Portraits of Resilience

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.

Desiree Byfield

My resilience is deeply rooted in my natural inclination to embrace risks in every aspect of life. I’ve always welcomed new challenges and the uncertainty that comes with them, whether in my personal or entrepreneurial pursuits. Certainly, life has presented me with its fair share of setbacks and failures. Read more>>

Casondra Burkley

Resilience is a quality we often take for granted until life throws us into the depths of adversity. It’s the capacity to endure, adapt, and ultimately thrive in the face of hardships. As I reflect on my own life’s journey, I realize that my resilience was forged through a series of life obstacles. Read more>>

Eugene ( V.I.P ) Weems

Eugene Weems is the “King Of The Streets (K.O.T.S.) Underground Fight Club Heavyweight World Champion!” My resilience and motivation comes from my Grandmother Aldine Weems who raised me to be the man that I am today, a leader who leads by example with strict morals and values. She taught me that Drive, Determination and Persistence does not recognize Failure. Read more>>

Curry Sicong Tian

I find my resilience in my personal experiences with insecurity. Growing up in a competitive environment taught me to handle tough situations. When I faced insecurity and didn’t have a backup plan, it made me even more determined. These life experiences have shaped my ability to bounce back from challenges and keep pushing forward. Read more>>

Anya Zhang

I wasn’t always the resilient type. In fact, I was considered quite weak, and easy to give up when I was a kid. I don’t seem to be able to endure when encountering obstacles, which troubled my parents a lot. I’ve only discovered in recent years that my resilience can be pretty strong if I am determined about something. Read more>>

Christine Frey

During the first forty-nine years of my life, I was stuck in a desperate and dangerous cycle of domestic violence and sexual assault. When I was finally free from the dysfunctional relationships, I realized that I was a survivor with a lot of resilience and that I wanted to step fully into a life of thriving! This was scary and exciting at the same time, and through therapy, healing work and my unshakeable faith in my Higher Power, I firmly claimed my new life. Read more>>

Rahkim Sabree

My resilience comes from filling a need both internally and externally. Internally that looks like recognizing the parts of me that need to be saved–because no one is coming to save me. Externally that looks like being an example of representation for those who have sacrificed before me and those who are coming after me. Read more>>

Chad Ross

I get my resilience from two primary sources; my mother, who is the embodiment and personification of self-made and perfect imperfection, and life. I’m an only child with three siblings that I know and don’t. My mother is first generation immigrant who has truly find beauty in the disenchanted and melody in the deafening silence. Read more>>

Sierra Nichols

As I was growing up, my mother was a driving force for my resilience and tenacity. My parents separated when I was young, and my mother was determined to solve every problem she could on her own. She had me assist her in small house repairs, and instilled a since of pride in being fiscally responsible and independent. Read more>>

Beverly Robinson

I get my resilience from growing up in a home with a parent that had mental health issues and being in the foster care system. My mother’s mental health issues brought about my siblings, and I being separated from one another and our mother. Read more>>

Art Dixie

Resilience: the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Read more>>

Mariee Brand

My resilience comes from past trauma and the hating the feeling of losing or failing. When I was younger I always had to be the strong one. Once my mom and dad got divorced and my older half sister chose to go with her dad and it left me to be an older sister to my little brother. Read more>>

Jenny Canham

I developed the skill of resilience by changing my perception of the word ‘no’ to ‘not yet’ in my career towards achieving my goals in the non-profit sector. Read more>>

Lenni Uitto

In the Finnish culture there is a word that is what I feel best encompasses resilience. “Sisu” which is loosely translated as having grit, or tenacity to never give up and push forward even when everything pushes back against you. My father taught me the importance of sisu. As he was born and raised in Finland. Read more>>

Joanne Garcia

That’s such an interesting question … because to me, resilience isn’t something you learn or pickup. And it’s not something that you’re necessarily born with. I think resilience comes from going through life and dealing with and surviving hardships. Read more>>

