An entrepreneur and consultant named to the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30, Molly Burke has partnered with Fortune 500 companies like Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and P&G, helping them build more inclusive and innovative cultures. She’s spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations, and has been featured on The Today Show, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, in The Wall Street Journal, and many more.

She’s also the author of the new book Unseen: How I Lost My Vision but Found My Voice (out now!): a powerful memoir about identity, resilience, and what it means to be seen in a world that often overlooks difference. In her Lavin Voices podcast episode, she offers 3 steps that anyone can use to develop grit and thrive through challenge.

1. Rethink resilience.

“People often say, ‘I wish I could be as positive as you are,'” Molly says. “But I wasn’t born a super optimistic person. Resilient thinking is a constant choice.”

The key is to flip the script on our biggest anxieties. “I hear ‘no’ and I think ‘Ooh, a challenge,'” Molly says. “Maybe it’s a ‘no’ from you, or a ‘no’ for right now. But I can take this and make it an opportunity.” Resilience isn’t some innate trait that a select few people have. It’s a tool that we all need—from students to CEOs and everyone in between—and a skill that we can all learn.

2. Embrace challenge.

To build resilience, we need to start seeing challenges not as setbacks, but as setups for the next step forward, Molly says. “If you boil my life down to anything, it’s simply a story of working through challenge time and time and time again. And every time I face a new challenge, I’ve reminded that I’ve done this before—and that I came out stronger.”

Whatever you’re facing—whether a tough period at home or an organizational shift—Molly says that once you work through it, you can add it as an asset in your toolkit for the next thing you face. “That’s what we share, as humans: that ability to work through challenges and learn to make them our strengths.”

3. Start now.

We all need resilience. It’s not a question of if, but a question of when. We can set ourselves up for success by proactively and intentionally developing it.

“The best thing you can do is to get out of your comfort zone and do things that scare you,” Molly says. Her own career was a step outside her comfort zone: “There was no disability representation on social media yet. I thought, ‘I’ve never seen it be done, and I don’t know how to do it. But someone has to do it, so I’m going to be the one.'” Today, she’s gained billions of views and built a thriving community of over 5 million people. “Getting out of your comfort zone reframes your thoughts so you can hear ‘no’ without letting that stop you.”

Interested in hearing more from Molly?

Learn more about her here and watch her episode of Lavin Voices, then get in touch with us today to book her to speak at your event!