What Prison Taught Me About True Strength and Resilience

Strength isn’t about power, prestige, or the ability to control your circumstances. It’s about how you rise when life knocks you down. I thought I knew what strength was—until I found myself in a federal prison, stripped of my title, reputation, and the comforts of the life I had built.

I walked through those doors of Aliceville Federal Prison Camp feeling broken. That woman who used to sit at the table with politicians, business leaders, and decision-makers was now an inmate. I could not determine my schedule, had no influence, no status—to paraphrase myself: just a prison uniform and a number. What seemed to be the lowest point in my life became the foundation for a transformation that I never saw coming.

Prison taught me that true strength isn’t about success but in survival. Waking up to face your mistakes and choosing to grow despite them is what survival is all about. I find resilience in these women around me: mothers, daughters, professionals, each having a story of struggle and survival. I have learned that behind bars, there is hope; faith can still sustain; and the human spirit can endure.

Resilience is not about experiencing hardship but about what one does when he or she does find it. It is the learning, adaptation, and the bouncing back stronger than ever before. My journey was about survival in prison but also finding out who I am. I stand today as a testament to the power of faith, to the resilience of the human spirit, and the truth that no setback is final.

If adversity is knocking, know this—you are stronger than you think, and no matter how far down you have gone, you will rise again.

*Want to hear more of my story? Tune in as I share the lessons, challenges, and triumphs that shaped my journey of resilience. *