Meet Nicole Angai-Galindo

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Angai-Galindo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Hi Nicole, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

My upbringing had a significant influence on my generous nature. My mother led by example, always sharing the vegetables she grew and the food she cooked with neighbors. She donated used clothing and often took little gifts back home to her friends whenever she visited me in New York. I remember once, as a child, her taking my sister and me to visit an orphanage, where we had to bring a couple of our toys that we didn’t play with as much to give to the children.

Back home is Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. Growing up in a third-world country, I lived a middle-class life, needing for nothing. However, I attended school with many fewer fortunate friends, whose families had very little. For example, I had a packed lunch, consisting of sausage or cheese paste (made from crushed hot dogs or grated cheddar cheese, mixed with mayonnaise and mustard) and a juice box, accompanied by a snack. Some of my friends came with a sandwich, with no more than a light smearing of butter, and drank water out of the water cooler.

It was common to be driving on the highway and observe shanties (poorly assembled wooden huts made from local materials, such as wood and palm tree leaves). Just as you will see people at street corners in NYC trying to clean a person’s windscreen on their car, at a traffic light, you will see young black boys, in the street, often barefooted selling bottled water; the temperature in Trinidad is usually in the 80 to 90 degree F range with heavy humidity; a scorching, skin-searing sun at noon.

Times were growing up as well, so I did my homework by candlelight because the electricity in Trinidad was unstable. Sometimes, “water went”, meaning a central had burst “up the road” and the water pressure was too low to take a shower. I would go to the only standing pipe in the compound of townhouses we lived in, and fill our red, plastic bucket. The water was ice cold. I wouldn’t go into food items. There is so much abundance in the US, where I migrated to at the age of 19, with a suitcase full of clothes and $100 in my pocket. A variety of food items are readily available and, most of the time, relatively affordable. It hurts me to throw out old food. I try to eat my leftovers until they are finished before I cook another meal.

My mom used to say, before she passed, that I would take the shirt off my back and give it to a stranger. I am still the same way today.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a 12-time best-selling co-author. I use the term’ co-author’ because I have not published any solo books, but have contributed chapters to other compilations. Three years ago, I became active on the LinkedIn platform. At the end of 2022, as a result of falling on my job that I’d only been 5 months on as the Operations Manager, I broke my left patella (kneecap) into four pieces. After major knee surgery, I had to stay home to recover for 3 months. During this time, I immersed myself in LinkedIn as a way to distract myself from the pain and boredom. I had no idea that this would lead to me building a supportive community as I documented my physical therapy, recovery, and eventual return to work.

At the beginning of 2023, during my 2nd live show, I got the opportunity to contribute to an anthology. I did, and that book became an Amazon bestseller. I went on to co-author two more books that year and started a business named The Gifted Bipolar Writer, offering services such as LinkedIn banner design and network and visibility building through content writing and graphics. I was only in my last week of a 30-day trial on CANVA, but I discovered a love for it. Funny, considering I still draw stick figures!

I wanted to end 2023 by taking the next step, so I published my anthology, A Note to My Family: I Am Your Legacy, along with 20 other co-authors. The book sold over 250 copies in 7 countries and became an Amazon #1 International Best-Seller. I was still working my full-time job in 2024, but I continued to publish, simultaneously launching a trilogy of anthologies featuring 12 writers in each book, totaling 36, including myself. That project lasted 6 months and I’m pretty sure I lost half of my hair, LOL. When I had published The Legacy book the year before, some people reached out asking if I would be doing another. I ended 2024 publishing another Legacy anthology, A Message To My Family. As a result, it has become The Legacy Chronicles, and 7 of the 21 slots for December 2025, A Letter To My Family; this is my story, are already filled. I also started an audio room on LinkedIn called N.I.C. (Never In Control), and as that gained popularity, I launched my live show spinoff, also titled N.I.C., on my birthday in 2024. My husband was my first guest (took some convincing and lots of yummy home-cooked dinners to get him to agree…), and the discussion was about supporting a bipolar wife. Yes, I am diagnosed with bipolar II disorder. To celebrate the first anniversary of my show and my 49th birthday, my guest was my only sibling, my little sister, Nadia. Kinda silly but I love that mom named us Nicole and Nadia (Nics and Nads).

