Portraits of Resilience

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.

Renata Comeaux

I think that we have to find I always try. to find the positive in every situation and I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and I have great people around me that offer great deal of support. Read more>>

Atika Greene

I get my resilience from my younger self. Growing up I spent a lot of my adolescent years getting bullied and teased. As I’ve gotten older I truly believe that I was going through all of that to help me stay strong in an industry that tries to tear you down. Along with all the trials and tests that it takes to create a successful career in the entertainment industry. Read more>>

Rashaad Black

You have to keep moving. Stopping cannot be an option. Over the past few years, I have struggled to find my identity in the art world. I knew that I would have a chance to be on the walls of a gallery, or featured in an international art show, but I would never get there if I quit. My resilience comes from years of not allowing my failures to define me. No heroes were coming to save me, so I had to keep going. Read more>>

Courtney Sanello

My artistic resilience is deeply rooted in the desire to create something transcendent, to forge connections that touch people’s hearts and minds. Despite battling chronic anxiety, my commitment to crafting art that resonates on an emotional, mental, and spiritual level leaves no room for fear or doubt. There’s simply no alternative to achieving this mission. Read more>>

Hayoung (Hannah) Kim

One of the reasons I ended up studying School Psychology is the series of challenges and experiences I faced from the age of 9 to 17, attending a total of 4 elementary schools, one middle school, and three high schools in total across three countries—Korea, New Zealand, and the USA. Read more>>

Brooke Mallory

I probably get my resiliance from the fact that growing up I was always told no, to give up, and that I would never be able to succeed in my ambitions and dreams from teachers and other people around me growing up. I wanted to prove them wrong, even if it took a few years or decades to get there. Read more>>

Christina Meucci

My resilience comes from trying to prove I can be the best version of myself possible. Whether that was playing a sport and studying all angles of the game, dancing and putting in extra hours at home, diligently studying and immersing myself within the Athletic Training Room when getting my sports medicine degree, or searching deeply within my passion to give me strength to keep moving forward, I have always continued to push myself to make my dreams I have come to fruition. Read more>>

Kory Graham

My resilience is purely a product of my ability to adapt. I am the oldest of 7 kids in a single parent household placed in arguable the most dangerous neighborhoods of my hometown, Indianapolis. I think when you truly envision that lifestyle you can understand the gist of how important being a leader, tone setter & difference maker truly is. Read more>>

Marc-Gabriel Prüfer

We’re thrilled to be here and share our story with you. Our journey with Setandsmash began as a shared dream, fueled by our love for tennis and the desire to bring that passion to a worldwide audience. As three cousins with a common interest in tennis and backgrounds in business, we launched Setandsmash in November 2020 with the aim of rejuvenating the sport’s fanbase by creating engaging content for a younger generation. Read more>>

Tonya Zlock

Reflecting on where my resilience comes from really takes me back to my roots. Growing up wasn’t easy by any means. Life constantly felt like a battle, pushing me into a corner where I had two options: fight or flee. I chose to fight, to claw my way through every challenge just to survive. Read more>>

“CJ” Celesa Jane Lucien

At an early age I learned that life for me was about survival. My mother was young when she married my much older father. He was not what he seemed on the outside and had a hidden dark character lying beneath his successful persona. I lived in a daily deluge on how to stay safe and maneuvered my behavior based on my mother being close. Read more>> 

Derek “Lonzo Starr” Allen

Well for me its always been about legacy. I want to lay down a foundation so set in stone that it truly stands the test of times. Passing on from generation to generation. Besides that my resilience comes from my mother and father. Watching my mother battle Lupus my entire life has left a huge mark on me. Read more>>

Justin Williams

Determination to succeed and, some would argue, raw stubbornness. Handling high-stress environments was a gift I was given, and I never quite realized it. As a founder and a business owner, the secret sauce is being able to endure that time and time again. Read more>>

