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.
Meshach Berry
From not wanting to settle in my life. I have dreams, I have intentions—and even if I fall a bit short, I’d still have accomplished my goals to some degree. I don’t want to feel as if I left anything on the table. So I’m a menswear blogger and Youtuber from Miami, Florida. I run the YouTube channel “Piece Of The Puzzle” and the website www.pieceofthepuzzlesc.com. Read more>>
Seth Larson
Well that’s actually a funny question because our company’s name is Resilient Roofing. Most people think that is a reference to our products or our service, but it’s actually built on, and a testament to our resilience as a company. I hate patting myself on the back, but as the leader I must lead by example, and I have shown the entire company a ton of examples of perseverance, resilience and never ending determination time and time again. Read more>>
Ila Wist
Throughout my life, I have learned to stand up for what I believe, and if I am not certain of the correct answer to a question that has presented itself to me, I learn to find answers and not believe just what one person has told me, or what something says in a book, or what one doctor’s diagnosis is, or believe what one teacher in school labels me as. I think it that my resilience is an innate quality. Read more>>
Diana Chow
I love this question as I consider resilience to be one of my strengths. Coming out on the other side of challenges, mistakes, and failures has cultivated my resilience. I’ve pushed myself to do things at the edge of my comfort zone, like performing on stage, signing up for classes I wasn’t sure I was ready for, taking on new projects and gigs I hadn’t done before, leaving my former and more lucrative career to pursue a new one, and moving to Los Angeles to do that. Read more>>
Guillermo Fajardo
Resilence comes in many forms from vison to health to compsure to also collaboration and reasoning for me my resilience has came from a bit of every one of those words. The experinces that i have had in life have shaped they way my resilience is born . I have faced many difficulties which ultimately has gave me strenght to be someone who is very goal setting also very optmistic when you are understanding of your strenght and weaknesses and also let yourself have guidance by god your resilence is built and for me thats where i get my resilience from. Read more>>
Aesha Egbuna
My grandparents! The more that I learn about them, the more I am in awe! I am the first born of their second to youngest out of many children which means I didn’t get as much time with my grandparents as some of my older cousins have. My memory of them comes through doing things that they did such as gardening to feed my family. I somehow unlock a memory and a connection to them through this growth in myself and in my garden. Read more>>
Roscoe Smith
I know my resilience came from my family. Growing up we went through some hard times financially. My parents never gave up, No matter how much we had or didn’t have, they always made a way. Through faith in God, hard work and some luck, we always made it through. They taught me work ethic and to never give up. They taught me how to move and work in a tough situation. Most importantly, they taught me how be an upstanding person and to treat people well. Read more>>
Adriana Prieto
I believe resilience is derived from pain and struggle. First and foremost, I always like to clarify I am just a regular person who deals with the same problems that are no different from the next person; from jealous people who get mad at you for being happy with receiving so little to manipulative and abusive relationships. Read more>>
Brittney Romero
If I were of the Gen Z generation, I would say my resilience comes from the fact that I’m a Scorpio, a November one. My actual answer though is most definitely from my mom, who is a Leo by the way. Not to put my moms’ business out there but being raised by a single mom really taught and showed me resilience. Read more>>
Monica Moser
The past couple of years have been some of the hardest of my life so far. It felt like 2020 marked a clear new chapter in my life (the pandemic being just a small part of that) that set off a series of events that only seemed to grow in their weightiness and suffering-inducing potential. Read more>>
Patricia Posner
My family had moved a dozen times by my 16th birthday. I did not know it at the time but my father was a gambleholic and when he had a good streak we lived in decent places and when he at times was almost broke, we lived in public housing. It meant I was uprooted time and again and never able to have friends. Read more>>
SYNAH
I believe my resilience comes from my belief that you can do anything you put your mind to. I owe that understanding to my spirituality, making music, prioritizing my mental health, learning music business, and producing my own creative projects. I think it made me mentally strong, and taught me how to approach obstacles with solutions. I also learned that no one is going to care for my projects like I do and learning to bet on myself made a huge difference for me. Read more>>
Wendy Graf
“Good times and bum times, I’ve seen them all and my dear…I’m still here!” So sang Carlotta in Sondheim’s Follies in an ode to her resilience, and that’s what I’m singing as well. After almost twenty-five years of writing for the theater, over thirty produced plays, despite tremendous ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, nightmare productions and euphoric successes, I’m still here. So how did that happen? Where have I gotten my resilience from? It’s not constant…sometimes it swells and conquers and sometimes it wanes and runs thin. Read more>>
Erin Stump
Being an entrepreneur is not an easy job. We receive so many no’s from people, spaces, our content etc. When I first started this journey it would take me out every time I received a no. It felt like a no to me and not a no to my work or what I was offering. Read more>>
Rachel Leigh
I learned early on from my mentors and teachers that good things never come easy. It may look effortless on social media or in interviews, but the work is endless. Resilience comes from necessity, especially in the choreography world. There are a lot of talented folks vying for the same limited resources and jobs. Being resilient simply means being able to knock on the same doors over and over again, and after being rejected (often) being able to bounce back and try again. Dig deep to go deep! Read more>>
Christian Meza
On a cold December day in 2016, I stood before a crowd of Air Force personnel, family, and friends, feeling completely out of place. I was just 16 years old and tasked with delivering a eulogy for my father, Chief Master Sargent William N. Kendall, who had passed away at the age of 51. It was an unnatural experience, one that no child should ever have to endure. Read more>>
