In our building blocks of success series, we tackle the various foundational blocks we believe are essential for success. Resilience is near the top of the list, because pursuing greatness almost always means you will face losses, mistakes and tough times along your journey. The ability to bounce back is so critical and we hope the stories below will inspire you to dig deep and discover more of your own resiliency.
Osungu Szpenalowski
I know that this might come off as egotistical but I truly do get my resilience from my father and life in general. As a little girl, I watched him work so hard in building a successful career for an American oil company in Cameroon, but then losing it all. He then decided to start his own medical billing company about a year later which so happened to be the best decision that he made for himself and for his family. His resilience and determination has inspired me to want more out of life and to never give up on myself. Read more>>
Michelle Johnson
My resilience is derived from the memories of my grandfather, grandmother, and the legacy all my ancestors who survived the transatlantic slave trade and Jim Crow. My resilience comes from understanding that I am in this world but not of it, drawing immense strength from my spirituality. Read more>>
Lereca Monnik
From my earliest years as a young girl, I clung steadfastly to my dreams, even when confronted with formidable challenges. My family bore the weighty consequences of the war on drugs, an enduring struggle that continues to impact my cousins today. By the tender age of seven, I had already weathered all ten adverse childhood experiences, navigating a landscape marked by persistent abuse across physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual realms. In the midst of these adversities, I often found solace in daydreams that painted a picture of a brighter, more promising future. Read more>>
Montreece Payton-Hardy
I thrive in adversity. Health challenges, life-threatening pregnancies, divorce, losing most of my eyesight, then all my assets and employment led to depressio and three suicide attempts. Inspite of waning mental health, my faith in God is the foundation of my strength. It is also the root of the closest relationships that make up the strong support system that includes my kids, sister, mom and closest friends. I am grateful my loved ones remind me that my character is dripping with persistence, determination and adaptability. Read more>>
Felicia Linsky
Where does my resilience come from, my mindset and my sense of purpose, my sense of everything is figure-out-able and the ability to keep getting up no matter what life may have faced me with, be it childhood trauma, domestic violence, cancer or working in Hollywood as an Award winning Makeup Artist for over 30 years and working with narcissim and limited beliefs and strikes that have shutdown the industry it is my mindset and my recent surviving this past year through ovarian cancer that my perspective is the best is yet to come and I’m becoming the best version of myself and that these things listed before have simply been life lessons preparing me for my greatness so I can inspire many around the world with the message, “If I can do it so can you!” Read more>>
Sharon Baluku
It’s funny that I’m being asked this question, because I’ve often wondered where my own resilience comes from. I’ve come to the realization that it’s partly because of all the challenges I’ve faced throughout the years, but mostly because of my mother. I’m the daughter of an immigrant and one of seven children raised by a single mother, and she embodied and modeled resilience like no other. Read more>>
Christina Ramos
I think to be an accomplished artist, you have to be resilient. Surviving in the art world boils down to being able to be rejected on a regular basis and not giving up. In the beginning, when we start to take chances with our art, whether that means applying to a gallery, show or exhibition, we are going to experience rejection. At first that rejection stings, bruises our egos as well as make us doubt our work. You can do two things with that. Either you can give up, or you can take the attitude of “Ill show them”. Read more>>
Chloe Weber
My son Remy has an incredibly rare and debilitating genetic disorder called STXBP1, he is non-verbal, has cognitive disabilities, Parkinsonism like tremors, he didn’t walk until he was 6 and struggles with every task. Remy has shown up happy and ready to work for (nearly) everything I have ever asked of him to do therapeutically. Despite his challenges, he patiently pushes forward and happily dances at and small wonders of this world. If this child, with so many struggles, can give so much – I need to at least do my best to match him. Read more>>
Raioni Madison
Well, let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of practice! Juggling a young family, personal challenges, and leading a nonprofit can be a recipe for chaos, but I’ve learned to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Becoming a mother young forced me to grow up fast and develop a fierce sense of responsibility. My family’s struggles taught me empathy and compassion, and my mental health journey taught me the importance of resilience and self-acceptance. Every challenge I’ve overcome has made me stronger and more determined to succeed. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without these experiences, even though I wouldn’t wish them on anyone! Read more>>
Ann Alva Wieding
