunderstandings and awkward encounters that often occur in the workplace, said Nicole.
On changing perceptions around female reproductive health in a business environment, Nicole praised smaller companies for their approach, despite the smaller revenue.
She continued: “I think smaller, more start-up type businesses tend to have a much better attitude towards these kinds of topics. But the bigger, more established companies — the ones that have been around for a long time — can still feel a bit old-school. In my experience, their approach to women’s health just isn’t quite there yet.
“For example, I’ve had meetings with some of these larger organisations, and they don’t even provide sanitary products in their toilets. So there’s quite a stark contrast between how some smaller companies are approaching this, compared to the extremes you still see in bigger, more traditional ones.”
Currently a one-woman army multi-tasking, with some much needed help with social media, Nicole is expecting to upscale Wellbeing Club’s current offerings and serve more women and corporate groups.
“Yeah, I set up my coaching business a few years ago, and then rebranded last year, taking things in a slightly different direction. That’s when I launched what’s now become my community and business — the Women’s Wellbeing Club. The focus is on female health and hormonal wellbeing, primarily through one-to-one coaching.
“Since then, we’ve expanded to offer courses for individuals and workplaces, so they can upskill their knowledge and gain a better understanding of female health too.”
“The approach is there to foster open, constructive conversations, helping to prevent many of the misunderstandings and awkward encounters that often occur in the workplace”
On the next stage of Women’s Wellbeing Club she said: “Right now, it’s mainly just me running the business, with a couple of brilliant people who help out with social media.
“But I’d absolutely love to bring in more specialists across different areas as we grow. It would be amazing to have someone like a workplace manager, for example, who could handle outreach and coordination with companies. For now though, it’s a small but dedicated team — just me and the social media girls.”
Nicole who lived in various areas of Bristol including Old Market fell under the spell of Bristol which she reminisced about, including Motion and Clifton Suspension Bridge and the myriad of restaurants and cafes.
Nicole Askwith Williams was nominated for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in the UK Small Business Awards 2025
She concluded: “Originally, my family settled in Kent, in the South East, but we’re actually from all over — my mum is from Yorkshire and my dad is Welsh, so we’ve got quite a mix of roots. I moved to Bristol for university(UWE), and honestly, I’ve just never left.
“I feel like Bristol has something for everyone. It’s such a diverse city, with so many different things to do — from quirky, offbeat activities to major employers and big workplace opportunities. It really strikes a great balance.”
The winners of UK Small Business Awards will be announced at a special event in autumn.
All photos: Nicole Askwith Williams
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