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.
Sam Recinos
Where do I get my resilience from? What a question. I grew up in a home where all my needs were met 100%. I also grew up in a single parent home with a 6 year older brother active addict. Growing up I wasn’t the smartest kid, I wasn’t the most athletic. Read more>>
Zave Smith
Where do you get your resilience from? When I was eleven, I went on a winter hike with my Boy Scout troop. At a narrow stretch of trail above a frozen stream, one of the bigger boys tripped me, sending me into the icy water. Read more>>
Jessica Anchor
My resilience comes from my relationship with pain- not in spite of it, but because of it. I’ve lived through complex trauma. Rather than letting it harden me, it has expanded my capacity for compassion, patience, and presence- first with myself, then with others. Read more>>
Jessica Rodriguez
Where I Get My Resilience From My resilience was shaped by movement, loss, and the creative act of rebuilding. Growing up between cultures with one side of my family leaving Cuba after Castro’s rise and the other rooted in the South, I learned early that life could change overnight. Read more>>
Amanda Arnaud
Ballet dancers are often seen as some of the most resilient people, and I couldn’t agree more. But I learned resilience long before ballet. My childhood was shaped by loss and instability: my mother passed away when I was very young, and my father—though devoted to my brother and me—had to work full-time in another city. Read more>>
Susann Offenmüller
I think my resilience comes from having had to rebuild myself more than once — personally, artistically, and professionally. I’ve lost everything a few times, including my sense of identity, and each time I had to start again from zero. Read more>>
Raffaella Piccirillo
I believe my resilience comes from my deep connection with music. Over the years, I have faced many challenges as an independent artist. Read more>>
Tev Clarke
My resilience is not something I was simply born with; it is something I had to intentionally build, shaped by the women who came before me and the responsibilities I carried early in life. It begins with my grandmother, whom I named Netlyn Mae & Co. after. She only had a basic school education, but she was brilliant in ways no classroom could measure. Read more>>
Mariah Thompson
My resilience comes from my deep desire to succeed and thrive in my purpose. I know I am meant to be a person of influence, leadership, and authenticity, and I carry that belief into everything I do. Read more>>
Elizabeth Alcala
I wasn’t always resilient growing up, but becoming a mother changed that. My kids helped me rediscover the magic I’d lost as a child, the sense of wonder and imagination that makes life feel alive. Through them, I learned that resilience isn’t just about enduring hardships; it’s about staying open to beauty, creativity, and hope, even in the hardest moments. Read more>>
MARY LEE Painter
I believe my resilience comes from knowing that 99% of things life has thrown at me I’ve gotten through. Some problems require you to come at it in many different ways, but with the realization that if you keep going and trying different things, there will be a way to make it through is what has built my resilience. Read more>>
Toni Akin
I come from a long line of public servants—teachers, nurses, police officers, administrators and advocates—who believed deeply in the power of service. My late mother, Kay Akin, was a tireless voice for public education, as well as fair public housing efforts, during the Boston bus riots of the 1970s. Read more>>
Stephanie Scarbeck-brand
I get my resilience from the challenges I’ve faced in the beauty industry. At a very young age, I had to learn that not everyone who smiles at you has your best interest at heart. I crossed paths with people who used me for my looks, my personality, even my following and that was not easy to process. Read more>>
Cheryl Hurley
There was a season in my life when I poured into everyone else, but inside I quietly asked myself, Do I still matter? I was the encourager, the one always lifting others up. But in 2017, illness knocked me off my feet. Suddenly, I had to stop. That pause was scary. I remember sitting alone, feeling invisible, questioning if my voice still had value. Read more>>
Kierra Burke
Growing up, I was surrounded by women with big dreams and aspirations, yet I watched as people, circumstances, and obstacles dimmed their light. They carried so much emotionally and sacrificed deeply for the people they loved; always putting others before themselves. As a teenager, I told myself, that will never be me. Read more>>
Rob Davidson
It is important to be resilient in today’s world. My resilience was definitely learned during my years in college where I mastered in the theatre arts. There is nothing like the audition process to get you started on your journey to being resilient. The amount of times you hear ‘no’ or ‘try again’ are never ending in that world as you sharpen your skills. Read more>>
Omolola Dada
I think my resilience comes from two places: my faith in God and the valleys I’ve had to walk through. There have been moments when I felt like life was pressing me beyond what I could carry, but somehow grace carried me. I’ve learned that resilience isn’t the absence of pain, it’s the decision to keep showing up in spite of it. Read more>>
John Harvey
Our band is motivated by the resilient the culture of the Navajo, the Diné. From the extreme hardships faced during the forced removal from their homeland to mandated assimilation through the boarding school system imposed on children, the Navajo have maintained their identify as an incredibly resilient tribe. Read more>>
Vinny Gomez
As far as where I get my resilience from, I would have to say that comes from my internal drive to succeed at basically anything that I set my mind to I wanna make sure that when I tell my loved ones that I’m going to do something , I wanna give it every last ounce in me to accomplish what I said I’m going to do. I do this so my friends, my family, and all my loved ones can be proud of my accomplishments. Read more>>
Isaac Hasson
From a young age, I knew that music was my path. It gave me purpose, joy, and a powerful outlet for my creativity and emotions. I was completely captivated by the guitar—the sound, the feel, the freedom it gave me. Before long, singing and songwriting followed naturally. Music became my escape, my safe place. But being an artist can also be terrifying. Read more>>
Chef Stryker
I get my resilience from where I come from and who raised me. Growing up in North Philly taught me early that nothing comes easy, but everything is possible with enough faith and consistency. My mom was a huge influence — she believed in the transformative power of education and always pushed me to see beyond my surroundings. Read more>>
Tracye Robinson
My resilience was born in the fire. In the moments I didn’t think I’d make it through but somehow did. It comes from years of learning to rise through pain, uncertainty, and loss, and choosing to see each challenge as a divine invitation to evolve. I’ve faced seasons that stripped me to my core. Read more>>