Nichole Le Shawn

I embarked on my artistic journey at a tender age of 4, and despite my initial shyness, my mother’s wise decision to immerse me in the arts was the catalyst. By the age of 6, I was already a competitive dancer, model, and actress, and at 8, I added competitive musician to my repertoire. The arts captured my heart early, yet my shyness held me back. Read more>>

Lisiane Birks-Hay

Despite the hardships I faced growing up, I always had a fire within me to create a better life for myself. Witnessing my family’s struggles and sacrifices fueled my determination to break free from the cycle of poverty. At the tender age of seven, I began making Barbie clothes to sell at school, using my creativity as a means to earn money. Read more>>

Darian Thompson

On your journey, things can get challenging. It’s not uncommon to feel like throwing in the towel and doubting the value of your efforts. It’s as if everything you’re doing is in vain. You’ve probably heard the saying, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” but let’s dig deeper into this concept. Read more>>

Ben Meeks

When I was around ten years old my mother started to develop what would turn into a very severe case of paranoid schizophrenia. Like the parable of the frog in a pot of boiling water, it started with small eccentricities and progressed to getting random calls from hospitals and law enforcement all the way up to the Secret Service. I don’t think anyone understood what was happening to my mom, and my parents had gotten divorced early on. Read more>>

Connie Morgan

This is a great question. My resilience comes from a few places. I know I learned a lot about resilience from my parents. One thing they taught all five of their kids was to finish what you start and seeing promises you made to others and to your self through to the end. Read more>>

Jennifer Badger

I have been incredibly blessed to have a 30 year career in the film and television industry and, having been a young athlete (gymnastics, US Swim and Dive Team, etc), I certainly found my niche serving as a stunt performer, stunt double, and stunt coordinator. Having said that, Hollywood can be a cruel and fickle business, and I’ve seen how many people dedicate their entire life and identity to it only be used, abused, and eventually discarded. Read more>>

Connor Dean

I get my resilience from the fact that I have had to work for everything I have. There were people that would say I couldn’t do certain things or that I wasn’t good at certain things. I started to believe even though I was constantly told I could do anything I set my mind to do. Read more>>

Alison Woods

I have learned that life is never in a straight line and successes can easily be followed by failures. All ventures have a life span and it can be difficult to maintain the same level of enthusiasm once you attain the pinnacle level of success for each venture. Oftentimes, we lose the drive and excitement once we have achieved our goals and need to redirect our energies into a new challenge to stay engaged. Read more>>

JJ Fox Hatch

I got my resilience from my mother, who was an amazing woman of God. She was my best friend that I could come to for anything and she taught how to bounce back and stand strong. She always told me that she didn’t raise quitters and no matter what happens in life and how many times we fall, get up and never give up. Read more>>

Linda Queally

Great question! Read more>>

Sophie Wizmann

When I think of the word resilience, the two thoughts that cross my mind are one from Bob Marley ” You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice” and the other by Martin Luther King Jr.
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Read more>>

Beth Lane

My mom and her six siblings survived the Holocaust together. I am grateful some of their hard won resiliency is in my bones; but as an actress, filmmaker, and activist I have been tested by rejection and redirection over and over within my own lifetime. What keeps pushing me forward is this undying belief that storytelling and helping others will reveal more light in our world. Ultimately, getting really clear on my mission has helped me navigate challenges regardless of the medium or project. Read more>>

John Miles

I would have attribute my resilience to my mother. She is a cancer survivor and an amazing mother. Early on she educated my family through bible teachings as well as her unrelenting Haitian spirit to keep moving. Read more>>

Bianka Mbeng

Certainly! Let me share with you the story of Bianka, a resilient young woman who triumphed over adversity in her journey from Africa. Read more>>

Emily Bourne

As an artist, resilience found me early on. Although it didn’t feel like it for a long time. Read more>>

