The Concrete of Resilience

A conversation about resilience, love, and rewriting the American Dream

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

I remember walking through Manhattan as a young man, staring up at the towering glass and steel around me. I would wonder what it took to leave a mark so permanent on a skyline that never sleeps. I never imagined that years later I would sit across from someone whose family has been doing exactly that for more than two centuries.

Cheryl McKissack Daniel carries the weight of history on her shoulders. She leads McKissack and McKissack, the oldest minority and woman-owned design and construction firm in the United States. Her story is not just about buildings. It is about resilience, faith, and the pursuit of a dream that was never handed to her family, but fought for across generations.

When Cheryl shared with me that at age eleven she witnessed a cross burning outside a birthday party, I felt the weight of that moment. Imagine realizing as a child that hate could reach into your own neighborhood. She could have allowed that to define her path. Instead, she chose to live with love and to let her light shine bright enough that others would have no choice but to see her.

That decision to shine is what makes her story so powerful.

Why This Matters

Legacy is often misunderstood. We think it requires wealth, fame, or privilege. But Cheryl’s story reminds us that legacy is built in the choices we make when the odds are against us. It is shaped in moments of pain and in decisions to keep going when it would be easier to stop.

This episode matters because it challenges us to ask: What are we building that will outlast us? And what values are we passing on to those who will come after us?

What Paid Subscribers Receive

Paid subscribers will get:

• Full ad-free conversation with Cheryl McKissack Daniel

• Companion reflection guide and digital workbook on building legacy

• Exclusive behind the scenes from Passion Struck

• Access to The Ignited Life archive of premium tools and prompts