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.
Myra John
My mother instilled in me the unwavering confidence to tackle any challenge, no matter how daunting. From a young age, she taught me that adversity is not an obstacle but an opportunity to grow and prove my resilience. Her belief in my abilities became the foundation upon which I learned to thrive amidst difficulties, viewing each setback as a steppingstone to success. When I embarked on the journey of developing and running Myra’s Angels Foundation, there were doubts and fear, but it was her lessons of perseverance, courage and fortitude that served as my compass. Guiding me forward, encouraging me to never look back and leave those fears behind. My mother’s wisdom empowered me to navigate the complexities of leadership and inspired me to have a meaningful impact in the world. These lessons in life allowed me to face challenges head-on, turn obstacles into opportunities for growth and helped me to facilitate creative solutions to complex problems. In moments of doubt or difficulty, her words kept me focused on my mission, enabling me to push forward when others might have given up. This unwavering determination not only strengthened my resolve but also inspires my team to continuously work toward positive change in our community. Read more>>
Sandra Felemovicius
Born in Mexico City, I carry the rich colors and traditions of my heritage with me everywhere I go. Minneapolis has been my home for 32+ years, and I love bringing that energy to homes and business spaces here in Twin Cities and nationwide through my art. I strive to evoke a reaction through my painting, and it is this conversation between artist and viewer that has always fascinated me. Read More>>
Shristi Shukla
I feel that resilience, knowingly and unknowingly has always been a part of my personality. I have never been a conformist, I have never settled for truths that society throws at you right from your childhood. The more I knew people outside my home, the more I realised that I am a part of something bigger. In my friend circle, I have mostly been around artists, entrepreneurs, and I believe these are the people who carry the true resilience, I have been most comfortable around this group, as I always believe change is necessary, at least it helps you learning something new. Read more>>
Ashley Burns
When I think about where I get my resilience I often reflect on a moment right after high school when life threw me an unexpected curveball I had been accepted into every college I applied to, ready to take on the world. But when the time came, my parents told me there was no money to send me. It was a shock, a painful realization that the path I thought was set in stone was actually just the beginning of a long, winding road. I stayed home that semester, working long hours at a grocery store, often in tears, grappling with the reality that I had to fend for myself. That experience, though challenging, was pivotal. It taught me that relying on others would only get me so far-I had to be my own support system. I saved every penny, determined to make my dream of going to a historically black college a reality. And I did. I started at college, but the challenges didn’t stop there. Depression, loneliness, financial struggles, and family issues all weighed heavily on me, leading me to take a step back and reassess my path. Read more>>
Steven Anderson
My wife began to have trouble walking in 2003. The woman who had matched my steps for fifteen years and climbed Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks with our son’s boy scout troop, had what the doctors at John Hopkins diagnosed as primary lateral sclerosis. PLS is a degenerative neurologic condition, meaning the day she was diagnosed would be her best day, and the doctors told us to expect the weakness in her legs to be just a little worse every morning that followed. Her arms would weaken too, and the muscles that let her breathe and swallow. Read more>>
Robin Lindner
Resilience is rooted in my upbringing, where growing up with humble means taught me the value of persistence and creativity in the face of adversity. Without the cushion of financial stability, failure wasn’t just a possibility—it was a reality that we faced often. But instead of being discouraged by setbacks, I learned to view them as opportunities to discover new solutions. This mindset, developed from a young age, instilled in me the ability to adapt, innovate, and push forward, no matter how tough the circumstances. Resilience, for me, is about getting comfortable with the idea of failure and using it as a stepping stone to find different paths to success. Read more>>
Morgan Liptak White
My believe resilience comes from having a pretty intense childhood. I had to learn early on how to get through things without much support. When I look back to my younger years, I can’t help but to see a girl who never gave up. One that wouldn’t let anything stop her from moving forward. I see that same fire, that same dedication in myself today as a grown woman. Read more>>
Veronika Blanar
