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.
Gena Scurry
One is my dad. When he taught me how to ride a bike, he put me on a bicycle and pushed me down hill. On the way down he said “pedal backwards for the breaks”. I thought everyone learned that way. That’s how I learned everything, riding horses, skiing, driving a car. Read more>>
Sadra Madonna Lindsay
Ever since childhood, I came to the realization that God equipped me with resilience. I was able to bounce back quickly no matter the situation. I learned to make the best use of the worst situations, somehow learning how to pull what could be useful and apply the use to the current state of my affairs. For example, as a child I went to school when it was possible. So, I was frequently absent (times were hard and it was many of us). There was obviously a challenge and I was bound to miss things. However, rather than using this as an excuse to fail or to do poorly, it became an opportunity to, read widely and to make sure that I made up for whatever I missed. It became the thing where some of my classmates thought I stayed home to study so that I could get better grades. Those who were my true friends knew better than this. Read more>>
Dr. Erika Johnson
I learned resilience from my mom. She was a middle school teacher but pivoted her career after having me. She started her own business when I was a toddler and slowly built it over time. I grew up watching her work long hours for work and our family. I witnessed her success, struggles and failures which she handled with grace and strength. She also worked hard to be present at home after school, cooked meals from scratch and adjusted her work hours as needed over the years to support our family. She continues to inspire me with her calm and perseverance. Read more>>
Nazifa Mouli
I’ve always been committed to self-improvement and reaching my highest potential. Whenever I encountered gaps in my knowledge, I compensated with hard work and persistence. My confidence in learning quickly meant that I saw challenges as opportunities to grow, tackling them head-on with learning and effort. Read more>>
Georgette Medina
Discomfort is the best teacher definitely. Years ago I used to panic when things didn’t go as planed or when I worked on something really hard and didn’t get the outcome that I expected. It was very disappointing for me and I kept questioning myself day by day if it was really worth it, all the sacrifice I put on a goal just to end up whit the feeling that somehow I could have done it better. I cried my heart out a couple of times, until I noticed that not knowing what to do was a ticket to learn a new way to do it. Read more>>
Corey Jones
Just being honest, I’ve been through a lot in just 23 years of living. I’ve taken loss after loss at an early age that made me conscious of a choice…..to get up and keep going or lay down and cry. I always felt like I had no choice but to keep going because of my environment. There was no room to lay down and cry ,so at a young age I got through a lot that shaped my compass of resilience. Even created my main philosophy from it “Don’t knock my faith because you weren’t patient “. That is a quote I always would refer to whenever someone would try to detour my decisions when using my faith even would refer to it when I felt low and thought about giving up. Read more>>
Viviana Garcia
As a small business owner, I get my resilience from passion for what I do, the support of my community, and the drive to overcome challenges to build something lasting. Setbacks are inevitable, but each one teaches valuable lessons, pushes me to adapt, and reminds me why I started. It’s about finding strength in the struggle and staying focused on the bigger picture.
It’s a beautiful thing to think or feel like something is off and you know how to fix it. Read more>>
Billie Wyatt
If there is one thing I can say for sure about my life it is that my resilience has been and is instilled in me from the many women in my life. My mother primarily. She is one of the most hard working, kind hearted people on this earth. She is an educator, a profession that is a major backbone to the positive evolution of society and its future, and in which resilience is mandatory. And I can always remember her saying to me, one of the reasons she works so hard is so that my sister and I have it better than she did. Read more>>
Isaiah Smith
I get my resilience from inspiring people who I know through my friendships and family. What keeps me going is knowing that there’s always someone who can be inspired by my story. We all want to know we can do it, and I want my supporters to know they will come back stronger than ever! Read more>>
Marie Babouchian
Resilience isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a lifeline. For me, it was forged in the crucible of loss and responsibility at an early age. I was just ten when my mother passed away, a moment that transformed my world into a whirlwind of uncertainty. Suddenly, I found myself not just grieving a profound loss, but also stepping into the role of caretaker for my younger sisters. It was a responsibility that would shape my character and set the foundation for the resilience I carry today. Read more>>
Michael Cerqueira Da Costa
Resilience, for me, is deeply rooted in the example set by my parents. Coming from Portugal, they raised me and my two sisters with a strong work ethic. No matter how tough things got, they never stopped working and rarely complained. That’s the mindset they passed down to me. Read more>>
Valarie Harris
My resilience comes from a lifetime of having to overcome childhood trauma, loss of loved ones, pain, Adversity and being a single mother, realizing that I was the first line of defense to these children God granted me. And no Matter the weight of these things, I still had to find a way to provide for my family and be present. While working to give my children, a better future than my past. Read more>>
Danielle Campo
My resilience comes from several key aspects of my life.
