Own It: Starting a Business after Prison
35 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsWe bring you real life stories of what it takes to start a business after prison from people who have been there. We’re bringing you hope, advice, and plenty of laughs. We want you to succeed, to get out of prison and never go back, and to live the life of your dreams. Own It is brought to you by Determination, Incorporated, a nonprofit in Kansas City, MO that helps formerly incarcerated people start and grow businesses. To learn more about our organization, and to join our virtual Be the Boss Business Support group community for formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs, visit our website at www.unlockESHIP.org.
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Episodes
Patterns of Successful Entrepreneurs with Leslie Walton
October 09, 2023 10:00 - 55 minutes - 75.8 MBLeslie Walton is the Entrepreneur Success Manager at Determination, Incorporated & the Founder of A Cents of Change where she empowers women to build a better relationship with their money. Leslie is a lifelong entrepreneur who loves helping other people reach their own definition of success. From her wide ranging life experiences, including getting her MBA & starting a catering business with food stamps, Leslie has identified the patterns of successful entrepreneurs that will help you no ma...
Building Resilience Through Adversity with Ricky Kidd
October 02, 2023 22:39 - 53 minutes - 74.7 MBRicky Kidd spent 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He lost his appeal 11 times before finally winning and regaining his freedom. During that time, he focused on getting “better, not bitter,” and learned how to not just survive, but to thrive in terrible circumstances. Today on the show, Ricky shares how he turned his resilient spirit into the five keys of resiliency that anyone can use to make it through difficult times: get anchored, get moving, find your energy, access pers...
Creating a vision and a plan for your life with Diamond Fuse
September 25, 2023 22:34 - 38 minutes - 55.8 MBWhen Diamond Fuse got a felony at age 19, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to make anything of her life. That is, until she learned how to take charge of her own destiny through the power of vision boards, positive affirmations, and manifestation. When she made her first vision board in 2012, she didn’t have enough money to fill up her gas tank. By 2016, Diamond owned her own home, had a college degree, and completed everything on her vision board. “I am abundant,” is one of Diamond’s go...
Starting a Business After Prison with Sarah Muntean
September 20, 2023 17:49 - 52 minutes - 73 MBWhen Sarah Muntean started her first business All American Construction Contractors in 2013, she had recently been released from prison, she was homeless, and not many people in her life believed she could succeed. Through pure grit, and by staying humble and learning on her feet, Sarah grew her business year over year to hundreds of thousands in revenue and was able to hire many people in transition and recovery. Today on the show, Sarah shares her advice for starting a successful busine...
Drafts: Latahra Smith, Trinity First Aide & CPR Services
June 10, 2021 01:45 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB"I've turned my pain into purpose." That's Latahra Smith, owner of Trinity First Aide & CPR Services and Executive Director of the KC Freedom Project. After being released from prison, Latahra had to overcome a lot of obstacles to heal relationships with her family, to reset her life with a renewed mindset, and to start her nonprofit and business. She has lost family members tragically and been mistreated by the criminal justice system, but she has persevered by staying true to her purpose o...
Drafts: Aaron Smith, Escaping the Odds podcast
February 13, 2020 19:20 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBOn his podcast “Escaping the Odds,” Aaron Smith interviews second chance entrepreneurs who have started successful businesses after returning home from incarceration: https://anchor.fm/aaronesmith Aaron conceived of the show while he was spending nine years in prison for drug crimes. He was so impressed by the caliber of men that supported him through his journey, that he knew when he got home that he needed to share their stories with the world in hopes of helping others as they return ho...