This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately as I have faced some huge challenges in my personal life in the last few years. Over and over again, I return to the place inside me that was instilled in me by my parents, grandparents and great-grandmother when I was young. I feel as though it is based on my heritage, epigenetics, life lessons and the unconditional love I received from them all. It taught me to care for myself as much as I care for others. It taught me to focus on the basics daily. And it taught me to fail, fall down and get back up and dust myself off and keep going. Read more>>
Rafa Aremu
I truthfully believe it’s contributed to not only to being a black artist in America but a black man. As I’ve traveled and read more in my later years, I’ve learned that the world operates on a hierarchical ladder based on color. It’s been the history of the world. Artists, who share the same skin tone as myself, have been known to knock twice as many doors as our counterparts in the art field for opportunities, which leaves us with a feeling of having to prove ourselves just to stand with other artists. But it’s something about the African/African-American (black) soul, through mud, exhaustion, and refusal, we keep going! It’s a beautiful thing to be an African artist. Read more>>
Simon Ojeaga
First what I will say if my resilience cone from where I want to be in years to come in my career and I know success is in the efforts also I don’t do anything half way, I go all in cause I know my technic takes time and patience so for me it’s like a state of meditation and mental conditioning for every piece of work that I emback on. My work ethics comes from the fact that I am a pragmatic person thus that’s why I enjoy reading and and listening to the meditation of philosopher Marcus Aurelius over and over again,my ethic is as simple as if you want something, you have to put in the work. Read more>>
Sheri Long
My resilience on this entrepreneurship journey has come from my faith. In knowing that I am never alone in my endeavors and that my path has been laid before me for whatever I set out to do has given me the ability to simply trust. When the works gets difficult, I trust. When the work gets confusing, I trust. When the workload feels like too much, I trust. Giving it up, allows for a clearer focus and the ability to know that all will work out as it is meant to play out. Someone once told me that faith and worry cannot occupy the same space. Therefore, every day I choose faith as one leads to peace and the other leads to panic. Read more>>
JahVelle Rhone
In 2021, my 5-year-old daughter received a stage 3 cancer diagnosis. She bravely endured 25 rounds of chemotherapy and 3 rounds of radiation, facing each day with unwavering courage. Remarkably, not once did she voice a complaint. On the contrary, she embraced profound optimism, expressing gratitude to those around her and radiating a greater sense of love. Read more>>
Stephanie Puchalla
My well of resilience is deeply rooted in a fundamental belief in myself. I’ve always recognized the profound significance of self-confidence; it serves as the bedrock preventing uncertainty from taking hold. We all grapple with patterns and beliefs ingrained in us during our formative years, making it crucial to shed those that don’t align with our true selves. Unshakable faith in our actions becomes a powerful propellant.
Resilience, to me, is not merely about bouncing back from setbacks but also about reframing them. Instead of immediately retreating in the face of failure, it’s vital to see it as an opportunity for learning and growth. Each experience, especially the challenging ones, is a lesson waiting to be embraced. Read more>>
Kristina Menissov
Hello Bold Journey! Thank you so much for having me on your inspiring platform! I did get my resilience when I had my son. I simply have no choice but to provide for and my son! It is amazing how much we can accomplish when not presented with freedom to slack and lay in bed giving into our intrusive thoughts. When on lower vibrations I believe it is actually helpful for people to not be presented with too many choices of what to do, so instead of overthinking I was putting my energy into doing something ASAP and it started working, and now I taught myself how to recharge if I feel too tired and ready to give up a project and come back with even higher percentage of wearability and resilience. Read more>>
Mercedes Ibarra
I believe I get my resilience both because of and in spite of my childhood originally. My parents are Cuban immigrants to the United States. They arrived here in the 1970s after immigrating to Spain for two years each (they met in Spain). They were my first models of resilience. My father survived three years in a forced labor camp cutting sugar cane in Cuba. He was sent there when he admitted at work that he was disillusioned by Castro’s revolution and planned to leave the country. He was not told when the end of his sentence would be. I only recently learned that my father was part of 2,000 men that were shipped away from on wagons from Santiago de Cuba on Christmas Eve. Read more>>
Oswaldo colina
Since I was very little I have the ability to imagine that my hands are a person, this allowed me to develop the ability to move my fingers as if they were legs. Read more>>
Tanisha Rodriguez
My resilience comes from the phenomenal Black women who raised me. I’m a product of a single mother who was raised my a widowed mother. I’m the first born, immigrant child who had to navigate a new country, school, socioeconomic status at 13. As hard as life was for me growing up, I understand now it built my resilience but I also believe that getting language, meaning therapy or spiritual guidance, also helped. Read more>>
Portia Shaw
