Brilliantly Resilient

“Being resilient is feeling the feelings and feeling the things and over time, figuring out how to deal with them.” ~ Allison Fumo: Senior Director of People & Culture at Next League   To Allison Fumo Resilience isn't something a fortunate few are born with; it's something we can learn, recognize, and develop. Allison grew up believing that resilience was a learned behavior, modeled for her by...

“When you start to recognize the identities that you've been operating from, it's never about making yourself wrong or trying to erase that was who you were.”  Dr. Kim Foster ~Identity Expert and Author of Redesigning You Who are you—and who told you that's who you have to be? On this episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, I welcome Dr. Kim Foster, former family physician, TEDx speaker, ide...

“One little tiny action restores A modicum of some control. Then that control begets more control.” Colleen Freeland ~ Founder, Emotional Sobriety Coaching ; Host of It's Not About the Alcohol podcast    What happens when the woman who can handle everything discovers that handling everything is part of the problem? On this episode of the Brilliantly Resilient podcast, Mary Fran talks with Colleen...

“And that is another part of being resilient. You look within yourself for what you can give yourself that no one is giving you.” Vani Kovitch ~ Certified High Conflict Divorce Coach and Host of the podcast Endgame: Mastering the High Conflict Divorce   What happens when one of the hardest experiences of your life forces you to discover strengths you didn't know you had? On this episode of the Bri...

Heading in any direction is better than heading in no direction. Crispin Thompson ~ Founder, The Leadership Studio, Author: The Human Advantage: Emotional Intelligence in the Age of AI   Confidence isn’t about always knowing what to do. According to Crispin Thompson, founder of The Leadership Studio , it begins with knowing yourself well enough to trust what you bring to the moment. Crispin believ...

"Healing is not a thunderclap... it's all those tiny moments that build and build and build." Nikki Mammano ~ Author of Breaking Good   Nikki Mammano has been lost--over and over again.  Her story of abuse and abandonment is a worst-case scenerio--which is exactly what makes her redemption, strength and resilience all the more astonishing. Nikki's journey is a powerful reminder that resilience isn...

“Confidence is the resolution of fear.” Alyssa Dver ~ Founder of the American Confidence Institute and ERG Leadership Alliance and best-selling author of 8 books, including Confidence is a Choice and Kickass Confidence   How confident are you? Confidence is a loaded word—we all want it, but we don’t always (or often) feel it, especially when it’s needed for something important to us. Founder and h...

“Anything that makes somebody feel less alone matters.” Anne Putnam ~ Author of Make Do and Mend   Have you ever had your heart broken? If you've been lucky enough to be in love, it's likely you've experienced the counterpart of starry-eyed bliss--heartbreak. Having your heart broken is one of the most painful of human experiences. With no clear remedy for the pain, and no timeframe as to when it...

“Your purpose is not to sit in that comfort zone, but to step out and experience the world and find out where you can make an impact.” ~ Patrick Engasser, Speaker, Coach, and Author of If I Can Do It, You Can Do It! Inspiration for Eliminating Excuses, Overcoming Challenges and Succeeding in Business and Life   Do you like your comfort zone? Most of us do, because it's, well, comfortable. But Patr...

“I thought it was still just going to be my next job. I had no idea it was setting me up for an entirely different career path.” ~ Jamie Cooperstein, Author of True Hospitality: Lessons Learned from Behind the Concierge Desk, Founder: J.Cooperstein Hospitality Consulting   Has your life gone according to plan? Jamie Cooperstein's didn't. With a clear vision of becoming a sports broadcaster, Jamie...

“I talk about having a kudos folder… you can’t lie with statistics.” Nicole Stephenson: President and CEO of Unapologetic: Boldly Lead the Life and Career You Deserve   How often do you doubt yourself? If you're a woman, the answer is most likely "a lot." And it's not because women aren't accomplished, but rather that life has taken us places other than where we thought we'd end up, which many of...

“If you don’t understand your value, no one else is going to understand it for you.” ~ Theresa Hummel Kralinger: Founder-High Five Performance, Author of Make Waves: A Career Pathing Guide to Stand Out, Stay Employable, and Sail Ahead , Professional Speaker and Comedian   How's your work-life looking? The world is changing at lightening speed, and it's no secret the workplace is changing almost as...

“Respect—of each other, of our team, of the process—was everything.” Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter, Co-owners of ExpressIt   What would you do if you were suddenly in charge of running a business, despite having no experience doing so? Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter were not business women--not by a long shot. But their father had built a business that they respected, and which they w...

