Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of most of the wildly successful folks in our community have exhibit an extreme degree of resilience and we’ve come to believe that if our goal is to help our community achieve great outcomes we have to help build resources and knowledge around how one can become more resilient.
Kirsten King
My resilience comes from having to dare to be great in spaces that would prefer me be otherwise. Having grown up as the proud child of a well-traveled military family, I had what some may consider a gift and a curse of experiencing different varieties of racism in many different places around the world. So, it’s plain to say that with each encounter throughout me life, from childhood to even now, I had to find new ways to be resilient. Read more>>
Christian Brunetti
Resilience is a curious thing- it can only be developed through hardship. It some ways, describing some one as resilient is another way of saying you have endured unimaginable challenges, how are you still standing? Read more>>
Izzy Lugo III
I draw my resilience from the ups and downs that life has brought me to date. Truly a series of challenging experiences that have shaped my journey.One significant test came when my company, on the verge of reaching seven figures in revenue, faced failure. The setback was disheartening, but instead of succumbing to defeat, I used it as a springboard for growth. Read more>>
Rudy Jimenez
My family and I grew up, I guess you can call poor and worked our way up to middle class. During these times I was introduced to social awkward situations growing up. Not able to get the popular toys and going to friends houses to enjoy popular toys toys like He-Man, Voltron and Transformers. I never took for granted what others had. My father worked with one income and 5 children. I would say that’s amazing. In the end I had to be satisfied with Gobots. Read more>>
Deondriea Cantrice
My resilience stems from a deep-rooted faith in God and the life experiences that have shaped me. As a young parent, I faced challenges that tested my strength and resolve. It was during these times that my faith provided a guiding light, offering both comfort and direction. This journey taught me the power of perseverance, the value of self-belief, and the importance of hope. These lessons are now the pillars of my approach as a life coach. I believe that resilience is not just about enduring hardships, but also about finding meaning and growth in them. My experiences have equipped me to empower others to navigate their challenges with grace and to emerge stronger and more self-aware. Read more>>
Ramon Commare
I would say the Navy. I spent 9 total yrs in service. 7 active 2 reserves. In the military, there’s gonna be a lot of challenges that are gonna come up that you will not like whatsoever. It gets to a point where there’s a lot of negativity coming at you and you have to learn to just not let it affect your optimism and positive attitude. Read more>>
Tori Puente
I think it was a drive to make something out of what was important to me. There were several starts and stops, with conflicting influences from formal art & photography courses within a university setting, to then be exposed to the outside world and wider possibilities of experimentation. I knew if I took my skill set down a more traditional course, I wouldn’t be happy and would probably end up resenting the field altogether. I didn’t want to kill my love for creating. Read more>>
Noelia Freile
In my opinion having an optimistic/grateful outlook has always improved a bad situation, in conjunction with the trust and support of my loved ones, plus the acceptance of the things I can’t control, are key for the constant development of resilience. Read more>>
Kelly Lynch
Let’s start first with what resilience actually is. Sure, there are people you can encounter in the world who seem much more resilient than others. It can absolutely be true, that some people innately are just more resilient. However, resilience isn’t just a personality trait – it’s so much more than that. Read more>>
Shanice Jones
I get my resilience from my son. He gives me the strength and power to overcome any obstacles that I may face. When I feel as though I’m not motivated or I begin to feel discouraged, I gain my resilience from looking at him knowing I must keep going, because he’s looking up to me. Read more>>
Mira Eggleston
My resilience comes from feeling like I’m not put on this earth for myself, but for others. In everything I do, I’ve always considered other people (their time, their energy, their feelings, etc.). After being diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2018, I believe that was the first time I had to be selfish. It wasn’t an option. Thriving and surviving with stage 4 breast cancer and it spreading to my liver, I was given a 3 year maximum life span, due to the type of rare breast cancer I have. In order for me to continue the work I had left to do on this earth, I felt I had 2 options…stay the course or give in to what doctors told me. Read more>>
Tennille Thomas
Resilience the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Coming from modest beginnings in a society of royals teaches you to keep going and to prove your worth at all costs. My mother is a strong woman with southern values, she raised us in a home where giving up was never an option. No matter what obstacle I faced she taught me to never give up and be flexible when dealing with unexpected outcomes. Read more>>
Alayna Licardi
I get my resilience from my parents. Growing up, I watched them go through challenges but always come out on top. They also made sure that any challenge I faced, I would have to conquer it on my own first before I asked for help from them. It helped me find my independence and the installed this force inside me to never back down when things got tough. Read more>>
