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.
ANUBI SARDE
My resilience comes from aiming straight for my rejection. There is a certain time in my life where I just got tired of wondering if I’d be good enough for certain places, or if I even deserved to be around certain groups of people. Read More>>
Sarah Virrey
From positive thinking, in a way that i telk my self every time that overcoming things in life helps you learn but it also make stronger and also builts caracter in you until one day you feel you have had mastered! Read More>>
Zion Campbell
Honestly, I get my resilience from the things I’ve survived. There were times I didn’t know who I was anymore, but something in me kept pushing forward. Looking back, I know that strength ultimately came from my faith in God. I didn’t become resilient because life was easy. I became resilient because God gave me the strength to survive what wasn’t. Read More>>
Alexander Burgess
Resilience, for me, has never just come from within. It has come from whom I lean on. I have had the opportunity to step into an industry that is competitive and, at times, uniquely uncertain. There is not always a clear path, and there are seasons where you are waiting, questioning, or navigating things that do not go how you planned. Read More>>
Shannon McKinney
I think being an only child raised by a single father in the early 80s made me resilient in more ways than I can quantify. I had to be self-reliant from an early age and figure things out for myself out of necessity. Read More>>
Cari Kaufman
Resilience, for me, didn’t start as some grand, intentional pursuit. It started in the ordinary places: being an athlete, being a student, learning how to push, perform, and keep going when things got hard. I think a lot of that early life quietly built the foundation. But if I’m honest, resilience wasn’t truly forged until later. Read More>>
Cedric Nelson
If I had to answer that in one word, it would be legacy. My resilience was born out of adversity early in life—experiences that could have easily defined me in a negative way. But instead of allowing those moments to break me, they became the foundation for who I am today. A major part of that strength comes from my grandmother. Read More>>
Christiano Mejias
Honestly, a lot of my resilience comes from my life experiences. Living with Type 1 diabetes taught me discipline and mental strength at a very young age, because it’s something you have to manage every single day. It forced me to mature early and understand responsibility for my own health and future. Read More>>
Dominique Womack
Every little girl dreams about becoming a mother. We would practice on our toys, pets, siblings, or whatever our imagination allowed. Dreams of white fences in a cul-de-sac. Thoughts of what our children’s names would be, and even how many of each we would have. I was diagnosed with Endometriosis in 2017 after years of pain, two years of seeing doctors and being misdiagnosed. Read More>>
Sonja Washington
I was fortunate to have come from a family of beautiful, strong black women. My grandmother, the matriarch, instilled in us the significance of giving our all to everything we do and persevering through trials, tribulations, and any adversity we encountered. Consequently, my mother, along with my aunt, uncles, cousins, and so on, followed her example. Read More>>
King Champion
I believe that I get resilience from a few places. One source of My resilience is from My Faith. My Faith has taught Me that no matter how major a challenge may seem, it can always be overcome. In a career like this, a creative career, there may be challenges and setbacks that can be discouraging. Read More>>
Jeffrey Smith
I spent the first forty-five years of my life wanting to be a writer. I wrote almost daily–short stories, essays, poems, novels, plays. Anything that I wanted to write, I did. I had a few short stories published, and some essays, along with a few magazine articles. Eventually I published my first book, Mesabi Pioneers. Read More>>
Barbara ‘BabarazziPhotos’ Baez Robinson
I get my resilience from my parents. Their story has shaped the way I approach both life and my work. They came to the United States in the 1980s during the Mariel Boatlift. Read More>>
Stephanie Carlson
I think, to a large extent, resilience is just part of my DNA. I’ve always been stubborn—and there have been very few times in my life where sheer determination wasn’t enough to carry me through. I was born with visual limitations that could have held me back. But growing up, that’s not how my life was framed. Nobody told me reading should be difficult. Read More>>
Chelsea Chavez