Leslie Margarita Sotelo

I chose the name Resilient Vow LLC before going full time into a business as a commitment to myself that no matter what happened I would always bounce back. Little did I know that a few months after going full time my husband would be diagnosed with cancer and then a year after that a worldwide pandemic. Read more>>

Ariel Bullion Ecklund

My resilience comes from necessity! I grew up in a very small family, and both of my parents died at a very young age. As a survival skill, I’ve learned to do everything for myself right from the start. To be resilient means waking up and attempting to move forward every day, regardless of the circumstances, whether it be the past mistakes that haunt you, or the inevitable challenges ahead! Read more>>

Monique Karabach

Most recently, my resilience has come from becoming a mother. I had a difficult time becoming pregnant, I had an even more difficult third trimester, and my birthing experience was far from ideal. My daughter was born premature and she spent a week in the NICU – notice I said SHE and not we, because it was the height of Covid, and the rooms dedicated for NICU parents were unavailable.  Read more>>

Aaron Stapler

I grew up in the small town of Muscle Shoals, AL (“The Shoals”) where the musical history is well-rooted. While this allowed me the opportunity to play with a handful of world renowned music vets, it also led me into some harsh realizations. I learned quickly that there was a general “You should know who I am and stay out of my way” mindset.  Read more>>

BEN TINSLEY

I get my resilience from the unconditional love that my maternal grandfather, my PePa, and my maternal grandmother, my MeMa, had for me. (They are no longer with us.) I try to show this same love to my two sons, Jake and Camden. Read more>>

Kate Rose

Such a great question! The thing about being resilient is you don’t know you are until you’re tested. Resilience comes from getting up one more time that we’re knocked down. For better or worse, I’ve had many experiences in my life that were “character building” to put it mildly. But it was recovering from brain surgery, about five years ago, that really solidified, not just my resilience, but my willingness to claim it, to recognize myself as a resilient person. Read more>>

Tim Baker

I am going to credit my mom for this. She didn’t teach it to me as much as she showed me (and my 6 siblings) what resiliency is. Long story short…she was left with 7 children by my father (a man with many demons). Her life was a constant uphill battle.  Read more>>

Gloria & Andrea Baena & Garcia

My name is Gloria Baena My resilience is the result of a long and arduous journey that began with leaving my hometown, Cali, to settle in Bogotá, bringing with me my baggage as a teacher. It was there that I began to forge my future, but fate had prepared another leap for me, this time towards Miami, taking with me my project, Vocalina, which is always in constant evolution and has been my companion on this journey of adaptation and overcoming. Read more>>

Susan Thornton

My resilience has been a product of adversity. Growing up in a military family made it difficult to have any long-term childhood relationships or connections, we moved every three years. Constantly having to leave your friends behind and be the new kid on the block was a difficult life for children. But it taught us to pick up the pieces of our displaced lives, brush ourselves off, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Read more>>

Jordan Ryan

My resilience has been shaped over time through challenging experiences. Military training instilled in me grit, intestinal fortitude, and self-confidence. Special operations training presents daily, herculean challenges—evolutions filled with pain, misery, cold, and discomfort. Yet, we persevere. Read more>>

McLynn Banks

First off, thank you, Bold Journey Magazine for connecting us with really cool and inspirational people and for taking the time to highlighting my story. Recently, my resilience has been greatly influenced by a shift in my perspective towards rejection. As a fashion model, I’ve had the opportunity to become quite familiar with rejection.  Read more>>

Rebecca Dupas

I have to thank my mother for instilling resilience in me. She not only exemplified perseverance, but she also named me after my grandmother — a pillar of a woman. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Rebecca Wilson, her legacy lives on through my mother, who left her hometown with my sister and me at a young age and worked tirelessly to provide for our family.  Read more>>

Wendell Brown

Everyone has difficulty, difficulty in our life can make us better or worse. The quicker we acknowledge that difficulties are associated with being human the quicker we can make the determination to grow out of our struggles rather than succumb to them. I love to say that the only difference between bitter and better is “I”. Read more>>

