On this episode of The Project Endure Podcast, Joe Rinaldi sits down with Nicole Dombrowski — educator, principal, author, mother, and mental health advocate — for an incredibly vulnerable conversation about resilience, healing, and finding purpose through life's most difficult challenges. Nicole shares her journey from experiencing bullying as a child and battling an eating disorder to surviving multiple suicide attempts during college while maintaining the outward appearance of success as a high-achieving student and athlete. She opens up about the perfectionism and productivity that became her coping mechanisms, the pivotal role therapy played in her recovery, and how learning to ask for help transformed the trajectory of her life. Joe and Nicole explore the profound losses she has endured, including the unexpected death of her mother from aggressive cancer, the loss of other loved ones, and the ways she chose to cope with hard things in the right ways. The conversation also dives into Nicole's experiences with motherhood, her daughter's autism diagnosis, surviving an abusive relationship, recovering from a serious injury, and discovering a deeper sense of faith and meaning through adversity. From mental health and personal growth to healing, hope, and the courage to keep moving forward, this episode is a powerful reminder that endurance is built through the willingness to face life honestly and continue choosing growth through every season. Give this episode a listen as we dive deep into Nicole's life and learn about what persistence, perspective, and endurance mean to her