Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out 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.
Rowdy
I get my resilience from my Og. I watched her battle through a lot of situations raising me and my lil brother but she never made excuses she made a way. Read more>>
Empress Trash
It stems from basic will to survive really. I pull a lot of my strength from my ancestors – I’m of Nordic/viking descent mostly mixed with French Canadian and Indigenous. I think about all the different things my ancestors went through to culminate in my existence and when I may not feel highly about myself, I still wish to honor them, their struggles and my own by always continuing. It’s also an innate stubbornness and will to win, and my parameters for winning are just getting up each morning and continuing on. I’ve survived a lot of extreme situations and should be dead a few times over, so even at my lowest points I’m grateful to be alive and don’t take it for granted. Read more>>
Charlie Kerbel
My resilience is deeply influenced by the lessons from my parents and my connection to my Jewish heritage, a realization that resonated with me profoundly after October 7th. My father, taught me the importance of hard work, reliability, and consistency. His mantra, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” instilled in me the value of initiative and assertiveness, highlighting the importance of actively seeking opportunities. Read more>>
Charlie
My resilience stems from my mother, who, on the Southside of Chicago, navigated adversity to support us. Witnessing her navigate adversity, providing for us against all odds, instilled a profound resilience in me. Her sacrifices molded my character. In 2021, losing her altered my life’s course, unveiling the depth of my resilience—a testament to the indomitable spirit she instilled. Read more>>
Brittany Cox
I feel like this is such a key word for artists…resilience. I know I’m not alone when I say that I’ve encountered people in my life who didn’t believe in me, who said being an actor/moving to LA is too difficult and I’d never make it. Or even have one of those teachers who said you weren’t good enough (anyone seen Whiplash?! It’s all too real!). Pouring your heart and soul into an audition that you would do anything to book and then not even get a callback – it can be heartbreaking. Resilience, or our ability to bounce back from the constant rejection we as actors and artists go through, is an attribute to foster. Read more>>
Mallissa Flamm
There have been many challenges in my life that have made me resilient. Having faced breast cancer at a young age (35), and striving to survive for my children has been the main factor of my resilience. That diagnosis was life-altering and I had to face fears, uncertainty, and physical challenges. My love for my children, my husband, and knowing that there is so much more in this life I wanted to live was the driving force behind my determination to fight. Read more>>
Anna-Maria Orlu
It’s a quality that has been shaped by the vibrant spirit of my Nigerian heritage and the challenges I faced growing up in the foster system. Being Nigerian has instilled in me a deep sense of resilience, drawing from the rich tapestry of my culture where strength, perseverance, and community are celebrated virtues. Growing up in the foster system was undoubtedly a journey of trials, but it became the crucible in which my resilience was forged. Read more>>
Lisa Apple
Resilience By Lisa Apple “The hard is what makes it great.” A quote said by Tom Hanks’ character in one of my all-time favorite movies, A League of Their Own. In the scene Tom Hanks is trying to get Geena Davis’ character not to quit baseball. Her reason for quitting was ‘it just got too hard’, and he curtly responds, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” Read more>>
Kristin McKay
I grew up always knowing that my little brother, my favorite person in the world, was going to die young. My brother, Zachary, was diagnosed with a rare, progressive, and terminal genetic disorder called Hunter syndrome. As a small child, I just knew that I had the cutest baby brother that I wanted to take care of and play with. But my understanding of his condition grew rapidly as I aged. In my teen years, the devastation of his diagnosis really hit me hard. I cried at night often. I quickly learned to cherish every moment with my brother. When I went away for college, my worst nightmare came true, his condition began to rapidly worsen. Read more>>
Jeneba Barrie
My resilience comes from overcoming obstacles from my younger years throughout my adulthood. It also comes from knowing that there is no one coming to save me. I have a village and people that cheer me on, but ultimately, I have to be resilient for myself. Read more>>
Chase Yi
The word Rejection has become synonymous with my life. I’ve been an actor since I was 15 years old, and although my career started out with many blessings, the majority of it has found nothing but doors slammed in my face. I have always been on the outside looking in, and as the years passed, rather than standing around in the cold, I’ve learned how to build my own house. I think rejection teaches you that you don’t really need anyone else’s approval to be true to yourself. Read more>>
Jessica Anvar
My name is Jessica Anvar, the Founder and Managing Partner of the Lemon Law Experts, a leading law firm specializing in consumer protection. Over the years, my journey in this field has been a testament to navigating the ever-evolving landscape of the legal industry, particularly in the realm of consumer rights and protection. Read more>>
Derek Jolley
In my life, I have always tried to do the right thing. Like anyone, I have made mistakes, but I am only human, and I believe that everyone deserves respect and consideration. Everyone deserves a fair shake. That being said, sometimes fate puts us at a crossroads which forces us to consider our morals and act on them, even when it wounds us considerably. Twice in my life, I have been in positions of influence and trust in creative communities where I became aware of terrible things being done by my colleagues. Read more>>
