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.
Deborah Mori
Life has not been an easy path. I didn’t know throughout my childhood that the circumstances I was being raised in were not normal and I was repeatedly exposed to childhood and religious abuse that were normalized by those around me. My resiliency began as a child, I put my head down and tried to move past what I knew inside on a felt sense was chaos despite everyone else around me saying nothing is wrong. Finding out that these issues are not “normal” as an adult fueled my resiliency in a new way. To find a better way to do life. For myself and for others. Read more>>
Lorena Lorenzo Garcia
I have no other choice but to be resilient. I realize from early age if I didn’t do it myself, going for things, have perseverance always and never give up, then I wouldn’t grow as a person or as a professional. Read more>>
Brianna Morant
I grew up in the New Orleans area where rebuilding after hurricanes is a common occurrence. At 23, I left a job as the top server in a popular New Orleans restaurant to pursue a career in real estate with no savings to fall back on. Within one month of beginning that career, Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. Read more>>
Lindsay Coser
My resilience comes from quite a few different challenges I have overcame in this lifetime. Between not having the most stellar childhood, to then making some less than smart decisions in my adulthood…I acquired the resilience from somewhere within and never gave up. Not only have my challenges given me the resilience to keep pushing forward, It has also given me a strength I have never known before. Read more>>
Kfhox
Life is the ultimate teacher. I believe that we create our realities and our higher power is always working on our behalf. My personal journey has been a lifelong lesson in the importance of resilience. Growing up, my father was an alcoholic and my mother was manic depressive. I learned the immense importance of resilience early on and it’s supported me to continuously move forward no matter what I face. Read more>>
Cam & Rj
Honestly we believe that resilience comes from failure. In this industry you may take 100 loses before you get your first win. Sometimes we have to pick each other up when we get low on faith or feel like we’re at a stand still with music. Through all the failures we’ve had , we made sure that we stayed consistent. Your motivation will come through your consistency. So now, if we take an L we just keep going because we know it comes with the game. Read more>>
Nick Grzechowiak
I truly believe my resilience comes from my experience battling cancer at just 15 years old. It was not an easy journey, but I am proud of how I handled myself during that time and how I continue to handle challenges in my life. Going through intense chemotherapy and radiation treatments at a young age was both physically and emotionally draining. I had to mature quickly and adjust to a new normal that was filled with doctor’s appointments, medications, and scans. However, I refused to let cancer define me. Read more>>
Jhazmine K. Smith
My resilience is cultivated from God, ambition, determination and self-confidence. I have come to realize that owning a business requires all of these things and more. If you want to own a business, you must be prepared for trial and error— to defeat trial and error, comes resilience. Building resilience is a daunting task— However, when you have realized the integrity and courage you had to build it, you realize how stout you actually are! Read more>>
Lamara Hand-Smith
I get my resilience from my family and God. I come from a very matriarchal family. I grew up in a household with my mother, grandmother, and great grand mother. Imagine being surrounded by a lot of strong, smart, and independent women. My dad was also a very important part of my life, he gave my logic but the resilience to never give up came from MY MOTHER SIDE. & God does not make mistakes, I know the position I am put in is meant for me, I have to want it bad enough to work hard enough to accomplish it. Read more>>
Travis Sleeper
To me, resilience is an interesting topic: the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties. I often hear people use it as if a person were born with the divine ability to bounce back when faced with adversity. Due to my life experiences, I don’t view many things or people as that simple. There’s almost certainly more complexity if anyone took the time to dive deep. I personally view resilience as a skill or habit that must be developed through repetition. Read more>>
Lyris Greene
I love this question, because it’s not a straightforward answer. Lol! I would say that growing up watching my parents and grandparents were my first examples of one perspective of resilience. However, as I grew up and began having my own experiences I’ve realized that sometimes we use resilience as a way of not resting and becoming aware of our experiences and how that shapes our perceptions on life; commonly resulting in burnout. Read more>>
