A man that got things done.

            .

Introduction

I am still in a state of shock that Philip Galanis left us so suddenly. However, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t write anything about Mr. Galanis.

I met Philip through our mutual friend, Hon. Galmo Williams, a former politician and a former Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In 2013, when I left my position at Cable & Wireless as the CEO of Cable & Wireless, Hon Galmo contacted me, and I told him that I was establishing an accounting firm. He asked me to contact Philip Galanis. I reached out to Philip and within a few days I went to Bahamas, and I met Philip, the management partner of HLB Galanis. At that time, I was introduced to the HLB International family and as a result, HLB TCI was formed.

He was a professional

Philip Galanis was a Chartered Accountant, a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Valuation Analyst. He founded HLB Galanis (now called HLB Bahamas) in 1998. Prior to that he was the managing partner of Ernest & Young. He also worked in the USA before returning to Bahamas. He served in many different capacities in the accounting industry such as President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean and President of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants.

He was a senator and a parliamentarian.

Philip was not only an accountant, but he also served as a senator twice and parliamentarian in the Bahamas.

He was a writer

Philip was a writer, writing weekly thought-provoking articles in the Nassau Guardian under the title “Consider this”. He also wrote a book called “All Things Considered.”

Because of what Phil’s writings in the Bahamas, I was inspired to do the same thing in the Turks and Caicos by writing weekly articles in the Newspapers.

He was a great dad to his daughter

I have one daughter and four sons. All children are special but there is something even more special between a father and his daughter. Phil loved his daughter Zoe so much. I remembered him visiting the Turks and Caicos for a few days with his daughter because she wanted to do scuba diving in the Turks and Caicos. I admired the relationship he had with his daughter. We need more fathers like Phil.

He was impactful

Phil was very impactful. Whatever he said or did, he always made a lasting impact and impression on others. I supposed it was because he was very knowledgeable and intelligent.

He was a great mentor

Phil was a mentor. He has trained so many Bahamians in the accounting industry even making two young ladies Shoneva Abraham and Rae Turnquest as partners in HLB Bahamas. He was also one of my mentors. He was also involved in the community of the Bahamas.

He was a straight shooter

Despite his affiliation with his party, the PLP, he was not afraid to criticize them constructively and I believe more of us need to be like Phil especially when it comes to politics. Don’t stay quiet because you do not want to hurt your party.

He was a proud Bahamian

Phil was proud to be a Bahamian and he made that no secret. More of us need to be patriotic to our country the way Phil was to the Bahamas.

Conclusion

Phil has left a great legacy. I wish there were more people around like Phil. Trust me, the world would be a better place if there were more people like Mr. Galanis. Rest in Peace Mr. Galanis. You will be missed. I think about your everyday.  I just cannot believe you are gone.