What if the doctors said you wouldn’t thrive — and you decided to prove them wrong?
Nicola Zacher was born with no soft spot in her brain. Medical professionals predicted she’d face significant limitations. But Nicola’s father had a different plan: unconditional love, unwavering belief, and a refusal to let anyone else define his daughter’s potential.
Today, Nicola is thriving — not in spite of her challenges, but because of what they taught her about resilience, self-love, and purpose. She’s an author of seven children’s books, a caregiver who’s walked loved ones through dementia, and a woman who’s learned some of life’s greatest lessons from her dog, Marley.
CONNECT WITH NICHOLA:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nichola.zacher
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicholazacher6/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichola-zacher-abb09444/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nicholaz1
- https://www.instagram.com/marleys.dream/
- https://www.facebook.com/Marleys-Dream-Love-121807216358454
FAQ
Who is Nicola Zacher and what is her story?
Nicola Zacher was born with no soft spot in her brain. Doctors told her parents she would never go to school or thrive. Her father said: no, you’re wrong and spent her entire life proving it.
Today Nicola is:
- Author of seven children’s books in the Marley’s Dream series
- A former early childhood educator who pursued her passion for children despite every early obstacle
- A daughter who cared for her father through dementia with the same unconditional love he once gave her
She shares her story on the Worthy & Rewritten podcast.
What did Nicola's father do when doctors said she wouldn't thrive?
He made a promise and kept it for the rest of his life.
When doctors delivered their verdict, her dad looked at them and said: no, you’re wrong. She will be all right and I will make sure of it.
He backed that up in real, practical ways:
- Working with Nicola on maths at home until she got it
- Driving her two hours to Toronto when she missed the train to school
- Refusing, even when she was an adult, to stop being in her corner
When she once told him he didn’t have to be so protective anymore, he told her never to say that again. He had made a promise. He intended to keep it.
What happened to Nicola at kindergarten — and what did her family do about it?
Her mother arrived early one day and found Nicola sitting alone in the hallway. The teacher’s reason: I can’t teach her.
Her parents’ response was immediate:
- They did not quietly accept it
- They took Nicola to Florida to stay with family — removing her entirely from the system
- When the Board of Education called demanding she return, her parents used that as leverage
- She returned and was finally given proper support
Nicola reflects on this without bitterness. That moment, she says, taught her early what a boundary looks like and why you hold it.
How did Nicola get her education despite the school system failing her?
She commuted four hours a day for a year — and framed it as simply what you do when you want something.
Her parents found a private school in Toronto willing to work with her individual needs. The catch: they lived two hours away in Kitchener, Ontario. So Nicola:
- Got up at six every morning to catch the train
- If she slept in and missed it, her parents drove her
- Did this every day for a full year
After that year she transferred to a local high school, went on to college, and studied early childhood education, a field she had loved since she was thirteen.
What did Nicola learn about self-love from her dog Marley?
Marley taught Nicola that unconditional love means going up to everyone without judgment and she tries to live exactly like that.
Nicola watches Marley walk straight up to strangers and simply love them. No assessment. No decision about whether they deserve it. Just openness.
On her harder days when self-criticism creeps in, Marley senses it, looks up, and offers a cuddle. Nicola says it:
- Brings her back to the present moment
- Shifts her focus from what is wrong to what is right in front of her
- Reminds her to be as kind to herself as her dog is to everyone she meets
How did Nicola and her dad find purpose through his dementia diagnosis?
When doctors suggested it was time to consider a nursing home, Nicola said no, the same way her father had once said no about her. She left her job and stayed home to care for him.
What happened next is one of the most beautiful parts of the episode:
- Marley won a contest to inspire a children’s book
- Nicola and her dad began taking Marley out to promote it
- Her dad created his own story that Marley had been thrown from a truck and he had saved her
- Everywhere they went he would gather a crowd, telling that story
- People in Walmart bought Marley gifts because they felt so bad
Nicola went along with every word of it. It gave her dad a voice, a hero’s role, and a reason to show up. She says: you find ways to build what you are given and make it yours.
What are the Marley's Dream books about and where can you find them?
The Marley’s Dream series by Nicola Zacher are children’s books that explore unconditional love, kindness, feelings, and anxiety, all through the lens of what her dog Marley teaches.
Key details:
- There are seven books in the series
- The newest, Marley’s Feelings, deals specifically with anxiety and self-care
- All books are available on Amazon
- Marley has her own Facebook page (Marley’s Dream Love) and Instagram (@marleys.dream)
Nicola says to her young readers at every event: give yourself a hand, you deserve a lot of credit for how far you have come.
What does Nicola say to someone who has been told they will never thrive?
Believe in yourself and in what you can achieve because your dreams are possible.
That is her direct answer. No framework, no steps, no qualifications. Just that sentence from a woman who:
- Was the baby doctors predicted would not go to school
- Sat alone in a school hallway told she could not be taught
- Commuted four hours a day to get the education she needed
- Went on to write seven books and build a life full of purpose
The belief came first. Everything else followed.
What does unconditional love actually look like in practice?
Unconditional love is the feeling of being able to say what you want to say and be who you are and knowing the other person values you for exactly that.
Nicola makes an important point: it does not have to come from a parent or family. She says:
- It starts with being yourself authentically
- The right people are drawn to you when you are genuinely you
- You find your people not by performing, but by showing up real
If you did not grow up with that kind of love from a parent, it does not mean it is not available to you. It means you find it elsewhere and you will.
How do you cope when medical challenges make daily life harder?
You find your people, your places, and your mindset and you build from there.
Nicola is honest that challenges have not disappeared. There are still hard days. But she has three things she consistently returns to:
- Mindset — not accepting a label or a limit as her permanent reality
- People — surrounding herself with those who genuinely listen and understand her heart
- Place — going to the beach, being near water, finding the physical spaces that ground her
She also says something quietly powerful: look back at how far you have come. Not to dwell, but to remember that you have already moved through hard things and that is evidence you can move through the next one too.
