Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society – from entrepreneurs and investors to artists and creatives who believe in something and are optimistic enough to risk their time, money, and reputation. We asked some of the most optimistic folks we know where they think they get their optimism form.
Joanna Ferbrache
It’s never easy to stay positive Read More>>
Anajd Dokaj
My optimism is rooted in self-belief and visualizing my dreams with a positive outcome. Read More>>
Nikey Joe
My optimism comes from the fire lit inside me, a fire that never dies, even when life try’s to put it out. I’ve faced struggles and personal battles, but I’ve always believed in love, growth, and the power of sound., I’m not just making music—I’m building something that heals, uplifts, and shifts the energy. I know I’m here to change the world, one truth-filled lyric at a time, knowing I’m helping keeps me happy. Read More>>
Haley Newman
Optimism radiates at my core, expecting good outcomes with certainty. Why waste your time doing anything else? Read More>>
Kate Cudney
Interesting question – sometimes I think I was born with it. I can remember since I was a little kid feeling like the world was full of sunshine and beautiful colors. Sure I have experienced disappointment and failure and things that get me down, but ultimately I find myself again admiring the beauty in the world. If I am struggling, I go for a walk. I look at the variety, texture, color, of everything around me – how many different faces I see, the sun hitting a building, or the ripples the rain make in a puddle. I don’t know, but it fills me with wonder, and makes me feel like everything is going to be ok. I guess to that I would rather feel positive and optimistic, than to feel worried and scared. If something is going to go wrong, I will deal with it when it happens. No need to worry about it before hand. Read More>>
Bryan Delgado
For me, optimism isn’t blind hope. It’s the result of preparation, trust, and experience. I’m optimistic because I’m confident in the team we’ve built and the work we put in every day. When people are aligned, prepared, and driven by a shared purpose, challenges turn into opportunities. That mindset didn’t just appear overnight. It’s been shaped over time by seeing what happens when you commit to doing things the right way. Read More>>
Benjamin Demarchelier
I get my optimism from a place of necessity. how can we do anything without optimism? if you don’t believe in yourself without a doubt and without completely convincing yourself that failure is not an option how can you succeed where others have not? id also love to credit my parents who seems to be good at everything they do as well as my friends who reinforce my stupid ideas enough to give me blind confidence I use as optimism. Read More>>
Colleen Caunitz
At CK Strategic Solutions we genuinely believe that optimism is a choice. Everyone faces challenges, both personally and professionally, and how you perceive and manage those challenges is ultimately a matter of choice.
Embracing optimism takes effort: read inspiring quotes, listen to motivating music, reflect on positive memories, think of something or someone you are grateful for, or find a role model whose qualities you aspire to embody. Focus on what can be accomplished in the moment rather than what cannot be done. Read More>>
Kandice Coppala
People. Always people.
Being an indie author is a wild ride, equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. On the one hand, there’s the creative freedom. I get to write the stories I want, how I want, when I want. No gatekeepers. No rules but the ones I make for myself. That’s the fun part. That’s what fuels me when the words are flowing and the characters won’t shut up in my head. Read More>>
Cydney Gibeau
My optimism is deeply rooted in the people around me—my co-community members, friends, and family. Growing up, I watched my parents and grandparents build and maintain their own businesses, and that experience left a lasting impression on me. I saw firsthand the resilience it takes to pursue something you believe in and the way a strong support system can lift you through both the successes and the challenges. Read More>>
Ludie Sexton
My optimism comes from two places: my time in the military and my work in storytelling. Serving in the Army has taught me the value of perseverance—how to keep moving forward, even when the path is uncertain or difficult. You learn to stay calm under pressure, to adapt, and to focus on solutions rather than setbacks. That mindset naturally fuels a kind of forward-thinking optimism. Read More>>
Emmanuel
My optimism comes from a quiet, enduring belief that no matter how dark things get, light is still possible. It’s a reflection of hope—not as blind faith, but as a choice to keep seeing potential, to keep moving forward, and to trust that meaning can still be made from uncertainty. In a way, it’s my soul’s resistance to despair—a quiet rebellion rooted in the idea that life, at its core, leans toward growth. Read More>>
Tensie Taylor
My optimism comes from how my parents raised me. Although my parents grew up in the segregated South in North Carolina and faced many challenges, they still had dreams they wanted to accomplish and knew that education was their way out. Growing up, I saw this optimism they had even when difficulties came their way. Mom and Dad were optimistic because of one main factor: their faith. On Sundays, we would have family devotion at the kitchen table where we sang a hymn together, Mom read scripture, Dad prayed, and then we ate together. We then attended Sunday School and church service. Being in an environment where God was honored truly aided in my optimism. Read More>>
Xavier Alvarado
People love to talk about grit. Discipline. Hustle. But no one talks enough about the real fuel: optimism. The kind of optimism I’ve had to defend, protect, study and still choose, again and again.
