Instagram story viewer> @dimahendricks> Tagged

Dima Hendricks

@dimahendricks

2.4K

followers

2170

following

📖Author | Coach | Advocate
👑 Helping people @unleashingroyalty #ThroughThePain

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

You’ve seen the moments. Now experience the stories.

Thriving #ThroughThePain brought together people living with sickle cell disease, caregivers, and advocates to have honest conversations about pain, resilience, healthcare decisions, self-advocacy, and what it truly means to thrive while living with SCD.

Every voice brought something different to the conversation. Every story reminded us that there is no single way to live with sickle cell disease.

If you missed any of the series, now is the perfect time to catch up.

🎥 Watch ALL of the Thriving #ThroughThePain videos on our Instagram page.

Then come back and tell us what you think.

Save this Reel. Share it with someone in the sickle cell community. And most importantly, keep the conversation going.

#ThrivingThroughThePain #ThroughThePain SickleCellDisease

20

0

A Message from the CEO:

September was Sickle Cell Awareness Month, and while it was a meaningful month for visibility, education, and advocacy. Last month was also incredibly hard for me personally and physically.
#ThroughThePain was able to roll out a powerful campaign with the support of amazing warriors who trusted us with their stories, time, and truth. I am deeply grateful to everyone who participated in the Thriving #ThroughThePain project and helped bring this vision to life.
From the outside, it may have looked like I was up, traveling, promoting the campaign, and moving from one thing to the next.
The truth is, I wasn’t.

I began the month recovering from surgery and trying to give my body the care it needed. Then came another unexpected turn: discovering that I have a blood clot.
And still, life continued to life.
Between appointments, pain, recovery, uncertainty, school, leadership, family, advocacy, and the responsibility of keeping an organization moving forward, I have been trying my best to 𝐃𝐎 all the things.
But I am beginning to consider that maybe my best, in this season, is simply to 𝐁𝐄.
To be present. To be still. To be honest about what my body needs. To be okay with not carrying everything at once.
There were moments this month when I genuinely asked myself, “Should I keep going?”
Not because I stopped believing in the mission. I believe in it deeply. But leadership during a difficult personal season requires honesty. Sometimes strength looks like moving forward. Other times, it looks like slowing down, asking for help, and recognizing that rest does not erase your purpose.
I am still here. Still healing. Still leading. Still learning what moving forward looks like for me now.
To every warrior who participated in Thriving #ThroughThePain, thank you. You helped carry this campaign during a time when I could not carry everything myself.
As I rest, recover, and reflect, I will also be considering what comes next for #ThroughThePain Inc.
For now, maybe my best is not to do.
Maybe my best is simply to be.

With gratitude,
Dima

100

16

In this final Thriving #ThroughThePain conversation, our featured warriors and caregivers answer one powerful question:

“How are you thriving #ThroughThePain today?”

Thriving does not always look like having everything together. Sometimes it looks like choosing rest. Sometimes it looks like speaking up at a medical appointment, setting a boundary, finding joy in the middle of uncertainty, asking for help, or simply making it through the day.
For people living with sickle cell disease and chronic illness, thriving can be deeply personal. It can mean reclaiming your voice, protecting your mental health, advocating for your care, and creating a life that is bigger than a diagnosis.
This series has always been about more than pain. It is about lived experience, resilience, patient advocacy, community healing, and the many ways people continue to choose hope and purpose.

Now we want to hear from you.

How are YOU thriving #ThroughThePain today? (You don't have to be a warrior to answer the question).

Share your answer in the comments, tag someone whose story inspires you, and help us close this series by reminding our community that there is no single way to thrive.

391

9

Up next for Day 24 of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, as we continue SC3’s 10 Days of Sickle Cell Celebs, we’re celebrating the incredible Dima Hendricks! 👑❤️🩸🌟

Dima is a wife, mother, Sickle Cell Warrior, advocate, mentor, beauty queen, and a valued partner of the Sickle Cell Community Consortium.

Whether she’s conquering the pageant stage, mentoring and pouring into others, or advocating for fellow Warriors, Dima continues to turn her lived experience into purpose. Through her nonprofit, Through the Pain, she provides patient-centered services and support to the sickle cell community.

Her crown may shine, but the impact she makes in the lives of others shines even brighter. 👑❤️

Today, we celebrate YOU, Dima!

THIS is a Sickle Cell Celeb. Because impact deserves the spotlight. 🌟

#chronicillness #SickleCellAwarenessMonth #SickleCell #SickleCellWarrior #celebrity

42

7

What does taking control of your health look like when you live with sickle cell disease?
In our next Thriving #ThroughThePain video, all of our featured participants come together to answer: “How are you taking control of your condition?”

Each person’s experience with sickle cell disease is different, and so is the way they make decisions about their care and their lives. Hear their perspectives in this next conversation, then tell us: What does taking control look like for you?

#ThrivingThroughThePain #ThroughThePain

82

4

Pain may be part of J. Snow’s journey, but it will never define his story.

Through every challenge, he continues to choose laughter, creativity, and purpose. As a comedian, actor, and filmmaker, @jsnowpro refuses to let sickle cell write the ending for him.

He holds the pen. He writes his own story.

