Sometimes just seeing resilience can change our mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our hope with the Portraits of Resilience series – we hope the stories below will inspire you to tap into your own resilience.
Cream Camino
Our resilience comes from everything we’ve ever endured be it individually or together. In times of discomfort, uncertainty, loss, growth, objections and more .. we have stood by each other. Our mental, emotional, and physical strength has been tested in numerous ways and we consider so many of these situations a success in the end as we navigated successfully adapting to challenging life experiences. Cream Camino is a family and unfortunately not everyone we’ve partnered with has always had our back. Read more>>
Candice Pinkins
I gained my resilience from a series of unfortunate events happening in my life that I had absolutely no control over. I grew to learn that I had the power to determine how i would allow it to shape who I am as a person and the effect it had on my life. Read more>>
Shawn Postma
Growing up my mother primarily raised me as a single parent. She became a registered nurse who often had to work night shifts to make ends meet. In an attempt to give me the best, we also moved around quite frequently. By the time I was in high school, for example, I had lived in over 20+ homes (including four different states) and many different schools. Read more>>
Latoya Frazier
My resilience comes from the many experiences I had throughout my life. I, in fact, grew up in the inner city of Baltimore City. My life being raised as an at-risk youth was already flawed. I was a teenage mom of one by the time I was 16 years old. I was totally lost, I did not know where to get help or resources. Read more>>
Omarious Fann
My resilience comes from the faith that my mother and my grandmother instilled in me as a young boy. Having to face so many trials and challenges growing up, it was my faith in God that always allowed me to bounce back after life’s mishaps. Read more>>
Kendra Dean
My resilience comes from myself being a teen mother of two having to be a single mother at such s young age not knowing how to be a mother not yet being fully an adult but yet having adult responsibilities Read more>>
Radiant Reveries
Our resilience comes from our successes and failures, from going for our dreams and. goals and not giving up when we fall. Both of us has our individual and shared visions that we are working on fulfilling so it’s important for us to support one another day in and day out. The past can be a heavy weight to carry around and the future can be an overwhelming mystery to step into.. It’s really about staying present and focused on what’s at hand. Read more>>
Dr. Tiffany Clark
My resilience came from people always counting me out and telling me that I’m too young for this or too young for that. Since I was young though my family always told me, “you can be whatever you want to be but do it with excellence.” My grandmother would tell me, you gone fail a few times but you have to get back up and keep going in the fight. Read more>>
Tracey Leinen
I’ve become a pro at bouncing back from tough situations, loss and heartache. The focus for me has been to find positivity in every situation, learn how to accept not having control and to realize every experience gives us the opportunity to tell a story. Read more>>
Chanel Green
From a young age I have been surrounded by black women who were examples perseverance and resilience. My grandmother for example made sure that I understood the importance of working hard and not letting anything keep me from my goals. She and my grandfather also ensured that I had access to opportunities that others in my community might not have been able to experience. Read more>>
Bianca T. Adams
Resilience can be defined as the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties. It can also be described as the ability to spring back into shape. I have had multiple experiences in my life that have built resilience. Resilience is something that I was not born with but that I developed through different life challenges. It is a level of resilience: The challenge. The journey. The new skill set/muscle acquired. Read more>>
Marion Brooks
I failed almost every time. Read more>>
Kelly Newton
My resilience draws strength from three key sources in my life. Firstly, my family’s unwavering values instilled in me a strong sense of determination and perseverance. Read more>>
Kevyn Lee-Wellington
I am a spiritual man. I simply lean into my faith into something greater than myself, which to simplify I’ll call it God. I call upon the spirit of my ancestors for strength, protection and discernment; and I call upon spiritual energies of all things love and goodness. So, when I am confronted with challenges and obstacles is it vitally important for me get still and assess what life in that moment is trying to tell and teach me. Read more>>
Brittany Garman
Learning to be resilient is a challenge but absolutely necessary as an entrepreneur. It’s a skill that takes time, practice and above all, a tremendous amount of patience. When you are facing adversity in your career nothing is more difficult than pulling yourself out of your own head. For me, I’ve learned stepping away is the best way to bounce back and to gain some perspective. Read more>>
Stuart Mcclean
My resilience is undoubtedly a reflection of my mother’s incredible strength and determination. As a single mother raising two children, I had the privilege of witnessing her unwavering commitment and hard work. She tirelessly worked two jobs to provide for us, never missing a beat. Read more>>
MIchelle Barnett Wichern
As a child, I always felt like it was my responsibility to keep everyone in the family happy. I grew up with an alcoholic father which made it chaotic at home. He was a functioning alcoholic which meant he still worked and provided for us so he was also resilient. I am strong and resilient because I had to be. Read more>>