My name is Chelsea. I’m actually a self-taught wedding photographer, which surprises a lot of people. At the same time, I hold a master’s degree in neuroscience and I’m currently training in nuclear medicine, so my life sits at the intersection of art and science. I think a lot of my resilience and work ethic really comes from growing up in Hong Kong. Read More>>
Maria Englehardt
Resilience, for me, is rooted in how I was raised and the life I’ve lived. Growing up in a hardworking family, with the perspective of being a first-generation American on my mom’s side, I learned early on that you show up, you put in the work, and you don’t quit – failure simply isn’t an option. Read More>>
David Guerin
David Guerin is a gifted medium, healer, and crystal expert originally from Normandy, France. From a young age, he has possessed innate abilities to communicate with those who have passed on, perceive the spiritual realm, and intuitively diagnose and address people’s physical and emotional ailments through divine blessing. Read More>>
Carlos Raba
When my mother was eight months pregnant with me, my family was the victim of a home invasion in Mexico City, during which we witnessed the murder of my father. That day was the beginning of my resilience. From that moment on, my life and my family’s life changed forever. After my mother was widowed, her focus became protecting my brother and me. Read More>>
Dominique Salvacion
I find the topic of resilience to be an interesting one. I have been called resilient many times, and to be honest, I never have found it to be a compliment. Read More>>
Laura Boller
My resilience comes from my life experiences, my community, and my belief that growth often comes from being willing to step into the unknown. Building something of your own teaches you very quickly how to adapt, problem-solve, and keep moving forward even when things don’t go as planned. Read More>>
Chrissy Nichols
Resilience….it’s tied to personal experiences, right? How one can adapt, bounce back and continue their journey after walking through the fire, becoming the rising phoenix. Read More>>
Robin Sievers
I’ve always been not just a ‘glass half full’ girl but a girl who would down the glass to the last drop knowing there was more on the way. Trials came but never left without leaving a bigger blessing in their place. Read More>>
Dr. Yelena Matevosyan
At 19, I became a single mother. I didn’t have everything figured out. I didn’t have a clear path or a safety net. I was uneducated, unemployed, hopeless, and completely at a loss. But I had a little girl who was watching me, and that was enough to change everything. She became my motivation, my hope, the light that quietly illuminated my path. Read More>>
Jessica Andrews
Resilience, for me, was not something I was born with. It is something I developed over time through life, experience, and growth. There were moments in my journey where things did not go as planned. Times where I felt overlooked, uncertain, or stretched beyond what felt comfortable. Instead of allowing those moments to define me, I chose to grow through them. Read More>>
Mia Rose
I believe that I get my resilience from a long line of ancestral women in my family that went through many different trials and tribulations, yet still were able to overcome. These women are/were my aunts, my grandmothers and my great grandmothers. Read More>>
Brooke Robbins
I think my resilience mainly stems from three things: my upbringing, my relationship with God, and an innate part of my personality that has always refused to take no for an answer. I grew up in a family where I was taught—both explicitly and implicitly—that anything was possible for me. Read More>>
Chimere Williams
When I think about where my resilience comes from my mind always goes to me simply embracing freedom. Once I got a taste of what creative freedom felt like I tried to keep it. So when life is throwing everything at me I remember what it feels like to be creatively free. Read More>>
Jackie Flowers
My resilience comes from lived experience—especially from moments that could have broken me but ultimately reshaped me. When I was 12, my parents separated, and that period was deeply destabilizing. As a teenager, I struggled with feeling lost, experienced bullying, and got pulled into substance use and unhealthy peer dynamics. Read More>>
Dora Witte
I always remember why I felt passionate about my work in the first place and that helps me find the clarity I may be looking for when there are a lot of different opinions. With hard work and persistence, I believe that you will get where you want to be, just be patient and never give up on your dreams. Read More>>
Kristin Kirgan
I grew up in a working-class, low-income area in Philadelphia, where opportunity wasn’t waiting for you. You had to chase it down, corner it, and earn it. There weren’t a lot of doors. And the ones that did exist didn’t always feel like they were meant for someone like me. Read More>>
