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.
Patrick Beatty
Resilience, for me, comes down to passion. If you don’t genuinely love the work, it’s hard to survive the moments when it gets difficult, which they inevitably will. My Grandpa and Grandma Olson instilled a deep work ethic in me from a young age and a belief that effort is worthwhile and rewarded. Read More>>
Renea Martoff
I got my resilience from life lessons. Life will challenge you in ways you could never imagine. Whether it’s betrayal, heartbreak, unrealistic expectations of others, or just roadblocks. I used to be very impulsive when I was younger because I was looking to achieve fast results but often found that I was in a rush for I wasn’t necessarily ready or prepared for. Read More>>
Rebecca Trejo
My resilience comes from watching my mother survive and rebuild her life. I grew up in an abusive household, and I saw firsthand the fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty she carried while raising four children. Even so, she chose to go back to college, to protect us, and to create a life that was safer and more stable than the one she had married into. Read More>>
Angela Schaffner
My life experience includes some significant challenges and setbacks, as well as core values instilled early on in my life. I was raised in a small town in the Midwest where I learned a strong work ethic and the importance of relationships and spirituality as a core part of what makes life meaningful. Read More>>
Mariella Reyes
My resilience comes from a deep belief that I deserve a happy, fulfilling life and the opportunity to reach my full potential. I also want to be living proof, to myself and to others who’ve faced similar struggles, that life is meaningful and worth improving, no matter the obstacles. Read More>>
Richie Hoz
Some people don’t get the opportunity to learn resilience given their level of comfortable living- thankfully I was sort of given a rocky start. I come from a long line of hard workers and mentally ill people. I never thought I had a proper set up as far as life goes, so I have had to make it myself. Read More>>
Tai-Lynn Aniobi
To me, resilience is the fierce refusal to stay down when the world has given you every reason to quit. It’s that deep-seated ‘knowing’ that even when you are exhausted, even when your health is failing or the stress of your education feels like a physical weight, there is a small light inside you that simply cannot be stopped. Read More>>
Valerie Anne Burns
Beginning as a toddler who experienced losing her mother young, I was taught to be strong, independent, and a survivor by my father. While it was a confusing trial and often a lonely road, it instilled a fierce spirit in me. Hummingbirds are fierce soaring through the insurmountable and have been my angel guides through difficult times. Read More>>
Julian Anguiano
I get my resilience by being different and not caring what people have to say. I feel this world too slow for me. Time is never on my side, sometimes things feel impossible because it’s just me doing things however, I see my results when I start to upgrade my craft. I like to challenge myself and create new high-quality concoctions. Read More>>
Natalie Dodd
Honestly, it has been a long road to learn the difference between resiliency rooted in self-sacrifice and resiliency grounded in self-trust. For much of my life, resiliency looked like humor and over-functioning. Read More>>
Logan Glenn
I’ve been at the bottom before. That kind of place either breaks you or teaches you how to climb. I’m still on that climb. My wife and kids are the constant — they’re the reason I keep showing up, even on the hard days. When you’re doing it for people you love, quitting stops being an option. That’s where the can’t-stop, won’t-stop mindset comes from. Read More>>
Legacy Lowenberg
I am a survivor of child abuse, and my resilience started very early. As a child, It came from learning how to cope in an environment that wasn’t safe. I adapted before I understood what adaptation meant, and that became the foundation of my resilience. As I got older, resilience changed. Read More>>
rujia wang
To me, resilience is the ability to keep moving forward under pressure and setbacks. It doesn’t mean you’re never afraid—it means you don’t step back even when you are. It doesn’t mean life is calm—it means you can still find a way through the waves. A big part of my resilience comes from martial arts. Read More>>
Charisse Ponder
I would have to say resilience for me was built on a solid grounding from my parents and our family life. I grew up with music. My father was a concert violinist and my mother a brilliant pianist. I have fond memories as a child falling asleep to their music while they were rehearsing for a concert. Music went into my whole being. Read More>>
Gabe
My resilience comes from seeing people in my family continue to strive for success even when times get tough. I have a strong desire to win, and that desire is what drives me to continue to push through the losses. When everything is said and done I want to make sure there is no debate that I’m the very best at what I do. Read More>>
Kristen Walker
My faith and resilience go hand in hand. I come from an upbringing rooted in spirituality and Christianity, and as I’ve grown into my own woman, I’m able to take and see the value of having something or someone to believe in. Read More>>
Dela / Zika Delaney
My resilience comes from a deep sense of responsibility to something larger than myself. I’ve always believed that music is not just sound, but a connective force — a way for people to feel seen, understood, and less alone. When you hold that belief seriously, giving up stops being an option. Through building the Ethereal Keys Experience, I’ve learned that resilience isn’t about being unshakable. Read More>>
Alexandra Swayne
My resilience comes from necessity and choice. From a young age, I learned not to assume support, financial or otherwise, not because of neglect, but because that was simply the reality of my circumstances. As a result, I’ve worked consistently since I was 15, often juggling multiple jobs at once. Read More>>
Jennifer Griffin
For me, resilience has been about staying the course through very distinct, demanding seasons of life. I am celebrating my 15th year in business this April, and the path has been anything but linear. I’m not just a studio owner. I am a mother who homeschooled four children while trying to build a brand. Read More>>
Chris Demant
Resilience for me started early. I was never great in school, but I always knew I learned differently. I was happiest working with my hands, building things, figuring out how things worked. That eventually led me to a four-year apprenticeship as a stainless steel fabricator in Denmark. That experience shaped me, it taught me discipline, precision, and pride in craftsmanship. Read More>>
Segun Owolabi
My resilience was shaped by necessity and repeated risk. In early 2025, around February, I was at my lowest financially. I had nothing to show for the years of work, but that was the point where I decided to take my art seriously and go fully professional. The problem was simple: I had no capital. No savings. No safety net. Read More>>
Olivia Barraza
I get my resilience from a place that wasn’t taught to me — it was demanded of me. I was born into circumstances where survival came before dreams. I’m an immigrant, English is my second language, and from a very young age I learned how to adapt, observe, and keep going even when I didn’t fully belong in the room. Resilience started as necessity. Read More>>
