What Stays True When Everything Changes

If you had no witnesses and only your word to offer, what would convince a jury you’re telling the truth? We start with that uncomfortable question while unpacking a high profile attempted murder trial in Hawaii, then follow the thread where it really leads: integrity, consistency, and what your life says about you when the stakes are high.

Anila Nicklos

• Tel: +1 216-870-1054
• Email: anila@icaremm.com
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos

Then we welcome our special guest, Anila Nicklos, originally from Tirana, Albania. Anila brings the kind of insight that comes from living a full reinvention. She shares what it actually feels like to leave your homeland, lose your support system, and try to belong in a new culture without losing yourself. One of the most striking parts of her story is how identity can be tied to language. She was already being published as a writer in Albania, then arrived in the US and faced the reality that her work couldn’t be read. From journalism to leadership, she explains how she rebuilt her voice and eventually began writing fiction in English, one hard won sentence at a time.

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Transcript

Show Open And Theme

Voiceover 0:03

Tales from the Wild. Stories from the Heart. A journey into the mind and soul of fighter business professionals where they share their vision for the future. And hear from a different nonprofit organization every month as they create awareness of their goals and their needs. Dive into a world of untamed passion. As we join our host, Shireen Botha, for this month's episode of Friends from Wild Places.

Welcome And Subscription Bonus Content

Shireen Botha 0:35

Well, good morning, Shireen here. I am your virtual Boutique bookkeeper and QuickBooks Pro Advisor. You started your business to do what you love, which means it's not to spend time and spend your nights drowning in spreadsheets and crumpled up receipts and unpaid invoices. You know exactly what I'm talking about. But now, even more so, since tax season is looming, your books are a mess, they're months behind, and you're left wondering: did I even miss a deadline? Did I leave money on the table? You know, don't head into another year guessing if you've maximized your deductions or if your records will actually hold up under pressure, right? It's time to start the year on a high note. Get your books organized, accurate, and stress-free. That's where Shireen's Bookkeeping services come in. We handle the numbers so you can handle the business. Visit shireensbookkeeping.com and email me today. And allow me to keep your books clean so you don't have to welcome back, listeners. You are listening to Friends from Wild Places with myself, Shireen, and my amazing co-host, Tanya. Tanya, how are you doing? And let the listeners know about our subscription.

Tanya Scotece 2:01

Yes, yes. Well, good morning, everyone. Uh, to our listeners and to our amazing uh guests this morning, which will have a fun time. And um, thank you, Shireen, for uh the wonderful introduction. So, yes, so at Friends from Wild Places, we have our featured guests monthly, and um, those are usually uh broken up into three specific episodes. But besides that, we also have our bonus content. So for as little as five dollars a month, you can subscribe and get privy to behind the scenes unedited raw material. We go diver dive deeper into specific subjects, and we're able to actually go deeper onto subjects that you may want to feel beneficial from. So, whatever it is that you're looking for, maybe a subject that's been bothering you or something that you would like more insight, by all means just drop us a line and we'd be happy to feature that. So for as little as $5 a month, you can get behind the scenes unedited content from friends from wild places.

Meet Anila Nicholas And Her Mission

Shireen Botha 3:01

So back to you, Shireen. Thank you, Tanya. I really appreciate it. Yes, listeners, today we have a very special guest, um, Anila Nicklos. We would love to welcome you here. Um, listeners, what does it take to leave your homeland, rebuild your identity in a new country, and transform that journey into a mission to help others rise? Well, today's guest, Anila, knows that story firsthand. Originally, from Tirana, Albania, Anila came to the United States carrying not just ambition, but courage, navigating cultural transition, language barriers, and the quiet determination to belong while staying true to who she is. That lived experience didn't just shape her path, it defined her purpose. So today, Anila is a leadership expert, diversity strategist, and community advocate committed to helping people and organizations unlock their beautiful potential. She serves as the director of strategic partnerships at ICare Mobile Medicine, where she builds strategic collaborations that expand innovative healthcare access and strengthen communities. We are so excited. Please welcome Anila Nicholas. Welcome. We are actually really, I'm been looking forward to this one. So thanks, Anila, for for agreeing to join us.

Anila Nicklos 4:32

It's such a pleasure and a privilege to be with both of you today. I'm honored. Yes.