A story filled with resilience, joy, dreams, and the courage to keep showing up.

Get ready to see him shine as he continues Thriving #ThroughThePain.

What are you choosing to write into the next chapter of your story?

22

4

Meet Dima Hendricks. 👑

She is more than a sickle cell warrior. She is an ADVOCATE, AUTHOR, PAGEANT QUEEN, and CO-FOUNDER of #ThroughThePain Inc.

Throughout her journey, Dima has faced many challenges, but her faith and spirit remain unbroken. Sickle cell has sometimes limited her ability to participate in physical activities and required her to carefully manage her time, energy, and health. Yet, those limitations have never determined the purpose of her life.

Instead of allowing sickle cell to define her, Dima has transformed her pain into purpose, using her experiences to advocate for others and expand what people believe is possible.

As part of the Thriving #ThroughThePain series, listen as Dima answers the question:

“What limitations were placed on you because of sickle cell?”

If you’re a warrior, join the conversation: What limitations have been placed on you, and how have you moved beyond them?

#ThrivingThroughThePain #ThroughThePain #SickleCellWarrior

80

7

The visionary of #ThroughThePain is stepping in front of the camera to share her own story.

Meet Dima Hendricks, founder, advocate, author, mother, pageant titleholder, and sickle cell warrior.
Long before #ThroughThePain came into existence , Dima was learning how to navigate a life shaped by sickle cell disease, grief, survival, faith, and purpose. Through pageantry, she stepped onto stages that were not always designed with women living with chronic illness in mind and used her platform to challenge narrow ideas about beauty, strength, and possibility.

Her story is not only about what she has survived. It is about the woman she has become and the life she continues to build beyond her diagnosis.
Dima is next in the Thriving #ThroughThePain lineup.

#ThrivingThroughThePain #ThroughThePain #SickleCellAdvocacy #SickleCellWarrior #PatientLedStorytelling #PageantryWithPurpose

47

1

RESILIENCE ISN’T ENOUGH ✊🏾
We are often celebrated for how much we can endure. But this experience was about more than resilience. It was about giving ourselves permission to be vulnerable, to rest, to feel joy, and to be fully seen.

We didn’t only step in front of the camera to share our stories. Every part of the itinerary was intentional, creating special moments for bonding, honest conversations, laughter, reflection, and rest.
We held space for one another without judgment or expectation. That was the most magical part of the Thriving #ThroughThePain experience.
Because thriving is not just surviving difficult moments. It is finding freedom in community, softness, connection, and care.

This weekend, ask yourself: What would it look like to give yourself permission to do more than endure?
#ThrivingThroughThePain #ThroughThePain #SickleCellAdvocacy #ChronicIllnessSupport #CommunityHealing #LivedExperience #RestIsNecessary

23

0

If Thriving #ThroughThePain were a Netflix documentary, THIS would be the cast and crew redefining the story. 🎬
In the days to come ThroughThePain will be introducing the warriors, storytellers, filmmakers, and creators who brought Thriving #ThroughThePain to life.
Created by people with lived experience, this patient-led video series challenges one-dimensional narratives about sickle cell disease. It also gives warriors the opportunity to redefine their stories in their own voices.
Be sure to follow the series as we introduce the people, stories, and purpose behind the initiative.

50

10

September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month. 🗓️
This month, #ThroughThePain Inc. is making room for a fuller story of life with sickle cell disease, a story that acknowledges the pain without allowing it to define the person.
Thriving #ThroughThePain was a warrior-led project, produced by warriors and featuring warriors. Created in partnership with Pfizer, the project introduces five warriors through a collection of intimate visual stories. They are artists, advocates, entrepreneurs, leaders, creators, and community builders. Each one reminds us that living with sickle cell is only one part of who they are.
Throughout September, we will share their stories, candid behind-the-scenes moments, educational content, and voices from across the sickle cell community.
Because there is life beyond the hospital room.
There is purpose. There is creativity. There is leadership. There is love. There is joy. There is thriving.
We invite healthcare organizations, educators, community partners, advocates, and allies to follow the series, share these stories, and help expand the way the world sees people living with sickle cell disease.
The pain is real, but it is not the whole story.

#ThrivingThroughThePain #ThroughThePain #SickleCellAwarenessMonth #SickleCellAwareness #SickleCellAdvocacy #PatientVoices #HealthEquity

175

8

Summer Bloom 🌸 is the program I needed as a little girl.

This past week was filled with fun, fellowship, and truth. Throughout the week, we created space to talk about what’s really going on beneath the surface, behind the screens and, most importantly, to come into agreement with what the Word of God says about who we are and who we’re becoming.

With a touch of elegance, we also explored etiquette, confidence, character, and how we want to carry ourselves in this world. 🌸

My heart is so full seeing this vision come to life. What started as a desire to be the big sister I never had became a week dedicated to reminding young girls that they are seen, valued, capable, and deeply loved by God. 🌷

A special thank you to @dimahendricks for gracing us with your presence, sharing your story, and speaking life into our girls. 🤍

This is only the beginning. 🌸
#SummerBloom #GirlsEmpowerment #Purpose #Faith #Confidence Etiquette CharacterDevelopment Waltham

3

4