What is life like after the headlines have demonized your name?  When the headlines are quick and harsh, it’s difficult to imagine a life beyond.

Fortunately, life can again be good after painful public scrutiny.  Here are but a few turnaround stories.

Zoe Baird was a successful attorney with exceptional credentials.  She was an ideal choice when Bill Clinton nominated her to be his Attorney General.  That’s right; she was nominated to be the Attorney General of the United States and to serve in Bill Clinton’s Cabinet.  Why then would her nomination be withdrawn?  You may remember the headlines that went on and on; this was nannygate.  Baird had employed illegal immigrants in her home to care for her son and had not paid social security taxes. 

Where is Zoe Baird now?  After paying the fines and the taxes, she continued her career in business, government and academia.  Today, she presides over a private philanthropy organization.  She moved on to serve in important ways.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford went missing for six days; no one seemed to know where he was til he returned from a six-day affair with an Argentinean woman.  How did it turn out for his wife, Jenny?  She immediately divorced him, moved on to raise her four sons, and write her inspirational book, Staying True, in which she shares the values that have sustained her throughout her life.

Then, of course, there is Martha Stewart whose media business remains as vibrant after prison as before.  She used her time to her advantage.

It’s in our DNA.  We find a way, a path beyond whatever difficulty challenges us.  Absolutely, there is success on the other side of disaster.