Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of most of the wildly successful folks in our community have exhibit an extreme degree of resilience and we’ve come to believe that if our goal is to help our community achieve great outcomes we have to help build resources and knowledge around how one can become more resilient.

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of most of the wildly successful folks in our community have exhibit an extreme degree of resilience and we’ve come to believe that if our goal is to help our community achieve great outcomes we have to help build resources and knowledge around how one can become more resilient.

Annie K

First I want to start off by saying, most people labeled resilient, likely didn’t ask to be. People who are resilient generally don’t go out looking for challenges, forcing them to overcome difficulties, thus deeming them worthy of a “resiliency label.” As many of us have come to know, a lot of the challenges we are faced with in this life, are often the same challenges our ancestors were presented with, but couldn’t overcome. It can sometimes feel like a Collective Karma, playing out and offering us the opportunity to overcome the obstacles those who came before us couldn’t. Read More>>

Bliman Carolina

The journey of launching my business, LiteNLife, has been a tapestry woven with challenges, discoveries, and profound personal growth. My resilience—the steadfast force propelling me forward—stems from a deep-rooted passion for traveling, sustainability and a commitment to making a tangible difference in the world. This unwavering dedication to environmental stewardship has been the bedrock upon which I’ve built both myself and my business. Read More>>

Tiffany Bishop

I’ve never been someone who accepts ‘no’ as a final answer. While no one likes rejection, if there’s something I truly want, I will move heaven and earth to make it happen. Resilience, to me, isn’t just about enduring hardship, it’s about adaptation, strategy, and unwavering belief in possibility.

I’ve always focused on appreciating where I am while staying hungry for what’s next. I believe that if you can feel it and visualize it, you can achieve it. My story isn’t one of extreme hardship, but it hasn’t been without its challenges. When I set my sights on event design, I had limited funds and no clear roadmap, but I refused to let that stop me. Instead, I leaned into adaptability—the first step in evolving. Read More>>

Rup Duhra

I get my resilience from my parents and their immigration story. They came to Canada at a young age, barely knowing the language, and built a life for themselves through sheer determination and hard work. Watching them navigate the challenges of being immigrants in a rural, working-class community taught me the value of perseverance, adaptability, and self-advocacy. Their journey inspired my commitment to ensuring that others—especially those from marginalized backgrounds—have access to the support and resources they need to thrive. Read More>>

David Coons

My resilience comes from surviving a lifetime of code-switching and masking, constantly adapting myself to fit into a world that didn’t make space for me. Growing up, I had to be hyper-aware of every action, word, and emotion—how I spoke, how I walked, what I wore, even the hobbies I picked—because being true to myself meant I risked not feeling safe or accepted. I was bullied for being different, for not conforming to the expectations that society placed on me. Read More>>

Rita Balian Allen

My resilience is engrained in me and comes from a combination of nature and nurture. I am an immigrant and migrated to America as a toddler with my father’s work. I grew up with a very strong work ethic and values that including being of service to others which was role modeled to me by my parents throughout my lifetime. I learned early on how important it is to stay grounded in your values as a guide. First, and most importantly, you have to know what they are and allow them to be a strong foundation of personal and professional empowerment.  Read More>>

Sam Gordon

My resilience is a choice that I recommit to every day; Sometimes I even have to recommit to it more than once a day. Grief and depression are extremely strong forces that have ripped so much away from me, but they’ve also made me stronger. I wish that weren’t the case, but it’s the silver-lining I choose to acknowledge. Two years ago, my dad committed suicide. It was (and continues to be) the most devastating and earth-shattering thing that could ever happen in my life. Read More>>

Jay “4g” Gathers

y favorite quote is….”life is a gift, that offers us the privilege, the opportunity and the responsibility to give back…by becoming more!” -Anthony Robbins

Being that I wasn’t an individual that was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I wanted more for myself. As an adolescent, I watched my grandmother struggle to provide for me and my siblings. In addition, I watched my peers enjoy other luxuries that my siblings and I were not able to afford. Seeing this, I always wanted more for myself and different opportunities from my circumstances growing up. I worked hard on my academics all throughout school and was an A/B student for a good duration of my high school tenure. Read More>>

Antonia Bain-pride

I got my resiliency at a very young age when I realized that I had to make sure that I took care of myself and my siblings when my mom worked and went to school. Read More>>

Wai Bee Lian

rowing up in a poor family with seven siblings, life was tough. We didn’t have toys, so my playtime was spent outdoors. From an early age, I learned to earn something for myself. As a girl, education wasn’t a priority in my family, but I was determined. My good grades helped me earn a spot at the local university. With the support of my sister and part-time jobs during semester breaks, I was able to pay for my studies. It wasn’t easy, but I learned resilience—how to keep going, no matter the challenges. Every step was hard, but it taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, and the strength of family support. Read More>>

