Jan 28
Rising Through Resilience: Kingdumb On The Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient During Turbulent Times
An Interview With Savio P. Clemente
Fall down, tell yourself you will get up, get up, learn the lesson, and then repeat multiple times! I don’t think this needs a story, strengthening resilience happens over time. But what I will say is you can read and develop your knowledge, this for me has been key.
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 Kingdumb.
Kingdumb is a British born Asian who makes high quality music. He has collaborated with charting artists, been played on BBC radio and has over 300,000 streams across his catalogue of music. Kingdumb has been spinning multiple plates for a number of years, whilst staying well and constantly evolving.
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?
Yea, sure. I grew up in Birmingham, UK and moved to a small town when I was 10. I was always taught education is the key and to study to get ahead, which I’m ultimately grateful for. When I was a teenager I decided to start making electronic music, and over time the music has become more and more important, almost necessary.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
Yes, I worked with someone who was pretty good at what they do and we worked together for some time. I ended up in a situation where I gave a huge deal more than what I got back. Not that it should be tit for tat, but there was also a level of malice which the person operated with. I learnt from this to begin from a position of zero trust and work up to having trust. I also learnt to be surrounded by people with the kind of energy that makes you feel good.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
What stands out in my music is that I am technically minded. This is a skill that has been honed over a number of years and isn’t easily replicable. A fellow music maker told me I was her secret weapon because I had a fair amount of knowledge in an area her producers were lacking in.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Yes, the first person that springs to mind is my dad. He understands that making music is a constructive thing to do and he pushed me to keep at it and to keep seeing the light. He also understands that it’s an integral part of who I am and always gives sound advice and counsel if I’m struggling. He really is the best dad. It’s not really a story but we regularly go on walks to talk about things that are important to each of us.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the trait of resilience. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?
Resilience is essentially the ability to get back up when you’ve been knocked down. Resilient people always keep going, no matter how hard they may fall. In my observations they usually have courage and vision and the ability to learn from their mistakes. I’d say they are also not too hard on themselves, which is something I’m beginning to do myself. I think being too hard on yourself stops you from getting back up, so the more easily you submit to the given situation, the more easily you can move forward.
Courage is often likened to resilience. In your opinion how is courage both similar and different to resilience?
Courage is future looking, whereas resilience is being strong in the moment I would say. Courage is the trait that allows resilience to happen.
When you think of resilience, which person comes to mind? Can you explain why you chose that person?
Probably Keanu Reeves. I read that he had struggled with depression for most of his life, and has lost very close people. He might not have been happy, but he kept going (and still is going), and he is at the top of his game when it comes to his craft. I chose him because he is exemplary of someone who doesn’t let his mental health get in the way of his career. That is a sign of true grit.
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?
Noone has told me things are impossible, but people have indirectly essentially said it. A question I sometimes get asked is whether I will ever give up music. Often the answer is simple. It’s a part of me and I have to be creating to stay happy and well in myself. So in short, the answer to the question I get asked is no. I feel sometimes people project their insecurities on you, or don’t really know the level at which you’re operating, which then makes it hard for them to understand what you know. I don’t dwell on those questions, but it has taken time for me to get to the point where it doesn’t bother me.
Did you have a time in your life where you had one of your greatest setbacks, but you bounced back from it stronger than ever? Can you share that story with us?
Yea for sure. I’ve had many small setbacks but one of the standout ones was getting mentally unwell as a teenager, followed by a period of further mental illness in a different form straight after that period. This lasted around a year in total. I actually didn’t know I was mentally unwell until well after it had happened, with both of these illnesses. I bounced back by taking each day as it comes and having something to look forward to. I was set to go to university a year after I initially became ill and that was a way for me to keep pushing on. I ended up getting my degree after again being unwell at one point whilst in University and did it without needing to redo a year.
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?
Loads and loads of rejection has made me super strong I would say, so these days if rejection comes, I’m over it in almost an instant. Examples of this range from bad feedback on my music to being told I talk a lot!
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.
Fall down, tell yourself you will get up, get up, learn the lesson, and then repeat multiple times! I don’t think this needs a story, strengthening resilience happens over time. But what I will say is you can read and develop your knowledge, this for me has been key.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
You said this in my last interview, and I’ll say again I wouldn’t say I have great influence (for the moment) but I’ve always wanted everyone to do something kind for a stranger every day, once a day, no matter how big or small. If 1,000 people did this, then they all did the same and so on and so on, we could have a planet full of people being kinder. Imagine a world where everyone did nice things for others, without being asked and without reason or motive.
We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them :-)
Probably Will Smith. I’d like to know how he maintains a consistently positive energy and how he deals with media scrutiny and gossip so well whilst maintaining his craft at the highest level.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Website:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVtXKEvaotYZydm_3IovWqg
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5VkznzC1hf2up66M99QsgD?si=hXPNS4w1T8G4ZYGW-9HqzA
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/iamkingdumb/?hl=en
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
And thank you to you guys too!