First, being diagnosed with a disability at the young age of two years old. Living in a body that was riddled with pain and always having to advocate for my needs and find my own way to achieve my goals has played a central role in shaping my resilience. Growing up and navigating life with a disability has presented unique challenges that required me to develop strength, adaptability, and determination. These experiences have taught me to approach obstacles with creativity and persistence, helping me develop a mindset of overcoming adversity. My accomplishments as a Paralympic medalist are a testament to that resilience, proving that I never let limitations define me but instead used them as fuel to excel. Read more>>
Arjan Khalsa
I feel like I’ve been given some kind of divine gift for resilience because honestly, I’ve had days where I didn’t know how I was going to keep moving forward and then miraculously I’m either just picked up or tools/people show up in my orbit that help pull me out of those hard times. Maybe others have the same thing? Read more>>
Brienne Derosier
The idea of resilience is a very interesting topic because a component of resilience I feel I was born with, which is a creative thirst to investigate, learn, solve, and produce. But there is the other side to resilience, which if I did not have a physical body that requires fuel, rest and rejuvenation, I would just keep going and going, 24/7 without looking up and expanding my world beyond work. This mindset leads to burnout, which I have done many times during Architecture school, working at an architecture firm, and starting my first company, an interior design firm. Read more>>
Slykat
I get my resilience from my mother. I was raised by a single mother that worked three jobs. She always found serenity through adversity and solutions to temporary problems. Whenever she went through something she never let it get the best of her or derail her from being a success story. If she didn’t have a car she caught the bus to work. If the bus wasn’t on time she would walk to work. She knew that work would provide for us and eventually she was walking further away from having to catch a bus or walking to work. I observed that and it’s allowed me to walk the walk in my life as well. Read more>>
Jiwoo Lee
My resilience comes from a deep belief that things can improve, and I can always be better next time. I love the word ‘resilience’ because it’s such an essential part of my life. Overcoming failures has strengthened my resilience, allowing me to grow from each challenge. While facing failure and disappointment can be daunting, I’ve learned that failure is never the end. It’s a process—one that requires reflection, moving forward, and eventually facing challenges without fear. Though the process can be painful, it’s what builds resilience. True belief in myself comes from consistency, and that belief is what fuels my resilience. Read more>>
Wendy Valentine
I developed resilience because I had to. Throughout my life, I’ve faced a series of intense challenges that shaped who I am today. I became a single mother as a teenager, endured the heartbreaking loss of my husband when he was just 26, experienced physical abuse, and found myself in and out of toxic relationships. But each challenge, much like the pressure that creates a diamond, strengthened my resolve and built my resilience. Read more>>
Jimena Herrero
I find resilience through my experiences, as each challenge has imparted valuable lessons. Moving from Mexico to New York was a significant leap for me. I left behind a theater production company that I cherished and poured my heart into, along with my family. While it was a necessary step toward my dreams, the distance can be tough. Read more>>
Michelle Laroi
I would say I earned my resilience at quite the young age. Losing my only sibling forced me to grow up rather quickly; I felt the role in my family shift from younger child to the only child to the rock of the family. While my parents and I did the best that we could with the cards we were dealt, I did not have a lot of resources or outlets to process exactly what I was going through. I grew up with sports, that definitely helped teach me adversity and to be resilient in a healthy way. Over time, I learned how to navigate the pain of losing a sibling and channel it into something meaningful. It did take some time BUT, that experience shaped who I am today and is the core reason I started Happy Fits. Read more>>
Mary Devlin
My resilience comes from the memory of my grandmother Rosalie Devlin Rothwell, aka “Rody” or “Mom Mom”. My Mom Mom raised eight children on her own, with the biggest age gap being 19 years between the oldest and youngest siblings. She did this while working at a candy shop, standing on her feet for hours each day with little to show for it. Read more>>
Gina Judge
I love this question because resilience is a skill that can by learned and developed by anyone. I know I wasn’t born with it. As I’ve aged, it’s really crystallized for me that facing adversity is simply part of being human. And I’m grateful that my parents, teachers, colleagues and friends have either been examples or reinforced the idea that it’s not the problems we face but how we choose to deal with and learn from them that makes all the difference in what happens next in our lives. Read more>>
Jesenia Wright