I officially left my job on February 6th, 2025, so at the time I am writing this, I am shy of 5 months as a business owner. I was very fortunate to sign my first client for four books this year. Two are already published. Horror/Psychological Thrillers, nonetheless, and entirely out of my wheelhouse, but they were both fairly successful, considering the variables. I will be launching four more books this year: parts 2 and 3 of a trilogy by my first client, a book titled Mosaic Family by Dr. Steve Hudgins, and Legacy Chronicles, scheduled for 2025. I also have a co-creation anthology launch with Miss/Mrs. Colorado and international figure skater Crystal Chillcot called Pageants: Pride & Prejudice on January 1st, 2026. This year, I also started a second live series, called The Person Behind The Pen, for the co-authors I’ve published with, now over 70, to do a live reading of their chapter and share what’s next for them. I opened it recently to one self-published author, not with my company, Guiding Brilliant Writers, LLC, to promote their book. As a tribute to my child, Nicholai and his 28th birthday on July 1st, I launched another compilation of stories with 16 co-authors called WE CHOOSE TO BE MORE THAN OUR DIAGNOSES, Today is July 3rd and I’m blessed to announce that we are #1 International Best-Sellers in the US & Canada, in many categories. This book aims to help end the labels and stigmas that come along with being diagnosed with a mental, medical, or physical disorder, illness, or handicap. Our merch line launched the same day, featuring three t-shirt designs: Published Writer with GBW Publishing, Book Club (for non-authors), and a themed design, You Are More Than Your Diagnosis.

Every Wednesday, starting July 10th, I am launching a collaborative project called Intention to Ink with my colleague, Brendaliz Acosta, a Transformational Life Coach. This is a complimentary one-hour Zoom call that will begin with 5 minutes of guided breathing meditation, followed by 45 minutes of focused writing, and conclude with any questions I can answer as a publisher. The aim is to help people get that book written, find accountability, and resources.

This year I also joined two networks, The 2350 Effect and The Outlier Project, became an advisory board member for HR-4U, and held a successful fundraiser with two friends, Aaron Gibson and Jenlyn Ford, to raise funds for Transformation Kitchen. I am a long-time supporter of founder Chason Forehand and had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife, Jody, this year.

On a personal note, I am enjoying entrepreneurship, despite spending the first few months nursing my furry four-legged son, Pokey, a 16 year old chihuahua as he declined with Kidney Disease. We lost him in early May, and my heart remains heavy from the loss. I’d had many plans to spend time with him in his winter years, this Summer. I like to joke around with my husband that my puppy ended up loving him more because he’s from Mexico!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

This is a great question and one that I don’t feel I could have answered with confidence a year ago. My best three qualities are my communication, empathy, and transparency.

Communication is a tough one. I was always a chatterbox and constantly interrupted people. I continue to be a work in progress, but have improved vastly. I remind myself that I don’t like it when others do it to me because it makes me feel as if they are focusing on what I am saying. When I do interrupt and catch myself, I say, “I’m sorry for interrupting you. You were saying?”

Interestingly enough, I’ve been told that I’m like a bull in a China shop. That is true in certain circumstances. I know now that it is my reactive behavior when I feel that I am not being heard. I’ve noticed a pattern; I restate, I get louder, then the third time around, I get blunt. Hence, the bull comes out, LMAO. I’ve had to work on myself to recognize this in the situation and walk away. I need to give myself time to accept that the other side is not receiving, and that is their choice.

Gosh, I’m more transparent than a ghost! Even some of the people close to me feel that I am too honest. The fact is, this has always been my approach, and it has served me well. I find that when I am upfront with others, I am facing the mirror. An example of this is the trilogy of anthologies I published at the end of 2024. This project took six months, much longer than anticipated. I hit many obstacles along the way, and at each pause to reassess and decide how to proceed, I kept the 35 writers informed. This wasn’t only about being transparent, it was taking accountability, resetting expectations, and including those who had invested time, effort, and money into the project.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

One of the things I enjoy doing is collaborating with intention. I’m building my business, yes, but I don’t want to forget that others have helped along the way. I am big on giving back and do so often. Achieving book sales is hard. Many people self-publish on Amazon, and this is how I started, too. Without promotion and community support, including family and friends who are physically present in your life, disseminating information about your book is more complicated than writing the book itself.

I started a live show series called The Person Behind The Pen. It airs on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook each week. The original intent was for the co-authors published with my company to do a live reading of their chapter and share about what they are currently doing. I decided to open one show a month to a self-published author who isn’t part of the GBW Publishing family to come on the show and discuss their book. I believe in the power of storytelling above all. I’m open to any author reaching out, and can be reached via DM on my company’s LinkedIn page, https://www.linkedin.com/company/gbwpublishing/

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