Nicole Nagel is 50plus born Sagittarius.
She grew up as an only child in Berlin until she was 12. Nicole was a real tomboy.

Her dad, who is an architect, restored a burned-out roof truss of a very old building and turned it into a double-story Penthouse. Those were the perfect conditions for her to develop the talent for what is called parkour today. She was able to climb from roof to roof pretty much around an urban city block which resulted in the neighbors calling the police from time to time, especially when she invited groups of other children to accompany her.

Her parents divorced when she was seven years still living in Berlin. Her mom decided to move to Hamburg and Nicole followed her a few years later when she was twelve.

Her teenage years imprinted her life with crazy, fun, loving events, and forever-lasting
friendships. She became a photo model when she was just fifteen years old.  Working during most of her vacations and free afternoons.

Modeling opened all sorts of doors for her: it allowed her to travel the world, to live in different countries, and to meet people from all walks of life, often in very creative environments. Nicole Nagel lived in Munich, Zurich, Milano, Paris, Sydney, and ultimately made New York city her base as a model.

Modeling was her springboard to becoming an actress.  In 1992 she moved to LA -where she currently resides to study the art of acting and pursue her new career.

Nicole studied Acting and worked in LA as an actress until she met her to be husband Pierre Caland. Pierre was living in Paris at the time. They fell deeply in love, married, and gave birth to their beloved daughter Olympia. They always lived on two continents, i.e., Europe and America.

Their married life parted at some point, not because they didn’t love each other anymore, simply because they couldn’t live under one roof anymore. But they remained good friends and loving co-parents of their daughter.

The acting was put on the backburner to bring up their daughter while it was her plan to
reignite this passion of acting when her daughter got into high school. Her daughter, Olympia, a dual athlete and hardworking student with a kind heart and a lot of compassion, became the focus of her life.

Unfortunately, a tormenting experience of litigation became the biggest hurdle, drastically destabilizing her plans, finances, time, and dreams. Then, in 2017 her mother died of pancreatic cancer and her daughter went to college on the East coast. Lucky, during this very tough period a new door opened, allowing her to feel more like herself again.

This is when Nicole met her new partner Malick Diouck. Malick brings light, love, and smiles into her life, while they share a lot of dreams & plans together.

 

3. Questions:

1. How do you feel about being fifty plus?

It is an interesting journey; similar to whitewater rafting (which I love) and not knowing what is coming next while being enlightened by unexpected potentials.

2. At which age did you enjoy life the most? Would you like to go back?

I loved my late twenties because I started to do what I always dreamt of doing, which was acting, but I wouldn’t want to go back, because then I wouldn’t have become a mommy to my precious daughter Olympia.

3. From which experience did you learn, what made you stronger?

Fortunately, I learned a lot from my parents and the people I met traveling or working with around the world.
Unfortunately, I learned too much from an unexpected, tormenting, and forever-lasting litigation, about what should have been a simple purchase of a home for my daughter and me. This experience turned our life upside down. It made me very weak, but also showed me the resilience and patience of which I was capable.

4. What changes have you experienced after your 50th?

That life doesn’t get easier, but more appreciated. That we only live once and to try no matter the circumstances to make the best out of our lives day by day.

5. Which book and/or film and/or music shaped/changed you and why should we read it?

I have always been so active with my daily life, that I barely had time to read books, but I am aware that I should make time to start enjoying books more. My passion for movies certainly occupies the time one would or could read.

But if I had to name a book, I can’t help to mention that I love the different versions of the “Lonely Planet” (a handbook for traveling), because I love traveling and discovering the world in all different ways. My first exposure to the handbook was when I backpacked 6 months around South America in my early twenties. I visited 75 countries whereby the “Lonely Planet” was often my companion.

Traveling is extremely important for me no matter in what way; with or without means, far or close, tents, campers, or hotels, as long as a can move and discover new things.
R& B, Funk, and Disco are the music genres I grew up with and continue to listen to. I love to dance, it was always my best workout and it is very freeing such as swimming in the ocean. My favorite workout.

My favorite movies are “Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf” and “Dressed to Kill.” I wouldn’t say no if I were asked to act in a remake of those.

6. What would your ideal day look like?

My ideal day would start somewhere in the outback of Africa at 4 am awaking in a tent under the sycamore tree with the sound of the lions roaring or high up in a treehouse with an elephant trunk reaching in. I’d get onto an open jeep with my loved ones, a tin cup filled with my morning coffee, being slowly warmed up by the strong and large African sun rising. We’d watch the animals wake up, and I’d have my camera ready to shoot. The day would end with my ideal African dinner, BBQed Antilope meat with vegetables around a crackling bonfire.

7. Who should we follow on Instagram?

1. @natgeotravel, because I am curious to see the world
2. @germanroamers, because it showcases the country I was born in, in a beautiful
way
3. @huguettecaland, because it was my mother-in-law who not too long ago passed
     away is an admirable artist, and I learned a lot from her.
4. @wildlifefriend, because I love the wildlife

8. What’s your favorite destination/hotel/museum/restaurant in the world?

● Destination    :    Africa
● Hotel               :    Aman Resorts no matter where
● Museum         :    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

● Restaurant     :    Matsuhisa (Los Angeles)

9. What’s your signature dish? The one that makes your friends demand a seat at your
dinner table.

Gulasch with red cabbage and potatoes

10. Which childhood dish represents best the time and place of your youth?

My grandma’s Berliner chicken fricassee.

11. How did you become the person you are today?

Managing to get by the struggles that others might not have recognized.

Follow the beautiful Nicole Nagel on Instagram

Thank you so much for sharing your story with other inspirational women!
Any questions? Please do not hesitate to contact me.