I developed my resilience through my life experiences. Early on in life, I was faced with hardships and placed in positions that forced me to be strong. As a child, didn’t have any control over some my experiences but I did have control over how I responded. As I navigated those hardships, I learned that I would have to save myself because those I relied on to protect me did not. Read more>>
Jeffrey Byrd
My resilience comes as I trade in my automatic negative thoughts for much higher and more accurate thoughts. I find that both discouragement (not thinking that I can successfully move forward) and resilience (believing that I can successfully move forward) are a result of which thoughts I embrace. Read more>>
Kelly Ilseman
I believe I get my resilience from both “nature and nurture” (the two epigenetic pressures). I feel I was truly “born with it” and that my life growing up in a small, rural Maine mill town in a unique setting on a Christmas tree farm and shrub nursery gave me more resilience than I’ll ever be able to quantify. Read more>>
Alante Ghannam
I “build” my resilience everyday. Resilience is not something that just happens, it is a byproduct of the mental work we do everyday. Over the last 5 years, I went through a lot of challenging situations in my personal life. I went through a divorce, financial troubles, becoming a single mom, changing jobs and becoming estranged from my “village.” Any one of these things could have “broken” me. But what they taught me was gratitude. Read more>>
Jeremy Smith
Growing up in a chaotic home environment was a challenge for me as a young kid. I was a quiet child, likely because I felt deeply without understanding the world and the environment around me. I witnessed many traumas at a young age, which forced me to find solace in dreaming. I found escape in movies that transported me to different worlds. You could say that was fitting for a boy who believed those dreams were only real inside my own mind. Read more>>
Tatiana Johnson
I am a single mother of two boys Tizairian (17) and Timarian (12). As a teen mom who was ostracized for having children at such a young age, I did not let that stop me. With family and so called friends telling me to give up, that was the drive I needed to keep pushing forward. Most of my family told me that I wouldn’t even finish high school but with the support of my mother and two older sisters, I was able to prove them wrong! I always knew I wanted more out of life and that’s where my ambition comes from. My boys are the motivating force that keeps me going on days when I just want to give up. They are my biggest supporters and I just want to continue to show them that NOTHING is unattainable if you work hard for it. Being faced with great opposition, I persevered nonetheless. Read more>>
Hongjin Lan
Love the things you do, and dive into them without overthinking how difficult they might be. Your love and interest are always the best weapons for you to develop resilience. Because you love the things you’re doing, you are not afraid of solving problems. You don’t run away from tasks. You’re even willing to face more challenges to improve yourself. And that imperceptibly expands your limits and abilities. Read more>>
Rachael Burns
I developed my resilience through a string of challenging events in my personal life. In 2018, my husband was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer, right after we found out I was pregnant with twins. After surgery, chemo, and radiation, his health stabilized, but then I was hospitalized after experiencing serious complications when the twins were born. Read more>>
Sean Meng
My resilience comes from my passion for creating. As both an architecture and fashion designer, I constantly face challenges, whether it’s pushing the boundaries of form in design or solving unexpected problems in the creative process. I’ve learned to embrace these obstacles as opportunities to innovate. The discipline and patience required in architecture have taught me to be methodical, while fashion’s fast-paced nature has sharpened my adaptability. It’s this balance between structure and fluidity that fuels my resilience. Every project is a reminder that with persistence and creativity, solutions will always emerge. Read more>>
Denetro Tealer
Resilience for me has been a lifelong journey of growth, learning, and self-discovery. It has been forged through adversity, from navigating moments of depression and anxiety to overcoming the profound loss of my mother, who was my anchor and the person I cared for until her last breath. Losing her felt like losing a part of myself, but it also marked the beginning of a transformation. Read more>>
Kevin Harris
The great Maya Angelou would often remind her audiences that “we have already been paid for”
I find continued resilience in knowing that my ancestors have sacrificed much so that I may have the privilege to live the life that I do. I am also beyond grateful to my parents, mentors, and wife for the immense inspiration they continue to be. Read more>>
Hamse Warfa
I am a former refugee, born into the war theater of Somalia and raised as a teenager in the daunting refugee camps of the Kenyan desert. During these formidable years, I learned that with character and healthy imagination, one can turn a world of misery into a beloved haven. I have carried this attitude with me since settling in the United States in 1994 with my family. While I have faced tremendous economic, racial, and religious obstacles in this country coming from a poor, black, Muslim family, I turned my status as a disadvantaged minority into a psychological source of strength, one that I consistently draw upon to be an inclusive and innovative leader across sectors. My story of resilience and ability to imagine hope in the face of adversity convinces me that a more equitable, just, and abundant future is achievable. Read more>>
