With salami, provolone and Mozzarella, Angelo Galestro, also known as Cousin Angelo by his 111.9 thousand followers on TikTok, has brought the “BOOM” to Florida Atlantic University. 

Galestro’s journey toward success on the internet has allowed him to connect with local businesses and communities around the country. He explains what the best part of his experience has been so far.

“I think that’s one of the coolest parts about being online is that I get to meet so many business owners and cool people, and building up all those contacts and knowing all those people is really cool,” he said. “I always think that the more people you know, the better. You never know down the road how they can help you or how you can help them.” 

Galestro, a junior marketing student at FAU, started posting on TikTok in 2024 after reaching out to Andrew Befumo and his son, Eric Justice Befumo, also known as AJ & Big Justice, to collaborate for a fun video about FAU’s Atlantic Dining Hall for the duo’s “Boom or Doom” segment, where they rate different restaurants on a pass or fail rating.

“I thought they were really cool and fascinating. I said, ‘They do food. Why don’t I have them come to FAU, come to the dining hall, and make a video, and we’ll do a ‘Boom or Doom’ College edition?’” 

He says that although AJ Befumo quickly responded, nothing came about his idea until he ran into the father-son duo at FAU’s “New Era” barbershop, spurring the beginning of his “Cousin Angelo” persona.

The name originally came from Galestro and the Befumos’ Italian heritage, where he shares the common practice of calling non-family members “cousins.” 

“In the Italian culture, I feel like you call everyone your cousin. It can even be like a family friend — I feel like a lot of other cultures do that too,” he said. 

He explains that although they aren’t actually family, the Befumos’ still play an important role in his life. 

“No, I’m not really related to them — but at this point, we’re like family. I really enjoy it because it’s almost like a family away from my family, and it’s a really comforting feeling,” he said.

“We planned the date to meet at the dining hall, and we did the video. The next day, AJ calls me, and he’s like, ‘Hey, we think you’re a really smart kid with many cool ideas. Would you want to be part of the family?’ And going from there, I was like, ‘Sure, it’s worth a shot,’” Galestro said. 

The video would go on to garner 2.1 million views on TikTok, which forced Galestro out of his comfort zone, explaining that filming allowed him to become comfortable behind the camera.

“I’m extremely extroverted and a people person, but it’s so different [online]. In the beginning, it was very challenging, kind of awkward and kind of difficult for me to be comfortable with being recorded and just knowing that anyone could see it,” he said. 

Seemingly overnight, Galestro would go from being a marketing student to the world’s “cousin.” After a couple of videos, he shared that he began to realize that creating content was something he was passionate about.

“We were filming something over the summer in [New] Jersey, and we were at this steakhouse, and I thought to myself, ‘Technically, I’m at work, I’m eating food, having fun, filming myself, doing videos — this is awesome, I’m so grateful for this opportunity,’” he said. 

Galestro moved to Boca Raton from Staten Island, New York, in 2022 to attend FAU. He believes moving away from home allowed him to get to where he is today.

“It’s cool to start from the ground up. I feel like it’s easy to be in your hometown and be comfortable, being used to mom and dad doing stuff for you, but I think it’s really important when you take that step of going to a completely new town that you don’t know — I feel like that’s when you really grow as a person and develop,” he said.

Convincing his parents to move out of New York, he explains, was initially difficult. 

“They almost didn’t even take it seriously. They said, ‘You’re crazy, you’re not going to Florida.’ They were very worried about me being very far away and, God forbid, if something happened to me,” Galestro said. 

After demonstrating his determination to move and take a step towards a new life, he made the move, joining FAU in August of 2022. He shared that he isn’t sure he would create content today without this move.

Alongside his career on social media, Galestro hopes to become an attorney after graduating, a goal he has had since starting his work as a file clerk for Kuharski, Levitz, and Giovinazzo Law Group (KLGLG) in Staten Island. 

“I always thought it would be really cool to become a lawyer because I have a passion for helping people,” he said. “It would be cool to help people when they’re in a rough time, whether they got injured or they’re going through a divorce.”

Alec Johnson has worked with Galestro at KLGLG for the past six years. Johnson shares that even though Galestro moved to Florida, he still makes an effort to work at the law firm when he visits. 

“Every time he’s coming back up to New York, he gives us a heads up and says, ‘Hey, if you want me to come in and do some filing, I’m around,’” Johnson said. “He always comes to our annual Christmas party. We can’t have it without him.”

Galestro started working for KLGLG in 2019 when he was a freshman in high school. He revealed that his work for the law group has allowed him to put his dream of becoming a lawyer into action.

Johnson shares that learning to communicate with others, especially through social media, is critical to any job, but especially for law. 

“I know a lot of it is telling your clients’ stories. I think a lot of the appeal on social media and having good storytelling, a good presence and a good welcoming aura translates into a lot of what we do as a profession,” he said.

Allie Palma is preparing to open VC’s Kitchen, an Italian-style restaurant, in Boca Raton in the Spring alongside her business partner Vinny Carbone. Palma shares that Galestro, who works as the restaurant’s social media marketing manager, helps to negotiate deals and market the restaurant.

“He’s giving us first-hand access to the negotiation side of things, and he’s been able to show us that there’s a wrong way and right way to do this,” she said. “He’s really just giving us a live look in addition to helping us hire people.”

Palma shares that although people may not care until you have a large following, Galestro embraced his skills and platform from the start. 

“Nobody cares until you have a following, but Angelo was like, ‘No, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to get paid for it, and I’m going to make this my thing, and I’m really going to embrace it,’ and it’s been cool watching him do that,” she said. 

Galestro shares that through his various experiences, he has learned that there is an opportunity everywhere and that no matter what, it is always worth taking the risk to start something great.

“Everyone you meet, everything you do could be an opportunity to do something great — whether it’s really big or small,” he said. “It doesn’t always have to be the biggest world-changing thing. Maybe you just made someone’s day in the smallest way.”

Gabriela Quintero is the Student Life Editor for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, contact Quintero at gquintero2022@fau.edu.