Renee Huff

My journey into the horror festival world comes from a place of pushing through doubt and carving my own path. Growing up, my mom would often say, ‘Stop dreaming and be practical.’ It’s a phrase that stuck with me, but not in the way she intended. I never considered myself practical or someone who fit into the norm, and I found that I had to go against the grain in many ways to make things happen. I’ve always had to forge my own way forward, and it’s that experience of constantly learning, growing, and pushing forward that helped shape the festival. Read More>>

Marc Vandermeer

My Mother was a second-generation immigrant whose parents arrived in this country penniless. I was raised by a single mother who worked as an off-Broadway actress. This generation grew up in America during the Great Depression and the World War. We were poor but proud. My Mother refused to take a handout from the government and instead worked several jobs to get by. We lived on the Lower East Side of New York City. Read More>>

Karen Mehanna

I get my resilience from the trials of life and my faith in God, which assures me that things will ultimately work out. Living through wars has instilled in me the mentality of “get up, pick up, and move forward,” as I believe that the only way is forward. Along this journey, I have learned and honed my craft, starting with small favors for events and gradually expanding to include hair accessories and outfits for mothers and their little ones.  Read More>>

Jess Defeo

It’s interesting, this question. I’ve always received feedback that I am resilient and for a long time I saw that as a negative. Resiliency, for me, was cultivated and strengthened because it meant that I had gone through something really tough or traumatic in my life. For years this was the case, and I started to resent the word. Read More>>

Xavier Comas

I believe my resilience comes from my mother and my childhood experiences. As a self-conscious kid, I spent a lot of time exploring nature alone, deep in introspection. That solitude shaped my perspective, making me see life as an adventure—one filled with uncertainties, yet always inviting curiosity and the thrill of the unexpected. Read More>>

Monique Fulks

Honestly, my resilience is a true gift from God. I am a woman of faith, and there is NO WAY that I would have been able to make it through the many traumas, challenges, and difficulties I’ve have endured, without being grounded in Christ. I realized at a young age that I had 2 choices: to either give up and become a product of my circumstances, or to keep pressing no matter how hard things presented themselves to be. The Bible challenges us to “press toward the mark,” and I took that both spiritually and literally! I knew that I had to keep pressing because I truly believed that what was to come was going to be so much better than what had been. Read More>>

 Michelle Valdez-wilton

My mom! She raised four kids while working full time, while still cooking for us and making sure to spend time with us. She was the type of person never to give up and that is where I learned tenacity from. Her favorite motto when things felt overwhelming was how would you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Read More>>

Jamie Nadler

As a farmer, I have the opportunity and responsibility to work with plants all day. My resiliency comes from them. Truly, every metaphor you can think of about resilience or perseverance can root back to plants, for example, ‘plant a seed’ or ‘ stay grounded.’ This is no accident; plants have the capacity to be teachers. Read More>>

Zhen Liu

I’ve faced many challenges in my career as an illustrator, including multiple rejections and the difficulty of breaking into the “professional world”. At times, I felt like giving up, but each setback taught me to adapt and push forward. Instead of seeing rejection as a failure, I’ve learned to view it as a stepping stone. Every ‘no’ has pushed me to refine my skills, improve my portfolio, and keep going. My resilience comes from my deep passion for art and storytelling. I also draw strength from seeing progress, even in small ways—Read More>>

Udon Guild

I believe my resilience stems from constantly being told as a creator that my dreams were not feasible, and the world does make that true sometimes. The arts are REALLY expensive, and the ‘ticket’ that tells you that you “made it” is so difficult to achieve (that being said success is defined in the eye of the beholder and is different for everyone). However having the ability “to create” is free. I have this innate desire to make things all the time and sometimes I lose myself in it so much, I forget to think about it practically; That specifically is what bogs me down sometimes. Read More>>

Brit S.

I think mainly stubbornness lol, I don’t really care what people think of me. I have a lot of respect for the people I’ve been able to work with and I am extremely consistent in my work ethic.

