Rising Through Resilience: Frank Herman of PepsiCo On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Savio P. Clemente
I would define resilience as the ability to recover quickly from an issue or difficult time. In life we all must show resilience at one point or another. For me, receiving my commercial driver’s license was the result of my own resilience. My prayers have been answered and the PepsiCo Foundation made my dream a reality.
Resilience has been described as the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events. Times are not easy now. How do we develop greater resilience to withstand the challenges that keep being thrown at us? In this interview series, we are talking to mental health experts, authors, resilience experts, coaches, and business leaders who can talk about how we can develop greater resilience to improve our lives.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Frank Herman.
Frank Herman was hired as a truck driver by PepsiCo upon completing his driving training program through the PepsiCo Foundation’s Uplift scholarship.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?
I am so excited to share a few of my experiences with you! A bit of my back story is that I was employed with Harris County Precinct 2 for 16 years. I had the opportunity to manage a team of 12 in the Community Services Department for the County and serve constituents in the Houston area. I dreamed of getting a commercial driver’s license to become a truck driver for a company that was family oriented, and that dream came true after completing my training at Houston Community College.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
The most interesting story of my career is that with prayer, concentration, and willpower you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. I say this because I never thought that I could be employed by a company that makes products I grew up with. My journey is proof that we can accomplish anything with hard work and the will to do so.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
What makes PepsiCo stand out is the support from fellow employees. Everyone is willing to lend a helping hand to assure that your job is done and there is a strong sense of community.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person or organization who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
The support I received from the PepsiCo Foundation made it possible for me to get my commercial driver’s license. Without the Uplift Scholarship program, my dream would not have come true. I prayed for a blessing, and because of the scholarship I was able to pay for my education and job training. Then, I was able to get a job working for PepsiCo after the company blessed me with a scholarship. It’s like a movie with a happy ending!
We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience?
I would define resilience as the ability to recover quickly from an issue or difficult time. In life we all must show resilience at one point or another. For me, receiving my commercial driver’s license was the result of my own resilience. My prayers have been answered and the PepsiCo Foundation made my dream a reality.
Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us?
When I first told my friends I wanted to get my commercial driver’s license, a few of them said it would be too difficult and that no one would hire me because I didn’t have experience. PepsiCo provided me with opportunities and now I’m employed and I’ve achieved more than those who doubted me. I learned that when people doubted me, it gave me the will to push forward.
How have you cultivated resilience throughout your life? Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share a story?
Growing up I had a strong father who did not believe in giving up, and I had an even stronger mother who gave me drive and the ability to not worry about people who don’t believe in you. She taught me to work harder to prove those people wrong. She gave me the fight that I have today and I’m sure she is proud of my accomplishments.
Resilience is like a muscle that can be strengthened. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone can take to become more resilient? Please share a story or an example for each.
Five steps that a person can take to become more resilient are:
- Pray before anything and believe that your prayers will be answered.
- Never let anyone stop you from accomplishing anything that you want to accomplish.
- Never give up on yourself.
- If one door closes, believe that there is another if you continue to push forward.
- Pray even more. I feel that I’m proof that prayers will be answered since I became a truck driver for PepsiCo.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
