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.

Celestial

This is what we are. It comes from our core being. The three of us spent decades playing various genre specific music. Celestial Navigation is a culmination of that experience, with a disregard for norms and pretexts. It’s a process: always learning, always growing, always seeking unique perspectives. Mass appeal and instant gratification are not our concern. Read More>>

Ruth

I think I have gotten my resilience from a long line of people in my family who have endured unspeakable things. My grandparents survived the Armenian/Turkish genocide of 1915. They met in an orphanage that was administrated by missionaries from a German Lutheran Church. They knew poverty, illness, hunger. And I know so little because they never wanted to talk about what their experiences were, likely because they were too horrible. Read More>>

Zach Wetzel

Failure is only failure if you give up. I have closed theatre companies and moved to new careers. But every step of the way I pivot and find new ways to use my skills for the good of mankind. I spent 6 great years as a music teacher. Recently I changed course to use my Juris Doctorate as an English language arts teacher. Through it all I remember that I am a teacher at the end of the day, and I love it. Read More>>

Elizabeth Duhig

Over the years I have been the founder of The Ground Up Project, I have gone through tribulations that have made me develop a deep sense of resilience. This resilience comes from a purpose that turns every sacrifice into a meaningful act of service. I also deeply enjoy all the involvements I am in, which makes it seem less like a sacrifice and more like an enjoyable task. Whether declining to attend social events to volunteer at my local hospital, or staying up late to sort through recently collected donations, I did everything not only out of sheer enjoyment but also out of a sense of purpose. Read More>>

Jim Feist

Hmm, I think to a large degree resilience is honed throughout life experiences. Please allow me to outline a few here. My father was an ironworker his whole life, and I adored him and wanted to be like him. I wanted this so badly that even into high school, despite having other interests, I decided I would enter the ironworkers’ apprenticeship after graduation. Back in those days, ironwork was much less regulated and safety-oriented than it is today. Read More>>

Mal Maher

My resilience was shaped by my parents who instilled in me a relentless drive and a deep sense of responsibility to others. In our home, max effort in everything was expected and excellence was the starting point. Score 30 in a basketball game, why’d you throw the ball away 3 times? Earn an A- on a test, why wasn’t it an A? Their message became clearer as I got older: keep your foot on the pedal and never get comfortable. Read More>>

Allison Zhang

Short answer? Action.
One thing I know for sure: life hasn’t followed any script. It’s been a rollercoaster, full of loops, free falls, and unexpected turns. But through it all, I feel incredibly lucky to have collected so many wild, painful, beautiful, and unforgettable experiences along the way. Read More>>

Nastaran Halim

I get my resilience from the women of Afghanistan — especially the girls who wake up every day under a regime that tells them they don’t deserve an education, yet still dream, still hope, and still fight quietly in their own ways. Their courage shaped mine.

I was born into a world where simply being a girl meant being told “no” before I ever had the chance to say “yes.” When the Taliban took over, I had to leave behind not only my home but my identity, my dreams, and the life I had worked so hard to build. As an asylum seeker in France, I had to start over — in a new language, a new system, and a new culture — with nothing but the belief that I had to make this second chance mean something. Read More>>

Michelle Munoz

I carry the strength of the women who came before me a lineage of love, loyalty, and quiet power. From them, I learned that resilience doesn’t always look loud; sometimes, it’s simply continuing on with grace, heart, and faith, no matter what comes.

My life has not been without pain. Growing up, I faced challenges that weighed heavily on my heart and mind. One of the most defining losses of my life was losing my grandfather my safe space, my protector, the one who loved me without conditions. Grieving that loss felt unbearable. I didn’t know how to navigate that kind of sadness, and in time, it hardened into anger. Read More>>

Laurel Pendle

I have had a lot of practice in life being resilient. I have experienced many hardships and disappointments along the journey. These tough lessons have taught me to surrender and have the opportunity to learn and grow. My ability to springboard and move forward has proved fruitful through consistency, determination and grit. And a lot of prayer! Read More>>

Aidan Cox

When I was in the fourth grade, I took part in my first musical, playing Peter in Peter Pan. From every second of bouncing around the stage and telling kids not to grow up, I knew that performance was what I wanted to continue to do for as long as I could. However, as physically and vocally intense of a career it’s going to be, I knew that I was going to have to work through a major obstacle. I have a lung condition called bronchiectasis, which I’ve had for my entire life. Read More>>

