Finding Strength in the Storm
For marketing leaders navigating adversity in today’s world
We’re living in an era where uncertainty is no longer the exception – it’s the environment. Layoffs, restructures, fewer senior roles, shrinking budgets, and relentless demands to “do more with less” are all-too-familiar themes for today’s marketing leaders. Add to that the personal load many of us carry: grief, burnout, loneliness, health scares, or the invisible cost of always having to “keep it together”, and it’s no wonder so many marketers are running on empty.
So what do you do when you’re leading amid adversity?
When you’re the one people turn to for answers, but inside you’re grappling with questions of your own?
When your confidence has taken a hit, your energy is stretched, and you’re trying to hold the line while everything feels like it’s shifting beneath you?
That’s the conversation I want to have today. Because resilience isn’t a wellbeing buzzword, it’s our lived experience. And if you're reading this from a place of fatigue, disillusionment or quiet struggle, I want you to know: you are not alone. You are not broken. And this moment is not the end of your story.
The Paradox of Adversity
We all go through moments in life that feel impossibly hard.
A breakup that leaves you hollow.
A job loss that guts your confidence.
A chronic illness or silent grief that keeps you awake at night.
A season where everything feels out of control — professionally and personally.
Sometimes these are drawn-out chapters, and sometimes they arrive as short, sharp shocks that knock the wind out of our sails. But if there’s one truth that leaders must hold onto, it’s this:
You probably won’t feel like this forever.
And even more powerfully: this moment may be shaping you into someone stronger than you were before.
Because adversity, as brutal as it is, can be a catalyst. The worst times often reveal the best parts of ourselves.
That’s the paradox: leadership isn't forged in comfort. It’s shaped in the stretch.
What Is Adversity (and Why Does It Hit Us So Hard)?
Adversity, in psychological terms, is any significant hardship or challenge that tests our internal and external resources. It can be acute - a sudden restructure, a personal crisis – or chronic, like the long drag of burnout, burning the candle at both ends or feeling unrecognised in your role.
But adversity isn’t just about the thing that happened. It’s about the internal battle it triggers.
It can shake your worldview and make you question your identity. It can upend your sense of safety, and for many marketing leaders, (people who are used to delivering, fixing, and performing), it can provoke a hidden shame. I should be coping better than this.
And yet, some people emerge from these experiences stronger. More grounded. More alive. Psychologists refer to this as Post-Traumatic Growth — a phenomenon in which individuals experience positive psychological changes following adversity.
So the real question becomes: why do some people grow while others crumble?
Resilience Is Not What You Think
It’s tempting to think resilience is about toughness or willpower - gritting your teeth and powering through.
But true resilience is something different.
It’s not the absence of pain. It’s how you relate to pain.
It’s not suppressing emotion. It’s learning to ride the waves.
It’s not independence at all costs. It’s leaning into connection.
It’s not always having the answers. It’s finding purpose in the questions.
Resilience is a skill set, and the good news is that it can be cultivated. The four core elements are:
Emotional regulation – Feeling your feelings without letting them hijack your life
Cognitive flexibility – Reframing your story, not in denial, but in depth
Connection – Seeking support, not seeing it as weakness
Purpose – Reconnecting with why you do what you do
None of these are fixed traits. They’re muscles. And just like going to the gym to build muscle, this means you can build the resilience muscle, no matter where you’re starting from.
A Personal Note from the Eye of the Storm
Let me bring this into the real world.
There was a season in my life when I hit emotional rock bottom, not in a dramatic way, but in a slow, suffocating erosion of joy.
It began with burnout, as I tried to manage a demanding business. Suddenly, I lost my Dad, and I felt like I was constantly trying to prove myself. I took on too much. My spark slowly turned into dread. My body was tired and my mind was foggy. The things I used to love felt meaningless. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was inching into depression.
I have studied psychology, so I knew the signs. I knew what was happening. But knowing and being able to act are not the same.
That period taught me more than any textbook. I learned how to ask for help. To rest. To reconnect with my breath (not my to-do list). And most of all, to stop treating myself like a project to fix, and start treating myself like a person to care for.
It changed the way I lead, the way I support others, and my understanding of resilience. Not as a performance skill. But as a deep, human strength.
What the Science Says About Growth After Adversity
Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) is different from resilience. Resilience is bouncing back. PTG is bouncing forward, becoming a new version of yourself because of what you’ve been through.
It doesn’t happen automatically, and not everyone experiences it. But when it does, it often shows up in five powerful ways:
A greater appreciation for life
Deeper, more authentic relationships
A stronger sense of personal strength
New directions or priorities in life
Spiritual or existential development
Importantly, PTG doesn’t erase pain. But it gives pain meaning. And meaning is what makes the pain survivable - just.
Tools to Build Strength Through Adversity
If you're a marketing leader in the thick of a storm — whether it’s external pressure, internal burnout, or personal grief — these aren’t platitudes. They’re practices. Grounded in psychology, and forged in lived experience:
1. Feel All Your Feelings
Avoiding emotion doesn’t protect you. It buries the pain, where it festers. Unfelt emotions often reappear as anxiety, irritability, or even physical illness.
Emotions are waves. Let them rise, peak, and settle. Cry. Rage. Breathe. Don’t fight the storm, ride it with presence.
2. Reframe the Narrative
One of the most powerful tools in the resilience toolkit is cognitive reappraisal.
This is not toxic positivity. It’s a shift in perspective. Instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?”, try, “What might this be teaching me?” or “How is this shaping who I am becoming?”
Your story is a lifeline. Make it one that carries you forward.
3. Connect
Adversity can isolate us. But healing happens in connection with colleagues, friends, mentors, coaches, and therapists. Connection is not indulgent — it’s essential.
As a marketing leader, you may feel pressure to appear to have it all together. But leadership is humanity in motion.
4. Reconnect With Your Body
Trauma and stress disconnect us from our physical selves. Healing often begins by coming back to the body.
Stretch. Walk. Breathe deeply. Put your hand on your chest and remind yourself: I am here. I am safe. I am alive.
This is nervous system repair. And it’s part of leadership too.
5. Focus on What You Can Control
When everything feels overwhelming, zoom in on what you can control. Morning routines. Boundaries. Breaks. The content you consume. The conversations you choose to have.
These small anchors create agency. And agency builds confidence.
6. Create Meaning
As Viktor Frankl once said:
“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear almost any ‘how’.”
You may not find meaning in the adversity. But you can create meaning from it. Maybe it helps you lead with more compassion. Maybe it redirects your career. Maybe it reconnects you with your family.
Meaning is the bridge between hardship and growth.
This Is Not the End
If you’re reading this from the middle of something hard, let me be clear:
You are not weak. You are not broken. You are becoming.
There is no single timeline for healing. No fixed roadmap for resilience. There are waves. Regressions. Glimpses of clarity. But each small act, every breath you take, every boundary you hold, every time you show up despite it all, is proof of your strength.
This storm will pass. And when it does, you might just be someone deeper, stronger, and more yourself than you’ve ever been.
Stay with it.
You’re building something powerful, even if you can’t see it yet.
With you in the storm,
Emma
Thank you for this. Wish I had this guide 15 years ago. However I have come through much resilience and with age I have learned how to “embrace the suck” and power through.