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.
Gina Gittens
My resilience stems from my determination to create and live the life I know I’m meant for—a reflection of the reality I believe exists for me. Read More>>
Ebony Alston
I didn’t learn resilience, I had to survive to get it. I became a mother as a teenager. That alone forced me to grow up fast and protect something bigger than myself, before I even fully understood who I was. On top of that, I was the scapegoat in my family. Constantly misunderstood. Blamed. Left out. Read More>>
Apryl Ortega
I get my resilience from my parents. My dad immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. to build a better life for his family, and my mom learned responsibility early—balancing school while helping her dad run his business. By the time they were raising me and my brothers, that same strength showed in how they handled every challenge. Read More>>
Ligia Moreira
I get my resilience from my passion for creating and my belief that fashion is more than clothes, it’s storytelling through design. Every challenge I’ve faced has pushed me to grow, to innovate, and to stay true to my vision. Read More>>
John Quinata
Resilience was first shaped in the Marine Corps, but I did not truly define it until later. As a Marine Corps officer, I learned discipline, precision, and endurance as forms of grit and as precursors to the kind of resilience forged through repetition and reinforced by accountability. Those years taught me to stay composed when conditions change, and to rely on structure rather than personality. Read More>>
Mayara Munhos
I believe my resilience comes from practicing jiu-jitsu. Jiu-jitsu has played a significant role in shaping who I am today and how I act in my life. In this sport, your progress depends entirely on your dedication. Achieving a black belt takes years of consistent effort, discipline, and perseverance. Read More>>
Luca Cundo
I had no choice. I wanted to survive and build a life that I dreamed of. I was 24 years old; fresh from buying my first house at 23. I thought that I was on top of the world. Little did I know my health was going to turn for the worst. My life was literally shook. I ended up with a rare cancer. Read More>>
Bryan Perez
I’ll probably get it from both my parents. My dad was in the army so they kinda built that into him and he built that into me. Read More>>
ShaTara Coleman
My resilience comes from faith, purpose, and love, plain and simple. I’ve spent more than 20 years in healthcare, and I kept seeing the same problem everywhere: not enough time. Families are rushed, questions go unanswered, and care feels cold. That’s why I started Little Steps Pediatric House Calls to give families the time, attention, and teaching they deserve. Read More>>
Keith Serin
My resilience comes from a mix of discipline, purpose, and perspective — qualities forged through personal transformation long before I became a coach. Wellness wasn’t always part of my life. As a kid, I was sedentary, overweight, and constantly teased in gym class. I remember gasping for breath during short runs and being chosen last for teams — moments that left a lasting mark. Read More>>
Erin Steward
My resilience was born from navigating one of life’s most difficult seasons. Losing my mom was a turning point; it taught me how to find strength in vulnerability, grace in grief, and light in some f the darkest moments. Every challenge since has been a reminder of how capable I am of rebuilding myself and continuing to grow into the person I am now Read More>>
Okeke Buchi
My home,my environment,my experience,the people i meet and everything motivates me, My resilience is a direct result of transforming his darkest personal battles with mental health into my greatest artistic strength and a profound mission for social good. * Self rescue; I found my style when I was in a ‘terrible place’ and drawing from a deep well of depression. Read More>>
Natasha Hervey
My life’s journey, marked by experiences with domestic violence, divorce, and mental health issues, has been a transformative one. I’ve uncovered a reservoir of resilience that enables me to not only persevere but to grow, learn, and evolve, ultimately rising stronger and more resilient. Read More>>
david A.