Drafts: Ricky Kidd, I Am Resiliency
October 01, 2019 22:02 - 31 minutes - 14.3 MBRicky Kidd is the founder of I am Resiliency, a speaker, an entrepreneur, and a recent exoneree in the state of Missouri. Ricky served 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Today he shares his story, and how he used that time to grow as a man, a leader, and an entrepreneur. Learn more about Ricky's case and the Midwest Innocence Project: https://themip.org/clients/ricky-kidd/
Drafts: Lamont Carey, Contact Visits and Lacarey Enterprises
September 05, 2019 14:39 - 27 minutes - 12.7 MBLamont Carey is an author and entrepreneur from D.C. who has been featured on HBO's Def Jam Poetry and the tv show The Wire. His journey to successful business owner started after prison when he realized that in order to dream big, he needed to do right by others and make his hustle legit. Keep up with Lamont: https://www.lacareyenterprises.com/
Drafts: Jabari Muhammad, FOI ETC
July 17, 2019 18:35 - 58 minutes - 26.9 MBJabari Muhammad and his wife own FOI ETC. They sell fragrances, oils, and incense at stores and online, and are the creators of the Bari Butter. Jabari honed his entrepreneurial skills on the streets in KCMO, and became the upstanding business man he is today in prison. Visit FOI ETC: http://www.foietc.com/
Update: Second Chance Entrepreneurs "Drafts"
July 08, 2019 09:00 - 4 minutes - 1.98 MBWelcome to Own It: Starting a Business After Prison, a podcast where we interview second chance entrepreneurs about what it really takes to start a business after prison. For the next season of the show, we will share the firsthand experiences of formerly incarcerated people who have started successful businesses. These episodes are called "Drafts," and will be rough and full of inspiration and education. Enjoy! Learn more: www.determinationincorporated.com
Paige Johnson, Gilded Sparrows Network
June 27, 2019 18:12 - 31 minutes - 14.5 MBPaige Johnson is a successful entrepreneur in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the founder of the Gilded Sparrows Network. The team at Gilded Sparrows works with women with justice-involvement to help them create product-based businesses that are beautiful and profitable. https://gildedsparrows.org/
Marcus Bullock: Flikshop
May 06, 2019 10:00 - 26 minutes - 12.4 MBMarcus Bullock started a construction company when he got home from prison, and now he is the founder and CEO of Flikshop: www.flikshop.com Marcus is the keynote speaker at the Rise Up, Get Started Entrepreneurship Celebration in Kansas City, MO, on Thursday, May 30, Kansas City’s first entrepreneurship competition for formerly incarcerated people, hosted by Determination, Incorporated. The Rise Up, Get Started Entrepreneurship Celebration, is free and open to the public, get your tick...
Johnny Waller: Choose Your Passion KC
January 15, 2019 00:16 - 31 minutes - 14.5 MBJohnny Waller is exactly what this podcast is all about. After years of gang banging and time in prison, Johnny left the street life to pursue his education and stumbled into running a successful business. Today, he helps with violence reduction campaigns in Kansas City, Missouri and shares his story to inspire others to lead their best lives.
Sonja Skvarla, A Social Ignition
November 13, 2018 16:13 - 33 minutes - 15.4 MBSonja Skvarla is the founder of A Social Ignition, a prison entrepreneurship program in Portland, Oregon. www.asocialignition.com A Social Ignition workshops focus on business feasibility and values-based decision making, while using entrepreneurship to bridge social networks. Business professionals come into the prisons to mentor, and often leave with their eyes opened as well.
Josh Munoz, Prison Entrepreneurship Program
October 13, 2018 22:31 - 31 minutes - 14.3 MBJosh Munoz is the reentry manager with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program in Austin, Texas. Prison Entrepreneurship program, or PEP, is widely considered the gold standard in entrepreneurship programs for currently and formerly incarcerated people. https://www.pep.org/ Since 2004, PEP graduates have started 361 businesses and have a recidivism rate of just 7%. Josh is a graduate of the program, and joined the staff after leaving prison. His story is powerful, and the success of PEP will...
Carl Brown: The Fountain Fund
October 01, 2018 23:12 - 32 minutes - 14.8 MBCarl Brown is the program manager with The Fountain Fund in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Fountain Fund helps formerly incarcerated people by providing them with low interest loans that they can use to repay fees incurred during their involvement with the criminal justice system. https://www.fountainfund.org/ By helping them out with their immediate needs, The Fountain Fund can ensure that their clients have the necessary support from partner organizations and instill in them the entrepre...