Carolyn Michael-Banks
I get my resilience from studying African/African American history. At the age of 14 I had the incredible opportunity to visit Ghana, West Africa. I walked through the slave castles and heard the horrific stories of what happened to those who were captured and then sent to places where they experienced the epitome of man’s inhumanity to man. Awareness of what my ancestors endured and then not only survived but were able to achieve passes all understanding. Read more>>
Kate Kripke, LCSW, PMH-C
I would say that my super power is staying steady in times of stress (resilience) but it certainly was not always that way. I struggled with lots of anxiety throughout my life- the kind of anxiety that left me shooing away butterflies from inside of my finger tips. There were times in my life (like new motherhood, for example) when I felt like I was barely holding it together- each little tiny stressor seemed to add on to the next and I often felt like I was about to topple over. But that was when I didn’t understand how resiliency works. Read more>>
Troy Richardson
We don’t have much choice as artists but to be resilient. It’s that or give up. Giving up was never an option for me. Read more>>
Maria Sanchez Alarcon
I acquired my resilience through a combination of personal experiences, determination, and a strong desire to break the cycle of hardship that my family had experienced. Growing up, my family and I faced numerous challenges and obstacles that tested our strength and resilience. These hardships taught me the importance of perseverance and the value of hard work. Read more>>
Emilie Aubry
Resilience is a unique and powerful skill that I’ve developed over time. It’s a product of my experiences and various factors in my life. In my industry, I quickly learned that nothing comes easy. I’ve encountered numerous challenges, obstacles, and storms, and with each trial, I emerged stronger. I firmly believe in treating these difficulties as valuable learning opportunities, using them to grow and improve for the next time they come my way. Read more>>
Nikki Lawley
My resilience has been tested during this journey of going from healthcare provider, a nurse to becoming a patient to now an advocate. I didn’t choose this journey. It chose me . I am grateful for it though because it has taught me so much ! I almost took my life due to a fluke accident that caused me to suffer a traumatic brain injury while working as a pediatric nurse. Just doing my job like any other day. People ask me how I do it , I let them know I didn’t have a choice. Read more>>
Ada Denise
I would say I get my resilience from my father. My father has been an artist for over 50 years , he paints , he makes music , builds things and so much more , no matter what life throws at my father he keeps moving, One of the best examples of resilience I could ever ask for. Read more>>
Riley Bowes
I would say my time in the United States is what has taught me to be resilient. It’s been a tough road, and I haven’t had family here to lean on during times of trial. There have been times of grief, anxiety and uncertainty and I have learned to trust God through it all. Being an actor is an incredibly difficult enterprise that demands patience, grit, humility and resilience. If I was not resilient before, I certainly am now since starting my journey as an actor. Read more>>
Katelyn Davida Mariah
I developed resilience through several life threatening illnesses. From 2016 to 2019 I had 5 heart attacks and open heart surgery. I am an visionary artist and an art therapist and early in my healing I got a nudge to paint the journey. Little did I know that I would be shown the path to wellness through the paintings. Read more>>
Emerita Lezett Flores
Being the eldest sister of 5, presented me with stressors at a very young age. I had to reframe challenges as opportunities. I had to understand that I don’t get to choose what happens, but I got to choose my response. Read more>>
Maris Lidaka
I’ve had a life filled with constant change. We moved houses several times when I was a kid. I went from attending public school, to being home schooled, to attending a mostly Jewish private school on a scholarship. I also moved to a Denmark when I was a teenager where I was forced to assimilate and really think about my identity. Not to mention learning a new way of speaking, thinking and living. Read more>>
Ansonia Serrano
In my life, I’ve witnessed quite a bit of pain and hardship that was difficult to understand and process. One thing that could always help me see the light was writing songs about my pain. I learned early on that this would allow me to transfer the energy and get the emotions out. With this tool, I became resilient in ways I couldn’t have imagined before. It provided comfort and therapy to me when I wasn’t able to access those things outside of myself. Read more>>
