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.

Kimberly Bannick

It comes for the realization that I was in an incredibly toxic relationship, with a six month old baby and I would not let my daughter grow up in it. Before then, looking back, I was just coasting through life. I worked to make money, I made candy occasionally, even did some markets, but I lacked the drive to move my life forward for myself instead of just playing a part in someone else’s story. Read More>>

Alessandra Cunha

to become resilient I wake up every day with goals to meet during the day, I try to have positive thoughts and always believe that it will be possible and never lose faith! Read More>>

Naomi Joy Nelson

Resilience is such a great and necessary tool to our survival in an ever changing environment.

My personal faith in God, prayer time, meditation, listening to worship music, classical music, and spending time with family and friends strengthens my ability to continue to navigate through the challenges of life. Read More>>

Hillary Danner

I am resilient because of my children. When I became a mother I was filled with excitement to give them the best childhood I could imagine. I didn’t anticipate that I would find it difficult to continue my career at the time. But after my second child was born I self-imposed an indefinite pause on my acting career, opened a boutique store in Highland Park, and fell into the food business. Unfortunately, I was also navigating the early stages of what would prove to be a chaotic and challenging divorce.  Read More>>

Claudia Caballero

My resiliency comes from my mother, who recently flew in from Honduras to attend my MBA graduation. With mom here, I’ve reflected on my gratitude for her, and I see that who I am is so much a result of watching her go about life in a unique manner. Through her example I learned resiliency, work ethic, purpose, and optimism. She’s always had this incredible zest for life—she’s very curious, experimental, she’ll try doing anything that catches her eye, and usually, she succeeds. Read More>>

Ricky Terrell

My resilience comes from the understanding that life will never stop and we have less control than we think over our circumstances so we should focus on what we can control like our daily regimens, our responses to adversity, and keeping a level head when things may seemingly be unfair. Read More>>

Rena Walls

Over the course of developing my individuality throughout my entrepreneurship career I’ve become resilient. This journey can be very hard because most people separate their jobs or careers from their personal, family and social life but entrepreneurship doesn’t give you that option. We have the luxury to operate our business in our own way and on our own time but the balance of that doesn’t really exist. Read More>>

Troy Ten Eyck

Resilience is a word I would have never used 5 years ago. I guess it was during COVID and my divorce that I developed the “calais” to face any fear or challenge. The quarantine lock down hit the same week my divorce was finalized. As a freelance cinematographer, I wasn’t working and didn’t for over 3 months… It seemed everyone in the creative space (musicians, artists, photographers, you name it) sort of lost their purpose during the COVID. While in the midst realizing now that my divorce had been finalized, I was now going to be taking on living on my own as a single parent, child support, all the bills, while still trying to stay focus on my dream of being a cinematographer, there was no way I was going to accept getting a “real job.” Read More>>

Natalie Sun Frost

Name an issue, I’ve probably been through it! No lie!
From homelessness, to job loss, to childhood trauma, and more.

I built resilience from realizing I survived it all, but I also realized that God had the upper hand in letting me.
My faith is the strongest push of my resilience above all. Even when things seem tough, I remember there is peace on the other side. Read More>>

Ariee

My unwavering resilience is rooted in my profound understanding of my life’s purpose. Being a music artist and entrepreneur is not just a career choice for me, but a true calling that ignites a fire within me to keep pushing forward, even in the face of uncertainty.

There were many moments when I felt like giving up, when the challenges seemed insurmountable, and doubts crept in. But I refused to succumb to those feelings and instead, persevered. Read More>>

Lauren Partch

My resilience comes from sitting with hard emotions and continuing to move forward even if things turned out differently than I had envisioned, because it has always led me towards something even greater. It reminds me of the quote “Get knocked down 7 times, but get up 8.” In my twenties I was building resilience without realizing it at the time, and I am so grateful for that version of myself. I thought I was going to land my dream job when I first moved to the city, and instead I was working in an industry that didn’t feed my soul, but I learned to make the best of it and cultivated friendships there that I still hold today. Read More>>

Brittany O’Neal

Truthfully, I believe that my resilience came from fear… The fear of landing in an uncomfortable situation and not being able to get out of it. It’s like a second hand nature switch and my mind goes into resilient mode and says, “Let’s go. You can do it. Keep moving. You got this.” Read More>>

Dr. Kennesha Bracely

In a world often marred by heartbreak and loss, some individuals choose to rise above their circumstances, illuminating the path for others with their unwavering strength and resilience. My journey has been a testament to this unwavering spirit. Read More>>