Bobby Clark: Sustainable Business Ventures
September 14, 2018 12:12 - 32 minutes - 15.1 MBBobby Clark is the founder and president of Sustainable Business Ventures in Lexington, Kentucky. Bobby helps people who are having a hard time getting a job find their way through entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on folks in rural communities and the formerly incarcerated. http://www.sbventures.org/
Amy Barch: Turning Leaf Project
August 30, 2018 03:04 - 31 minutes - 14.7 MBAmy Barch is the founder of Turning Leaf Project, a nonprofit in South Carolina that helps formerly incarcerated people change their attitudes, thinking and behavior using a cognitive behavioral intervention, a research-backed, evidence-based solution to helping people stay out of prison. https://www.turningleafproject.com/
Christine McDonald: Seeing the marginalized and exploited through the eyes of grace
August 16, 2018 16:00 - 34 minutes - 15.8 MBChristine McDonald is the author of “Cry Purple”, her memoir, and “The Same Kind of Human” a book about “seeing the marginalized and exploited through the eyes of grace.” http://www.christinesvision.org/ The wisdom and insight Christine shares in “The Same Kind of Human” is hard-earned; she spent 17 years homeless and on the streets, where she was sex trafficked, addicted to drugs, and arrested more than 100 times alongside 7 stints in prison. When Christine decided to get clean, educate...
Emily Hunt Turner: All Square Restaurant and Institute
August 02, 2018 05:00 - 51 minutes - 23.6 MBEmily Hunt Turner is the founder of All Square Restaurant and Institute, a social enterprise in Minneapolis, Minnesota that sells grilled cheese and empowers formerly incarcerated people by teaching them how to take charge of their own destinies through entrepreneurship and the study of law. https://www.allsquarempls.com/ Emily worked for the federal government in the Department of Housing and Urban Development before starting All Square. This conversation takes a deep dive into the obstac...
A.J. Ware: Inmates to Entrepreneurs
July 18, 2018 18:01 - 30 minutes - 14 MBA.J. Ware is the co-chairman of Inmates to Entrepreneurs, a North Carolina-based program whose mission is perfectly encapsulated in its name. Inmates to entrepreneurs introduces currently and formerly incarcerated people to the opportunities and obstacles of starting your own business, and helps people make and execute a business plan both pre- and post-release from incarceration. Inmates to Entrepreneurs has been refining their model since 2007 and is now gearing up for national expansion. ...
Joyce Klein: Entrepreneurship as a re-entry strategy primer
June 14, 2018 04:00 - 33 minutes - 15.5 MBJoyce Klein is the director of FIELD at the Aspen Institute, which advances microenterprise business ownership as an economic opportunity strategy. In 2016 she published a paper called Prison to Proprietor: Entrepreneurship as a Re-Entry Strategy: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/prison-proprietor-entrepreneurship-re-entry-strategy/ The paper looks at multiple programs for supporting currently and formerly incarcerated people through entrepreneurship and explores best practices...
Tamra Thetford: Credit building on the path to entrepreneurship
June 07, 2018 04:00 - 28 minutes - 13.3 MBTamra Thetford is the Chief Program Officer at Justine Petersen, a St Louis-based nonprofit that helps people build their credit so they can reach their goals. The organization started by helping folks work toward home ownership, and eventually expanded its services to include a path to entrepreneurship. Tamra is here to tell us about Justine Petersen’s business program for formerly incarcerated people, Aspire Entrepreneurship Initiative. She also shares lots of information about credit bu...
Jason Cleveland: Unlocking Futures
May 24, 2018 04:00 - 43 minutes - 19.9 MBJason Cleveland is a returning citizen and the founder and CEO of Obodo, a software for small human services organizations. He was recently selected as a member of the first cohort of Unlocking Futures, an accelerator run by New Profit and John Legend’s organization, Free America. Jason is a dynamic guy and also runs an entrepreneurial workshop in a prison in St. Louis, MO. He has a beautiful vision for activating natural born entrepreneurs who are currently locked behind bars. But more im...
Adam Martin: F5 Project
May 10, 2018 07:00 - 36 minutes - 16.5 MBAdam Martin was in and out of prison for years and had a hard time staying sober until he realized the power of transparency, hope and community. Now he helps others achieve all three through housing and employment with F5 Project in Fargo, North Dakota: https://www.f5project.org/
Bob Pelshaw “Illegal to Legal: Business Success for the Formerly Incarcerated”
April 26, 2018 07:00 - 30 minutes - 14.1 MBBob Pelshaw was a very successful real estate developer in the midwest before spending 10 months in prison on a felony charge for misspending federal loans. While in prison, he was struck by the untapped entrepreneurial potential amongst the community of incarcerated people he served time with. Through working with people one on one in prison, he came to believe very strongly that the entrepreneurial mindset and business acumen he saw in his incarcerated brethren was just waiting to be a...