Candelario Saldana

My mother immigrated to the United States to give my brother and me a better future. She believed in the American Dream and wanted to give us a better opportunity for success. When my mother enrolled me in school, my family pushed me to be the best I could. I always enjoyed studying, and my mom always encouraged me to continue giving it my all. One day in junior high school, we were researching careers. Read more>>

Jewel Weah

I’d like to think that my resiliency comes from adversities I’ve faced in my personal and business life. Adversities I believe allows you to realize your strength; because I find it can be so easy to underestimate our own internal resources especially in times of difficulties. Everytime I have faced difficulties or challenges, it allows me to take a step back and regroup to gain a fresh perspective in forming a strategy of forward movement. Read more>>

Cherie Morris

I strongly believe my resilience is built daily by confronting difficulty and taking small steps to overcome it. There is no “magic wand” but only, in my experience, doing the work every single day to understand a problem and make my way through it. When I experienced my own high conflict divorce, I was not prepared for it even though I had a long history of practicing law.  Read more>>

Sonali Oberoi

You know the old cliche, about how courage isn’t the absence of fear, but feeling the fear and doing it anyway? Turns out, it’s true. 2 weeks shy of my 24th birthday, I thought it was a great idea to move to London from Kolkata, India. To live here permanently too, no trial run or anything. Had I been to London before? No, unless you count dashing across Heathrow Airport to catch a connecting flight as a 16-year-old going on my first international holiday (thanks Mum and Dad). Read more>>

Paula Morales

My resiliences comes from within, from integrating experiences. The process has a strong set of unlearning qualities while learning side by side. None of these ideas and or processes are separate, they walk hand in hand. Read more>>

Mark NeCamp Jr

First off, thank you very much for the opportunity to be interviewed for this magazine. I really love how you connect individual stories to a wider audience, and create a sense of almost collective community by allowing readers to connect on the similarities of the people you interview while being enriched by the differences. Read more>>

James Kwon

Having a strong sense of what you believe in and what matters to you can provide a foundation for resilience. Believing in your ability to overcome challenges and stay true to your values can help you navigate difficult times. I had a network of supportive parents who were my mentors. I saw how hard they worked from an early age and knew that a strong mindset and hard work was vital for success.  Read more>>

Spencer Gregory

I’ve had to be resilient my entire life. I have had to overcome childhood trauma, addiction, and other adversities. Life was very chaotic, and I learned how to thrive in chaos. My resilience didn’t come easy; it’s something I earned through all these hardships. Recovery from addiction and mental health is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, and I mean it when I say that my recovery is the only reason I am still alive today. Read more>>

Nicole Johnny

In the past few months, there have been quite a few no’s sent my way. It was like I knocked on all these doors and none of them opened. In those moments, with all of the doors staying shut there was a choice: let the no’s weigh on you or re-assess the strategy and continue trying. I took these no’s and remembered the teachings of my Navajo culture: Read more>>

FINA

Resilience for me is this massive oak tree that grows inside of me. It’s been planted at my birth and has been growing it’s roots and branches ever since, continuously shaping with every challenge and hardship I am overcoming. Facing whatever life throws at you, finding the courage and strength to battle the doubts, fears and pain is what determines the direction and time of its growth.  Read more>>

Dawood Marion

Growing up in inner city Los Angeles exposed me to many unsavory experiences and seeing many of my friends venture dark paths fueled my resolve to succeed. I saw how bad influences affected people around me and refused to allow myself to fall victim to those traps. Read more>>

Donte Bryson Jr.

Resilience is part of who I am, shaped by a family who never backed down from a challenge. They showed me that every setback is a chance to grow. Fueled by my ambitious dreams, I embrace obstacles as opportunities to move closer to my goals. Read more>>

Kyle Stevens

I was pretty determined as a young child born and raised in New York City. I had big goals and ideas that I wanted to turn into a reality, and I knew that it would require a great deal of work to eventually get there. I didn’t have the connections or money, so I had to really trust the process and fully commit to the belief that my vision would ultimately play out the way I saw it.  Read more>>