Christina Elizabeth Smith
My resilience and the question of where is comes from is really thanks to my buddhist practice and a balance of a lot of coping skills I learned very early on in my childhood. I experienced trauma growing up and in my early adult years and that led me to really become a seeker of how to maintain my center through the ups and the downs. I am also deeply inspired by books, stories, and other people’s journeys of overcoming impossible odds. Read more>>
Michael Wholey
I am from a family of athletes where you need to develop skills by playing aggressive, being extremely competitive, and have a strong work ethic. In our house, you had to have thick skin and be emotionally strong. Over my life, I have faced obstacles personally and professionally and overcome all the obstacles that have got in the way. I get my resilience from competing on the court and a strong desire to be successful. Read more>>
Gary Da Konnect
I think that comes from within , o used to be a push over and kinda let people steer me in the right direction but now I’ve kinda out my foot down. I knew deep down that a lot of decisions and things that I wanted to do but I let people sway me in their direction. Doing things how you want is important and your vision is who you are, you may want to paint the sun red but they want it yellow. You decided to do that for a reason! Stick to your guns ! Read more>>
Tony Cota
I’ve seen both sides of the fence. Or multiple sides of the fence even. I’ve seen what’s it’s like to struggle & have nothing, and i’ve seen what it’s like to be successful & financially free. I’ve seen what it’s like to be lazy & have no ambitions in life, and i’ve seen what chasing your dreams can lead to. Read more>>
Jessica Lewis
I learned to be resilient from experiencing a great deal of opposition in life. It has helped me grow and given me so much strength. I use opposition as fuel to keep going in life. I have my low moments, but I know that life goes on and I must keep going. Read more>>
Maria Melkonian-Maissian
I draw my resilience from a journey that has been shaped by self-discovery and the pursuit of knowledge. As the founder and Chief Brand Officer of Enove Digital Agency, my path has been marked by the need to navigate uncharted territories, and it is this very need that has cultivated my resilience. Read more>>
Lionel Rogers Jr
I’ve acquired my resilience from growing up with a disability in the low income housing projects of Baltimore City. At the young age of four, I contracted a rare form of bacterial meningitis.Subsequently, leaving me with two severe above the knee leg amputations. This was not the only physical hardship I had to endure. Throughout my life, i’ve had nearly ten surgeries. The procedures were caused by severe obesity, nicotine use, hypertension, heart disease, and kidney failure. Read more>>
Krishna Dhakal
Resilience, like a tapestry, is woven from life’s diverse threads. In my own journey, it’s composed of various influences, and at its core stands the unyielding spirit of my parents. Read more>>
Andres Galeano
Resilience is a feeling that resides within us all, a spirit that thrives deep within. It doesn’t exist externally; rather, it’s that unwavering determination living inside you, shaping resilience into an integral part of who you are. Read more>>
Madelyn Long
The way that I was raised was always you earn what you work for, and growing up my parents were able to instill this idea in me from an early age. As challenges in life have rose my resilience has been tested and each time has evolved. I don’t believe that resilience is something that is given, but something that is built overtime through overcoming trials. Read more>>
Dominique Stringer
My resilience comes from having to work for everything. Rejection has always played a part in my story. Having to prove myself has been my biggest strength. I work hard for everything and take great pride in what I have build for myself within my career. I am not one who has been given hand outs. I’ve seen a lot of closed doors, but when one door closes so many doors have open for me. I have never allowed myself to give up I never have had it in me to allow myself to fail. Read more>>
Sarah Martinico
To start, I was raised with a 1st generation Sicilian father who had extremely high standards, a strong work ethic and everlasting stubbornness. My dad being first generation and trying to instill the American dream, was very much an experience that I could right a book on. Read more>>
Megan Piotrowski
I believe at the end of the day, my resilience comes from my ability to understand that there is value that can come from walking through even the toughest of storms. That value adds to what I bring to the table through those experiences and even heighten my artistry. I’ve been through a lot of difficult and challenging situations during my life & business journey , but through those tough moments, I’ve been able to travel to the other side with great lessons learned, and new or expanded knowledge that I wouldn’t have been able to grasp ahold of without going through those experiences. Read more>>
Robin R. Haynes
My resilence honestly came from my divorce. After having gone through my divorce which was an extremely dark and challenging time in my life, I promised GOD, and myself that I would NEVER be in this space again. Read more>>
Zeel Sangoi
I believe it comes with time; everyone has their own journey, where they have encountered something they were not prepared for, an unexpected incident. I’ve also had personal experiences where the things went in a different direction, leading to unexpected findings. All these events gave me an different perspective making me a resilient person. Read more>>
The DNA