Christopher Ramirez
“I get my resilience from having to rebuild multiple times in my life and career. I started training in martial arts when I was young, and that discipline carried over into everything I do. Over the years, I’ve built businesses, coached fighters, and managed high-pressure environments in both restaurants and my gym. Read More>>
Delphine Sellars
I come from a line of strong and resilient individuals. In early 2000’s I started researching my family tree and discovered that my great, great grandfather Ceasar Augustus Godley was born into slavery in 1838. He joined the Union army in 1864. At the beginning of the war, he survived it, living till age 72 and raising 9 children. Read More>>
Akira Finegan
Growing up in the ranching and rodeo world, my resilience comes from the way that life never really lets you quit. It comes from early mornings before the sun’s up, when the work has to get done whether you feel like it or not. It comes from long days in the heat, learning that comfort isn’t guaranteed but the job still matters. Read More>>
geoffrey henning
resilience is something that continues in my journey as my foundation from growing up where moving and traveling was the basis for my childhood. With being the some to a RCAF pilot we moved frequently across Canada and Abroad and this provided me with understanding how to adapt, reinvent , and become resilient. Read More>>
Aliz Buzas
Honestly, my resilience comes from what I went through in the past. I know I’ve handled tough situations before, so that gives me the confidence to face whatever is happening now. To be open, my parents weren’t really there for me, and I was a very lonely kid. Read More>>
Michal Kaye
Have you ever been told you’re never going to amount to anything? I had a high school principal who didn’t believe in me. Read More>>
Ashley Thompson
I get my resilience from having to rebuild my life from the ground up. There was a time in my life where I didn’t have structure, stability, or direction, and I had to make a conscious decision to change that—not just for myself, but for my kids. Recovery from addiction taught me discipline in a way nothing else could. Read More>>
Rajee Aryal
Resilience, for me, has been built incrementally — through a life that has rarely taken the straightforward path. It begins with my mother, who faced significant hardship and difficulty at different points in her life but always held her ground. Watching her, I absorbed something I would spend years putting to use. Read More>>
Cedric Nelson
If I had to answer that in one word, it would be: legacy. But not the kind of legacy people usually think about—the polished version filled with success and milestones. I’m talking about the kind that’s built in the shadows… in the moments that could have broken you. My resilience was born out of tragedy. Read More>>
Manuela Bedoya Mendez
I get my resilience from everything I’ve had to figure out on my own… and the version of me I refuse to give up on. There were moments where things felt uncertain, building Tytn, my business. showing up for clients, handling pressure and no one really sees that part. Read More>>
Ayona Jaswal
The process of building my strength began with the understanding that people usually consider ‘no’ as an initial refusal, one that needs to be addressed by exploring different possibilities. This achievement developed from my capacity to persist through every challenge that emerged during my experimental procedures. Read More>>
ToRohn Yancey
I get my resilience from my upbringing in Detroit, Michigan, where adversity wasn’t something you avoided, it was something you learned to navigate daily. Growing up in an inner-city environment, I saw early on that nothing was guaranteed. Work ethic was not a choice, it was survival. That reality shaped me. Read More>>
Sumin Joo
Growing up, I often felt like an outsider. I was energetic and outgoing as a child, but school life quickly made me feel alone, and even with education and opportunities, life sometimes felt overwhelmingly difficult. The competitive culture in Korea started young, and I struggled to navigate it. I found my first refuge in art. Read More>>
Thayer Gorges
Only child with an indifferent father… Got divorced and became a single mom to a toddler… Got remarried and had another daughter but really I’m a single mom again… People like to ask where resilience comes from, as if it’s a trait you’re either born with or not. For me, it wasn’t something I woke up one day and decided to have. Read More>>
Mary Reese-Paul
Resilience, for me, was not something I chose, it was something life required of me. My journey with loss began at the age of eight. From that point forward, I experienced grief in ways that many people cannot fully comprehend. Over the years, I lost my mother, my father, two sisters, a brother, and the woman who first introduced me to God, my godmother. Read More>>