Shireen Botha 4:39

Absolutely. Um, your story is very inspiring. So I'm excited to get a little deeper on that. But first of all, uh it's the part right in the beginning where us little crime enthusiasts like to chat about some of the true crime that's going on right now, right? I love it. Tanya loves it. We've just we're always in it. You know, we want to know, we know we want to know the latest. But this one's quite interesting. And I'm actually wondering by the the last name of um this gentleman, he sounds Afrikaans, South African Afrikaans, which is quite strange. I'm interested to actually see uh where his history lies. But nevertheless, sorry, I uh digress. So the case that I want to talk to you guys about today is the Koenig case. Um, it's a high-profile attempted murder trial in Hawaii involving Maui anesthesiologist, Dr. Gerot Koenig. So, not his last name, it's his first name. Gerot is very Afrikaans in South Africa. So that's why I wondered. So the incident. During a birthday hike on Oahu's Pali Puka Trail, Gerot allegedly attacked his wife, Ariel Koenig. Prosecutors claim he tried to push her off a cliff, attempted to inject her with a syringe, and struck her with a lava rock. Two hikers intervened after hearing her screams, and Herot was arrested following an eight-hour man hunt. So the charge is a second-degree attempted murder, uh, because she's still alive. Um, the prosecution argues the attack was premeditated, citing a FaceTime call where Herot allegedly told his son, I tried to kill Ari, his wife. Defense claims self-defense, arguing Ariel attacked first after being confronted about alleged affair. Current status, um, it's March now, so I think it's ongoing. In fact, I think it's come to an end. I must actually check today and see where we're at with that. But um so my question to you, ladies and to the listeners, is the trial hinges on what happened in total isolation on that trail, right? So if you were in a situation where it was just your word against someone else's with no witnesses, what's the one thing about your character that you'd hope would convince a jury you'd be telling the truth? Who wants to go first? Tanya, do you want to want to answer that?

Tanya Scotece 7:18

Sure, sure. Yeah, so I've been following, um, yeah, I've been following it from from its inception. And for me personally, I think, you know, the integrity piece, as far as, you know, people that know me, um, as far as you know, my close, intimate circle of friends, know that I don't exaggerate and I don't embellish, so it's pretty factual. So I think, you know, if you have a close circle of friends, whether it's one, two, three people, or maybe even a couple of more, I think the consistency amongst what I would relay is not does not differ from person to person. So, therefore, if it was, for example, like me in her situation, let's just use that as an example. I think if they surveyed my friends, the information would be consistent. Now, of course, with friends, you know, there may be some friends that you either confide in more or family members or whoever you choose to adopt as family, but I think that would be consistent. So, again, the information may be given more or less depending on how close I am with the folks, but I think it's not gonna differ. So, for me, that's what I would base it on, would be the integrity piece, and um the information would be consistent. Also, um, I from you know, this specific case in particular, I just feel that, you know, when you are alone with a perpetrator, it is your word against the other person, right? And there literally it's like two sides to every story, two sides to every coin. Um, you know, the old adage is it's well the truth is somewhere in the middle. So for people who know me, I feel that my my truth is is somewhere in the middle. I will give the other party as much leeway, but I don't embellish, so I think that would be my um my answer to your question, Shereen.

Shireen Botha 9:13

Good answer, Tanya. I love that. Um Anila, what about yourself?

Anila Nicklos 9:19

Yeah, that was a good answer, absolutely. Very thorough, Tanya, as always. Um I I think uh I would you know uh connect with what Tanya shared. You know, the integrity piece is very important and the consistency is very important. Um what comes to play, I think, to what happened in the in the isolation is also taking in consideration that this sort of interaction amongst them had been brewed, starting with the incident. And so I believe the emotional part of the entire um you know experience that they were having with one another, it sort of culminated in this isolated environment. And being in an isolated environment like that, and then trying to see how I could tell my story being with one person, and it's he said, she said, um, I would probably go back to also looking at what is my um sort of uh, you know, um what do people say about me when I'm not in the rooms? How do they feel about me? What kind of impact have I made to others? What are all these external um you know um connections that I have and people that I work with, that I interact with, what do they think about me? Am I being consistent with my values? Am I being consistent with how I live my life in general? So I think integrity is absolutely number one. And then also uh, what do other people think in general about you as a person? What sort of legacy have you left um, you know, with your actions, with how you contribute to others in their life in their lives? Um so one thing about this um particular case that I had the opportunity to also listen to one of the interviews when Mr. Koenig was um talking about um how did all these things come together from the inception all the way to where they are right now. And uh I think one of the things that um brought them to the isolation piece and what happened in that is that uh for my uh knowledge, I don't think they addressed the psychological impact of what was happening in their life and they brought them to that situation. For me, I would choose to have uh taken action to um make whatever incident or accident or conversation or fight uh not get to that level to begin with, and find resources, reach out to our friends, reach out to our support, reach out to our family so that we don't get to get to that particular um you know stance where where they had to resort to that.

Mother Teresa Quote And Small Love

Shireen Botha 12:45

I love that. That's so true. Um and I love that answer, Neela. I think for me it's the angle of nothing to gain. You know, at the end of the day, I would hope the jury sees that I have zero motive to to lie, um, and that my character is, which again would be from friends, colleagues, family members, that you know, they know that my character is built on being someone who owns their ugly truths. It's just always been me. So um, yeah, I'd hope based on that, simply that um they would they would think I've absolutely you know no reason um to lie about the situation. But yeah, it's quite an interesting case. Um so thank you for your input, ladies. Uh I really appreciate that. But um let's move on to the quote of the the day, uh, which was given to us by Anila herself, and we love our quotes because everyone needs a little bit of inspiration, right? I think everyone's used to us every single month. We have quote of the day, and it's important because no one can go through life without encouragement, inspiration of some kind to keep going. We're living in quite a treacherous world. We're going through some serious things in this world, and I think it's only natural and human to um want to give up and to lose hope. And um, so our quotes of the day are here to inspire you to keep going, um as well as the stories of our guests, but more importantly, it's the quote to remember, it's a catchy quote so that you can continue taking it on into your day and into your week to come. So today's quote is actually from Mother Teresa. Um, not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love. Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love. So tell me, Anila, what does that quote mean to you? Um, we'd love to hear it.

