Nicki is a fearless and tireless reporter who has written many ground-breaking stories, be it covering a major social controversy or unsolved mystery. She also has a mastery of politics and public policy issues and would be a tremendous asset to cover campaigns or as a writer or content producer for media outlets or nonprofits. I had the pleasure of working with Nicki when I was on the Hill and she was always tough but fair, determined to help readers understand the stories behind the stories.

After our CNN story went viral, we had media inquiries from all over the world. We didn't expect or want it, so we declined everything. When Nicki contacted me, it was different. I could tell that she had a genuine interest in our story. She had already done her research, and wanted to tell our story in a more personal way. She stood out, and that's why we agreed to let her share our story in People. She was respectful and thorough — and by telling my daughter's story so well, she helped preserve her legacy. I will always be grateful for this. 

Jane Nicholls, People magazine former editor at large

Nicki is a rare journalist, both tenacious and empathetic. She is also highly principled — a quality that is sadly becoming less common in our industry. Her excellence is on show in her published material; behind the scenes it is inspiring to work alongside her, and always a pleasure.

Nicole Weisensee Egan is one of the best magazine journalists in America. See anything she does, from breaking Cosby stuff decades ago in the Philly Daily News to Brittany Maynard. Tremendous work for years. Keep your eyes open, readers. 

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Thomas Oliphant, The Boston Globe Washington columnist (Retired)

Nicki is a journalism super talent who comes along once in a blue moon.

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Michael Rosen, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network chief communications officer

I have worked with Nicole for a number of years in my role running communications at two different nonprofits and I cannot say enough good things about her.

She is a great reporter — thorough, immediately responsive, inquisitive, and accurate to a T — a wonderful writer, and a terrific journalist totally connected to the very latest in the field. The outstanding quality of her work speaks for itself, but I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Jane and Joe Clementi, Tyler Clementi's parents

After our son died from a much-publicized suicide, Nicki Egan worked with us in a respectful and caring manner and told the story with compassion, and accuracy in People magazine. Anyone working with Nicki should be confident in her professionalism and kindness.

Bill Cosby was one of Philadelphia's most beloved natives in 2005 when Nicki started picking at the lawsuit against him filed by now-famous Andrea Constand. She tugged at the threads of the story and showed that Constand was believable. She tracked down other women who had similar experiences with Cosby and, amazingly, got some to talk on the record. As far as I know, she was the first reporter to take a deep look at what then was a story few news organizations would touch. She returned to the subject again and again as she developed new sources and information.
That's a pattern that Nicki repeated on big stories -— part of what makes her the excellent journalist she is. She sees a good story before most people do. She learns what it takes to be an expert on the subject. She finds the right people. She's undeterred by those who won't talk or documents that can't be pried open by ordinary means. And she won't stop.
She brought the same tenacity and arsenal of skills to her ongoing series about Pennsylvania State Police, which she exposed as tolerant of far too many sexual predators on the force, and wrote about it until her stories forced reforms.
It's easy to see why people trust Nicki enough to tell their most sensitive stories. She's easy to talk to and she keeps an open mind. But beneath that disarming demeanor, one of the best minds in the business is piecing together the story the way it should be told.
She's an excellent colleague who makes everyone around her better and would be a leader in any newsroom.

Nicki is the most thoughtful and compassionate reporter our family has ever worked with.  On March 10th, 2016, our family began a heartbreaking journey as both of our young daughters were diagnosed with a rare neurodegenerative progressive genetic and ultimately fatal disease, Niemann Pick Type C1, sometimes referred to as "Childhood Alzheimer's." 

Nicki worked compassionately with our family over many months, giving importance to the tiniest of details of every aspect of our story and always respecting the sensitivity of how vulnerable and raw our emotions were.  Nicki covered our story thoroughly and accurately, interviewing doctors, therapists, friends and family members so that the readers and viewers of People magazine of the documentary shown on PEN could get a real sense of the difficulties a family faces when their two young daughters, and hence the whole family, face a road full of uncertainty.  Our family has chosen to live with a great deal of joy and hope and we believe that we can cure this disease.  Nicki was able to capture our families hope, joy, determination and resilience, while balancing those feelings with the very cruel reality of what we are facing and dealing with on a daily basis. 