Resilience, for me, isn’t some abstract buzzword—it’s survival. It’s self-made. It’s waking up every day knowing there’s no backup plan, no safety net. I’ve lost both of my parents. I don’t have siblings to lean on, or a big extended family rallying behind me. It’s just me. If I don’t show up, if I don’t keep going… I could lose everything I’ve worked for. Read More>>
Alison Jefferies
Resilience is something I’ve had to develop over many years as a creative entrepreneur through many ups and downs. As a jeweler, this current economic moment has tested my resilience as the cost of precious metals continues to skyrocket, tools and supplies become more expensive due in part to new tariffs, and economic stress has slowed sales of luxury items like jewelry. Read More>>
Reewa (Reevs)
I know exactly what I want, and resilience has become second nature to me because of how deeply I care about achieving it. Music pushes me to keep going, no matter how long it takes or how tough it gets. I’m a perfectionist, so I can spend ages fine-tuning every detail, but that persistence is part of who I am. Read More>>
Ashlee Butler
I feel that I get my resilience from the women in my family. Watching them go after their goals, dreams and providing for a family as well as others. Shows me that as someone who comes from such powerful women. That I am able to do it as well. Read More>>
Mignon Thomas
I get my resilience from life’s unfair deposits—losing my home, my father, almost my spouse, and even my sense of identity. Those moments stripped me down to what was real and forced me to rebuild from the inside out. That’s where my strength was born, and it’s the same strength I help others discover in themselves. Read More>>
Jigna Patel
Sometimes it feels like resilience is coded in to my DNA. I cannot take credit for it, I think I was just born this way. As long as I can remember, adversity has always incited a ‘can do’ mindset within me. In fact, the fastest way to get me to do anything is to tell me I cannot or I will not be able to! Read More>>
Michael Abraham
Resilience came from the lived experience of building something lasting in a dynamic and often unpredictable market like Los Angeles. In real estate, change is constant: lending shifts, buyer psychology evolves, and timelines stretch. I’ve learned to embrace that uncertainty, not resist it. Read More>>
Mercedes Gala
my resilience comes from music itself—it’s been my way of reflecting, healing, and transforming struggles into something beautiful I can share with others. Read More>>
C.J. Benoit
The entertainment industry is a hard nut to crack, it’s even harder when you’re autistic. So I learned to keep pushing. Also helps I have a very supportive wife! Read More>>
Kennedy Robinson-Birt
Growing up I always rememberd the stories the elders in my family would tell us about our ‘great great’s’ as I called them, our ancerstors and linage and how their resilience is the reason for the benfits we as a family reaped. Read More>>
Dre Lov
My resilience comes from my father. I’ve seen him always make a way out of no way and never made no excuse as to why he couldn’t do what he needed to do to take care of his family. My dad was very heavy on handling your business at all times. Read More>>
Veronica Dietz
Honestly, I didn’t find resilience…it found me, in the moments life gave me no other choice but to rebuild. Every season of loss, betrayal, or transition became a classroom where I learned how to hold chaos with one hand and create clarity with the other. Read More>>
Kristen Thierolf
I’ve learned that resilience doesn’t always come from big, dramatic moments—it’s often built in the quiet, everyday decisions to keep moving forward, even when life feels uncertain. For me, resilience has come from navigating big transitions: leaving a group practice, starting my own counseling business, and even moving abroad while still serving clients back home in Texas. Read More>>
Tiana Snow
My resilience was born out of survival. I come from Ukraine, and when the war started, I had to leave everything behind — my home, my family, my career — and start again in a foreign country, alone with my child. There was no time to collapse or give up. Read More>>
Emanuele Paglioni
I think resilience is the only path to success. You have to understand that this isn’t a sprint, it’s not about who runs the 100 meters first, but who reaches the finish line, and that’s not after 100 meters. Read More>>
Jolie Colon
What makes me resilient is a blend of inherited strength and hard-earned grit: raised by a strong mother and a grandmother who rose from poverty with her head held high, I learned to carry myself with dignity, resourcefulness, and pride Read More>>
Tracey Ulshafer
I come from a long line of strong women. My Grandmother, Rachel, was born with polio. She was hospitalized as a child for months away from her family. She walked on crutches until she was wheelchair bound. She was told that she would never be able to drive a car, so she taught herself how to. Read More>>
