Success Stories
Here you can find examples of people who have been in the penal system and found their success.
Derek Jones
and Email A Prisoner
Derek Jones had spent his life growing up around crime, and by his 30s he had become a repeat offender with slim chances for reintegration. From youth offender institutions, and prisons, Derek got the idea for his business awaiting trial in 2003, where he found that he experienced unnecessary communication problems with his friends and family. The concept centred around an emailing system that had no cost for prisons or prisoners–the sender would set up an account for a small fee. The effect? Enhanced communication with loved ones, and improving chances of rehabilitation. However, Jones admitted that he did face hard times in the four years it took to launch Email A Prisoner, with him being constantly ‘turned down for funding’ due to a lack of credit history. People outside the prison environment had a hard time understanding the concept of Email A Prisoner, and how much it would transform communication, he later admitted. However, all it took was one prison giving his system a chance, and now around 150 UK prisons use Email A Prisoner.
Jones understood that by aiding formerly incarcerated individuals, it reduces the chance of them entering back into the prison system, and increases the chance of them integrating into society. He became the director of social enterprise SALT Academy, which specialises in education, employment help and even funding for business startups ideas of offenders. Derek would go on to show his belief in the need for entrepreneurship opportunities for ex-offenders, by launching his next venture–a virtual academy that does just that.
Coss Marte
and ConBody
Before entering the US prison system, Coss Marte was told by his doctor that his current lifestyle, if left unchecked, would kill him. Faced with this information, Marte decided to make do with what was available to him at the moment–his prison cell and own body weight. In six months, Coss lost over thirty kilograms, and began developing further exercise regimes with inmates incarcerated with him.
And so ConBody was born: a ‘prison-style’ workout bootcamp that hires solely formerly incarcerated individuals to teach fitness classes. Since 2013, ConBody has had over 25,000 individuals in their gym and has worked with numerous corporations wanting to get involved and donate. The program has been praised in numerous media outlets in the USA and abroad, like CNN, The New York Times and Ted Talks. His passion for criminal justice reform also led him to co-found Second Chance Studios, a nonprofit digital media company that trains and employs formerly incarcerated individuals.
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Duane Jackson
and KashFlow
According to Duane Jackson, he ‘grew up with the wrong crowd’ in an East London children’s home, which led to him being expelled twice by the age of fifteen. During that time he taught himself basic IT skills such as learning to write code, which later gave him the idea for his startup–KashFlow, a simplified accounting system. The business was then established with help from the Prince’s Trust upon his release from prison. KashFlow cemented Jackson as an early pioneer of software as a service and business idea.
Being praised by figures such as Bill Gates for his easy-to-use application, his business was acquired through a deal worth tens of millions.
In a blog post on KashFlow’s website, Jackson discusses at length about the need to give inmates the ‘opportunity to pitch business ideas’ due to the entrepreneurial mindset most of them possess and could hone.
Dave Dahl
and his 'Killer Bread'
After several periods of serving time in jail over the span of fifteen years, Dave accepted a job in his family’s bakery in 2004 upon his release. After working there for just one year, he developed a recipe for an organic whole-grain loaf, and seeing the potential of that, created his separate brand–Dave’s Killer Bread. By 2013, Dahl’s company employed over three hundred people, a third of whom were ex-inmates. 8,000 stores throughout America sold Dave’s bread, and after selling his company in 2015, the number almost tripled. Dave and his killer bread became not only a recognizable figure but also a symbol for perseverance and second chances.