Building Blocks of Success: Resilience

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.

Anthea Neri-Best

Several things have helped to make me a resilient person. For one, my Filipino heritage has instilled values emphasizing family, perseverance, and community support in the face of hardships. Overall, though, I would say that my resilience is deeply rooted in my mother’s courageous and selfless spirit, which I believe is a part of my genetic makeup, passed down through generations as a source of strength. Read more>>

Derrick Thorpe

Personally, my resilience stems from a combination of self-awareness, a growth mindset, and a great support system. Firstly, I make a conscious effort to stay self-aware. This means understanding my strengths and weaknesses, acknowledging mistakes, and learning from failures. Rather than viewing challenges as setbacks, I see them as opportunities for learning and improvement. This mindset helps me bounce back from adversity with a stronger and more informed approach. Read more>>

Ashley Holloway

My resilience was built over the years of going through difference traumatic experiences that have shaped who I am today. Growing up I had experiences of being the only African American student in the entire k-12 school. This by far was one of my hardest experiences in life . Dealing with teacher and students using racial profanities . After I was eventually moved to being home schooled. While in the process of being homeschooled we became home less and living in our car. It was at that moment I realized that I had no choice but to keep building my resilience. Read more>>

Noah Kwon

Growing up in an immigrant family, my resilience stems from witnessing my parents’ unwavering determination. Initially a successful corporate figure in Korea, my father made a strategic decision for our family to move to the United States, pursuing Traditional Chinese Medicine to establish his clinic. His journey included relocating to a suburb in China and attending a Chinese medical school for six years while working endless nights to sustain our family. Today, as a third-generation Acupuncturist and Herbalist in Southern California, his skills, honed at the source of TCM, have garnered recognition within the Korean community in Orange County. This experience ingrained in me the belief that achieving dreams requires clear intentions and consistent pursuit. Despite not being naturally inclined to follow a daily routine, I’ve learned to create structure by understanding the “whys” behind my actions, serving as my motivation. Read more>>

Aungelique Scott

I’m so incredibly thankful for my faith in God and the strong family foundation my wonderful Mother and Father created for my siblings and I growing up…this is where I get my resilience from. I’m grateful for my excellent parents and their outstanding example. Read more>>

Dan Castle

The process of creating is in itself the end. Embracing that idea is very liberating. When one needs validation and monetary success from their creative output that can prove to be very debilitating to an artist. Los Angeles is a city of extremes. Some barely scrape by despite having several menial jobs while others find incredible success through their creative work and output. The more money they make, the more they make for those who work for and with them, so the cycle repeats itself to voluminous effect. That can be very intimidating to live around when one is trying to create something authentic from within oneself. Read more>>

Moira (Missy) McNabb

People have told me that they admire my ability to always land on my feet, but when I hear that, my response is “What else was an option?” Throughout my life and career, I have found myself at a crossroad or a time when I needed to make a change. I never, ever jump into something without reflecting, researching and using my network to discuss all the pros and cons of the impending change I am getting ready to make. Trusting in myself is a key ingredient to me always being able to land on my feet. Read more>>

Constanza Herrero

Definitely from the women in my family. Especially my mother. When I think of resilience, I immediately think about her. She became a widow when she was only 36 years old and had to raise me and my brother on her own. I was too young then to understand the amount of sacrifices she made to provide for us. But the older I get the more I admire her. Read more>>

Jeremiah Flomo

I draw my resilience from the people in my life—family, siblings, and friends. Life, in my experience, offers the time to pursue passions, and I derive inspiration from observing those around me. A younger sibling has profoundly influenced my world, making life better. Without her, I’m uncertain how far I’d have come. Read more>>

Trevor Pleasant

Honestly resilience for me has come during a time of personal loss and from the people who are no longer with us.. You know, life can be so hard with challenges dealing with personal hardship and loss. During a time when I was content with my life and things seemed normal, everything went from content to pain, heartache and heartbreak. Read more>>

Jennifer Aos

Staying healthy and fit has always been important to me and I believe there is a big connection between physical and metal stamina. I workout daily, am vegan and avoid processed foods. This helps me to maintain focus, determination and energy to keep going even when things are challenging. I also never had a fall back plan or “plan b”. Read more>>

Blyth Kemp

Growing up I was very shy, but I wasn’t afraid to get out of my comfort zone. I joined the football and the track team in high school and in retrospect, I wasn’t great at either sport, but I refused to quit. I’ve always had that attitude. For years I struggled as a writer/director, but I heard someone say that if you never quit, you will never fail. I took that to heart. I kept grinding, making short films, and working as an editor on different productions, but I never stopped writing and recently I optioned two feature screenplays and had a feature script produced. Read more>>

Meg Rowlett

When I was in middle school I started excelling in math at a rapid rate and they kept moving me up to the next levels beyond what my classmates were doing. I found so much joy in math because it was so easy that I didn’t have to study or do my homework outside of class or struggle. The only reason I continued was because of the least resistance. I had no idea that math would be my everything. Read more>>

Amber Mikesell

I have to admit, this question has taken me a bit of time to sit with to answer fully. I know there’s an origin to everything, but sometimes something becomes so engrained in you that you lose track of how it began. Resilience is one of those things in me. It started at such a young age, I had to really dig deep to understand its origins. Read more>>

Autumn Shelton

The applications are very labor intensive and detailed where we also need to demonstrate proof of compliance with all state and local cannabis laws. A partial list of agencies signing off includes CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), Fish and Wildlife, Regional Water Board, fire departments, law enforcement, planning and development, flood control … Read more>>

Bobby Marks

I think anyone has an ability to adapt to their unique circumstances, and that’s where resilience comes from in general. Each new difficult challenge we face hardens us and prepares us for the possibility of things going wrong in the future. My 2023 was no exception. It’s been an incredibly difficult year, at times feeling like it brought me constant trauma. Read more>>

Bo Sapphire

I undoubtedly inherit resilience from my mother. Growing up in 1990s China with a single parent, especially a single mother, was not the societal norm. Despite this, she persevered, tirelessly advocating for what she believed was best for both me and our family. Refusing to be confined by societal expectations, she never allowed others to dictate what she could or couldn’t achieve. Her unwavering strength has been a guiding force throughout my life. Today, I stand as an independent and strong woman, a testament to the enduring impact of her influence. Read more>>

Daniel Williams

I developed my resiliency through not changing my mind. Striking the bullseye can have the appearance of being unobtainable when you’ve never attempted to strike that target before. Not knowing the complete process until you attempt can be discouraging but I always choose to make what I was in pursuit of a nonnegotiable matter. Read more>>