Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our hope with the Portraits of Resilience series – we hope the stories below will inspire you to tap into your own resilience.
Linda Andrews
Resilience has been ingrained in my journey since birth. At just 10 days old, I was baptized due to a rare childhood illness. Then, at the tender age of 4, I faced an injury that could have resulted in severe consequences, including brain damage, blindness, or even death. Throughout my teenage years, I encountered various traumas that left me feeling abandoned by those closest to me. Despite these challenges, resilience became synonymous with survival for me; it became an integral part of who I am. Read more>>
Monica Moreno
I have had significant health trauma in my life from Crohn’s disease and complications from fertility treatments. It is also worth noting that if you subscribe to the psychological theory of inherited and epigenetic trauma, we could always have a stimulating conversation about two of my grandparents who were Holocaust survivors. Read more>>
Maicol Osorio
It’s definitely from my mother. Growing up, I saw her struggle in a new country (the USA), learning the language, raising me, getting her College Associate, and becoming an assistant chemist for a producer of health products for the US Military. Read more>>
Xianlong Deng
My resilience is rooted in my unwavering faith in God and the unwavering support of my cherished loved ones. As a designer, navigating the challenges of extensive overtime, intricate design dilemmas, and the quest for innovation can often be daunting. In moments when I feel overwhelmed and on the verge of giving up, I turn to prayer to God, seeking solace and strength from the faith. Read more>>
Jason McClaren
My resilience has been shaped by a blend of rigorous military experience, deeply personal struggles, and a steadfast faith. The discipline and challenges I faced during my time in the military taught me how to tackle adversity head-on, while the personal hardships, such as the loss of my brother and growing up in a turbulent home environment, taught me the value of vulnerability and the power of healing. Read more>>
Marcela Marañon
I’ve gained my resilience from every struggle I’ve faced in life. Life is full of experiences—some good, some bad—and I’ve learned to quickly move on from the bad ones and embrace them. In moments when I feel like my world is falling apart, I remind myself to be resilient, knowing that these tough moments shall pass. I cry, I mourn, and I shake it off, always keeping moving forward. Read more>>
Remy Haynes
Resilience has built for me over time, by all the tiny baby steps I’ve taken to make my life better. Instead of giving up when things seem insurmountable, my mantra is ‘rest, then start again when you feel ready.’ Giving myself this grace period has made all the difference in my spirit not breaking but bending and then getting stronger for the next challenge. Read more>>
Cassandra Vega
I was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio – a small city resting on the border on Ohio and Pennsylvania, capping off the end of the rust belt. Those from the area will say that being an underdog isn’t just a circumstance, it’s a defining characteristic of our identity. There is also a genetic element of stubbornness that I get from my dad. If you say that I can’t do something, I’m going to do everything in my power to prove you wrong. Read more>>
Steve Diaz
I strongly believe that my resilience is cultural and instilled in me by my family. I come from a resilient line of people. My grandfather was a migrant farm worker who worked all his life to build and provide for his family. He was able to build a small generational wealth. A true Entrepeneur of his generation. Read more>>
Renata Hill
I’m a Chicago native who enjoyed the diversity of the big city, probably because my family also reflected it. My mixed Indigenous mother, abandoned as a child, and Polish-British father, a WWII camps survivor, spoke 4 languages between them, so English wasn’t my first language. They were trauma survivors who struggled with the profound impact of their lived experiences. Read more>>
Kenyatah Austin
When I seen this question I knew the perfect answer would simply be, For God has not given me the spirit of Fear but of Power, Love and Sound mind (2 timothy 1: 7 ). For as long as I can remember I have been able to draw inspiration for stories creating whole new worlds from the look of the way tree sways or a moment in a feeling I wouldn’t want to ever forget. Read more>>
FERNANDA Ferreira
I think my resilience and drive come from growing up in a single-parent household in Brazil. I started working for necessity at a shop at a very young age, 13, and wound up managing the store by age 15, then went on to own my own business at 18. Read more>>
Tiffany Ruffa
Life is not always fair, as Mom would tell us. It’s all in what you’re going to do about it. Little did I know, my parents took on jobs for which they were overqualified to bring food to the table. Growing up, I was especially unaware of my mom’s challenges as a Deaf woman in finding employment, let alone earning equitable pay. Read more>>
Shiloh Guay
Reflecting on my early years, I would have to initially credit my mom with teaching me how to be resilient. My mom had my sister and I in her early teens. We grew up poor most of our lives and my mom often held more than one job at a time. We moved around frequently and had to change schools each time. Read more>>
Mollyana Ward
Resilience comes from an innate sense of “survival of the fittest”. We all have traumas. We have seen both good and bad examples. We have to choose the type of person we want to be. I choose to be an “overcomer”. I have been this way from an early age. However, after having children and now grandchildren, I feel as though I am passing this on to them, therefore I want to be even more resilient. Read more>>
Teresa Maynard
My resilience stems from my unwavering passion for baking and my determination to succeed despite challenges. Being a working mom and entrepreneur, I draw strength from my commitment to providing for my family while pursuing my dreams. Every setback I face fuels my determination to overcome obstacles and build a thriving business. Read more>>