Russ Gooberman

In my family, resilience is in the blood. My grandparents (Walter & Etta Riegler) met in a displaced person’s (DP) camp after both were liberated from concentration camps in the aftermath of WWII. They married in the DP camp – my grandmother wearing a re-purposed parachute as a wedding dress. Read more>>

Christina Ramos

From my heritage. I am born in Spain, we are known to be stubborn and perseverant. I also come from a hard working family. Read more>>

Ariel Young

Finding a sense of purpose has helped me deal with life’s challenges and find meaning when I’m facing a challening situation. So I’m not typically discouraged by problems instead I choose to stay focused on my purpose in life, which is to make a positive impact on my community. This is how I stay motivated and ready to face the future with confidence! Read more>>

Angelica Neri

When I first started my business five years ago, I blindly imagined that a successful entrepreneur’s path would look like a steady, consistent climb. All I saw were wellness and spiritual influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers having six figure businesses after seemingly no time at all and no roadblocks. I was enraptured by the quick and fast successful lifestyle coupled with the idea of avoiding the human experience of pain, completely. Sign me up! Read more>>

Priscila Martinez

As a first-generation Latina, I find resilience when I think about what my parents had to go through when they decided to move us to a new country. Pre-cell phones, with no language and no map for how to raise a family in a completely different culture. They probably had to go through incredibly hard times but they kept a smile on their face for their children. Read more>>

Dean Passarella

My resiliency comes from having a spiritual practice that connects me to something greater than myself and grounds me in love and belonging with other humans. Life on life’s terms can sometimes be painful and hard work does not always lead to a desired outcome or the results I want. I’m learning to let the process be the path and to choose growth when facing disappointments and perceived failures. Read more>>

Brock McGoff

Before going “full time” with my content creation business, it was a side hustle for about five years. I’d work during my lunch breaks, evenings and weekends, mostly for very little money. Read more>>

Sabrina Rising

My resilience comes from my inner resources and is deeply rooted in my daily spiritual practices that keep me aligned with my values, worth, and vision for my life. I have strong and implicit trust that the universe supports me and the evidence of this belief manifests itself in powerful ways that allow me to accept challenges with grace and a willingness to learn. Read more>>

Darien Martus

Both of my parents were veterans of WW11…hard working people who taught me to work as a kid…when I was 5 years old, my mom took me into the basement and asked me to try and reach the controls on the washing machine…I was thrilled because from then on I got to do my own laundry! When I was 10, I started doing my dad’s accounting for his business! I actually have enjoyed work all my life because of what they taught me. Read more>>

Alejandra Fernandez

I get my resilience from my family, my ancestors and my community. Just looking back at my family history on my mom’s side, her and her parents grew up speaking Purepécha and practicing indigenous Purepécha customs. My mom is named after the famous Purepéchan princess Erendira that fought against Spanish colonizers. Read more>>

Ava Milva

I get my resilience from having been through things that could have crushed me completely but somehow making it through and growing from these experiences. Life is all about lessons and most of the time these happen through challenges as that’s what makes us stronger. Read more>>

Chuck Smith

On September 24, 2023, the final curtain of the five-performance premiere of Daniel and the Kings closed to yet another standing ovation at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center (PAC) … Charleston’s theater for touring Broadway series. “This was every bit as good as any Broadway show I’ve seen,” we heard again and again as audiences exited the theater. Some came to multiple shows only days apart. Read more>>

Mark Elias

I really think it’s part of the blue collar work ethic of showing up every day and chipping away at what you want. The 10,000 hours rule is helpful to think of, but, it’s the image of carving a sculpture and knowing what it will look like in the end when everyone else sees a few dents in a marble block. Read more>>

Brett Nicole Seidl

I’ve always been the type of person where my “comfort zone” is being outside my comfort zone. From a young age, my dad taught me that. He also taught me that giving up isn’t an option. When he was coaching me in softball, he’d say, “Make the play first and then cry later.” It’s not that he was telling me not to cry, it was that he was saying, “Accomplish your goal, and THEN process it.” Read more>>