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.
Brandon Blewett
Usually from the second glass of Veuve. In jest, mostly. I think of resilience as fuel. It’s what keeps you airborne when turbulence hits or layovers stretch longer than your patience. That’s why in my book, ‘How to Avoid Strangers on Airplanes,’ I framed travel as a metaphor for career development. Your “flight path” isn’t always direct. Sometimes it’s rerouted, delayed, or straight-up canceled… temporarily. Read More>>
Carolyn Ripp
Resilience comes from a mind set. To be honest, I have always been fascinated with the idea of Flow. I started reading and studying about it in the 90’s with books such as Flow, The psychology of optimal Experience, and The Evolving Self by Mihaly Csiksentmihalyi. I understood many athletes, performers, successful people encompassed this mindset. Read More>>
Jenn Brown
Resilience is a complicated thing. It often means you had to walk through something unbearably hard to discover the fire that lives deep inside you. We all have resilience, but I am not sure we truly uncover it until we are backed into a corner. If life never demands it, why would we ever have to dig that deep? Read More>>
QuaTita Dean
My resilience stems from my deep faith in the soul and spirit. It arises from my understanding of my journey and my divine connection to both the soul and my ancestors. This connection fuels my motivation, allowing me to embrace each day and cherish every session I enter. My work is not just a job; it’s my passion and my life, bringing me immense happiness. Read More>>
Khadija Cisse
My resilience comes from my childhood and learning early how to adapt, stay observant, and keep going even when things felt uncertain. I didn’t always have stability, so I learned how to create it for myself through discipline, creativity, and faith. Read More>>
Melodi Bac
I often feel as though I’m programmed to keep moving forward, to work relentlessly toward my dreams. Stopping—even for a moment—terrifies me, because I fear I’ll fall if I do. It may not make perfect sense, but the fear of standing still is far stronger than the fear of failing or not trying at all. Read More>>
Lonnie ‘C.R.G’ Craig Jr.
I believe that me being a natural fighter and going through many adversities mentally, emotionally, and physically; I just honed a fighting spirit. I researched my name just to discover that the origin means noble warrior, so it even further incentivize that birth names do have meaning behind them. So in essences I’m just operating in my nature. Read More>>
Frank Muze
As a musician, hearing the word ‘no’ is an everyday occurrence. Being rejected for show line ups, tour opportunities and collaborative requests is something that simply comes with the territory. As a young man I’d get overwhelmed with doubt and frustration every time I was rejected. I was consumed with anger over what I felt I had earned and deserved. Read More>>
Jada Gipson
My resilience comes from God and taking life one day at a time. I’m still a work in progress, but experiencing challenges at a young age shaped my perspective. Everyone faces hardship differently, and I’ve learned that it’s not about what you go through, but how you choose to face it — turning battles into lessons and, often, blessings in disguise Read More>>
Esther Nkaambi
Resilience is something I didn’t learn from a book, it was modeled for me every day by my mother and my sisters. I grew up watching my mother carry responsibility with grace, even when circumstances were heavy, especially when we lost our dad very early in life. She didn’t talk much about resilience; she lived it. Read More>>
Daisy Cabrera
My resilience comes from being Latina – shaped by culture, hard work and an early understanding that perseverance is a way of life. My parents immigrated and showed me what it means to adapt, keep going and find grace in uncertainty. Read More>>
Harry Saffold, Jr
Life has taught me that there won’t always be an enabler to be my crutch, if any at all, and that fact that I wasn’t born into wealth, so I’ve had to deal with life on its terms, and not on my own terms. Read More>>
Karyna Kyliushyk
My resilience comes from rebuilding – three times, in three countries. Each time I’ve moved (from Ukraine to Switzerland to the United States), I’ve had to start my nail artistry career completely from scratch: no clients, no reputation, no network. Each time, I’ve wondered if I could do it again. Read More>>
Stacia Evans
My resilience first started to develop from a childhood shaped by control. Growing up, I was expected to listen and obey, often without room for questioning or self-expression. I spent much of my early life in environments where I felt boxed in and misunderstood; told who I should be rather than supported in discovering who I was. Read More>>
Christine Bastien
My resilience comes from a deep combination of faith, lived experience, and responsibility. I was raised learning that you keep going, even when things are uncertain. Life taught me early that stability isn’t guaranteed, and that if I wanted to build something meaningful, I would have to be consistent even when motivation was gone. Read More>>
Olena Sukachova
To be honest, I’ve never thought of it as a specific skill I developed. Perhaps its roots are in my past, or perhaps it’s simply a product of being a mother to three children. Motherhood is a constant school of multitasking and unforeseen circumstances, where you simply don’t have the luxury of shutting down. Read More>>
Dhiyasri Thirumurugan