Deri Tyton
Resilience. The most underused and empowering word needed to work in the film industry. When I became a teenager I wanted to get into the music industry as a rapper but my family thought it was a waste time, not that I wasn’t talented enough to make it but being from Chicago it was important to get a city or state job to do well in life. Once I made the commitment to do music, spoken word, and then film, the resilience came from the a deeper meaning to use my voice to speak about on the universe theme of Black Love. Read more>>
Tracy Dawson
I have always believed that resilience is key to achieving great success. I have personally experienced the struggles of defying the odds and overcoming obstacles. This resilience has been developed through a lack of resources, self-doubt, and the need to create a path where there was none. My mother was a great example of resilience, as she never gave up and refused to let her circumstances dictate her life. Read more>>
Ashlee Sang
I feel experience is the best way to become more resilient. By experimenting, succeeding and failing, exploring what’s even possible, we learn our limits. And more often, we realize we’re capable of so much more than we could have imagined. Or maybe it simply looks different than we imagined. Read more>>
Kathryn Farren
In 2014 my best friend passed away very suddenly. I’d never had to process anything so dark or intense. Two months later my mom became gravely ill and I spent the next year being her caretaker, in and out of hospitals. My life turned completely upside down. Everything I felt I believed and trusted had vanished. Soon, I found myself grasping to comprehend my grief and sense of betrayal from the world I thought I knew. I was a person who, until that point, had very much wanted to be good and positive about all things. But after the trauma I experienced, I was suddenly too exhausted to be positive. Read more>>
Denise Benz
I believe that my resiliency comes from knowing that I’m not walking this journey alone. Even though there have been times that my creative and entrepreneur journey has felt hard, I know that God is with me every step of the way. No matter how many times I may stumble, God won’t let me fall. I have so many amazing examples of how time after time I held on to my faith and despite the optics things worked out in my favor. I believe that Faith is the muscle that forms resiliency. A lot of people lack resiliency because the foundation of their faith is built on sand. (ie Faith in other people) Read more>>
Santana Anna-Kay Rowe
My resilience is something that has developed over time. My father taught me at a young age to never give up on anything I set my mind on, but more importantly, myself. I found strength from those teachings and through life’s experiences. As I evolved on my journey to healing and breaking generational cycles I began to prioritize my relationship with God, I found my ability to recover from challenges that much quicker when I spent more time in prayer. Along with having good mentorship. It’s easier said than done. Read more>>
Nicole Santiago
Growing up in a not so traditional family, I learned how to gather strength to keep doing what I love from my mother. Her resilience inspired me to become who I am today. I’ve seen her go through a lot of pain in life and her faith and her strong relationship with family got her through. This is what keeps me going too- knowing that I have them by my side. Read more>>
The Messenger
I learned how to be resilient at an early age. I watched my parents endure so much throughout my childhood, but I never seen them give up. Somehow, they always found a way to make things happen for me and my siblings. So, I took that throughout my life to have an attitude of resiliency. Once I joined the army, the culture enhanced my resilient mindset. Read more>>
Nicole Burton
Truth be told, my resilience came from trauma and rejection. It’s funny to me now, but I often associated my life circumstances with that famous line from the character Sophia of movie The Color Purple…”All my life I had to fight”. Being judged, bullied, tormented and rejected by others for as far back as I can remember made me develop a thick skin. It became a fight or flight situation. I chose to fight and prove my abusers wrong. Read more>>
Sebastian Konnackel
To put it humorously, my resilience comes from FOMO, more specifically the fear of missing out on opportunities. My biggest goal in life is to live with as few regrets as possible. As such, I always try my best to give every opportunity or idea a try so that I can assess my capabilities and figure out what I need to work on. My biggest motivation is that I do not want to spend my old age wishing that I had done more. Read more>>
TAMERA SWAN-MASON
All of us are born with various talents and abilities. As we approach life some are utilized and others lie dormant and are never used. I love to explore and learn new things. I like to use the word persevere as opposed to resilience. To be resilient means to bounce back. I have accomplished this on many occasions Those who persevere are the ones who become resilient because they never stop learning and growing. Read more>>
Kelly Wright
Life is not always smooth sailing. We are often faced with storm tossed seas that threaten to drown us in a sea of despair, leaving our dreams shipwrecked. For the challenges that I face, I place all of my trust in God. Exercising my belief and trust in God enables me to persevere and endure the tough times. It produces the kind of resilience to overcome my setbacks. Read more>>
Rachael Petter-LaManna
I have always wanted to become an entrepreneur and work for myself. Having that in the back of mind when the business does go through tough moments always helps me to keep working toward the goal. I don’t easily give up. Read more>>