Anila Nicklos 15:06

Absolutely. And I think I would love to start by saying that uh Mother Teresa is of Albanian blood, and uh I find out that some people do know that and some people don't, but it's such a prideful moment for us as a country to have uh someone of the stature of Mother Teresa to represent um one of our main traditions and one of the main things that Albanians are known of, which is hospitality. Our house is the house of God and guests, and so having Mother Teresa doing just that, giving up her life as let's say as a citizen, and yet she chose a complete different path, and she became a nun and she rose through the ranks into the Catholic Church inspires me immensely. So when I look at Mother Teresa, I see from the years that I was able to connect, you know, via TV and the information and the media, because we were not allowed in our country to even know what was going on around the world. We didn't know up to a point that Mother Teresa was out there and doing great things. So, one of the things that Mother Teresa has done that I personally have a know is that one of the bishops in the Catholic Church was invited to reach out to Mother Teresa and tell her that they had an endowment in the amount of, I believe, $300,000. And they they wanted her to take this uh fund and put it into use, into great use in Calcutta, where she and her sisters were praying every day, were begging every day so that they can make the life of others who were underserved a bit better. So it's a beautiful story where Bishop the Bishop keeps going back and forth with Mother Teresa, and Mother Teresa says, No, I'm not taking that money, thank you very much. We are we have our sisters, they go to beg for money every single day. That's how they keep themselves committed to their mission and what they're doing, to their purpose. And I it just struck me so much. And then when I read the quote, I was even more connected with her because I knew what it meant. They were doing great small things, but with great love. They provided love to people who may have never experienced love, whether through parents or through siblings or through others that supported them. So a support system, I should say. And uh having Mother Teresa be able to provide that sort of kindness and love and support to people that were not seen by anyone else, it just gives me so much inspiration. And I often use the quote because I think there's so much to be gained by just going deep into that quote.

Tanya Scotece 18:31

It's beautiful, beautiful, Anila, beautiful. Thank you, thank you, Tanya.

Immigration Identity And Writing In English

Shireen Botha 18:36

I think uh you're very uh well spoken, Anila. I don't know if anyone's told you that before. Uh so it's lovely to hear you um tell us that story. And I actually didn't know that about Mother Teresa this, so that's very cool. Um so one of the questions I have to you to kick it off, let's just get straight into it. Um, you've spoken about the quiet determination to belong, right? Looking back at your journey from Albania, what was the hardest part of your identity to translate into a new culture?

Anila Nicklos 19:16

I think there were several. As you can um, you know, imagine when someone moves from another country overnight, they lose their support system, they lose their identity, they're in culture shock, they're disoriented. Um one of the hardest things that I I think I have come around the corner with that would be my writing. So when I moved to America, I had started to to be published already in Albania, and I had thought about becoming a professor of literature, and then also write uh critical articles, you know, about literature, about authors that were so close to my heart that that was my journey. And so I had started to be published, and I remember my mentor said to me about uh the particularly one of the short stories that was published in the the most prestigious literature magazine in Albania. Um, we we go to the the club, to the literary club to have tea, and then one of the uh famous authors comes to me and he shakes hands with me. And I was like, why is he shaking hands? Uh he doesn't know me. So my mentor said, Anila, he loved your short story. That's why he's shaking hands with you. So I had just prepared myself, I had been doing work in that direction, and then I moved to America, and then no one can read my short stories. Apparently, Americans don't read Albanian. And so then this became the part that I had to reinvent myself. What was that other thing? What was that other career that I can transfer my skills and still be, you know, um where I want to be in a very good position uh in terms of being successful. And so that was the hardest part. Ever since then, I was the publisher the editor of the Albanian American newspaper in Cleveland for seven years. So I wrote journalistic art articles. Um, I wrote in Albanian, but I also started writing in English. And I remember in 2004, 2005, I had invited my mentor who lived in Albania, um, an amazing human being. I had invited him to visit Cleveland. And then I became his agent, in quotes, to represent his work and um connect him with the artistic world in Cleveland. I wrote articles about his journey as well. And then he said to me, he said, Anita, I love the way you write the articles. And up to that point, I didn't feel completed, let's say artistically in a journalistic sort of article, because my passion is fiction. So uh I have to share with you ladies, maybe 10 years ago I started writing fiction and it's in English. And the first day that I was able to write that short story, I was so proud of myself. I was just like, you did it. You did it. And so that would be one of the hardest things, like translating my career into the new environment.

Part Two Tease And Closing

Tanya Scotece 23:01

Love so inspiring. Yeah, so inspiring, Anila, really. Tune in next week for part two from Friends from Wild Places.

Voiceover 23:11

You've been listening to Friends from Wild Places with Shireen Botha. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast from the links to catch every episode and unleash your passion.