Resilience is a great word – for me personally this comes from being knocked over and being adamant to get back up. Owning a business is my biggest joy, it is also the biggest pain in my ass. I try to keep a routine in my life to give me some structure and guidance, I don’t have a manager breathing down my neck, so it’s up to me to make sure I get through my to do list. Resilience for me comes from thinking about the result, and having tunnel vision to get there, don’t look left or right, just plough on like a train. Read more>>
Gina Noyce
From a young age I had to learn to take care of myself. My parents divorced when I was a baby. My Mom, who had primary custody of me, wasn’t home much, and my Dad only had custody of me on the weekends up until my early teenage life. Taking care of myself starting at such a young age and for so long really teaches you how to adapt to different situations. That instilled a mindset in me that I am in charge of providing for myself and if I want something it’s up to me to get it. Now I took that mindset and entered the world of tattooing. At fist it was very overwhelming but exciting. I have ran into numerous hurdles while tattooing, but nothing a little resilience can’t overcome. Read more>>
Jennifer Bolen
Origally a marketing and advertising executive, I began loopking for something more flexible after the birth of my twin boys. I became a certified home stager n 2009, helping clients ready their homes for sale for the least amount of money and with the greatest impact on speed to market, overall seling time and increased sale price. Read more>>
Deborah Liss
I could say that my resilience comes from my life experiences, especially facing challenges like losing my mother in 2016. These tough times made me realize my inner strength. Pursuing my passion for storytelling and art keeps me going. The support of my family and friends is my anchor during hard times. Every setback is a chance to learn and grow, and that motivates me to keep moving forward. Read more>>
James Caldwell
I get my resilience from people. When you least expect it, you will read or hear about someone who has gone through an incredibly difficult experience and come out of it better than before. Those are the stories we need to uplift more. Read more>>
Valentine Avoh
I believe my optimistic nature plays a significant role in shaping my perspective. I am convinced that individuals can accomplish great things as long as they exert effort, work diligently, and apply intelligence to their endeavors. It’s crucial to focus on your purpose and destination without being overly preoccupied with others’ achievements or the time it takes. With a lifelong career in fashion, I currently can’t envision myself doing anything else. This steadfast commitment also cultivates resilience, as for me, there’s only one plan—Plan A. Read more>>
Emiliano Castanon
Using the old theory of the glass half full, I tend to look at odds the same way. I’ll read an article about the slim chances of becoming a successful entrepreneur, or hear a relative tell me how only a very small percentage achieve the success they’ve always dreamed of. My immediate reaction is to think who is this successful 10%? Or in some cases 1%? They are just another human and the first step to standing apart from the other 99% is deciding you want to do so, believing you can do so. Read more>>
Ina Bochian
I get my resilience from the stories of my ancestors who came before me, Am Yisrael, translated “the people of Israel.” Given everything that has transpired on October 7th, 2023 and thereafter, the cry of the Jewish people as a whole is: “Am Yisrael Chai,” which means, “The people of Israel Live.” For years I wrestled with my own willingness to live and even my identity as someone who is ethnically Jewish but not raised religiously Jewish. Read more>>
NaChé Thompson
I get my resilience from every ancestor in my bloodline who endured unspeakable hardship and overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, paving the way for me to be where I am right now. Read more>>
Mocha C. Brown
My resilience comes from knowing that everything has a beginning and an end. I understand that tribulations will be faced; however, it is the fight to maintain my joy that helped my strength bring fulfillment. Read more>>
Irving Pedroza
In a way, I do not believe you develop resilience by choice. You develop resilience by confronting difficult situations and not giving up. I think not giving up comes from having something or someone to fight for. I developed it as a child by always feeling helpless. Always going through obstacle after obstacle and always feeling like I could not do anything to change a life of fear, poverty, isolation, and violence, until you realize, you do have that power. At first that power is only as small as a thought – a belief that you do deserve better and can get better. I believe resilience is a never-ending and lifelong journey. I was blessed to have both a belief and a someone (mother, little sister). Read more>>
Jennifer Young
My resilience has been forged over time through the numerous challenges I have encountered throughout my life. In the first grade, I underwent my initial surgery—a spinal fusion aimed at halting the progression of severe scoliosis. The recovery process required a significant amount of time in the hospital, followed by the need to relearn how to walk. Subsequently, I endured six months in a body cast, followed by a brace. While the experience was far from enjoyable, I was determined not to let it impede my enjoyment of childhood and friendships. Read more>>
Landon Loewen
My resilience in my business comes from learning to overcome the pressures and struggles of supply chain issues with the hot sauce industry. I have designed recipes that use readily available products and focus to provide an affordable price point on Hot Sauce for todays struggling economy. I am always trying to adapt to the ever changing economy of the United States while providing flavors from around the world. Read more>>