Roberta Ventura

Resilience begins with a woman’s desire to uplift others.
At SEP, that resilience is expressed through a passion to build the skills and capabilities of women — enabling them to shape stronger, more stable homes. The challenges women face in society often inspire a deeper commitment to transforming their family lives. When a mother is empowered, her home becomes a foundation of opportunity and security. True societal change begins there — at the heart of the home. Read More>>

Alyssa M Owens

It’s been a really wild year, I have faced a ton of challenges ranging from personal struggles, health and mental health struggles. I’ve relocated to a brand new market for my tattoo business. I’ve gone from building my business from the ground up in West Georgia, to Athens where I’m now rebuilding myself. It’s been a real challenge but I’m building myself back up and ready for what’s next. I’m lucky to be where I am! Read More>>

Brian Templeton

I grew up a feral child…in a foreign country…and did not yet speak the language. I am a Military Brat. My father was an Air Force officer. As such, I spent my childhood travelling around Asia, the U. S, and Canada. in 1970, at age 7, I moved to Okinawa, Japan. My father was not actually assigned there but was instead assigned to a place known as NKP in Thailand. Too much of a hot spot for families to go to. So, we lived on Okinawa, with my stepmother’s family. Read More>>

Genesis Mayorga

I got my resilience in 2019 after I quit my last 9-5 job. I was working in a nursing home as a Medical Records manager and I knew there was more to life than just sitting at a desk and having the same routine. After 5 years of working there, I decided on September 13, 2019 that I was going to quit my job and pursue my brand GENIGEN. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and I had no idea what I was doing which is why I got into the financial services industry. Read More>>

Seyram Agbleze

For me personally, it comes from a mindset I have cultivated over the years. I’ve come to see life simply as an experience. This way I don’t let things weigh me down, I’m always focused on getting back up in the face of adversity and having a positive disposition also helps in this regard. Read More>>

TJ Ferrari

I had to sacrifice a lot. Knowing when to remove people from your life when they no longer serve you, professionally or personally, is a valuable lesson. At 13, my email and the letterhead on my invoice were so professional looking that my middle school accidentally booked me as a DJ for an 800 person seasonal school dance. I’ve never been so terrified in my life; I consider this exposure therapy. I always knew I wanted to work in production/entertainment, but I did not know in what capacity, so I would save up for things like my Newmark NS7 and be a mediocre DJ while other kids played video games. Read More>>

Herand Tahmasian

My resilience comes from my roots, my journey, and a deep sense of purpose. I was born into a culture—Armenian—that has endured generations of hardship with grace, strength, and pride. That legacy of resilience runs in my veins. But beyond heritage, it’s the risks I’ve taken and the obstacles I’ve faced that have shaped my inner strength. Read More>>

Bigler Cruz

My resilience comes from my roots. Growing up on a farm, I learned early the value of hard work, patience, and perseverance. My grandfather, who was not only a farmer but also a man of strong faith, taught me to face challenges with humility, gratitude, and determination. Read More>>

Jason Dennen

I took up skydiving as a way to challenge myself. On my 327th jump I was coming in for a landing and a huge wind gust hit me from behind and picked me up in my harness and slammed me violently forward through a cattle fence and into the side of an airplane hangar going 30 mph. I hit so hard on my left side that 10 of my 12 ribs broke and impacted my heart so violently that my heart was moved from the left side of my body to the right side. Read More>>

Michelle Giraldo

My resilience is born from art itself. From that space where even frustration can be transformed into something beautiful or meaningful. During the years I worked on In My Hands and while writing The Devil’s Bedtime Stories, there were moments when I doubted everything, myself, the story, the process. But there was always something inside me that whispered, “Don’t stop yet, there’s still something to say.” Read More>>

Anita Kucharczyk

My resilience comes from motivation, having clear goals, and maintaining a big-picture perspective beyond whatever challenge is immediately in front of me. I’ve learned that struggle is inevitable—if there’s no struggle, things tend to become boring quickly. While I don’t enjoy the struggle itself, I’ve accepted it as part of the journey. Read More>>

Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Resilience was literally a life or death necessity for me. I was born premature, weighing only two pounds back in the day when babies that small weren’t considered viable. Then three days after my third birthday, I came down with a severe illness with a fever of 107. Doctors were first concerned that I would die if they didn’t get the fever under control, and that if I did live, I would be mentally incapacitated. My parents did everything the doctors told them to do from ice baths to alcohol rubs. Nothing worked. Read More>>

Alissa Dedic

My resilience comes from the unexpected experiences in my life. The best example is when my husband and I faced a surprise, high-risk pregnancy. After going in for a routine ultrasound, we learned that we were having twins, and not normal twins. Our daughters were sharing a water sac and a placenta. Each twin is supposed to have their own. This dangerous situation required me to be admitted to an out-of-town hospital for monitoring. Read More>>

Rachel Fulginiti

My dad’s favorite story about me was that when I was about 4 years old, we were at the Ulster County fair (a local fair in our community). There was a haunted house and I wanted to go in, but when we stepped inside I got scared and backed out, crying. I couldn’t do it. The next summer we went back to the fair and when my dad asked me where I wanted to go first, I took his hand and made a bee-line to the haunted house. Read More>>

Shelli Langdale

Resilience, for me, hasn’t arrived through singular triumphs or clean breaks. It looks less like a turning point and more like a series of recursive life pivots—transitions that loop back on themselves, where what was once left behind quietly re-emerges as foundational. A former engineer steps away from systems and networks to become a painter, only to find that structure, constraint, and inquiry still quietly govern the studio. The pivot doesn’t reject the past; it reconfigures it. Each shift becomes a revision, not a reset. Read More>>

Jill Drllevich

Answered in the question about the 3 things ….. Read More>>

Stephen Tucker

I get my resilience from perspective. It’s easy to get caught in a negative perspective when things are not working out. Change your perspective, maintain your positivity, and keep pushing towards your goal. Read More>>

Paul Velick

As a Self-Leadership Coach and Founder of the Remarkable Men’s Practice™, I carry many perspectives with me as my tools of choice. Choices give me options for every circumstance, to make a good choice, and each challenge is like a plate of gold for me to be smothered by or created by. The good choice is to play another day and use the wisdom inside every circumstance to be my gold found from each. This builds my resilience muscle automatically so that i have more and more strength from each and every challenge. Read More>>

Melchizedek El-Bey

I come from deep in the struggle. I had to realize early on that nobody was coming to save me, i was all i had. This made me independant and resilient. Read More>>

Sury Boa

“I draw my resilience from belief—both in myself and in God. No matter how tough things get, I hold on to the faith that I’m not alone and that God is on my side. That belief gives me the strength to keep moving forward, even when the path is difficult.” Read More>>

Jolie Higazi

I never would have identified myself as resilient until the past few years. It’s not that I wasn’t resilient, it was just that I couldn’t see it. I thought everyone pushed through adversity like I did. So I just took it as normal. The first time I realized I was especially resilient was when my therapist used that word to describe me at the end of one of our sessions. That was a real lightbulb moment. Read More>>

Lisa Vernon

When I think of resilience, the first thing that comes to mind is the infamous line from The Color Purple when Oprah Winfrey says, “All my life I had to fight!” This impactful one liner told a story of strength and resilience despite the odds. My resiliency and pride stems from both of my parents. My mother, born in a small town called Aliquippa, Pennsylvania a neighborhood where everyone on their street owned their homes in the early 1940’s. Read More>>

Kalie/Cory Jackson/Chlapowski

The resilience behind Callum + Willow was built through the experiences that shaped us years before our business came to life. My cousin Cory and I grew up learning to find strength within ourselves, navigating challenges that taught us independence, adaptability and emotional perseverance from a young age. Read More>>

Emily Rucker

My resilience has always come from the Holy Spirit’s work in me and my identity as a Bride of Christ. Daily, I am reminded of my need to overflow out of His wholeness and presence which continually gives me the capacity to endure and adapt to His leadership. In mind, body, and spirit His presence gives me the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual capacity to endure beyond what I could expect, imagine, or put words to. This blessing of resilience is not without human experiences or hardships, but a resilience that endures above the stressors and emotions of life. Read More>>