Jan Becker
My resilience comes from a deep sense that life holds more than what we see on the surface. Since I was young, I’ve always felt there was a gap between ordinary life and what is truly possible in terms of meaning, fulfillment, and inner growth — and I’ve always wanted to close that gap. Read More>>
Emmanuel Mutui
I am an immigrant from Nairobi, Kenya. We were poor growing up so life was always tough. I remember not always having food enough food to eat while in school so I would drink nectar from flowers to make up for it. The bees were not happy with me! Read More>>
Tj O’Connor
I learned resilience at a very young age. I was raised by an abusive father and a mother who could not control him. We were relatively poor and struggled for everything including food, water, electricity, and everything associated with normal home life. School was a shelter and when it ended, I feared going home. Read More>>
Nilufer Kucukbatman
I think my resilience comes from growing up in situations that required me to mature earlier than most people around me. I had to learn how to adapt quickly, take responsibility, and stay grounded even when things felt uncertain. A big part of that comes from my mom. Read More>>
Elena Nikitina
I think my resilience began growing quietly within me long before I had words for it. It emerged from my Soviet childhood, rising alongside the endless rows of identical apartment blocks in a microdistrict on the outskirts of a small town in the lower Volga region. Read More>>
Jalissa Carter
My resilience comes from learning to be self-reliant before I was old enough to know what that word meant. At 14, my life shattered. I found myself homeless — couch surfing between the homes of family members and friends, navigating instability that no child should have to navigate alone. Read More>>
Eva Habermann
Honestly, a lot of it comes from just doing this for a long time. We started Fantomfilm without a clear roadmap and had to figure things out as we went. In this industry, things rarely go as planned. Projects fall apart, financing shifts, timelines stretch. You kind of learn to keep going anyway. Read More>>
Sarah Xu
I get my resilience from reflecting back on the little sixth-grade girl whose reflection blinked back tears while she pinched at her thighs. No one, especially children, deserves to know the pain that comes with hating your body and not knowing what to do. Read More>>
Erin Carroll
I get my resilience from the same place my students get theirs: from learning how to fail and keep going anyway. I grew up navigating school with ADHD before I had language for what that meant. I didn’t know why things that seemed effortless for other kids required so much more from me. Read More>>
Brooke Baron
My resilience is something that I learned through my toughest times, I never wanted to give up on myself. It was never a thought that crossed my mind. Having my thyroid removed at 17 due to a nodule that was cancerous, choosing to not go to college and I choose to go into makeup, learning your craft in a strong atmosphere. Read More>>
Grey James
In 2015 I ran out of money. I had the same job since 2008, it was 25 hours a week, and it allowed me to continue painting. As it goes, prices rise, salaries do not. I’d been looking for a second job to wrap around the one I had, no one wanted to work with my hours. Read More>>
Renard Thomas
I was raised in a childhood shaped by resilience. My mother, like many who are counted among the less fortunate, did everything in her power to give my sister and me a better life. We lived in areas where crime was a constant reality, and because of that, we moved often her way of chasing safety, stability, and opportunity for her children. Read More>>
Rev. Yolanda 
I get my resilience from feeling ALL of the feelings that come my way. I acknowledge them, see them and in that seeing and feeling they vanish. Therefore feelings and thoughts of fear anger, regret, grief, and many more ‘negative’ forces come and go. I let them, go by letting them go through me. Read More>>
Rocío Mejías Godoy 
My resilience is in my DNA. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, watching my parents and grandparents build their own paths, and I was raised with the conviction that if you want to conquer the world you have to be willing to work for it. They taught me that nothing meaningful is achieved without sacrifice and effort. Read More>>
JEFFERY TONEY