I’ve taken lots of cues from people I admire who lead by example. There’s an anonymous quote I’ve always really liked that says “The fool tells you what he will do, the boaster what he has done. The wise man simply does it and says nothing” – I think there’s a lot that can come from self-sacrifice in work. Read More>>

Laura Halcomb

I find resilience within Myself, because of the unfortunate challenges
I have faced. I’m one of the most resilient Women you will ever meet. Not by My Life choices. But the choices that Life made for me. I’m a serial entrepreneur. Lost my husband and mom. 1 year apart. Same day. Survived cancer, and moved 4 states away all in 4 years. So to say I’m a little bit of a survivor as an understatement. Read More>>

Katie Prinsen

For me personally I think with my business my resilience has come from a fear of failure. When I first opened my coffee shop I took out a small equipment loan. While I knew that if my business failed I could probably get another job and slowly pay it off over the years, I also knew I would be so upset at each payment because it would be a reminder of a dream lost. I decided upon opening my shop I would do everything in my power to make it successful. In the 9 years we have been in business I would say we have been tested in almost every area including fires, floods, the pandemic, landlords breaking our lease with no notice, and still we stand! Read More>>

 Josan Callender

Resilience is the key characteristic for any type of success. No matter what life’s downturns may be it keeps one in the “game.” In comments by famous people in sports, academics, financial, and the Arts, I’ve noticed that many declare this single trait as the one factor that provided them with exceptional achievement in their life’s pursuits.

While none of us are born with this invaluable trait, many discover it through looking at the lives of others (biographies) or are taught skills related to it by their parents. I was blessed to have parents who were diligent in teaching this and other success-producing traits and am still in the process of learning how to use their life-lessons and examples. Read More>>

Vashti Breland

I get my resilience from several sources, but the most powerful one stems from being diagnosed with polymyositis during my junior year of high school. Polymyositis is an autoimmune condition that causes muscle inflammation. I was heartbroken and devastated because I had to sit out the most pivotal year of my high school track career. It changed the trajectory of what I thought I was meant to do—run college track. Read More>>

Shacora Daugherty

My resilience comes from great grandmother and grandma. It’s intertwine in my blood. They didn’t take setbacks or failures lying down. They taught me to be confident, never giver up and focus on what you can control. If you want something you have to put in the work. Read More>>

Traune Downing

My resilience comes from everyday life
Every time I wake up I see where I could’ve been and where I could be at the same time it all comes down to one decision at every moment so I try to be repetitive with my actions each day. Read More>>

 Solanyely Ruiz

I draw my resilience from the desire to fulfill my dreams: I am an immigrant and I discovered resilience when it was the only option I had to avoid failure. It was not easy to discover it, I had a long period of adaptation to conquer it. Read More>>

Melanie Johnson

Resilience

For years I saw myself as a broken person. It seemed that nothing I could do was good enough. I had been Valedictorian of my high school class, scored 27 on my ACT test, had offers from some of the most prestigious universities, yet it wasn’t good enough. I could do better. Read More>>

 Laurel

Resilience is something that takes a lot of time and persistence to develop. Looking back at when I was younger and growing up, I had some very, large dreams that I wanted to achieve. One of these dreams was to be the best piano player in the state of MN (which is very different from the flower farming and floral design I do today). Part of this dream was working extremely hard to get to be the best piano player. From the very beginning, I was good at music and piano; but I had so many people critique my playing abilities that ultimately pushed me to prove them wrong.  Read More>>

 Patricia Silverio

My resilience comes from a deep-rooted belief in my purpose and a genuine passion for what I do. As a destination wedding photographer, I’ve learned that every challenge is an opportunity for growth and that each wedding is not just about capturing beautiful moments but about telling a unique love story. Having an incredible support system around me, like my amazing assistant Maryjein, and the belief that I’m helping others document one of the most important days of their lives, keeps me motivated.  Read More>>

Francisco Antonio

My resilience is woven from the strength of my mother and the trials of my childhood. She was a single mother raising three kids on her own, with no financial support from our fathers or family, yet she never let that break her spirit. She worked multiple jobs, exhausted but relentless, determined to provide us with a life better than the one she had. Watching her push through every hardship, every sleepless night, and every moment of doubt with unwavering resolve, I learned what it truly meant to be strong. But life had its own lessons for me as well. Read More>>

Rodney Hughes

Resilience, for me, is deeply rooted in faith, purpose, and experience. My foundation in faith provides unwavering strength, allowing me to navigate challenges with a sense of peace and determination. I firmly believe that every setback is a setup for growth, and that perspective fuels my ability to push forward despite adversity. Read More>>

Amiana Patterson-woods

I get my resilience from a place of deep purpose—my faith, my family, and the calling I feel to create spaces where women feel seen, worthy, and celebrated.