Latria Keon
I have faced many adversities in life, such as losing my father, running my business during the global pandemic, childhood bullying, and emotional abuse. These major life problems made me mentally, physically, and emotionally resilient. I am very strategic; I weigh all my options, consider alternatives, and then conceptualize a step-by-step means to reach my goals despite the odds. Read more>>
Jules Centeno
Where I get my resilience… well, some of us were unfortunately shown/felt a lot too soon during childhood. That usually is the start to a type of survival strength we use to survive by any means in adult life. The beginnings of that looks like me, myself and I against the world. At an early age I was always sure that I would teach myself things so I wouldn’t need nor want to ask for help. Read more>>
Jake Thompson
I really owe it all to my superpower: being queer. I think anybody that falls under the LGBTQ+ umbrella has a real gift of strength, a bottomless vat of creativity and a willingness to exist in a world that doesn’t quite know what to do with us half the time. Read more>>
Maria Mello
I got my reliance from my beautiful Mother & Grandmother. These two woman taught me to always show love & compassion to others & to never ever give up on your dreams. In my early adulthood I experienced a great trauma that led me into some very dark times. My coping skills were just not there anymore. Fast forward a few years & I became a wife & a mother but still struggled to know who I was or what I even wanted as far as a career goes. Read more>>
Phuong Bui
Growing up apart from my parents at a young age, I believe my resilience developed through my ability to navigate challenging situations and overcome obstacles with minimal parental guidance. At 11 years old, I was sent to live with my aunt in Australia and only saw my parents once a year. During this time, I had to adapt to a new culture and family dynamic while also trying to find my place in the world as a tween and later as a teen. Read more>>
Zachariah Axel
I think I’ve always been surrounded by a resilient family and community. I grew up in a middle class family and there were times when my parents were out of work. I saw them struggle to make ends meet and just keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. All while still having this incredible positive attitude without losing sight of their dreams as individuals and as a family unit. Read more>>
Sadie Katz
Being an artist in Los Angeles is just as much about surviving as it is doing your art. In a world of a lot of “no’s”, the high cost of living and normal life hitting you in the face; it can be really difficult not to throw in the towel. I’ve had those moments that I’ve felt my absolute lowest and have actually just quit. Sometimes I think you have to allow yourself a break and maybe even give yourself a chance to feel what it feels like to quit. Read more>>
Joanna Gerard
I think in my case it’s partly genetic and partly the way God made me, or made my Astrological chart, haha. My mom is a Real Estate Agent and received her license at sixty-nine years old. She also runs another business. My dad spent his whole career being extremely successful in sales and business. Basically I was taught from a really early age to be driven and not to quit. Read more>>
Ashley Lawhorn
My resilience is a by product of my persistence and perseverance. I am very ambitious, I am an overcomer, and not because I want to appear strong or from having a need to look like I have it all together but simply because I don’t like to lose. I laugh when I say that out loud but it’s true. Even as a child I was competitive, I really don’t like to lose. When I experience loss it doesn’t beat me down, but it fuels me to try again. Read more>>
Janine Wiggins
The ebb and flow of life bring various circumstances that can potentially paralyze us mentally and emotionally. In these instances, one needs resilience. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficult situations. I wish I could say I purchased my resilience from Target, but unfortunately, this characteristic is not sold or gained from education. Read more>>
Spenser Chambers
I have failed so many times in my life at so many things. I’ve never let it define me however. I have this philosophy that if you aren’t failing, then you aren’t making progress. It’s hard to get past the judgment of others when you feel like a total ( insert ridiculous and unneccesary self hatred talk here ). Read more>>
Latif Hamilton
There are a few things that come to mind around resilience. In all honesty, I’m still trying to figure out if I’m resilient or just a bit masochistic. I think the core of my resilience comes from my childhood. I was raised by a 100% Disabled American Veteran with both mental and physical impairments that forced me to learn self reliance and leadership from early on. It’s a double edge sword that I’ve spent years working to re balance, because it created a tendency to consider discomfort and stress as the norm. Read more>>
Kristian Franklin
I am a black woman living in America. My resilience comes from my community. A community that has always been oppressed and forced to make a dollar out of 15 cents. My resilience comes from watching my mother raise my 4 siblings and me while maintaining her faith even when we were homeless. My resilience comes from my siblings, who remind me to always stand up for myself. Read more>>
Giset King
I get it from the vision I have of a better world for my daughter. My daughter has autism and an intellectual disability. It is hard to believe that in 2023, we are not where we need to be as a community to provide services and support to individuals with Special Needs. Read more>>
Jordan Smelley
So for me because I am a certified Mental Health Peer Specialist here in Texas and I am also a person in long term recovery from Intellectual and Developmental Differences( clinical term Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and abriviated as IDD) with co-occurring Mental Health struggles my resilience comes from understanding as hard as it is sometimes that not everyone I interact with will completely understand how to best support me. Read more>>
Diogo Trevisan
To me, it’s all about self improvement. I’ve always seen problems and challenges as a chance to grow. Things can only challenge you if you don’t have the tools to deal with it, may the challenge be purely technical, mental or emotional. In my opinion emotional challenges are the hardest ones to learn and heal from. Read more>>
Dellamarie Parrilli
I believe resilience is a personal journey – not a trait that people either have or do not have; it involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone. It is the process of adapting in the face of adversity, trauma, or tragedy. Read more>>