My resilience comes from what I’ve survived—and who I’ve chosen to become because of it. I’ve been through real pressure. Homelessness. Losing opportunities. Getting shot. Starting over when it felt like everything collapsed. At some point, I stopped asking “why is this happening to me?” and started asking “how do I keep moving anyway?” That shift changed everything. Survival became my baseline. Read More>>
julie mayerson brown
Being a creative, and especially a writer, can be a lonely, frustrating process. Thankfully, I’ve found a vibrant writing community in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association that helps me stay on track, get back on track, and claw my way through challenges all writers experience. Through WFWA, I met my writing partners. They are my lifeline to sanity in times of disappointment and indecision. Read More>>
Lorna Boyd
My resilience comes from a combination of life experience, purpose, and responsibility. As a single mother and business owner, I’ve had to learn how to keep going even when things feel uncertain or overwhelming. There isn’t always the option to pause—you figure it out, adapt, and move forward. Building Let’s Eat With Kibwe from the ground up has also strengthened that resilience. Read More>>
Urja KC
Resilience, for me, comes from contrast. I’ve seen both sides of life stability and uncertainty, clarity and confusion and that contrast shaped me. There were moments where things didn’t go as planned, where I had to pivot, start over, or prove myself in rooms where no one knew my story. And instead of breaking me, those moments built a kind of quiet confidence. Read More>>
Donna Sewall Davidge
When I looked at the selection of questions to choose a category from I found it challenging to choose. So many of them overlap .. work ethic (for me comes from passion, living life fully & being responsible to myself and others) . Generosity for me is something that comes from my spirit. Read More>>
Hannahmarie Mitchell
My resilience comes from a mix of faith, family, and life experience. A lot of that was shaped by my nana and my mom. They both showed me, in their own ways, what it looks like to keep going, stay strong, and carry yourself with grit even when life is not easy. Read More>>
Isaiah Panther
My resilience comes from watching my parents create possibilities for my brothers, sisters, and me during difficult times. They navigated adversity in an era where there were limited resources and even fewer examples of people who looked like us being empowered or supported in meaningful ways. Despite that, they instilled a deep sense of integrity, discipline, and self-belief. Read More>>
Kayla Bass
I grew up with abuse in all aspects (physical, emotional & sexual). I have been on my own since I was 15 over coming so many obstacles that come with that. I got pregnant at 19 with my daughter & I have strived to do everything I can so my kids don’t experience anything I had to go through. Read More>>
Jen Voigt
My resilience is a direct inheritance from two remarkable women in my life: my mother and grandmother. Navigating the complexities of small business ownership requires a specific kind of grit, and the ‘never-give-up’ mindset they instilled in me has undoubtedly contributed to Ninjas United’s success. From them, I learned that true resilience is built through consistent action. Read More>>
Dr. Cheryl Edinbyrd
My resilience… was not given to me. It was revealed through fire. It came through the moments where I had every reason to break… but something within me whispered, “Rise anyway.” I found my resilience early… as a teen mother— still growing, still learning, yet responsible for a life beyond my own. Read More>>
Geoffrey Allen Perdue
All decisions- all actions- have consequences. While most things are outside of our control, we have the ability to make wise and unwise decisions. I’ve gotten better at this, the longer that I’ve been alive, but many of the lessons I have learned that didn’t come from another person were learned the hard way- by making unwise decisions. Read More>>
Roxanne Engstrom
Honestly, my resilience has been built through living a full life- embracing the hard and messy and the joy. I’m a mom of four, and that alone has stretched me in ways I never could’ve imagined. Read More>>
Jeickov Vital
My resilience comes from carrying more than just my own story. It comes from responsibility, from memory, from migration, from family, and from the quiet decision to keep moving forward even when life does not make the path easy. I do not think resilience is something I chose in a romantic or heroic way. In many ways, I think it chose me. Read More>>
Linnie Lien
I used to think resilience was a trait you were born with, but for me, it has been a learned skill of staying in the room when things get uncomfortable. I have always been someone who feels things deeply, and for a long time I actually viewed that as a liability in a professional setting. Read More>>