Hoda Mohajerani
I am a child of revolution. When my family fled Iran in the ‘79 revolution, I had to learn new languages, new cultures, new paradigms. My parents nurtured both the knowledge and remembrance of my heritage whilst teaching me critical thinking and dialogue skills. The rich and diverse tapestry of my own life has required of me to anchor in embodied truth; address complexity with systems-thinking and develop the necessary resilience to navigate uncertainty with courage and love. Read more>>
Mbong Henry
I have learned the art of mastering tenacious resilience, which is the ability to get knocked down and spring back up again. The secret for my developing tenacious resilience is accepting life’s challenges of racism, uncomfortable situations, and a whole host of other undesirable things as my teachers. Growing up as a first generation American daughter of African immigrants and one of the only people of color in my school, I was told to go back to where I came from, I was made fun of for my name, and I was told in order to fit in I needed to deny who I am. Read more>>
Sallieu Sesay
I am most certain that my resilience stems from my parents. I had front row seats to watching these two African Immigrants navigating the US landscape. They had a janitorial business and managed half a dozen employees and worked side by side with them cleaning restaurants. I remember being 11 or 12 years old and going with them at nights to clean during the summers. When other kids were going to spots camps and other camps I was working night shift with mom and Dad. I remember one New Years day cleaning a restaurant in down town Seattle called FX McCrory’s. Read more>>
Daniel Parsons
I’d have to say that my resilience and perseverance is a product of my lifelong ocean/surf journey. The ocean is powerful, humbling, calming, and invigorating all at the same time and connecting with it through surfing is something I am beyond passionate about. At Surf the Spectrum, we have four programs that are each designed to help individuals of all walks of life foster positive perspectives of healthy/active lifestyles and grow the resilience that life requires from us. Any time I’m in the ocean with a client it’s a privilege because I know how potent those experiences can be and how much they can lead to personal growth and development. Read more>>
Ana Sofía Navia López
I have been a very timid person my entire life which has pushed me to find my own ways of being resilient. Small tasks such as making friends or participating in conversations have required a lot of effort, which is why I think art became my own manner of connecting with others. Read more>>
Yuji Huang
I believe my past experience as a Track and Field athlete has been of paramount importance in shaping my resilience. As a sportsman, we went through a lot of hardship and dedication during training and competitions. The most rewarding part of this six-year experience is the failures and setbacks I encountered instead of the glory and honor. These failures reminded me of what mistakes should always be avoided and trained me to quickly bounce back from most setbacks I faced. I managed to carry this valued quality into my work and life and grow more and more resilient. Read more>>
Robina Singh
Finding Resilience from Within. When it rains, it does pour. These last few years have been immensely difficult for me on many fronts. While I do have a network of supportive friends, family members and acquaintances, ultimately, I find myself looking within to find answers, guidance, and motivation, especially when life throws a curveball. This is because no one knows me better than I know myself. As a first generation immigrant, I’ve had to lean on myself time after time. Read more>>
Eric Meyer
This is a question I have never been asked. Truth be told I have no idea where my resilience comes from. I simply believe that everything is building towards something and my part in the process is to keep working at whatever is in front of me on the way to the end goal. If there is one thing that helped me develop my resilience it is learning how to learn. Once I figured out that I could learn then I promptly figured out that there is nothing that I can’t learn with enough persistance and questions. Read more>>
Anahita Dalmia
My resilience is a result of a combination of personal choices and circumstances. In middle school. I was quite shy and was unfortunately bullied for it. This experience, as tough as it was, taught me an invaluable lesson in self-worth. I learned to separate my sense of value from the opinions of naysayers and to focus more on how I viewed myself. I placed importance on the opinions of those who supported and liked me, while learning to disregard unconstructive criticism. Though I’m absolutely not an advocate for bullying, I recognize that this experience played a significant role in shaping my resilience. Read more>>
Adrian Michael
This is the million dollar question a lot of the time for me. It’s hard to want to keep going when everything seems so saturated with people that are just like you, attempting to scale the same mountains as you and say that they “made” it. Not only that but you have the economy, the strains of living, and a future you’re trying to mold in a time that feels less controllable than ever. I’ve seen my fair share of trials, some by my own mistake, others by other people and some just out of my control, but I would always tell myself that no matter what I did, I couldn’t leave this earth knowing I didn’t try. Read more>>
Jean Walton