Ismael Pohlert

I have had multiple small businesses and some have done better than the others. I have discovered that my service-based businesses are successful because I am offering a service that is helpful to others. I realized that combining services with products has allowed me to challenge myself and step in to a new realm of business introspection. I am currently tying mental wellness into the sport of disc golf. I love guiding meditations and playing disc golf. The power of mindfulness, visualization, and stillness are all key components to disc golf. Read More>>

Brandy Cooper

I believe I owe my resilience to my family as whole. I have watched all of the adults in my life, immediate family especially, strive to great heights and to get where they are going. My mom and dad always taught me to fully believe in what I am doing and to put hard work into my goals. I strive for excellence and if I miss the target at least I was aiming high! Read More>>

Mark Fleming

It comes from way back when I was little. Growing up with fine and gross motor skill delays, I constantly had trouble moving around. I literally had to pick myself up every day because I was falling down all the time. You could say that all that time, I physically had to pick myself up; it prepared me to mentally and emotionally pick myself up later in life. When you are put into a survivor mode at such a young age just to do the simple things, it creates a mentally that you can make it through anything. Read More>>

Mario Campbell

My resilience goes all the way back to the age of three. At three years old I was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a rare childhood cancer that forms in the soft tissue and/or your organs. In my particular case it had wrapped itself around every organ in my entire body. Even then, even as bleak as things looked at that time, I’m always told how I was always the most courageous three year old anyone had saw. Read More>>

Antoinnette Rainey

I’ve gained my resilience from the women in my family. I’ve never seen them give up on their goals or dreams, all while raising their own families. Seeing them constantly overcome obstacles instilled in me that nothing can stop me but me. Read More>>

Curtis Scott

I believe my resilience, in my personal life and in my career, stems from various sources and experiences throughout my life. Resilience is not something you learn or acquire and are set with it for life. Resilience is an on-going battle with your own mind and the external environment around you and the internal struggles as well. Read More>>

Michael Karan

I think it comes from having the little guy syndrome. I’ve been homeless. I’ve been beaten and left for dead. I’ve never had anyone in my corner. But I never say die. So with all that the only one I know who is going to save me is myself. It’s tiring yes, but if I don’t do it, who will? My drive is to show the world my legacy, because that’s what I believe life is about. Ones legacy. Read More>>

Jasmine Montoya

I believe my resilience stems from my lineage. I am first-generation Colombian American and with that alone comes a different way of life here in America. The resilience both my grandparents and parents needed to have to uproot their families and move to a different country without speaking the language or understanding the culture was tremendous. As a first-gen child my life was different to my peers and although we were living in America behind closed doors our culture was still very present. I was raised with a Colombian Spiritual Shaman being a part of our lives and understanding that there is more to this world than what our eyes can see. In my teenage years I faced some trauma’s that completely altered my way of being and it wasn’t until years later when I decided to integrate more of my spirituality side I understood as a child did I begin the long journey of healing. Read More>>

Melanie Tirado

First, let me thank you Amy for this opportunity. Where do I get my resilience from? I’ve always envisioned a future for myself in the film industry. When I was in elementary school, I recall wanting to be in movies. I was part of an after school program where we learned art & crafts, dance and theater. Was part of a few shows. It was a fun experience. In my late teens, I became more interested in what made a film, a film. The process seemed interesting, and I wanted to learn more about it.  Read More>>

Kristin A. Hogan

Paintings are meant to be looked at from a few feet away, not a few inches. A lot of times, when I think something is off in my paintings, I just back up a little and then I can see it as the viewer is supposed to see it. Life is like that. If you only focus on all the things that didn’t go right today, you’re missing the big picture. You back up and look at the entire year, or your entire life up to that point. When I look at things that way, I see I’ve gotten through challenges before, I see how I solved problems, and I know I can do it again. Read More>>

David Jarvis

This is embarrassing, but from birth to age 25, words like “brilliant”, “incredible” and “genius” were often thrown at me. And, I mean, like a lot. Picture that for a second. Everything you do is incredible. Everything you say is cute or clever or poetic. Let’s be honest, if you grew up hearing things like this, you’d believe it, too. You’d probably develop an attitude. You might start to cultivate a thought process of “my stuff is better than yours and how dare you not recognize who I am”. And even then, when I failed, I didn’t fail. It was someone else’s fault, obviously. Because I’m great at everything I do. That’s what they told me. Read More>>