Jon Molerio
In this business, resilience is crucial. You get rejected as an actor 90% of the time. Same goes for writing. Nothing personal. It’s just the nature of the business. You have to learn to move on and concentrate on what’s next. I think I learned to be resilient from my immigrant parents who came to this country, without speaking the language, in their thirties with 2 small kids. They never gave up. They worked hard to make it. And thanks to them I lived a great childhood and learned amazing lessons on how to persevere through adversity and challenges. Read more>>
Onajide Shabaka
Some in my family call me an archivist and storyteller. When you find interesting occurrences, lessons in life, or fascinating histories there are a wealth of stories to be savored and shared but these things evolve over time. There is no predetermined time and place for one to share these things creatively. Actually, people are rushing from one place to another focused on their own agenda making it difficult to share your stories or creative ideas. Read more>>
Dezz Wilder
My resilience comes from my process and journey through the greatest black fraternity ever created, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Read more>>
Randy Bonds
My resilience flows from my mom, Keena Renee Bonds—who much like her father, James C. Bonds (my namesake), is a true warrior unafraid to confront injustice and call for peace amid chaos. Her relentless pursuit of her beliefs has planted a fighting spirit in me. Read more>>
Shanice Parker
Since providing a service for nearly a decade, I have gained experience in facing adversity countless times. Each hardship I encountered, I persevered not too long after. Hardship has prepared me for each blessing God has given me. So, I see the perks of resilience. Read more>>
Natriece Spicer
My superpower is helping others be their best so I’d say my resilience comes from knowing my purpose and living passionately. For me a large part of this is always connecting life back to spirituality and culture. I relate pretty much anything I grow through to the divine power of faith and the truths that spirituality has taught me. I also believe that lineage (culture, background, family) has a lot to do with my gifts, my calling, and my powers; Read more>>
Christi Van Rite
For many years, my work ethic and resiliency came from my parents. Dad always had (and still has) multiple things going at one time. Some of his side businesses failed, others have continued on, some years profitable and others not. But he kept going. As did Momma when they divorced when I was in 2nd grade. Read more>>
Ani Davtyan
My grandparents and parents migrated to the United States almost 4 decades ago. They have worked hard for everything that they have earned and achieved today. From starting a new life in an unknown country, learning the English language and making new friends, their ability to face any kind of challenge with optimism is what pushes me to work hard today. My grandparents, both talented and hardworking, worked jobs from the moment they arrived to provide food, shelter and a college education for their children. Read more>>
Julian Cofer
I served 12 years in the United States Marine Corps. One of the biggest things they teach Marines is to push through. We win battles. When you put your everyday life into that concept you find your battles and win. The Marine Corps instilled the determination to not give up when you’re knocked down. Read more>>
Lisa I-Kwang Hwang
MYSELF. Throughout my life, I was thrown a lot of lemons, but I made lemonade out of it. I am an immigrant from Taiwan, I was not born into a privileged life, I worked hard for everything and always pushed myself to come out on the other side. Sometimes, it would take weeks, months or years as I would cycle through bouts of depression, therapy, anxiety and suicidal tendencies. But, I would always get myself to the end of the rainbow. Read more>>
Lakeisha Green
Life’s trials can be viewed as the glas half empty or half full. In life I’ve faced many obstacles that have required me to examine things in that manner…glass half empty or half full! Being able to identify that an outlet, such as a therapist/life coach, is essential to a strong mindset, allowed me to develop the skills necessary to not fold under the pressures of life’s trials. One’s response to the obstacles determines the outcome of its ending. Read more>>
AURORO ASAAJAA
The irony of the word resilience alsol having the word “silence” within it, every attempt at me being silenced, I discovered the will to overcome when I chose to sing as the music filled me. the feeling ignited liberation at the core of the spine & began to ripple throughout me bringing ease & calm in the face of any adversity at all Asé. Read more>>
Steven Hellman
My resilience really stemmed from when I was a little kid and I mean little. I started my freshman year of high school at four foot eight and 78 pounds, my sophomore year I was four foot eleven and 85 pounds, junior year five foot one 93 pounds, senior year I was 5’3 100 pounds heading into my final year of high school. So yes very undersized and I loved playing sports and still do but due to my size I wasn’t particularly good. Read more>>
Rich Gomez
I never knew I had it, but it was something that I have always had. After high school, it just stopped and I fell into a normal life with just trying to get to the next higher position at my job. It wasn’t until my first marriage ended that I felt myself with an unstoppable force. I wanted to be more, do more, see more, and I got use to the idea of being comfortable with being uncomfortable. I am grateful for all the things I have, I am content but I’m not complacent. Read more>>