As a mother of four—including twins—I’ve had to learn how to adapt in chaos, rise through exhaustion, and lead with love when I felt like I had nothing left to give. My journey hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been rooted in persistence and a decision to keep showing up for myself and the vision God placed in my heart. Read More>>

Jorah Saint James

I think I get my resilience from being a queer individual in a cis-heteronormative society. Sometimes I feel like everything I do, whether I like it or not, is political. Going to the bathroom is political. Getting my haircut is political. Pouring a cup of coffee is political. Living at a time when my rights are constantly up for discussion, I guess I’ve had no choice but to become resilient. Read More>>

Ellen Denuto

When I was a child, I asked the Universe to show me everything there was in the world – knowing even then that there might be things I would not want to see or know. I must have had an angel on my shoulder, for the times I found myself totally alone or in unusual or dangerous situations. Realizing that no one would know where I was to save me know what had happened, my resilience helped me found my way out.
So now when challenges and unexpected circumstances arise, I remind myself that “you asked for it” and find a solution. Read More>>

Suzanne Forte

My resilience is built on the foundation of my childhood, the unwavering love of my grandmother, and the power of writing. Like Langston Hughes’ poem Mother to Son, my journey has not been a crystal stair. I’ve faced and overcome significant challenges, defying the odds and breaking the cycle of adversity, including growing up with an incarcerated parent. As the first in my immediate family to attend college, I am proud to have carved a different path—one dedicated to storytelling, amplifying voices, and driving meaningful change. Read More>>

Pe Pinkman

Resilience, for me, isn’t something I recognize in the moment—it’s only in hindsight that I see how I’ve navigated challenges, not just surviving but often thriving. It’s like creating a work of art: while immersed in the process, I’m simply responding, adapting, and pushing forward. Only when I step back do I realize the depth of what I’ve endured and how it has shaped me. Read More>>

Renee Wilson

I was blessed to grow up on my family’s fourth-generation dairy farm in northern Maryland. As “farm kids” my sister and I learned a lot of life lessons early on – the meaning of hard work, integrity, the circle of life, winners never quit, and life isn’t fair are some of them. One of my favorite parts of my childhood was owning a black and white pony, which we joke “blended in with the cows.” I fell off of that pony more times than I can count and I was expected to get back on and try again. I try to apply this attitude to everything I do.  Read More>>

 Jay Trambadia

I believe my resilience comes from a combination of my upbringing, my experiences in team sports, and the long academic journey I undertook to become a psychologist. As a first-generation Indian American, I grew up watching my parents work incredibly hard in blue-collar jobs, often for long hours. They never complained and always instilled in me a sense of gratitude—reminding me that we had more than enough, even when that might not have been the reality. Their perseverance and mindset shaped my understanding of resilience—not just as enduring hardship, but as finding strength and purpose in it. Read More>>

Sam Ghanem

Initially I’d say I get my resilience, and many may agree, from my experiences in life.
Recently the word resilience has been redefined in my mind as yet another choice we get to make in our one big life… for me, last year represented a time of completely leaning into the unlearning and the undoing, the unbecoming in the best way.

I came to look at the letters I L I in the word resilience as “I live In” and it sunk in; I choose to live in resilience; that is, the undoing. Read More>>

Alexis Chandler

Where do I get my resilience from? Honestly it’s been a life long learning experience. I’m still learning but I’ve learned from situations I’ve been in and also from conversing with older people, they’ve been through everything already. I love talking to people in general you can learn anything. Read More>>

Chloe Carter

My belief in my creator and my purpose to help others on their journey to overcome has been the foundation for my resilience. However, in full transparency, resilience has sometimes felt like a cross I have had to bear. As a child facing death, divorce, mistreatment and being an emotional pillar for my family, I was still somehow able to hold on to moments that brought me joy and carry those with me through every situation. Read More>>

Danielle Oliveira

It certainly comes from God, from my family base, which is very strong and has always given me a lot of security and support for any adversity, from my husband and my children, who are the most precious thing I have. All these forces make me more resilient, ready to move mountains, that is, prepared for any adversity that life may throw at me, always with lightness and optimism that there will be something better the next day. Being resilient is being prepared and oriented towards continuous action in the search for favorable results in our life, whether personal or professional. Finally, I believe in my ability to overcome adverse situations and I have perseverance and self-confidence as my allies in this learning process. Read More>>

Elana Merzin

I get my resilience from a deep well of lived experience, inner knowing, and creativity. It has been shaped by the moments I felt lost, the times I questioned my path, and the struggles that forced me to rebuild. Growing up, I learned the power of evolution and reinvention, and that has carried me through every pivot in my life—whether it was shifting from art to social work, navigating burnout in the nonprofit world, or taking the leap into entrepreneurship.  Read More>>