It’s easy to call optimism naive, but in truth, it’s one of the most technical human traits we have. I once heard someone say that optimism is the soul ingredient to living a full life. The more I live, the more I believe that’s true. It has to be. Read More>>
Dusty Woodbury
I’d say that it comes from a combination of things. Firstly from my upbringing. My parents seemed to always strive to create the best possible environments for my brother and I to succeed. They put us in Montessori school early on, which I still remember being a very free learning environment with lots of positivity. Secondly, I’d say that playing sports required an optimistic outlook- both wanting to compete and to win. Thirdly and an extremely important component of harnessing optimism was surfing. As in life, every time you paddle out you are faced with new and unforeseen challenges. Sure… it starts with people helping you but eventually at some point you will find yourself alone in the ocean with hopefully the right amount of skills and courage to not only survive but creatively thrive. Read More>>
Jalina King
As the oldest child of a single mother whose mental health issues led her to drugs and, eventually, her death, my optimism came from the need to survive, the desire to thrive, and the desperation to provide a better life for my once-future children. Read More>>
David Perkins
For me my optimism stems from not wanting negativity around. I grew up on a fairly happy household, where complaining didn’t really exist. That’s not to say there weren’t times as children or my parents didn’t complain but I feel as if it was instilled to be happy with what you have. Read More>>
Raymundo Vera Canchola
Optimism is something we all have inside of us, but where does it come from? Coming from a home in no way the best of neighborhoods, where I was always looking out because my neighbor might be plotting against me, or my closest people, whom I should trust the most, are the ones I question the most, or the nights where death was certainly an outcome for me, but somehow I remain standing. I refer to these moments in my life when questioned about my optimism. Optimism, hopefulness, and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. This mindset that I carry for me and my team is a very optimistic one, and it all goes back to the experiences in life where it felt like I should be nothing greater than my circumstances. Read More>>
Prathyusha (Usha) Apparasu
My optimism is rooted in the people and experiences that surround me every day. Whether I am with my students, collaborating with coworkers, or engaging with my community, I make it a point to notice and absorb the positivity in others. I believe that every person has something valuable to teach me, and I choose to focus on those lessons and uplifting moments rather than dwell on negativity. By intentionally seeking out the good in people and situations, I reinforce my belief that, at their core, humans are good. This mindset helps me move forward with hope and resilience, and it’s a perspective I strive to share with those around me. Read More>>
Ricardo Merendoni
I have always been a very optimistic person to begin with and during the pandemic I really got into stoicism. Trying everyday to let go of things you cant control and focus on what you can control is one of its tenets. Applying this on a personal and professional life allows you to be more optimistic as you are not worried about external factors beyond your control. Read More>>
Jessie Huang
Being in a climate where creatives are often the first to be discarded it becomes increasingly difficult to stay optimistic. However, at the same time this is why it’s so important to be optimistic. Without optimism I find it very hard to pursue such an unstable path. My goal has always been to be able to live a stable life caring for my loved ones through the art I make and because it’s no easy goal it’s important to remain hopeful. I’ve learned that being shrouded in doubt does nothing but hinder creativity and productivity. At some points it does almost feel like delusion but I like to take it as ‘ignorance is bliss’! At the end of the day if just one person resonates with something you make it is enough to stay optimistic! Read More>>
Keston De Coteau