There is no other reporter that we would want to tell our story and we hope that we have the opportunity to work with Nicki again in the future.  We have come to love Nicki as if she were family.  In fact, for many months, she was definitely a daily part of our family.  Our trust in Nicki and our respect for her work is immeasurable. 

Nicki and I worked together on many stories between 2014 and 2017 featuring terminally ill adults who partnered with Compassion & Choices to pass laws authorizing dying people to get a doctor's prescription for medication they can decide to take if no other palliative care treatment provides them with relief from unbearable suffering. Most notably, we worked together on an exclusive, record-breaking story about terminally ill Californian Brittany Maynard and her family moving to Oregon, so she could utilize its medical aid-in-dying law to end her intolerable suffering from brain cancer. Four weeks later, when Nicki reported about Brittany's death, Advertising Age reported it was the biggest story in People Magazine and Time Inc. history (see story at: bit.ly/1E8SunL). But Nicki did not rest on her laurels.

She continued to write emotionally compelling, sensitive stories about other medical aid-in-dying advocates inspired by Brittany Maynard's legacy, including her husband/widower Dan Diaz. Nicki is the consummate professional journalist because she is ambitious and wants to get the story first for her media outlet, but will not sacrifice accuracy or her personal and professional ethics to do it. I highly recommend her to any company seeking to hire a first-class journalist and writer.

I had the opportunity to work with journalist Nicole Egan on a number of occasions when a nationwide news story broke which involved murder or criminal investigations. At the time Nicole was working for People magazine, which had the largest audience of any American magazine. 

I enjoyed working with her as a journalist because I knew that my insights and statements would not be taken out-of-context. She quoted me honestly and focused on the subject of interest. A perfect example was the Long Island Serial Killer case where a number of alleged experts were all over the place. My quotes were right-on and proved to be correct. Even in controversial cases where my statements might have been misconstrued Ms. Egan got it right.

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Nicole is one of those all-too-rare writers who attempt to gather all the facts and tell the full, 360-degree truth of a story. I have known Nicole professionally for more than five years, and have come to trust her judgment, insight, and understanding of the reader. She not only sees the complex reality of a situation, but also sees what facts and information are most engaging to the public.

Her sense of journalistic ethics and integrity is bone deep. The first word that comes to mind when I think of Nicole is "pro."

I have had the pleasure of interacting with Nicole in her capacity as a senior writer for People magazine. She contacted me in my role as a criminologist who studies the wrongful conviction of innocent people and the factors that contribute to those errors. In discussing these miscarriages of justice and specific cases, I have always been impressed by her knowledge, professionalism, and skill as a journalist. I have found her to be absolutely trustworthy and extremely diligent in her work.

She also has a rare combination of formal education in both journalism and criminal justice, and it shows in her questions and her insights. In my 43-year career, she is one of the very best reporters/journalists with whom I have ever interacted. From my perspective, she is a great asset to any news organization or related field.

As a reporter, Nicki always came to a case prepared. She is insightful, and instead of just asking “What happened ?” she looked at a case and sought answers in a way that made me look at the case from new and different angles. Always a good thing when you’re trying a complex and high-pressure case.

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Rich DeSipio, former Philadelphia and Montgomery County, Pa. sex crimes prosecutor

Nicole Egan is the finest journalist I ever encountered. Her tenacious dedication to 

learning all aspects of a story or event she is covering is second to none. Ms. Egan has an ability to present a story in a clear and compelling manner so that the reader is both educated and interested. Ms. Egan approaches journalism with fearlessness and integrity. She does not unfairly advocate. Nicole Egan is a top national journalist because she uncovers, makes connections, seeks out sources, determines accuracy, and presents articles that the reader can rely on.

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Bill Colarulo, retired chief inspector, Philadelphia Police Department; police superintendent, Radnor Township (Active)

The first time I had the pleasure of meeting Nicki Egan was in the summer of 1998.  She was known as “Nicole Weisensee” and worked for the Philadelphia Daily News at the time, and she was without a doubt one of the most driven, highly ethical and tenacious reporters I’ve ever met.  She was also quite fearless, never reluctant to travel to where the story took her.  In fact, I was the commanding officer of the 25th Police District in Philadelphia; more notoriously known as “The Badlands” back then due to the drug epidemic and the high crime rate, and Nicki covered a myriad of dangerous and tragic stories in a concise and professional fashion. 

