Lessons in Resilience: A Conversation with Lilah Fear, Jen Cohen Crompton, and the LVF Youth Ambassadors

Left: Jen Cohen Crompton. Right: Lilah Fear

This month, our Impact Program Manager, Leah, hosted a conversation with the LVF Youth Ambassadors about resilience, bouncing back from failure, and how to push through hard moments.

Two special guests joined in on this discussion: Ice Dancer & Olympian Lilah Fear and Say It In Sports Founder Jen Cohen Crompton. From losing jobs to losing medals, these guest speakers shared their experiences coming back from tough moments with an even stronger mentality.

Turning Fear into Fuel with Lilah Fear

Lilah's story is one of resilience and self belief. She's competed in two Olympic Games, the most recent one being in Milan, and has embarked on a journey of learning from the ups and downs.

Despite making a significant mistake on the world stage, Lilah shared with the Youth Ambassadors how she was able to process her emotions, learn from the experience, and improve her performance at the World Championships.

“In these moments when it feels like a failure, it’s really a learning experience. I could either ignore it, or take this information and make a plan on my terms to design exactly who I want to be with my confidence and my skills."

Together, Team LVF discussed the significance of failure as a learning experience and the importance of maintaining a positive mindset and self-worth beyond achievements. In moments of distress, Lilah encouraged participants to ask themselves what is one action I’m going to take tomorrow that improves the feeling I’m having today?, with the idea that consistency and following through are the true indicators of success.

Building Resilience Through Setbacks with Jen Cohen Crompton

Jen Cohen Crompton is an entrepreneur passionate about women's sports who isn't a stranger to rejection. After experiencing multiple instances of being fired from different jobs, she took the opportunity to look inward and figure out what she truly wanted to do.

"By reframing my perspective, I realized that it was the universe’s way of telling me to redefine my idea of success and follow my heart—truly do what I wanted to do."

Together, the group discussed what it means to bounce back from failure. From accepting your emotions to moving on with intention, the framework built from this conversation encapsulates what it means to turn rejection into redirection.

1. Rejection is redirection: Failure can feel like a closed door until you reframe it. These moments can push you away from what wasn't meant for you and toward something you actually care about. A loss isn't the end of the story. It's the universe nudging you to ask a harder question: What do I actually want?

2. Have faith you’ll land on your feet: Taking a leap feels terrifying, but your track record is better than you think. Every time you've faced uncertainty before, you survived it. Confidence isn't about knowing everything will be fine. It's about trusting yourself to handle whatever comes next, because you've already done it before.

3. Adversity builds the muscle: Resilience isn't something you're born with. It's something you train. The obstacles, the failures, the moments you wanted to quit: those are the reps. It’s just like physical fitness — you can't skip the hard parts and expect to build the grit you'll need later.

4. Don't limit your identity: When an opportunity disappears, it's easy to feel like a part of you disappeared with it. But you are not your title, your grade, or your position on a team. Your identity is made up of your values, the way you treat people, the impact you leave, and the future you're building toward. That can't be taken away.

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