renegade resilience
Coming soon in Rooted in Resilience
I’m thrilled to share that my chapter, “Renegade Resilience: Growing Deeper Roots Instead of Thicker Skin,” will be published in the forthcoming multi-author book Rooted in Resilience, curated by Cathy Durskin.
This chapter puts words to a concept that has become central to my work:
True resilience isn’t about growing thicker skin. It’s about growing deeper roots so we no longer have to abandon ourselves to belong, achieve, succeed, or be loved.
This isn’t simply about feeling better, though…
The point isn’t simply to feel better.
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The point isn’t simply to feel better. *
The point isn’t simply to feel better.
It’s to recover the energy that has been quietly diverted into managing, pleasing, proving, preventing, rescuing and surviving…and put it back where it belongs: into your your creativity, your desires, your contribution, your joy, and the life you’re here to live.
What if some of what we call resilience is really outdated adaptation?
Women are often praised for how much they can handle.
For staying strong. Being dependable. Keeping things moving. Taking care of what needs to be taken care of. Getting back up. Pushing through.
And sometimes, those capacities really are expressions of strength.
But sometimes they’re survival strategies that became so familiar — and so rewarded — that we stopped noticing what they cost.
In “Renegade Resilience,” I explore the difference between enduring more and becoming more deeply rooted in yourself.
It’s about recognizing the adaptations that once helped you feel safe, loved, successful, or like you belonged — without mistaking them for who you fundamentally are.
And what I’m exponentially more interested in is what becomes possible when the energy those adaptations once required is no longer consumed by overfunctioning, perfectionism, people-pleasing, vigilance, or holding everything together! That energy becomes available again — for joy, creativity, connection, rest, desire, contribution, and the choices that move you toward the life you’ve been longing for.
That’s the kind of resilience I’m interested in cultivating: one grounded in enough self-trust that you can stay connected to yourself even when life asks something difficult of you, and rooted enough to use your energy not simply to endure your life, but to create it.
Not thicker skin.
Deeper roots.
“True resilience isn’t about growing thicker skin, it’s about growing deeper roots: Roots steady enough to keep you grounded, so that no matter what happens you will never again abandon yourself to belong, achieve, succeed, or be loved. That’s a kind of Renegade Resilience you can cultivate.”
The book
Rooted in Resilience
Rooted in Resilience brings together stories and perspectives from women who courageously redefined success by aligning passion, purpose, and lived experience through resilience.
I’m honored to contribute “Renegade Resilience: Growing Deeper Roots Instead of Thicker Skin” to this collection.
Coming later in 2026.
recommended
THIS WEEK: Watch Rooted in Resilience light up Times Square!
Before the book even reaches shelves, Rooted in Resilience is heading to Times Square.
On Friday, the book and its contributing authors will be featured on a Times Square billboard — and yes, I’m still pinching myself that my face is going to be up there too!
You can watch the billboard livestream here:
WATCH THE TIMES SQUARE LIVESTREAM →
Livestream information courtesy of Skyline Webcams.
Watch here on Friday October 2nd where you’ll catch MY FACE (!) alongside Rooted In Resilience on the billboard above the Pele sign twice each hour between 1 AM and 11 PM!
The conversation continues
The chapter may be where Renegade Resilience began on the page, but the ideas inside it reach much further.
I write about resilience, resentment, the old bargains accomplished women are ready to break, and what becomes possible when we stop measuring strength by how much we can tolerate.
It’s a conversation about carrying less, reclaiming your time and energy, trusting yourself more deeply, and creating a life that feels as good as it looks.
Join me for a loving renegade note each week.
Insight and inspiration for accomplished women ready to Carry Less. Live More.