Despite the immense challenges of having a neurodivergent child, I still have joy in the creative connection I have as a filmmaker and photographer. I have to bring a sense of joy to the work to overcome the reality of living with a norm I never imagined. Read More>>
Nicole Pisciotto
My optimism flows from my heart which is connected to Divine Spirit. Choosing the yogic path many many moons ago helped me realize that I didn’t have to follow suit of the cultural nuances I was raised around in the Italian culture. Everything was generally intense and often negative or crisis like and it was too much!! At 29 I left the east coast and came to California to seek my soul’s path and design my way of living. I’m not gonna fib and say it’s all optimism & joy 100% of the time but I definitely beyond the shadow of a doubt know I overcame genetic predisposition and found my own way to function from deep connection to my soul. Read More>>
Madeleine Lawrence
My optimism was absolutely developed over time. I was not born an optimist, but rather a “realist,” leaning more toward the side of pessimism. I think this is quite normal for many of us, unfortunately. We are born into a world that can often be scary, dark, and unfair. Read More>>
Jeremiah Stinnett
In 3rd grade my parents got divorced. I switched schools and was living with my 2 younger brothers and older sister at the time. At this point my 2 older brothers and oldest sister had all moved out already. My Dad stepped up as the primary caretaker for me and my siblings while my mom did a lot to find herself and to follow some work aspirations. Despite the reality that my family did not have a lot – my dad found the good in everything. He has always had this optimism this certainty and this boisterous nature. I have realized how much of my personality has become a spitting image of my dad’s. He really showed me how powerful honesty, kindness, and love could be. I have always found my dad’s wisdom in small things, and it has carried me through a lot in life. Read More>>
Janne Guo
My optimism comes from two places: connection and creativity. Growing up, I was very close with my cousin—we were born on the exact same day—and when she was diagnosed with leukemia, art became our shared language. We would draw together both in the hospital and at home. Those quiet artistic moments brought us closer together as we shared a simple hobby that always brought joy. Read More>>
Sarah Wiebenson
The summer after my senior year of high school, I volunteered on an archaeological dig on a farm in western Massachusetts. My role was to sift through small amounts of dirt from a plot of land that had been carefully mapped out by graduate students from a local university, with the hope of finding something of historical significance from the colonial era. The plot had been chosen because it was the location of a “privy hole” where European settlers disposed of all forms of waste, some of which would hopefully give us a clue to how they lived. Read More>>
Gisela Prishker
“I think my optimism comes from two things: being an entrepreneur at heart, and growing up surrounded by love. I’ve always been self-motivated—even as a kid, I was the one organizing things, creating, imagining, starting little projects. But more importantly, I was raised in a home filled with warmth and connection. My parents gave me so much love, and I was lucky to grow up close to my cousins—four of them are still my best friends to this day. That kind of emotional foundation made me feel safe to take risks, dream big, and stay positive, even when things get challenging.” Read More>>
Ash Grant
My optimism comes from a decision I made early on in life. I grew up in a tough household, and while that environment could have made me close off or shrink, I chose instead to lean into creativity, academics, and kindness. I got involved in school, often embracing the ‘nerdy’ side of myself, and focused on finding outlets that made me feel empowered rather than stuck. What really shaped my optimism was seeing how those choices actually created better outcomes for myself and others. Those small choices made a real difference; in how I felt, in how people responded to me, and in the opportunities that came my way. It taught me that even in difficult situations, there’s always a silver lining if you’re willing to look for it and take action. Read More>>
