Noel Bagwell - Author
Noel Bagwell is the author of Lead Again: A Modern Guide to Resilience (2024) and How to Structure Your Business for Success (3rd ed., 2020). He also writes fiction, mostly steampunk, science fiction and spiritual fantasy, and in 2026 he published The Water Door, a short literary romance. To book Noel for a podcast, a speaking engagement, or a reading and signing, email [email protected].
From the Crucible,
Refined Work Emerges
In August of 2021, Noel experienced two devastating losses in the space of two weeks. Under the strain of the second loss, he collapsed with all the symptoms of takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or “Broken Heart Syndrome.” In the days and weeks that followed, he came close to death from the strain of grief and stress.
And then something amazing happened.
Noel hit “reset.” He met some wonderful new people, pivoted his life in a completely new direction, and started forging the tools to rebuild his life stronger than ever.
As he reforged himself with the help of his support team, he began writing down the lessons he was learning through his own recovery process. In time, he started coaching clients towards greater resilience, proving that those same lessons are just as useful for others as they were for him.
Those lessons, tested first in his own recovery and then with coaching clients, became Lead Again: A Modern Guide to Resilience, published on February 29, 2024, for leaders who have suffered personal or professional setbacks.
Lead Again
A Modern Guide to Resilience
The book behind Rise Above™ resilient leadership coaching
Noel wrote Lead Again from the lessons he learned recovering from serious personal and professional setbacks. He calls it an “in case of emergency, break glass” guide to going from setback to comeback. The same principles shape Rise Above™, Counsel & Clarity’s resilient leadership coaching, where clients use them to work their own way from setback to comeback.
Read the first chapter free and learn more about Lead Again.
How To Structure Your Business for Success (3rd ed.) (2020)
For seven and a half years, every month, Noel taught the legal component of the Boots to Business workshop at Ft. Campbell, KY. Unfortunately, the presentation materials provided to the veterans learning about entrepreneurship, in that workshop, contained many legal inaccuracies. So, Noel wrote his first non-fiction book in an effort to provide more accurate information to the veteran entrepreneurs who went through the course.
Published in 2020, How To Structure Your Business for Success is essentially a crash course in entrepreneurship law for start-ups and entrepreneurs in under 100 pages. It's an intentionally fast read that covers the basics of business formation, contracts, intellectual property, and a few other topics (like how to approach hiring a business lawyer without being taken advantage of).
This book is still available on Amazon and from other fine booksellers.
Fictional Works
Since 2011, Noel has been working on a series of steampunk novels set in a fictional world. For a variety of reasons, these books have yet to be published. The only part of this work that has been published is a short story called “Deadeye Winstead.” The working title for the series is called Ætherworks. There is currently no publication date available for these books, despite much encouragement from friends to “just get it out there, already.” Noel continues to tinker with it, and will publish it when it's ready.
In 2024, Noel was inspired to start planning and writing a four volume spiritual fantasy series exploring certain philosophical and theological themes through the lens of paranormal events in a fictionalized earth. Like Ætherworks, these books will be published when they're ready, and no publication dates are currently available.
In January 2026, Noel published The Water Door, a short literary romance, on flicker.press. It is the story of Pietro, a gondolier in Venice, and the love that shapes his life. Read The Water Door on flicker.press.
Other Professional Writing
For a couple of years, Noel sat on the Editorial Committee of the Nashville Bar Journal. While he no longer serves on that committee, a few of his articles were published in the Nashville Bar Journal.
Most of Noel’s other professional writing appears as articles on Substack, Medium and LinkedIn, or in online courses offered by several continuing education providers.
Writing Online
Noel publishes his essays and podcast episodes on Substack at Counsel & Clarity (noelbagwell.substack.com), where he writes about leadership, resilience, business law, philosophy and theology.
Praise for Noel’s Work
This is what people have said about working with us.
Ian Hendry
Noel gave a very prompt response to my inquiry. Very professional and approachable. He took the time to understand my business and the areas where I needed extra support to keep my company thriving. I recommend Noel for anyone searching for the right answer.
Karsten Ferguson
... I fully recommend doing business with Noel ... he is very straightforward and loves what he does while seeing others succeed. I'm happy that he has helped me ... and continues to provide me with knowledge and guidance. It is more than my honor to write this ...
Ryan Deeds
Noel is the consummate professional. He is a very detailed oriented attorney that truly cares about his clients best interests. He has been able to help advise me on many different aspects of business and personal legal affairs. He is very personable and his passion ...
Tom Herman
... In addition to being a strategic, creative problem solver, I have come to know [Noel] as a wonderful, caring person. It's actually a pleasure working with him (I've never said that about an attorney before). I truly feel more confident as a business owner with Noel on my team.
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