Imagine trying to bounce back after losing your marriage and potentially the highly successful business you built from scratch, overnight.

That’s exactly what happened to lingerie impresario, Michelle Mone, when her husband, co-owner of £50m ($78m) multinational company, Ultimo, walked out and left her fighting for the business she’d started after he tried to wrest away control following his affair with the company’s chief designer.

But, after a very public divorce and court battle, after which Mone had to find new backers to buy out her husband, Mone lived to fight another day.

Appointed by the British government in August to carry out a wide-ranging review into how best to encourage start-ups in areas of high unemployment, she’s faced her own set of struggles to get to the top.

“I’ve faced some big dramas in my life where I really could have lost everything,” she said, calling her experience the epitome of resilience in business. “I just had to work harder and find a way through. If you never give up you’ll find a way — it’s a feeling I’ve had my whole career.”

Mone’s resilience was built the hard way — through turmoil she likely wouldn’t wish on anyone. But how can the rest of us learn this vital trait, without the tremendous struggle? Is it even possible?