Resilience, for me, comes from choosing to persevere even when it would be easier to step back. I grew up watching my dad train as an international racquetball player for Team India. What stayed with me wasn’t the competition itself, but the discipline behind it. All the early mornings and intense practices taught me that progress is earned far earlier than we can see it. Read More>>
Andrew John
I say I get my resilience from the amount of no’s that I get every day. It’s a great motivation to keep on going. This industry of performing is not easy and the only way for you to do it is to just keep going. Because the famous phrase is, you can get many nose, but what matters is one yes. Read More>>
Dante Nottoli
Inspiration — I am a musician, but my inspiration takes various forms, many being non-musical. I might find inspiration through meeting new people, travel, exploring other cultures, immersing myself in nature, spending time with people I care about, or admiring other artists’ work. Inspiration is my creative fuel that encourages me to continue on my own path and keep being my own thing. Read More>>
Raini Steffen
Faith. That’s the simple answer. Not the cute kind you put on a mug — the kind you grab onto when your life is on fire and you’re out of options. My turning point was the first week of August 2005. My life was crumbling and I was gripping it with white knuckles, scrambling to right a ship that was slowly capsizing. Read More>>
Coach Arprentiss Haye
I can still see my mother clearly, hands raised, singing loudly and unapologetically off-key as she praised God. Or sitting on the end of the sofa, the glow of a single lamp illuminating her lap, covered in Bibles, journals, and well-worn books. Read More>>
Matt O’Neill
It’s how I’m wired. I’m pretty fearless and thrive on challenge. I get bored easily, so I really enjoy facing challenges. I also definitely get it from my mother and how I grew up. My brother and I were raised by a single mom who was dealt an incredibly tough hand. Read More>>
Raye Cole Music
My resilience is a result of my upbringing. I was raised in a matriarch with strong women that were loving and kind but they were soldiers in their own right. I was taught from a young age that I could do anything that I put my mind to. I learned about overcoming obstacles early. I grew up during the crack epidemic. Read More>>
Alethea Rocks
My resilience comes from a mix of necessity, creativity, and the people who shaped me. I learned early on that making things—drawing, animating, building worlds—wasn’t just something I loved, it was how I processed life. When things felt unstable or overwhelming, creating was the one place where I had agency and could turn chaos into something meaningful. Read More>>
Marybeth Hernandez
My resilience comes from the depths of my passion. Even if sometimes I feel like I’m going nowhere, everything I have endured keeps me going. I am dedicated to the experience and grateful for the opportunities to grow and to learn. Read More>>
Maral Porretta
From experience and self-trust. I’ve learned that uncertainty is part of the creative process, not a threat. I stay resilient by staying curious, grounded, and focused on purpose rather than perfection. I trust myself to adapt and figure things out as I go. Read More>>
Yianni Tsatas
My resilience isn’t random. I get it from real places inside me and from my lived experience. 1. From the pain I’ve survived I’ve gone through addiction, recovery, rebuilding my life. Those experiences force me to develop emotional muscle. When I’ve walked through hell and made it back, everyday challenges don’t break me as easily. 2. Read More>>
Kristina Montoya
My resilience comes from my family and the life we’re building together. Knowing that this business supports and includes the people I love most gives me a deep sense of purpose, especially on the hard days. Watching my child grow up around creativity, hard work, and community reminds me why it’s worth pushing through challenges. It also comes from our community. Read More>>
Andrei Tone
I get my resilience from a mix of faith, family, and an unreasonable amount of belief that every setback is a setup. I grew up watching my parents navigate life with grit—never loud, never flashy, but steady. That steadiness shaped me. But resilience didn’t really become real to me until I stepped into the world of filmmaking. Read More>>
Matt Jenkins
Regardless of the task or challenge in front me I’ve always had the attitude ‘ I’ll figure it out’. Quit or fail has never really been an option for me personally but, mindset is a big part of that. I’m not saying complete success is always the outcome. Within any challenge there are some aspects that are a success, and some that are not. Read More>>
McKesha Rucker
My resiliency comes from several different places, but at its core, it is deeply rooted in how I was raised and the women who shaped me. Much of my strength comes from my mother and my grandmothers. Women who embodied perseverance, grace under pressure, and unwavering faith in their ability to overcome whatever life placed in front of them. Read More>>
Tiffaney Flores
My journey and walk with God. Which helped me develop a strong faith in trusting God no matter what battles or storms I have faced. As dark as it got, he showed me how good I look in the light. So I decided to never give up and keep going. Read More>>
MaryK Weeks
All the credit for fielding life’s curveballs belongs to: my creative spirit, a network of devoted friends and colleagues, remarkable healthcare professionals, members of the Nia community, and the animals for whom I serve as caretaker. A sense of humor shared with my sister helps too. A series of health adversities spanning several years turned my life upside down. Read More>>