Ashley Strange
It’s funny that this is one of the questions that has a key word that I plan to get a tattoo of this week. But, my resilience comes from wanting more in life. I come from a single parent, low income household. I’ve always had goals and dreams and regardless of what happens I continue to pick myself up and keep going. Read more>>
Blake Stargel
My resilience comes from a combination of experiences and challenges, with a significant part stemming from my work in the fiercely competitive Los Angeles real estate market at a young age. Getting into this industry in one of the most exclusive markets in the world has been an incredible journey, demanding relentless determination and unwavering strength. Read more>>
Fenrir Clover
I get my resilience from my lot in life having no other choice, but to make it work not having a safety net and not having someone to rely on when I needed it most, I gained the ability to just to make it happen to figure out a way I never knew how or when it would work, but I always found a way I never gave up, believing it will figure itself out later. Read more>>
Shelly Jordan
Resilience stands at the heart of this program and is built upon so many important life skills such as developing self worth, which is developed through consistent habits as we are kind to ourselves and others. Having a growth mindset knowing that I can do and learn anything to achieve anything. Developing daily habits that slowly but consistently take me to achieve the end goals. These are just a few life skills that help me continue to keep going and block out the voices that say I can’t with a certainty inside telling me that I can. Read more>>
Tera Jones
hen I was a little girl, my Dad taught me how to ride my pony, bareback. My pony’s name was Pokey and his name was fitting. His trot would bounce you right off. But, that’s where I learned to stay on. At first, I would slide to one side or the other without falling off. I would pull myself back up with a hooked leg and by grabbing his mane. Then, it happened. Read more>>
Pauline France
Like many people, I led a pretty average, ordinary life. I was pursuing a college degree in my local community college, worked part-time teaching guitar, and lived with my loving parents and sister in a city once dubbed one of the top 10 most boring cities in the country by Forbes magazine. I know, riveting. Read more>>
Patricia Olga Peuschold
I am Patricia Olga Peuschold; an Argentine Polish POC Immigrant Artist inspired by nature, travel, deep connections, spiritual practice, relationships, and love. As a young child, I knew that I needed to be confident, strong, and partner with my parents in their decision to emmigrate from Argentina to the United States. As an immigrant, I was aware of my ability to have a keen awareness of the world around me. Read more>>
Lisa Jenkins
That is a very good question. My resilience comes from a deep-rooted need for wanting better for myself, when I was all I had to depend on. Coming from a dysfunctional household, I once thought that was all that by life would ever be. For a very long time it was. Then at some point I realized that I no longer wanted to live in misery so I had to take responsibility for how my future would be. I also had my daughter to think about. I was determined to make sure her childhood was nothing like mine, and because of that I never gave up on life when I really wanted to several times. Read more>>
Emily Cook
I work with a medium that requires me to break my materials to use them to their full potential. It quickly teaches you not to get too attached to an expected outcome. I think being an artist in inherently challenging. I think it’s especially challenging when your medium sometimes does unexpected things. But I’ve learned over the years that sometimes what looks to be at first glance abject failure can be re-worked and re-imagined to some of my favorite pieces. It’s a good reminder to always keep going. Read more>>
The Songery
It’s so funny this question is being asked… I was kind of thinking about that this morning: the idea of hardship. Our culture today kind of force feeds everyone, however subtly, that hardships in life are not to be expected. And if you happen to be too sensible to actually believe that, at the very least, our culture tells you that hardships are to be avoided: “life is stressful” “positive vibes only” “avoid pain, it hurts” “i can’t handle that” “you won’t believe the day I just had… I need a drink”- distract, sedate, medicate. Read more>>
Yashira Ponce
As a film director in L.A, still early in my filmmaking career, I am one of thousands of aspiring filmmakers who face an enormous amount of competition, rejection, and pressure in the uphill climb to establish myself as an artist. Read more>>
