Nicola Nel is the owner and founder of Atmosphere Communications, the leading mid-sized public relations and marketing consultancy in South Africa, employing 40 consultants across two major cities. It is the exclusive sub-Saharan African partner of PROI.com, a network of 75+ partner PR agencies.

The agency blends strategic insight and creative savvy, bolstering its reputation as the country's most innovative PR firm with a blue-chip client base consisting of Capitec Bank, Spotify, Santam, BBC Studios, Siemens and Cell C to mention a few.

Atmosphere has been awarded for its creative approach to delivering business results and is recognized as the most awarded PR agency in the country – garnering more than 90 local, African and international awards over the past decade.

Nicola has been on the judging panel of the South African advertising awards (the Loeries), has been recognised as one of SA’s most influential women in business and government by the CEO Magazine and currently heads up the Cape Town Chapter of the international business organization, the Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Nicola obtained her APR (accredited public relations practitioner) status (cum laude) in 1997, is a member of the Public Relations Institute of SA and a past member of the Investment Analyst Society.

Before moving into PR, Nicola was a financial journalist at the national broadcaster where she produced and presented business programmes for breakfast TV and for the main news bulletins. During her tenure she was nominated as the best consumer journalist for an investigation into corruption in the agricultural export industry.

She holds a commerce degree from the University of Stellenbosch, a diploma in digital marketing from the University of Cape Town and a diploma in Growth: Entrepreneurial Studies form The London Business School.