Nicole DeGeorge shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Nicole, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Like any good creator, I’ve built the ability to turn pain into art. To take loss and uncertainty, and turn them into something that creates connection among people. Its the foundation I build upon in most everything I write. It’s a delicate craft, but I think it’s the most important thing I do.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an author / storyteller. My writing style is deeply introspective and reflective. My first book, Shaking Hands with Grief, is a memoir-style story about grieving the loss of my mother. It’s told through a lens of both pain and humor, because grief, like life, rarely comes in a single color.
I’m currently working on my second book. I’m not able to discuss it in full detail, but to give you an idea, it’s a fiction novel inspired by true events that explores love, loss, resilience, and the search for belonging. It examines how the places we run to can sometimes become the cage we long to escape.
My brand, at its core, is about telling the kind of stories that make people feel understood while finding beauty and meaning in even the most difficult seasons.
Outside of my work as an author, I’m most at home outdoors. Nature is more than just a backdrop for my life; it’s where I go to remember who I am. It often finds its way into my stories as both the setting and the teacher.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
Easy. The relationship I had with my Mom. Maybe thats a simple answer, but it’s the most true one I can give. She’s been gone for years now, but she’s still the voice in my head and the compass in my chest. She taught me how to meet the world with both courage and softness and also how to love authentically without holding back.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
When I realized how much we all keep locked inside. We walk around with our masks on, thinking we’re protecting ourselves when in reality, we’re cutting ourselves off from connection. The truth is, our pain isn’t what isolates us, it’s actually what we have in common.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to believe life had a set timeline. I think a lot of us fall into this trap that by a certain age you should have the career, the marriage, the family, the picture-perfect version of “on track.” I clung to that belief so tightly that I sometimes I think mistook it for purpose. But life has a way of tearing up your blueprint and handing you back a blank page. There’s no deadline for building a beautiful life. The detours and the chapters that felt like they were going nowhere, they’ve all shaped me more than any checklist ever could.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I can only hope that people will remember me as wise in a way that felt warm, not distant. That my stories left traces of laughter and understanding – proof that wisdom, when offered with love, lingers long after the moment has passed.
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