swellcast image
@books

#SwellBookClub #books #BookReview #AuthorInterview 📚

@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:53

Hey Nico! Let’s Talk About Everything!

article image placeholderLet’s Follow This...
And that's not very interesting, because most authors are really into lots of things that keep their mind expanding and staying inspired and living into the dreams that they have that are much bigger than the pages can even contain. And upon meeting you, I've realized that that is really the sort of the legacy you want to talk about, which is, as a very young man, you already have noticed that so many things are not in those pages, but those pages define a particular moment in your life

Yes - he wrote a book and that’s a good starting point! Welcome Nico DeGrange

8
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 4:44
Hey, Deborah, thank you so much for having this conversation with me and uploading this. So just as an introduction, I'm Nicholas Degrange. I go by Nico. I wrote the book, The One Who Follows, and it's an interesting story because it's still mind blowing to me that I wrote a book because English was my worst subject growing up, and I hated language, which is kind of funny because I speak two other languages other than English, so it's bizarre in general
2
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:17

Developing your voice ... will you read some?

And then I want to go into some of the questions, obviously, that you just brought up for me, which is about what a better factor is in our modern world and how you experience that. But I don't want to give away your book, obviously, but go ahead and give us your voice. You have five minutes in each swell, so maybe you can do something for a few minutes. Would be wonderful. Thank you
4
@Swell
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15

Welcome to Swell!

@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 4:27
My cousin is looking to expand his market in Philadelphia, and I told him we needed to make some money. We already had the resource and the connections here for parties. And whatnot he said soundly. But if we did it right, it would be easy money. We already know all the biggest frat houses and Pardes around the city. How much are we talking? I asked, leaning in. He had wet my appetite. Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm saying, Bro
4
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:04

Benefactor 🍿

Hey, thanks for the cliffhanger there. That's awesome, really, really cool to hear your voice. And I love your connection to your own words. It's almost like you're discovering them over again. You're kind of riffing on them, and it feels really blue and wonderful. I want more
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 3:04
So I think a lot of the times when we think about a benefactor, we think that it's someone who is providing something for us that we don't already have. And in a lot of cases, that is true, benefactor definitely is a provider. But for me, growing up, I really learned that you needed to go out and get what you needed in order to do what you wanted to do
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:42

Adding voices about giving - life line ☎️ 🤣

But there are milestones along that journey that are really moving. And I think that's where, excuse the noise outside, and that's where we really can see that milestone and say, wow, this might have never happened had I not been given this gift from this person, can you invite somebody into our conversation who can reflect on what it felt like to be a part of your life and your journey and being a giver in your life
6
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 2:57

Inviting @Laviedeeric voice. Strength in unity in our formative years

We roomed together, and I remember hearing that if you room with somebody that, you know, it often kills the relationship. So at first I was like, a little bit hesitant to do that. And we just through a series of events, we ended up living together, and it actually really strengthened our relationship. And we became more than friends, but actual brothers through the process
6
@Laviedeeric
Eric Matamba
@Laviedeeric · 2:09

@NicoNico

And that is something that I've kept with me to this day and is one of the most valued things that I have found in a brother like Nico. So thank you for everything. Truly. I love you, brother
2
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:37

Preserving the connection - secret sauce? @Laviedeeric @NicoNico

I wanted to sort of talk about what your opinion is or your feelings are about people losing track of that Brotherhood because it can be such an anchor for all the trials and tribulations of growing into the next phase, the next career, the next project. But we all know that the roots of happiness come from relationships and come from connection. How do people stay connected? Do you think? And I'm not talking about social media
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 3:45

Remembering @Laviedeeric

And it just seems there's too much distance but honoring someone and the memories that you've had is really a powerful thing and a lot of the time, it does help reconcile relationships
2
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:29

Remembering memories

And everyone talks about the fact that memory is actually a hall of mirrors because from the moment something happens all the way, stretched out to the rest of our consciousness, memory kind of folds into itself. It's never what it was. It's just a storytelling of what you understand it to have been and how it becomes a new memory and a new idea as you reremember it. And I want to talk about that in the context of telling your story and your books
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 4:15

Accuracy in Memory and Masterful Diction

Yeah. So growing up, like I said earlier, I watched a lot of films, and I'm a very visual person. I see a movie playing out in my head a lot. A lot of the times when other people just see exactly what it is. I'm always seeing what it could be and also to tie in what I mentioned before. I was terrible with language growing up, so I was good at math and science and art
2
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 1:48

Reading Part 2. Chapter 45

I was getting schooled on the Bible, but I didn't really understand it. That is called religion, and I hated religion. I was too cool for religion. Actually, I was too worldly for religion. I didn't have my eyes dotted and my T's crossed. I wasn't, quote, unquote, Holy enough for the Holy Rollers. But I was too religious for the world. What a surprise. I didn't fit in again
@DBPardes
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:17

Being here with you

And what are your dreams for it? And who would you like to see? Read it? Like, what's your vision? What's your fantasy? I like to share it with us so we can kind of maybe there with you and support you
2
@NicoNico
Nicholas DeGrange
@NicoNico · 4:08

Receiving

It was supposed to be 48 chapters, and I put this chapter in to protect the integrity of the book and it reads if you read the first and last chapter of this book, you're a fool. The content and message of this book are not in the beginning. They're not in the end. There's a 90,000 words between you couldn't conjure what lies between point A and B of this story
2
Swell user mugshot
0:000:00