Tracey Syphax: From the Block to the Boardroom
April 12, 2018 16:00 - 32 minutes - 14.8 MBTracey Syphax is the author of “From the Block to the Boardroom.” It is a memoir detailing his youth in Trenton, New Jersey, his time on the streets as a drug dealer, his stint in prison, and his twenty plus years experience since as a successful entrepreneur. Today, Tracey is a strong advocate for reentry reform and helps returning citizens like him through coaching, entrepreneurial training, and much more. http://www.ftb2tb.com/
Cerise Hall: Business Speaks
March 29, 2018 04:00 - 30 minutes - 14 MBCerise Hall is a business consultant specializing in startups and young businesses. She has a particular passion for working with returning citizens in black communities, helping them create wealth and build businesses that they can pass onto their children. Cerise’s consultancy is called Business Speaks and her style is dynamic and engaging. Many people in her family have been in and out of prison so she knows first hand the struggles they face. She believes wholeheartedly that through en...
Kate Mereand- Aspire to Entrepreneurship
March 15, 2018 04:00 - 32 minutes - 14.8 MBThe Aspire to Entrepreneurship program started in Washington DC in 2016. The 6 month program teaches folks coming home from incarceration business skills and helps them launch their ventures. 35 returning citizens have completed Aspire. Out of those 35 graduates: 10 are holding down jobs, 10 are working while pursuing their businesses, and 15 are running businesses that employ 39 people. And to top it all off, no Aspire graduate has returned to prison. That’s right, a 0% recidivism rate....
Zach Sloan: InnerCity Weightlifting
March 01, 2018 05:00 - 33 minutes - 15.5 MBZach Sloan is the COO of InnerCity Weightlifting, which reduces youth violence by connecting proven-risk young people with new networks and opportunities, including meaningful career tracks in and beyond personal training. They use the gym to replace segregation and isolation with economic mobility and social inclusion, disrupting the system that leads to urban street violence. https://www.innercityweightlifting.org
Natasha Kirsch- The Grooming Project
February 15, 2018 05:00 - 35 minutes - 16.1 MBMany reentry programs feature job readiness training. It is standard in the practice, while teaching entrepreneurship is not. My guest today runs a successful job readiness training program in Kansas City, Missouri . Natasha Kirsch is the founder and executive director of the Grooming Project, a nonprofit that teaches women in need how to groom dogs so they can get a job with a livable wage. She is currently exploring how to layer entrepreneurship into her program. Stick around til the...
Jeremy Bouman: Defy Ventures Nebraska
February 01, 2018 05:00 - 31 minutes - 14.7 MBDefy Ventures is a character development, job readiness and entrepreneurial training program. I dont know of any program that believes more wholeheartedly than Defy that entrepreneurship is a useful tool to reduce recidivism. That’s why I am so excited to bring to you today my conversation with Jeremy Bouman, the executive director of Defy Ventures Nebraska: http://defyventures.org/ Defy has created a path to entrepreneurial success, starting when folks are incarcerated and ramping up on...
August C. Ghilarducci: Values-Aligned Goal Setting
January 18, 2018 06:00 - 27 minutes - 12.6 MBAugust C Ghilarducci, or Augie for short, lives in Chicago with his wife. Being together to start 2018 is very sweet, because Augie just recently wrapped up 12 years in federal prison for a white collar crime. He used his time behind bars to better himself and his community in many ways, including through business and goal-setting classes.
Andy Davey: Living above reproach
January 03, 2018 02:30 - 31 minutes - 14.7 MBAndy Davey works with incarcerated and recently released people and their families to promote distraction free living and long term success with Gracious Promise Ministries. Andrew served 10 months in federal prison in Pekin, IL, for wire fraud and founded AR15 Ministries to teach about living Above Reproach in business and personal lives. Before incarceration, Andrew worked as director and vice president for companies such as Sprint and American General. Andrew has a bachelor’s in Human R...
Welcome to Prison or ESHIP
November 12, 2017 22:04 - 2 minutes - 1010 KBCan entrepreneurship help to reduce recidivism? AKA, can starting a business stop someone from going back to prison?