Your Struggles Are Building the Strength You’ll Need Tomorrow  

Resiliency isn’t built at the top of a mountain. It is forged in the valleys, in the moments that feel impossible, and in the storms you never saw coming. 

Starting at age 5, life handed me challenges that were anything but ordinary. I don’t open up easily, but when I do even scratch the surface people often say, “you should write a book”. Many events were heavy, traumatic, and shaped me in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time. There were days I wondered if I would enjoy life in the same way again. Since I grew up in a very small town, I wondered if there was ever going to be a time where I could go to high school or the grocery store without people whispering about the drama that I found myself in the center of. Or, if I’d ever get past the weight of what I had been through. But in that, I learned that every hard moment was preparing me for something bigger. 

I met my now husband at 17 and he quickly became a safe space. By the time I was 19, I was married. At 22, I became a mom. While my friends were navigating college life, I was changing diapers and working late night shifts. I worked as a waitress all through college and for a year after so my husband could finish his degree. We didn’t have childcare so my husband and I would manage our school and work schedule so that one of us was always home with the baby. We were like passing ships in the night. It wasn’t glamorous. It was exhausting. But it taught me humility, grit, and the value of sacrifice. It taught me that sometimes you have to put your head down and do what needs to be done.  

Then came the leap. Someone took a chance on me in the telecom industry even though I knew nothing about telecom or even technology for that matter. In fact, I remember on my first day thinking it seemed like everyone was speaking a foreign language with all the acronyms, systems, and processes. I walked in with zero experience and a heart full of determination. I told myself, to just keep stacking the days. Learn one thing today, then another tomorrow. Show up. Keep going. And slowly, those days added up. Within months, I became head of my department, then the technical support supervisor. 5 years ago, I went to a different company where I started in partner success role and then was promoted to central area channel manager.  

Looking back now, I wouldn’t change a thing. Every hardship, every sacrifice, every sleepless night made me stronger. They gave me the resilience to keep going when life gets hard or uncomfortable. They taught me that success isn’t about having the perfect plan, it’s about refusing to quit when the plan falls apart. (But also, I am a girl who loves an organized plan) 

Something I learned was that resiliency isn’t something you’re born with. It’s something you build. You build it when you’re tired, when you’re scared, when you’re unsure if you can take one more step.  

If you’re in the middle of your own storm right now, I want you to know you are building strength that will carry you further than you can imagine. Every hard day is shaping you into someone who can handle the next challenge with courage and confidence. Your future self will look back at this moment and realize why you had to go through the hard stuff. Keep going. You’re tougher than you think.