Tasha Moore
My resilience comes from the blueprint created by those that came before me. Those like my mother, stepfather, my uncle, grandparents, mentors, community leaders, and even my counterparts within the sectors of human services occupations to include educators, therapist, mental health providers, youth programming leaders, etc. The variations of displayed fortitude and persistence coupled with examples of inexperience natural to lack of education, example, or available resources, were created models for me of how to live out resilience in everyday spaces. Read more>>
Risa August
Honestly, I grew up in a household where I had to build an emotional callous, learn some grit, and survive. It was either toughen up or be swallowed by blackness. This carried me into my adult life where I put my head down and worked hard in whatever I pursued. In my need for perfection and accomplishment, I discovered a love for triathlons and eventually found myself crossing the finish line of my first Ironman race. Fast forward through more years of endurance cycling, local CrossFit competitions, mountain climbing, starting and growing my own successful business, and finding out about my life-altering diagnosis, I soon learned my life would never be the same. Read more>>
Amish Darr
Resilience, to me, stems from an ability to embrace life in all its complexity—the highs, the lows, and everything in between. It’s about navigating storms with the wisdom and strength to not just survive but savor the process. I find joy in challenges, often more than in the victory itself. My creative spirit refuses to accept limitations. When life offers an “either-or” choice, I always look for the “and.” Read more>>
Brandan Robertson
All resilience comes from facing our fears, challenges, and struggles head on. One of my favorite Bible verses comes from the Book of Job 23:10 which says, “When I have been tested, I will come forth as refined gold.” The idea is that our challenges are like a refining fire, and when we run towards them and through them believing in the power within ourselves, we are refined, strengthened, and come out stronger than before. This enables us to be prepared for the next obstacle for us to overcome- and there will always be a next obstacle. Read more>>
Nik Pollina
I get my resilience in life from my dad, John Pollina. He was a beacon of resilience and strength, even in the face of immense suffering. For most of his life, he battled chronic pain, a consequence of a botched back surgery at the age of seventeen. Despite this constant physical pain, he remained a source of inspiration and positivity. Read more>>
Taquirah
My resilience has been shaped by encountering numerous rejections throughout my journey. While I often celebrate my victories, it is the significant setbacks and the valuable lessons they bring that truly define my character. I am dedicated to analyzing my past actions meticulously, always striving to enhance my approach. An experience during my college audition process stands out as a pivotal moment in learning how to navigate rejection. I vividly recall auditioning for Point Park University’s dance program and being cut after my initial attempt. Read more>>
Lu Liu
A big part of my resilience is self-perception, which for me means picking up a pencil or an iPad, any tool at hand, and doodling for a while. This simple act reassures me that I can still create, so everything must be okay. Over time, it became clear to me that life’s difficulties are cyclical, much like Sisyphus rolling his boulder. If we can reframe these experiences as opportunities for growth, we can attach a more positive perspective to negative situations. After learning that my mom had glioblastoma, and as she slipped into a coma, I found myself unconsciously doodling every night by her bedside. Creating something spontaneously can give us new ways to express ourselves and carve out a momentary void in our spirits. In those moments, I take a brief respite from my worries and fears. Read more>>
Jennifer Solomon
My resilience comes from my faith and the challenges I’ve overcome. I believe that God has placed me on this path, and through every trial, He has strengthened me. I’ve always been driven by a deep desire to help others, whether it’s through my real estate business or my nonprofits. The obstacles I’ve faced have only reinforced my commitment to my mission—helping people thrive and find purpose. When you know your ‘why’ and you lean on your faith, you find an inner strength you didn’t even know you had. That’s what keeps me going every day. Read more>>
Innocent Okechukwu
Resilience is not a gift or something to be boastful about. It is what life made you become. The struggles of life, pain, navigating through difficult situations would eventually make you resilient. I have been through so much in life, but where I come from, giving up is never an option. You just have to continue to climb even after falling for a thousand times. You never show your pain to others, you must endure it all and keep enduring. Read more>>