Robert Kay
It comes from both nature and nurture for myself. The nature part is mostly having been born with a stubborn spirit. An innate spirit of determination, an emotional resistance to things blocking your path. Added to that is some highly focused energy on a goal. It shines brightest when a Goliath is in your way. Read more>>
Brihem Johnson
At sixteen, I lost the most basic parts of myself in a single instant. A freak accident on a basketball court left my skull fractured and my world blurry walking, speaking, even thinking clearly slipped out of reach. For nearly two weeks, I lay in a hospital bed trying to rediscover abilities my body once performed without a second thought. Read more>>
Natalie Roy
My resilience comes from deep within. Tough outer circumstances and struggles have given me the great gift of claiming it or rejecting it over and over again. In my early years I fought hard against it. I wished life would revolve around me and my dreams. I got into a tizzy and full blown tantrum when it didn’t. Read more>>
Keila Brintley
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, or stress and is the process of ‘bouncing back’ from difficult experiences.” I would have to say that I get my resilience from God and from the love of my daughter. Both have played significant roles in my life—God being the center of it all. Read more>>
Sage Breslin
My life has been replete with experiences that could have ended me, but each time, I have opted to rise above and continue forward. In my first eighteen years, I was sexually abused and trafficked. When I was able to flee, I did- to a new town, a new life and new opportunities. Read more>>
Sydney Haney
My resilience comes from surviving systems that were never built for me and still choosing to fight for my community. It really comes from the people around me who remind me why the work matters when things get heavy. I’ve learned that resilience isn’t just about pushing through. It’s also about knowing when to rest, ask for help, or step back. Read more>>
Samuel Mackey
Growing up being the youngest child of three with a father in the military who was often gone, I often had to fend for myself. As a young boy, I felt alone most of the time until I found the sport of boxing. Boxing gave me the self-confidence to be more social, put myself out there, and meet new friends. Read more>>
Scott Cohen
I have to give my mom credit for that and her inspiration in overcoming not just one but a few issues that have plagued her health and her life over many years. In spite of the hospital stays she always maintained an attitude of optimism and would never let us kids see her cry. Read more>>
Arielle Di Leo
My resilience comes from a mix of my background and values. Growing up as a ballet dancer, I learned early on what discipline and persistence look like – showing up every day, even when it hurts, even when it isn’t perfect. Read more>>
Julie Desharnais
Interestingly enough whenever anyone asks me what some of my strengths are I immediately say resilience. I suppose you could say that I acquired it through being tossed under the water too many times by life and I had to learn to sink or swim. After being knocked down a few times you learn how to get back up quicker and quicker each time. Read more>>
Ali Hall
My resilience comes from learning how to rebuild through art and from the examples set by my family. My grandparents and parents modeled what it means to work hard, stay consistent, and show up no matter the circumstance. Watching them persevere through challenges with grace and determination taught me the importance of dedication and gratitude in everything I do. Read more>>
MATTHEW JAVITCH
My resilience comes from taking ownership — not shying away when things go sideways, but asking what can I learn from this and how can I adapt? It’s a mindset that turns challenges into data points. It also comes from ambition grounded in self-belief. I’ve never expected the path to be easy, but I’ve always expected it to be worth it. Read more>>
Ana María Rojas Melo
My resilience comes from life itself. I got married at 15 because of an early pregnancy and, despite that, I kept studying until I graduated. At 30, I went through a divorce that left me alone, with two small children and no financial resources. Those were very hard years, but instead of giving up, I learned to reinvent myself. Read more>>
Sarah Pachtman Shetty
I practice medicine as a Maternal Fetal Medicine (also known as a high risk pregnancy) physician and take care of people with high risk pregnancies because they have medical conditions before pregnancy or they or their baby develop complications during the pregnancy. The work is emotionally challenging and the hours are long. Read more>>
Oryah Brown
My resilience came as a result of failure. I believe we grow a little by little over time when we experience failure throughout our lives. That fact that your can succeed despite the failures is enough for anyone to keep going. You naturally build a resilience & resistance to the negative feelings associated with failure. Read more>>
Warith Jumuah
I always wanted to inspire change. With everything that’s occurring in the world, resiliency is needed to keep someone going on their path. Ultimately, my story is one of inspiring change. I felt discouraged by the world, but instead of giving up, I used my experience to create a movement that focuses on empowering people to find their own creative drive. Read more>>
Debra Ruh
I think my resilience comes from a mix of where I was raised and what I’ve experienced in life. Growing up in the Southern United States, I saw early on how people could hold on to old grudges — even ones that went back generations to the Civil War — and how prejudice could divide communities. Read more>>
Cook McKoy
Well, I’ll start off by saying that I firmly believe that resilience is a learned behavior, not completely innate. At a young age, I was faced with numerous challenges. I was bounced around from household to household until about the age of 10 where I settled in with my father. Read more>>
Peggy Bodde
I was adopted as a baby in Chicago, but my adoption story is a bit different from most. Even though we went to church three times a week and everything looked perfect on the outside, on the inside, it wasn’t a safe place for a child to grow up. There was no drug or alcohol abuse, but both parents had violent tempers. Love was conditional and came in the form of approval—for a perfectly clean room, chores performed just right, straight A’s, or some other scholastic achievement. When these often impossible standards weren’t met, the result was severe punishment. Read more>>
Tiffany Catron
One of the greatest pieces of advice I have been given in business is to persevere. Resilience is all about mindset. Obstacles are always going to come at us, but we need to be able to persevere past them, and trust in God to see us through. Read more>>
