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.

Brenda Urias

My upbringing as a child was not ideal and I was forced to deal with some difficult situations at a very young age. Instead of becoming a victim of my circumstances, I was very intentional in using these experiences to build my resilience and thrive versus just surviving in life. My resiliency has allowed me to choose to live my life positively and work hard at being successful in all that I do. Read more>>

Tessola Duncan

I would say I first got my resilience from my family and life experiences. I have some remarkable men and women to look up to and who have overcome a lot to place me in the position I am in today. I am always reminded to keep going no matter what and that failure is not an option. That being said, failure to me is when someone gives up. We don’t always win in this life but as long as you never give up, it is not truly a failure. I also come from a sports family, so we often use sports terms to characterize life. One important sports analogy that I keep with me is “pivoting”. While I may not always get the results that I want or hope for, pivoting to continue and find a way is important, it is how I keep going, and I don’t let any shortcomings consume me. I am also the oldest of three and as the oldest daughter you have to learn to be resilient and roll with the punches, it’s a tough birth order to have. Read more>>

Santiago Forero

My resilience comes from a combination of my passion for art and the personal challenges I’ve faced throughout my journey. Art, by its nature, is a field full of continuous learning and self-criticism. There were times, especially when starting out in a new country surrounded by incredibly talented artists, when I questioned my abilities and felt frustrated with my progress. The steep learning curve of 3D art added to this sense of overwhelm. Read more>>

David Atkins

I developed my resilience starting at a very young age watching my mother support and raise two young boys after the death of my father. My other siblings had already progressed from the nest. Experiencing her courage, persistence and consistency inspired me over the years to model the behavior in which I positively benefitted. I knew my mother’s world had changed and she was gracefully figuring out how to navigate this new space all while her two youngest boys were watching and making life choices based on everything they were exposed to. Read more>>

Vernon Blount

At many points in my life, I’ve had to confront the reality that if I am to rise to the calling of greatness on my life through my gifts, I must embrace the pain that comes with change, loss, growth, and surrender to something greater. Read more>>

Valerie Lane

Story-work…I am naturally equipped with a desire to examine myself, my human conditions, my spirituality and connection to something larger. I seek joy and happiness and it is through that lens that I make all work and life decisions…well, I try at least. When I feel stress or overwhelm, I work to remind myself that if I’m having fun, work doesn’t have to feel so bad. Self-examination requires a willingness to face hard truths and make effort to improve. That requires a sense of humor. Hearing criticism, whether it come from within or from outside, there is a moment of denial or pain that needs to be felt and recognized but then we must swiftly move past that emotion in order to find the value that can come from doing hard things. I like to think I am unique in my thinking. I am trying to disrupt my industry just a bit – I disagree with the norms in my industry and I seek ways of improving the difficulties. I work to create efficiency and ease for people and that has required confidence in my knowledge, in my past experience, and in the decisions I make each day. Confidence is different than hubris, it is not unfounded, it is not from the ego. True confidence is baked in honor of my past and all experiences leading to this moment. Giving thanks to all the long stressful nights, to the frustrating days, and mostly to my past self for getting through it so that I can now enjoy the freedom of creating a healthy balance in my life today. Resilience is trust that I am headed in the right direction, that I have a bigger purpose that is not always perfectly clear to me, and that I am doing the right thing. Read more>>

Kirsten Sandoval

I’ve been through a lot in my life – my kids and I started our lives over with the help of a domestic violence shelter, I donated my kidney to a family member, and both of my kids have a rare genetic cancer syndrome, discovered when they were in their teens. I think my resilience in business comes from my past and knowing that if you just keep moving forward and taking one more step, you’ll find yourself on the other side. Sometimes its days, sometimes it takes years, and sometimes it may feel like it will never get better, but I believe there is always something good to look forward to. Read more>>

Meagen Svendsen

I don’t consider myself to be very resilient. If I believe the definition in the dictionary, then I am the opposite. I am deeply sensitive, vulnerable, and I have a hard time with sudden change. At the same time, I have always had a very high tolerance for risk, a deep passion for learning and a love of adventure, so I have had to learn how to adapt. But it never comes easy. Read more>>

Dareel Sco

My resilience comes from the struggle I endured throughout my 20s where I was a father of two making little to no money.
I remember spending my last on diapers and formula over and over again.
Long and sleepless nights were frequent.
I rarely had time for myself or my girlfriend. I was in a state of depression.
As hard as it was to maintain my mind I vividly remember that my heart was always pointed towards a solution. I think that’s what saved me from really damaging myself or the people around me. Read more>>

Brooke Lynch

I believe my resilience just naturally comes from within And most likely from watching my Mom throughout the years. Growing up as the oldest with three siblings in a non-traditional home started my path. My parents were divorced at the age of three both remarried and had more children. I lived full-time with my mother who basically was a single mother all of our lives and up until the age of 15 would visit my dad and his family every other weekend. Growing up I had the responsibilities of a spouse, babysitter, mother, sister, caregiver etc as far back as I can remember and most likely starting at the age of 12. Read more>>

Naomi Darling

From my grandmother and my mother. My grandmother was orphaned at 11 years old. She survived Indian boarding school. She developed coping mechanisms that weren’t healthy but necessary for her to survive. She raised my mother by herself and was a single working mother. My mother is in recovery. She went back to school late in life and with the help of my grandmother was able to change her life. She was able to graduate with a Master’s degree in Social work and she has worked serving the native community. My mother has survived cancer twice. Witnessing the strength of my mother and grandmother has taught me to be self-sufficient and resilient. Though trauma is intergenerational, resilience is as well. Read more>>

Paul Thornton

“… you will be dead in six months.” Those were the words stated to me by a neurosurgeon in May 1985. I was 29 years old and up until that moment life had been wonderful. I was a rapidly rising executive at one of the world’s largest companies. I had recently purchased my first home in the suburbs; was married to my beautiful childhood sweetheart, and had two adorable daughters, one six and the other a newborn. Life as I knew it was about to drastically change. I had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor. The next day, a Friday, after the doctor made his inartful comment (I guess the look on my face and my questions suggested I was not agreeable to having the tumor removed), my family and I went home to NY. I was able to see a doctor there on Saturday. By Monday, I was admitted to the hospital and a week-and-a- a half later underwent 12-hours of brain surgery. The consequences, some temporary and some permanent were devastating. I was quite depressed for months and my self-esteem was shot. Then I decided to take control of matters and purchased a business–a video store. That was the beginning of the rest of my life! My business grew to three states and I was in the home video, and variety retail business for 23 years, and have been an entrepreneur ever since. In 2016, I published an award-winning book about my story of resilience. Read more>>