I think my daughter is definitely my biggest motivation, I think it would take me a lot longer to recover from difficult times if I wasn’t a mother. Apart from my daughter I have the most wonderful supportive friends, and I am constantly working on was to be, do and feel better. Over the years I’ve learned the tools and techniques of what works for me, and considering I’ve had very challenging few years, resilience is something that became a part of my daily life, and that’s actually pretty empowering. Read more>>
Peter Tatchell
My resilience comes from having found a way as a young boy to cope with family poverty and my stepfather’s brutality. Later on, that resilience was strengthened by overcoming the many obstacles and setbacks during my six decades of campaigning for human rights. I learned the hard way and followed Fred Astair’s advice when faced with failure and defeat: Pick yourself up, dust your self down and start all over again. Read more>>
Rhonda St, Thomas Rogers
Unfortunately, my resilience comes from having to overcome health issues during my career. A rare autoimmune disease and being a two-time cancer survivor have affected some of my previous career aspirations. There were times when I could not do my job when I had my autoimmune disease because my job was training new pharmaceutical representatives. Standing endlessly and presenting scientific information to inquiring young minds seeking knowledge was challenging. At that time, my manager realized that it was difficult for me to do my job and suggested I take a leave of absence. About two years later, I was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma that prevented me from being effective in my job further as a trainer and sales representative. It was challenging physically moving around, doing what I had to do daily, and attending my scheduled physician appointments, but I did the job. Unfortunately, when I tried to apply for a promotion to business manager, I was told that it could be a challenging job for me because my attendance was required daily. They did not need someone who would not be focused on being in the position regularly. Read more>>
Dr. Rigel Pinon-sloss
Hello! First and foremost, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story. I believe each of us is here to leave our unique mark on the world, and if sharing my journey touches even one life, it’s absolutely worth it. Read more>>
Westley Smith
I grew up poor in a small town in Pennsylvania. I had trouble learning in school. I was terrible at Math and spelling—still am—and a lot of people wrote me off as just another dumb kid who wouldn’t do anything special with his life. But what I didn’t know (nor did anyone else) was that I was dyslexic. It’s hard being dyslexic. You have to learn everything differently from everyone else. Read more>>
Dr. Debbie Palmer
I feel some of my resilience is innate. We are born with certain characteristics, some stronger than others. As we grow, we develop our characteristics further and our life experiences play a large part in this. I experienced living in a single parent family and this experience contributed to further developing my resilience. When we are challenged in life, it gives us an opportunity for growth. Read more>>
Adam Kirby
Nearly ten years ago, I died and came back. I was a newly minted UT graduate continuing my Spanish language immersion in Sámara, Costa Rica. Halfway through my stay, I got very sick. There was only one doctor in this little beach town, but he knew something was seriously wrong. It was more than just dehydration. He referred me to Dr. Manuel Rojas, an internal medicine specialist in the Capital. I went alone with no support. When I got to his practice, Dr. Rojas examined me and told me to immediately check into Hospital Clínica Biblica. Read more>>
Miss Julie Chapus
The honest answer is from my future students. After seeing the disparagement of trafficking victims in the social work field and seeing what little regard businesses had in hiring them after treatment, I knew there had to be a way out. These persons are stuck in a cycle of poverty with little chance of escape. My faith led me to take on the school endeavor but it’s the students who are trapped in that cycle that make me wake up every day and continue to fight this fight to open our school. It’s a vital, urgent need. Read more>>
Peter Benjamin
For me, resilience is reliably found in two places. The first is the creative process itself. Creativity is actually a practice of making something new in the world, experiencing success or failure (usually the latter), and repeating the process over and over in a way that cultivates skill, wisdom, beauty, and function. Creativity, for me, requires a well-ordered space to create something beautiful using cultivated skill, knowledge, and awareness. Creativity requires both untrammeled isolation, free from interruption and/or judgment of others, as well as constraint and a confident sense of the limits of the project a hand. In other words, creating requires a carefully calibrated balance of freedom and limitation. The iterative process of making something both beautiful and useful is an endless source of sustained resilience for me. Read more>>