Nicole LaRue
I feel like I’ve always been resilient, but that’s likely not totally true. I honestly think my resilience was built by always doing the harder things, choosing the harder options, maybe in everything in my life. I was a gymnast when I was very young and a runner once my gymnastics career ended. Read More>>
Vanessa Toro
First of all I got my resilience from my dad. He taught me unconditional love and sacrifice. As I child I saw him work months of sleepless nights to give me and my siblings the best life he could give us. I also have to thank god and my great support team. Ever since I was a little girl, life’s thrown a lot at me. Read More>>
Hammad Wasti
I think a lot of my resilience comes from my life back home in Pakistan. Growing up there teaches you how to adapt, stay patient, and find creative solutions even when things are uncertain or challenging. My parents also played a huge part in shaping that mindset, they instilled in me the importance of perseverance, humility, and hard work. Read More>>
Josh Guerrero
I believe that in order to build resilience, you have to do things that require it. Throughout my life, I’ve sought out and overcome many challenges. I made it through 12 weeks of Marine Corps boot camp, the toughest in the U.S. military. From there, I went on to do a vast array of other hard things. Read More>>
Kartik Dhawan
If we go back to the very beginning, I think a lot of my resilience comes from how I was raised — I was encouraged to figure things out on my own, even when it wasn’t comfortable. Sometimes that encouragement was deliberate and sometimes it was out of compulsion from the situation. Read More>>
Joslyn Rose
I think resilience, for me, comes from the spaces between, the quiet moments where I’ve had to sit with uncertainty, loss, or change and find light in it anyway. As a filmmaker, resilience is almost a creative muscle. Every project has different ways of strengthening it. The process always seems to require patience and faith. When things change, I try to see it as direction. Read More>>
Rachael Blumberg Chiprut
I draw my resilience from doing the things most people will not do. I get up early. I meditate every single day. I eat real food that nourishes me. I move my body with intention. I say yes to the things that scare me. I sit in ceremony. I gave up alcohol. I was willing to do the thing most people stay doing. Read More>>
Erika Céspedes
My resilience stems from a variety of experiences throughout my life. I see resilience like a recipe passed down from a grandmother, there’s never a precise measurement. You simply know you need a pinch of this and a dash of that to make it come together just right. In the arts, resilience has no fixed formula. Read More>>
Jenny Landis
My resilience comes from walking through my own darkness and learning to make art from it. Every challenge I’ve faced, mental health struggles, anxiety, moments of burnout has become a brushstroke in the larger story of who I am. Instead of running from the hard emotions, I learned to create through them. Read More>>
Tena Parker
Where Did My Resilience Come From? It’s not from a textbook or a corner office. My resilience comes from a nontraditional place: being ADHD and a bit on the spectrum. As Lady Gaga belts, “I was born this way!” At 60, I see it’s a blessing—a magical combo that powers creators, leaders, and dreamers like me. ADHD and autism aren’t deficits; they’re my letters. Read More>>
Helen Marie Carruthers
My resilience has developed out of necessity and from my ability to shift my perspective. I had to learn to see things in a way that is helpful in moving forward, versus keeping me stuck in feeling hopeless or defeated. Back when I was a professional dancer, I dealt with constant rejection. Read More>>
Jackeline Perez
I get my resilience from the refusing to remain complacent. I always knew I was different ever since I was a kid. I always wanted to be the best at everything that I do and make sure I give it my 100% effort. I have hopes, goals, and dreams that I would like to accomplish. Read More>>
Jasmine Waltz
I’ve always had this deep inner knowing that everything happens exactly as it’s meant to. Even when things don’t go my way, I truly believe it’s redirecting me toward something better. In acting, and now in building my jewelry brand, I’ve faced more rejection and redirection than I can count — but I’ve come to see both as sacred teachers. Read More>>
Heydi Acuna
I did it for the animals. I knew that no matter how many things got in my way or how many obstacles I encountered, the animals still needed me. I couldn’t give up because I had to do it for them. There wasn’t anyone else who would do it if I didn’t. I had committed to helping them because they can’t help themselves. Read More>>
