Nicola Stephens

I started my career in project management and discovered the agile approach when I was working at IBM. As a project manager, I immediately felt the weight of responsibility lift off my shoulders and saw the power of what a cross-functional team could do. Rather than relying on me to keep the project on track, teams were empowered to self-organise, so I could focus on supporting, resourcing, and guiding them.

Since then, I've been hooked on agile and have worked as a user experience and project director, scrum master, product owner, and agile project manager. I'm passionate about building projects around motivated and inspired people. There is no limit to what people can do with the right support and environment.

In 2017, I moved from South Africa to Singapore and decided to become a full-time agile trainer and coach. I got certified to train, and shortly after, I flew to China to run agile training sessions for HSBC. Later I met Michael Ong, who introduced me to SoftEd, and the rest is history.

As a trainer and coach at SoftEd, I love that the principles and values of agile encourage better collaboration and interaction. This principle guides me when I'm training, and helping teams grow together.

I've worked in a number of different industries and for multiple global corporations like GoBear, SGX, and DVT. I can draw on my experience to support businesses in their agile transformation by helping them to look into the future and determine how they can achieve their ambitions.

When I'm not at my desk, you will find me hiking and mountain biking or hanging out with my dogs.

My certifications:

• ICAgile Authorised Instructor
• ICAgile Certified Professional
• ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Project and Delivery Management (ICP-APM)
• ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Product Ownership (ICP-APO)
• ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC)
• ICAgile Certified Professional - People Development (ICP-PDV)
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)^®, Scrum Alliance^®
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)^®, Scrum Alliance^®
• Scrum Developer Certified (SDC^®), SCRUMstudy
• SCRUMstudy™ Certified Trainer (SCT^®)
• Certified SAFe^® 5 Agilist, Scaled Agile^®
• Certified SAFe^® 5 Lean Portfolio Manager, Scaled Agile^®
• Lean-Agile Procurement (Credential 1), flowdays
• Certified Lean-Agile Procurement Trainer, flowdays