“Resilience isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about aligning what you want with what your system feels safe enough to allow.” ~ Carol Looke : Therapist, Coach and Author of The Yes Code and Yes Thank You   Are you sabotaging yourself? The obvious question is, "Why would anyone do that?" The not so obvious answer is that you may not know you're doing it. Carol Looke is a renowned therapist, author an...

“Resilience doesn’t mean you’re not broken—it means you keep going anyway.” ~ Andrea Wilson Woods , Author of Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, Patient Advocate and Founder of Blue Faery   Grief. The loss of someone we love is likely the most devastating of human experiences. And while death is a part of life, the death of a young person proves particularly wrenching. Author of Better Off Bald:...

“Maybe we don’t need the new year to make us new— maybe we just need the courage to let go.”   ~ Jay Armstrong, Award winning writer, speaker, humorist. Author of A Good Calamity, Follow Your Dreams Down and other inspirational books   What if, instead of piling things on to improve ourselves over this new year, we simply let some things go? Award winning author and speaker Jay Armstrong has had t...

"Faith isn't just believing for something—it's believing through something. Real faith is resilient faith." ~ Bishop Kevin Foreman, "The People's Bishop," Founder of Harvest Church, Author of Sins of the Fathers, Evolutionaries and History Makers   What if every challenge was an invitation to grow closer to your purpose? Collectively, the world isn't in the best shape right now. Challenges abound,...

"You have to give yourself permission to suck — that's how we grow and develop. Resilience is built in the messy middle." ~ Pia Mailhot-Leichter, Founder of The Kollektiv Studio and Author of Welcome to the Creative Club Pia Mailhot-Leichter, founder of The Kollektiv Studio and author of Welcome to the Creative Club , joins the Brilliantly Resilient Podcast to explore how creativity is one of the...

"These courses are a roadmap — they guide you to not only uncover your resilience but to rise, thrive, and ultimately find your brilliance within life's challenges." ~ Mary Fran Bontempo, Creator of the Brilliantly Resilient Mini-Course Series   Today it's me--sharing the story behind the creation of the Brilliantly Resilient Mini-Course Series — Reset with Resilience, Rise and Thrive, and Reveal...

"Sometimes resilience looks like showing up. That's it. Just being here, trying again, and refusing to give up." ~ Jake Weiner--Founder,  Zooz Fitness   Everyone knows that exercise and movement are important to health, both mental and physical. But can exercise help build strength in other ways--like resilience?  Jake Weiner thinks so. Jake is the founder of Zooz Fitness, an inclusive fitness com...

"I realized I was battling in a system that valued the system over the child — and that was a big wake-up call." ~Victoria Lenormand, Former Police Detective, Founder of Gemini Directions and Author of  The Magic of Not Fitting In   Have you ever felt like you just didn't fit in? Occasionally, and especially during the teenage years, everyone feels like they don't belong. But how would you manage...

"Habituelle is rooted in the belief that leadership isn't a title—it's how we show up, again and again." ~ Jessi Sheridan, Founder of Habituelle   When you think of habits, what comes to mind? Often, when we think of a habit, it's in a critical way--as in a bad habit we want to break. But Habituelle founder Jessi Sheridan believes that making something a habit is a positive way to create powerful,...

"We have to reshape how we talk about neurodivergence in the workplace--shift from it being a disability that needs to be accomodated to a form of cognitive diversity we can cultivate and harness to drive success." Rita Ramakrishnan ~ Founder and CEO of Iksana Consulting   What if the very things you've seen as challenges are actually your greatest strengths?  Rita Ramakrishnan was diagnosed as ne...

"Every disagreement is an invitation to pause, reflect, and reset before we respond." Ursula Taylor ~ Founder,  Conflict Reimagined   The legal profession is basically founded on conflict. One side tries to prove the other wrong in order to "win." A former commercial litigator with 17 years of experience, Ursula Taylor has seen her share of conflict, and she's committed to changing the idea of con...

"The very thing you're afraid to say is often what will inspire someone else to keep going." ~ Sara Connell, Best-selling Author and Founder of Thought Leader Academy   Have you ever thought about writing a book but believe you have nothing to say? For those of us living "ordinary" lives, it's easy to feel our stories have little meaning beyond our own lives. Yet Sara Connell holds the opposite to...