I believe I got my resilience from my ancestors. Im a spiritual boss so every-time I chose to find inner standing and healing during challenging times, I was blessed with the ability to turn my pain into power. Read more>>
Brian Fitzpatrick
I’ve been writing science fiction and horror stories since I was 7 years old. Tragedies struck my family early in life and at key points growing up. These events created in me a drive to never give up, never stop. Tomorrow is not promised, and we must take advantage of every day we’re given. Read more>>
Monya Thompson
This is such a loaded question. Resilience means to overcome from challenges or difficulties. My resilience comes from having no other option. I couldn’t give up because I only had me to depend on and I wanted more for myself. Growing up, I witnessed many things and have been through many things. Read more>>
Jimetta Rose
Inner faith and a belief in my life having a purpose has fueled my resilience and caused me to have an intensity of focus on living life with intention and positivity. Building daily routines of prayer and caring for my plants reminds me to nurture and care for myself. No one owes us love truly or encouragement or even support , every time this is given to us by someone else it is a gift; a blessing. Read more>>
Natalie and Larry Beck
Our resilience comes from the inherent need to succeed no matter how difficult life gets or what challenges and changes that life throws at us. We have always had no choice but to keep striving for better and just keep putting one foot infront of the other. We have suffered loss yet life still needs us to keep moving, keep getting up every morning and going to our jobs. Read more>>
Zazel-Chavah O’Garra
I am incredibly resilient, having triumphed over the challenges posed by being a brain tumor survivor. Following the surgery, which left me with partial paralysis and cognitive deficits, I refused to let adversity define my path. Instead, I transformed this setback into a remarkable comeback by establishing ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, a platform dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities through dance and self-expression. Read more>>
Kevin Schaefer
I’ve lived with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) my entire life. SMA is a neuromuscular disability that affects my voluntary muscles and progresses over time. Living with SMA has shaped my perspective on many things, especially resilience. Having a disability like SMA is more than just using a wheelchair every day. Read more>>
Cooper Walker
My resilience is grounded in hardship – loss, heartbreak, addiction, sobriety, covid… these experiences have made me stronger and your everyday problem smaller. Pain is the impetus for growth, and comfort is the enemy of progress. We all encounter darkness, for me music has always been the light at the end of the tunnel. Read more>>
Nate Calima
I came from a middle class family so when you do something out of the norm you typically get push back. I was incredibly introverted and nearly had panic attacks when I did anything in front of the classroom. However, good fortune came my way and I was introduced to personal development. Learning from legends like Jim Rohn and leadership from John C. Maxwell made a huge impact on my life. Read more>>
Lily Hansen
I have been through a lot in my career and recently went through a situation that taught me a lot about resilience. I went to New Orleans this summer to write my fourth book. It has always been a dream of mine to expand my city book series Word of Mouth Conversations since I started it in 2015. My book series had a best-selling title in the city of Nashville called Word of Mouth: Nashville Conversations, which also sparked partnerships with the airport where I had a yearlong art exhibition and the prestigious Vanderbilt University. Read more>>
Bam Berry
Setting intentions for my well being would be the first thing I set for myself. I intend to work better, i intend to do better. Once I scale back and identify my intention, then I focus on how to respond to a certain situation. Growing up my mother always told me that there is a positive in any negative or low vibrational situation that you are put in. So I channel to pull that positive out to create a better outlook. Accepting change is a part of living, which helps shape who I have become based on my outlook and decisions. Read more>>
Janirette Vazquez
Having to deal with so many difficult situations in life has made me stronger. Dealing with a few chronic health issues including a heart condition, I could have easily given up. I’ve thought of it so many times. Being the victim is easier right? But quitting has never been an option for me, so I have given myself the opportunity to sit and cry whenever I felt like it. Read more>>
Neel Mehta
Neel Mehta’s resilience to consistently expand Car Concierge Pro across the USA and Canada can be attributed to a combination of factors. His unwavering dedication to the company’s mission, a deep passion for the automotive industry, and a commitment to delivering unparalleled service are the driving forces behind his persistence. Read more>>
Tylur Jordan
Well, when you go through what I have been through at such a young age as a homosexual African American male it’s almost like I didn’t have a choice but to adopt it. I knew early on what I wanted to do in life and who I wanted to be and that just being who I was would cause some turbulence along the journey. So many doors have been slammed in my face and I’ve Gained accustomed to the word no and refusing to take those “No’s” I chose to persevere by any means necessary in order to reach and accomplish all of my goals. Read more>>
César Valentino Valdizan
Ah, the journey of resilience, it’s been quite the ride! You see, my resilience isn’t some mystical elixir I stumbled upon; it’s forged in the crucible of life itself. Imagine life as a grand canvas, and resilience as the vibrant colors I’ve collected over time. Read more>>