I’ve always had a tendency to get over things quickly. I never quite knew where that came from or why I was able to do that. When I first embarked on my journey as an entrepreneur, I did a lot of “how to grow your business” reading. Oddly enough, the books that I encountered weren’t only about the steps to start a business, but also on how to really get to know yourself to make sure that you could apply your strengths and talents to your business endeavors after you discover them. Read more>>
Helen Altamirano
It’s important to build resilience skills as entrepreneur to endure hardships. There are many ways to build resilience so it becomes a natural tendency. Developing resilience can help you cope adaptively and bounce back after changes, challenges, setbacks, disappointments, and failures. Resilience can be learned. It involves developing thoughts, behaviors, and actions that allow you to recover from traumatic or stressful events in life. Read more>>
Kim Wadsworth
I have developed my resilience over the years by being torn down and told, …” you can’t…” The more people told my I couldn’t, the more I pushed myself to prove them wrong. I always knew I had the goods! But I’ve also had to prove myself over and over to each new person added into the equation. Read more>>
Jillian Keeler
Sports have always been a big part of my life. I grew up playing a little bit of everything, from swim team to softball, and soccer, eventually focusing my attention and energy primarily on equestrian. There were many times during training, and unfortunately sometimes shows, where my horse would stop short at the fence, and I would fall. I had to stand up, literally “get back in the saddle” and finish what I started. At the time, it seemed more about not letting the horse learn that was acceptable, but I think it was important to me for the same reason. Read more>>
Briana Pena
My resilience is a cherished gift from my role models – my indomitable mother and my tenacious older brother. Their unwavering determination, relentless work ethic, and refusal to give up, even in the face of challenges, have been my guiding lights. Their example fuels my resilience, reminding me that strength lies not only in overcoming obstacles but in the continuous effort to move forward. Read more>>
Jen Waters
Creativity helps you to have resilience, so you know there are a million ways to solve a problem, even if the solution doesn’t end up being the obvious one that everyone would expect. When I grew up at Hershey High School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, where my family attended, suggested that I study at Berklee College of Music in Boston for the summer program. So, between 11th and 12th grade, I did the Five-Week Music Performance Intensive. I was so nervous. Read more>>
Poppy Farsijani
When I moved back to Iran as a teenager from NYC, the world around me was a blur. From the language to the culture to the people, everything. I quickly knew that I was the only one that understood me, and had to move forward with all the obstacles in front of me. I was hired as a sport journalist and later became the anchor in Iran’s state run media TV and it was at that time, another layer of not knowingness was put on my path. But all these hardships shaped me and helped me develop resilience. Read more>>
Tamara Gaynor
For many years I have struggled with homelessness and working for other people. I have dealt with stress, anxiety and depression with having to do what employers wanted me to do which sometimes I did not feel was right. This lead me to start thinking about starting my own business. Read more>>
Colby Kennedy
It was the worst of times. It was even worse than the worst of times. It was the end of 2019 and I was preparing to move from Chicago to Los Angeles in summer of 2020 to pursue comedy, acting and writing. Then I lost my job that I would have taken with me to the west coast. Then my wife and I tried IVF to get pregnant and the insurance company stopped paying for treatment in the middle of it. Then my wife’s mother died. Then Covid started. Then we started the always traumatic IVF again and my wife got a brain tumor. All while trapped in our freezing one bedroom apartment in the Midwest. Read more>>
Brian Gaddis and Jesse Johnson
We get our resilience from the situations we have been put in. Both of our backgrounds are in municipal recreation. That being said, there are times when we must trust the process in bringing things to fruition. The resilience we must have in the journey of a project makes completion all the more special. That has paralleled with our purchasing this business in 2017. The resilience has shown through weathering a pandemic. The last thing people were wanting to do was get inside a bubble suit other people have used. As well, it was tested with the rising cost of doing business. Through this, resilience was not weakened but strengthened. Read more>>
Rebecca Lewis
I was raised by a strong woman, and I was raised to be a strong woman. I rarely back down from a challenge, I try really hard to meet people where they’re at to work toward a common goal, and I love that teamwork feeling when the goal is met. Resilience, though, for me requires that I lean into the softness. I’ve had to learn that over time. If I just continue to push without making time and room for the softer side of life: recharging with my family, reconnecting with my partner, even honoring big feelings… I burn out and have no option but to stop eventually. Balancing the softness of life keeps me going. Read more>>
Taysha Smith
Honestly, I feel like I learned how to be resilient from my mother. Growing I seen my mother go through a lot of challenging situations that she had to overcome being a single mother. No matter how tough things got she always managed to bounce back and find a way. She remained strong even after feeling like she wanted to give up. Watching her being resilient and strong taught me how to never give up and to be the best mother I can be. Sometimes it feels as if I’m following in her exact footsteps and history is repeating its self again in some situations. Read more>>