Ana Allen
I believe my resilience came as a survival skill early in my life. As a young child someone told me “when you smile the whole world smiles with you”. I took that statement literally. I understood this to mean you can brighten a person’s day by simply smiling at them. The converse also is true, when you simply smile, it changes your own mood too. Read more>>
Linda Kaye
Resilience came from having to fend for myself from a very young age. I came from a family that was not very attentive, which allowed me to develop the survival skills to live and navigate most of my childhood world. Read more>>
tiara williams
Hi my name is Tiara, @TOPTIERTIARA on Instagram as well as TikTok. I am an author of Kidd Kontent which you can purchase by Tiara Williams on Amazon. I have learned after receiving spiritual wisdom & maturity that once you make it to a certain level of success that doesn’t make you immune from problems, challenges, and obstacles. Read more>>
Dipali Dewan
Short Answer: Kiaan. Long Answer: Kiaan. Not a single day passes without learning a valuable lesson from my little munchkin. Whenever I encounter a roadblock, a simple conversation with him is all it takes to refresh and restart my perspective. Read more>>
Smita Netra
Growing up in South Asia, my upbringing was steeped in the values of hard work and perseverance. My parents, like many immigrants, instilled in me the importance of resilience and determination from an early age. In a region known for its vibrant culture and rich history, I witnessed firsthand the resilience of our communities, facing challenges with unwavering resolve. Read more>>
Cyrille Vincent
My resilience mostly come from other people stories . Presently, I am working on a documentary film about America’s first Black world champion in cycling. His name was Marshall Walter ”Major” Taylor. Major Taylor endured tremendous adversity with dignity and never gave up. Beyond making a film about him, he is a personal inspiration. Read more>>
Chelsea Cooper Braun
I think this is something that I’ve developed in small ways over time. Especially over the last decade of owning my digital marketing agency, CSC Strategic. But, stepping back quite a bit, if I look back to the beginning, it absolutely stems from my parent’s and the example they set. Read more>>
Felicita Felli Maynard
Resilience: the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness; It sometimes weighs on my heart how much resilience is a word used when talking about Black communities and other communities of color. Black women and fems hear it so often. Resilience, in my opinion, can sometimes be a way of silencing people and communities. Read more>>
Han Raschka
Resilience, to me, isn’t something I chose. I’m often looking back at difficult moments in my life and seeing the quiet movement of my loved ones holding me up. Being resilient is not an individual experience, it’s not a singular, heroic effort. Read more>>
Rachel Harrell
I got my resilience from my determination to succeed. Throughout college, I experienced many setbacks. Freshman year I was in an abusive relationship. This relationship consumed my life and destroyed my sense of self. Once I left this relationship I was determined to reinvent myself and to keep pushing. Read more>>
Lynne Vertannes
My parents and my life experiences. My dad was an entrepreneur before his time, coming to Australia from Italy at the age of 17, with no English and second-grade schooling only but overcame huge odds to become learn English and become a very successful builder. My mum was forced to dance by her mum. Read more>>
Zach Norman
Looking back, I’d say that resilience has mostly been instinctual for me. It’s not that I never lose motivation or lack humanity, but rather that I need to channel the energy of my drive and creativity. When I was younger and developing, this manifested as a discontentment with doing less than I knew I was capable of. Read more>>
Samoya Shannae
I developed resilience from a young age of surviving childhood abuse in my foster home and having to navigate through life on the streets of South Central on my own without the protection of an adult. I had to stand up for myself and create my own voice and it’s something that I carried with me throughout my life. Read more>>
Renee Washington
My resilience stems from overcoming obstacles in my life. I grew up without a relationship with my father. In my first year, I flunked out of college. I have battled depression and anxiety. My dream job turned into a source of relentless stress. As a Black woman in a leadership role, I encountered a considerable amount of adversity. Read more>>
Dominique Dobransky
From an early age, I knew that I wanted to become a professional dancer, and that I wanted to live in the bustling, challenging, and colorful world that is New York City. I am very lucky to have an incredible family and support system who nurture those dreams and have raised me with the belief that when you have a dream, you can achieve it by working hard, staying kind and grounded, and pursuing your goal with focus and heart, even if the order and path in which you achieve these dreams might involve a few plot twists and unexpected chapters. Read more>>
Kenya Reeves-Costa
I didn’t know I was resilient until I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease (rhuematoid arthritis) A year after I got married and 3 years into my new career, I woke up in excruciating pain, swollen knees and couldnt walk without a cane. Read more>>
Michael Drew
My resilience was definitely from my years in sport growing up as well as a very special few people around me, like my parents. Growing up I watched my parents give their all in everything they did, and even when it looked like failure or a “wrong choice”, they never gave up or stopped being great people. They have always encouraged me to keep going, to be kind to myself and that resilience IS the key to success. Read more>>
Stacey Heidler
I would say I get my resilience from my experience working in the field. I worked many years in crisis stabilization and learning not to take things personally as well as being able to recover quickly so I can continue to help people is important to me. Read more>>