Years later I was promoted to inspector and became the public information officer for the Philadelphia Police Department, and my communications with Nicki increased to practically a daily basis.  I can tell you unequivocally that Nicki was the first reporter in the city to break the bugging scandal in Mayor Street’s office.  She was the very first reporter who contacted me with this information.  This was before I even knew about it!  She is a true professional and always covered her stories in a balanced and truthful fashion.

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I worked with Nicole when I was in the PR Office at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. People magazine covered many of our stories about missing and exploited children and children who had been found after many years.

It was always a pleasure for me to work with her because she understood the nuances to these stories. While she was always on deadline, she made sure to get the story right and to help find missing children by writing about them and highlighting their personal stories. I think Nicole is a top-notch reporter with a heart and she's great to work with.

Cathy Free, People magazine stringer

In more than three decades as a journalist, I have rarely come across an editor, reporter and writer more dedicated and talented than Nicki Egan. She is the consummate professional, always willing to go the extra mile (literally) for a good story and able to juggle multiple tasks in a way that leaves me in awe.
Nicki has been an inspiration and somebody to look up to in my life and I highly recommend her for writing and editing projects of any kind. Whoever hires her for their projects will most definitely not be disappointed.

 

Michelle Boudin, Reporter/Fill-in Anchor, WCNC-TV, People magazine stringer

Nicki is a top-notch editor, writer and journalist — period. She brought out the best in my writing and I used her writing as a standard to follow. She guides writers on using their own voice to make the story the best it can possibly be and I know my writing is better thanks to her expertise.

Susan Katz Keating, People magazine stringer

I have worked for Nicole at People for more years than I can count, but at least 10. In that time, she earned my respect and admiration for being a true journalist, tireless in her pursuit of truth. As a reporter, she knows what to ask, where to dig, and how to synthesize information into a story that doesn't just inform, but educates. She has the patience to take on difficult stories that unfold over time, and the quickness to tackle fast-evolving breaking news.

As an editor, she is a very wise head and a steady, steady hand. She supports her writers fully, and is both a gift and a dream to work for. She is an asset to any team that is fortunate enough to have her as a member.
 

Andrea Billups, Journalist, People magazine stringer and co-founder/designer at Be Brilliant Bags

Nicole is a reporter's reporter and editor. She works hard and expects others around her to deliver. Her expectation of excellence drives others to do their best. In an In an ever-growing world of clickbait posers and social media no-nothings, Nicole has actual grown-up news gathering and presentation skills - she can cover high-profile crime, courts and hard news stories as well as she can write an evocative feature – whether in print or in the digital space. That's to say she can do it all. She was a pleasure to work with, to collaborate with and to learn from. Her passion and hard work —  her sense of duty, fairness and ethics —  are something all journalists must continue to aspire to, even as standards in publishing and reader trust are at a low.

I felt very lucky to have worked with Nicole and give her my absolute highest recommendation. She is superb.
 

Diane Herbst, Journalist, People magazine stringer

Nicki is an incredible reporter, writer, editor and mentor who I've worked with at People as a regular freelancer for 12 years on scores of stories — including crime, human interest and breaking news —many quite complicated.
Nicki has the highest of journalistic ethical standards, and always goes above and beyond to get a story. Yet she does it with unique sensitivity as she makes connections, some with people undergoing tremendous trauma.
As an editor Nicki knows how to take charge of big, breaking stories as well as provide excellent edits to written copy to make it better. She quickly yet efficiently delegates duties and remains cool under tremendous stress. She knows how to motivate and support those who work with her, an invaluable trait.

 

Devan Stuart Lesley, writer/ producer, People magazine stringer

I have worked with Nicole since 2008 - she as a senior writer and editor, I as a freelance writer for People magazine. She is a highly competent and competitive journalist whose tenacity and high expectations of those she leads have helped me to improve my own skills. Her talent, motivation and attention to detail are unmatched. Anyone working with or for Nicole is privileged.

Nancy Dunham, People magazine stringer

I knew when I became a contracted writer for People that it would be a positive experience. I had no idea that it would be life changing thanks to the incredible editing and mentorship of Nicole Weisensee Egan. As a long-time journalist and editor, it's a challenge to find an editor who has the experience to truly guide and improve my work.

I found that with Nicole. She's not only an incredible editor and writer/reporter, but warm and personable — a joy with whom to work. Little wonder journalists clamor to work with her. I highly recommend her and will miss her.