Before taking up bobsleigh, Minichiello had competed (under her maiden name of Gautier) for Sheffield Athletic Club in shot put, javelin and heptathlon. Her lifetime best for the heptathlon was 5784 points, which she achieved in Austria in 2001. While competing in athletics, she met and married Toni Minichiello, coach of World and Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis. Nicola was involved in coaching Ennis during Ennis' early years in athletics. When not bobsledding, Minichiello worked as a part-time P.E. teacher and also as an athlete mentor for the Youth Sport trust. It was announced on 10 August 2010 that Minichiello would miss the 2010-11 Bobsleigh World Cup, including the FIBT World Championships 2011, due to a knee injury. Subsequently, in April 2011 Minichiello announced her retirement as a driver and took up a position as head development coach at the sport's governing body, the International Bobsleigh &amp; Skeleton Federation (French: "Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing").