When you are released from prison, you're free.

But all too often it feels as though you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

The roadblocks to success can be enormous, unforgiving, even cruel.

It is not uncommon for hopelessness and desperation to settle in, but sometimes in the darkest hours, the power of an idea can take hold.

That's when returning citizens stand up and take the future into their own hands.

Take an idea and create their own businesses, their own opportunities.

Take a chance to shape their own destinies.

They all have one thing in common, the courage to bet on themselves.

Returning citizens is made possible by The United Way, fostering the success of those who, as they return to our neighborhoods remain a largely untapped resource, the formerly incarcerated.

Waterman II Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation at the recommendation of David Haas, The Independence Foundation.

There's a jailhouse saying, do the time, don't let the time do you.

Alone, in his cell, Darrell Alston drew on inspiration and with no formal training in drafting or design, created this blueprint for a shoe and an enterprise was born.

I feel like I've died and gone to sneaker heaven.

Where, where are we?

We're at Bungee Brands headquarters.

Bungee.

What's Bungee mean?

Well, I was dealing with a lot of things.

I, I was a recording artist when I first started my, my career as a teenager.

And I got into a little bit of trouble.

And I was just thinking about how every time I would get to a place that I thought that I made it, I would get in trouble and I would go all the way back down to the bottom of the ladder and I would keep going up and down.

Like a bungee jumps.

Yeah.

It just reminded me of a bungee jumps.

That's why I, I coined the name bungee.

And, and, and the trouble included a couple of bits in, in prison.

Yeah.

What was that like?

Well, from when I first started, I never really wanted to try to do the situation where I was committing crimes.

I really wanted to try to make money so I can create my own business.

Yeah.

And I don't know why I decided to go that route.

Because I could have went and got a loan, or I could have went and got an investor.

I could have done plenty of things to be able to get it going, but I didn't have the knowledge of it.

So I just knew only one way to be able to do it, I'm not asking for anything.

I'm going to go out and I'm going to make it myself and I'm going to do it.

So you're trying to finance your business?

Mm-hmm.

And so when you came home the first time, you're thinking, I got to do better to finance my business.

Yeah.

But doing better was still doing what?

Selling drugs.

Yeah.

And then you got locked up again.

Yeah.

And then what happened?

Got locked up for two years this time.

And when I got locked up for, no, it was actually my second go around, I got locked up for three years and that was rough.

So what made the difference?

When I was a rap artist, I always wanted to walk on stage with shoes that no one ever saw before.

Like, when it comes time for being in the hip hop music in general, it's like your clothing and your and your sneakers and everything has to be on point all the time.

How do you go from creating your own shoes to a business?

I had a phone call with my mom and she was on the phone crying.

And she was like, I don't know what you're going to do with your life.

They're doing background checks.

It's going to be very difficult for you to find a job and you're going to have to figure out something because when you come home, you're not going to be able to do anything as far as employment's concerned.

Something just told me just to start sketching.

And I sketched that first shoe.

And after I saw how good that it was, I was like, man, let me just keep doing it.

Before it was all said and done, I had over 300 sketches of shoes.

I had over 150 designs for apparel.

I had glasses, I had belts, like everything you could possibly think of, fashion-wise, I already sketched it.

And you were doing all this when you were locked up?

I would get like, training from other artists that were there.

So like if I'm walking the yard in the prison and I would see a guy sitting out there with a sketch pad and he's sketching, I would go give him a pack of cigarettes for him to give me some pointers on how I can make my de designs better.

So at that point, that's when I started to take it more seriously.

I called my mom and I told her, look, I really believe in this, this sneaker thing.

My designs are coming out really good.

And then she suggested that she would send me some, some business books so that way I can actually learn how to write a business plan and come up with a plan while I was incarcerated instead of trying to work it out when I get back.

Wow.

And a lot of other guys were working in business plans too?

As well.

Yep.

In prison.

Mm-hmm.

So people-- I don't think people think of people in prison as being entrepreneurs like that.

I don't think so.

But I'm telling you now, like the, like some of the most smartest people I've ever met were in prison.

I would love to see some of your work.

I happen to be a size 13.

All right.

Well, I happen to have a size 13 for you.

You ready to see it?

Definitely, these are fierce.

I love these.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You're an inspiration.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

That's great job.

Thank you.

Maleek Jackson lived in a constant state of anger behind bars, and learned to channel his negative emotions into developing a set of skills in the sweet side.

Today he shares what he learned with others, especially kids, mostly for free in a space he can proudly call his own.

Turn it, front foot.

Put the back foot over.

There.

Okay.

This is hard.

One, two right here.

That's it.

Awesome.

You own a boxing gym in Philly.

That's like legendary.

It feels good.

To me, being a business owner is one of my accomplishments that I pride myself on.

Basically because it's something that I set out to get, I set out to do.

But when I was 16, 17.

Really?

Yeah.

You know, when I was 16, I was locked up for a whole lot of mischief and things that I did in the streets of south Philly.

I was committing robberies, I was assaulting people.

I got charged with a gun, charged with shooting.

And when I faced the judge I was sentenced.

How much time did you get?

I got eight to 16 years.

Man.

Yeah.

Of which I did 10.

I did three years in solitary confinement.

Oh my god.

23 hours in, one hour out.

Right?

I'm, I'm sorry, man.

Because I, I, yeah, that's, that's, that's torture, right?

Boxing was a gift.

It was a gift to me when I was young.

And that gift stayed with me when I was in prison.

And from that gift, I attracted the mindset.

And from that mindset, I was able to overcome my situation.

What do you mean by that?

I mean, think about boxing.

What is boxing?

I mean, it's guys hitting each other.

That's, that's the end result.

Boxing is first of all, understanding who you are, right?

And how to move forward.

Whatever talent and ability that you was given, prison is the most violent place you could be in.

Right?

And so when the time arrived and I had to defend myself, I fought, I'm a little kid certified as an adult in an adult prison.

Now, throughout that journey, I run into an old head who tells me, hey, you look like a boxer.

I've been watching.

You should let me train you.

I was using my natural abilities to fight when I needed to in prison.

And when I ran into someone who had more knowledge and more experience in the sport of boxing, and he gifted that to me, I used it that, I used that gift.

And now you see the development in that gift right now.

Wow.

You didn't just come home and just look at, get any old job.

You're in this beautiful space that you own.

How did that happen?

I think this like staying true to, to your journey.

You know I'm, I'm a student first.

And then the best way to the, the, the, the, to keep and retain what you learn is to teach it.

I said boxing is a gift.

And people come to me, I give them a haircut.

That's why I call it, I make them feel good about themselves.

So when you see your barber, when you leave your barber, you feel better, when she goes see her hairdressers, when she leave her hairdresser, she feel better.

So I used that.

I used boxing like that.

and I used my journey, my life experiences to sprinkle that in.

Mike Carter used his time in prison to follow his passion and develop his skills as a chef.

He describes himself as a flavor regulator and has received national recognition as a world-class pizza yolo.

Mike is the executive chef at Down North Pizza where all of the workers are formerly incarcerated folks.

He's creating a signature line of sauces that he hopes will soon be available at a restaurant or grocery store near you.

How did you get the name flavor regulator?

Well, one thing for sure when cooking is all about the flavor, and I try to layer my flavors, but I grew up on a movie called the Young Guns.

So mobility Kid, regulators mount up.

And where do you work?

I'm the executive chef at Down North Pizza.

Tell us about Down North Pizza.

Okay.

Down North Pizza is a mission-based for-profit restaurant, where I exclusively hire formerly incarcerated to reduce the recidivism rate?

And why focus on hiring felons?

Because I believe--.

I, I got to say, I don't like that word felons.

But why, why focus on hiring people who are coming home.

Formerly incarcerated or returning citizens, they like to use I mean, different words like that, but it all means the same thing.

Because you don't think of yourself as a felon, do you?

I do.

I am a felon.

Really?

Yeah, for sure.

What does that mean?

It means that I can't get a gun.

It means that I can't get certain business licenses all because I'm a felon, because I have this--.

Like I'm not a full citizen.

Okay.

It took my citizenship away.

What's it been like hiring only people who are coming home?

I think it works in my favor because I'm hiring a bunch of, ultimately, like you said, that word felon.

Another word I like to say is dads.

So everybody that under my employment is a father and they're the most responsible people in the world.

When I first came home from the penitentiary, I had to lie on my resumes.

Lie about what?

About having a felon.

Like they ask you those questions, but it's like, if I tell you you're not going to hire me.

But then once you get me in and the background search is complete, it's like, yeah, you lied, but we need you here because our whole menu from top to bottom already, so it's like, it's too late.

So like, that's kind of like humiliating.

I always have to lie because as a man, I don't lie to anybody.

Like I tell you what it is and what you going to do.

Okay.

So it's like either you, you come for the mission and you get the food, or you come for the food and you get the mission.

Okay.

So what's next for the flavor regulator?

What's your next move?

My next move is actually the launch, two different things.

I'm launching a sauce and marinade business behind my catering company Flavor Regulators in out west, a breakfast restaurant launching in West top of the year.

You're making me hungry, brother.

Yeah, man.

Good talking to you.

Same here brother.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Tom Duffin connects the formerly incarcerated with his students to work together to create business plans from scratch, from their best ideas and gives them a chance to pitch to potential investors on the last day of class.

It's a lesson plan that both empowers and inspires.

Tell me about your journey from being a successful financial advisor to now working with people who are coming home.

While I was a financial advisor, started working on getting a PhD in social work and finished that and was looking to just bridge those worlds of, of finance and social work.

Because they seem kind of far apart.

Like social work is about like, I think working with people from under-resourced communities.

And financial advisor, you're working with rich people.

I read about a program that Villanova has where they provide education inside SEI Phoenix, a maximum security men's prison, where the men there actually get Villanova degrees.

Wow.

And so I wrote to the director of that saying, hey, I would love to teach in this program.

And when the first I walked in there was just amazed by what just looked like a complete waste of resources.

I want to hear more about, I just imagine you in this big fancy corporate office at Wells Fargo.

So what's it like leaving that space and going to a maximum security prison?

Yeah.

Was it scary?

It was surprisingly urns scary.

So I expected the first time to be and then found that it was, it was, it was just anything but.

Instead it, it felt like sad but, but not scary.

And what was the sad part?

Just the, the waste of just that all these people who had seemed to have a lot to offer, who had a lot of interest in wanting to add to their communities that just were denied the ability to do that.

Very different from the clients you were used to working with.

Oh, this is for sure.

And finding then going in the classroom there and finding everybody's hand up all the time.

Everybody read everything.

These guys were eager to learn.

Really eager to learn and really astute.

So if someone's locked up for decades, what can you teach them that's going to make a difference in their life?

Well that's a really good question and part of it, because I, I started teaching there this social impact entrepreneurship and this idea of being able to maybe create a social business, make a living, and, and also help communities.

What's a social business?

So a business maybe that's not just focused on profits, but also focused on, on people on the planet, on, on other bottom lines and just making money.

We're trying to connect people with resources.

So that's what we're doing in the program here, is just trying to bring together people with resources and, and people who deserve them.

Great.

People from communities that have been walled off, segregated and maybe have, have spent a long time inside don't have these networks.

So all of us have our own networks and we all want to think about ways that we can extend our networks to these really deserving returning citizens who we're going to hear from today.

I spent approximately 15 years combined incarcerated.

And through this incarceration I developed a mental illness.

I'm kind of against medicine, so I'm leery of the side effects and, and the, and the problems of addiction.

So I began researching alternatives to medication.

Through my research, I real, I've came to the realization and understanding that CBD is good as to fight anxiety, depression, as well as chronic pain.

My name is Rasan Townsend.

I'm aspiring food truck entrepreneur and the founder of the Munchies Breakfast Food Truck.

What munchies is, is a breakfast food truck that I plan to serve breakfast all day, meaning outside the normal operation hours that breakfast is served.

The idea of this truck came about during the involuntary vacation that I had, that I took at the age of 23.

The age of 23, 2004, I was sent to 235 months in the federal prison system.

That equates to 19 years and seven months.

Out that 19 and seven months, I served 17 years of that sentence.

Throughout that time I made a vow to myself that returning back to society, I did not want to return what I left and to turn this sour situation to something sweet.

I'm Andre Keith, better known as Dre Keith.

I'm the founder, CEO of Dre Washing Fold.

Let me tell you a little story.

I want to start by talking about, as I grew up in Jersey, I was a little kid with my mom, my three siblings.

She would take us to the laundromat because we lived in an apartment building.

We really didn't have ample washing.

She would take us to there and it was like family people would, would be call me by name.

They knew everything about my schoolwork, it felt like home.

You could come into my place, sit down, have a cup of coffee, get your clothes washed.

It's great.

I'm Chef Mike Carter.

I did over 12 and a half years in the penitentiary.

So at Down North Pizza, fair wage only hire exclusively formerly incarcerated.

That spoke to me because during the pandemic, some social justice missions started popping off.

George Floyd was a big thing.

People were out here protesting in the street.

Somebody like me can't protest.

I don't know about you all, but any contact with the police means that I go back to jail and they ain't a bail fund that could bail me out.

Once that, once that dsy drop, I'm stuck.

So Down North Pizza spoke to me.

It was my sort of like my demonstration.

I was able to get out here and make something happen.

Bon Appétit came at me, New York Times best, 50 best restaurants.

And everybody was just talking about the sauces that was on these products.

And it was this, how do I get it out there with all this media attention coming to me?

I got people flying in into Philadelphia where Destination Conde Nasin wrote about it.

You know what I mean?

They're like damn, I love that sauce that you got on the pizza.

I love that sauce that you got on that the wings.

Like, where can I get that?

You made all that in here?

Because you know Philadelphia it's real homes, little small, it's small restaurant.

They like you made all that inside.

Yeah, let me buy some.

So the sauce market $84.5 billion globally.

That's a lot of room.

Last year I started selling North Sauce by the court after I got permission from Honcho.

You know what I mean?

That's what I call the boss.

By the court on the fly, because basically I had a believe, a guy made me a believer in myself.

He came in, he was from Toronto.

He said, yo, look, I saw you all on Hulu.

This North Sauce is popping.

It is good.

I want some to come home.

So like, basically he put pressure on me and pressure either it is going to bust you, bust a pipe or it's going to make a diamond.

How much of your story your face is going to be part of the marketing.

Oh, of course I'm going to be a poster child and we building a brand.

You very charismatic bro.

And you definitely got to add that to your story.

Because that is your story.

That is your intelligence.

And you need to put that out there and market that.

You do, and I love that you smart enough to know what you know and know what you don't know.

I've learned a valuable lesson that selling my story is a major part of my success.

So I'm, I'm ready to push the line.

If, if don't nobody else believe in me, I have to.

As of right now, we have over 50 employees and about 20% of my employees are formerly incarcerated individuals.

Last year as of 2022, we had a gross revenue of $1.7 million.

Our agency offers industry such as medication reminders.

We accompany you to doctor visits.

We do meal prep and cleanup.

United States has the most incarcerated people in the world.

We don't make you check that box that, that, that box.

That yes or no, if you have been incarcerated.

We don't ask about formerly incarceration or nothing.

If you tell us, you tell us, we, it is mandatory that you do a background check on everybody, but as long as you haven't been incarcerated for anything like welfare fraud, some of the harsher crimes may be murdered, then I can give you a job.

Like, there's no, there's no reason why I can't give you a second chance.

I got a second chance.

I don't mind giving other people second chances.

My name is Stacey Torrance and I am founder of Fremont Entrepreneur Network.

In 1988, I was sentenced to life without parole.

Essentially it is a death by incarceration sentence.

You know, I was actually slated to die in prison.

Fortunately though fast forward 30 years later, I served 30 years of that sentence.

My entrepreneur network is essentially a website that highlights and promotes the works, the good deeds of entrepreneurs who happen to be formerly incarcerated.

To change that stigma and to change that narrative that the media put out there in regards to people who were affected by the system.

That makes it difficult for us to get, to get jobs.

It makes it difficult for, difficult for people to find housing and things like that because of that stigma.

So that's one of the things that the network aimed to change.

So we just heard some incredible pitches.

That's what I say, but I'm broke, you the guys who know how to make money.

What, what did you think?

Well, I, I thought that they were very passionate that that was the most consistent thing.

Very passionate about what they want to bring to the market.

One thing I found interesting is that a lot of the guys included their own stories.

It was almost like part of their business plan.

It's important to them to own the fact that they've done time.

For so long we have been looked at as the lower rung of society.

So when we can step in these spaces and get that confidence and feel that that synergy coming from people, that is a, that's a good thing.

That's a step in the right direction.

Right?

For being, being incarcerated, I think it takes about two and a half years to get one of your years back.

There's things that you can do in life to speed those processes up.

I live by them.

Creating a family of my own.

Working, paying bills, and creating something that's mine.

Entrepreneurship is really about solving problems.

And men who've been incarcerated, they're some of the greatest geniuses walking the earth.

They know how to solve problems.

Trust me, they're out there.

And that's what we are here to do, is highlight what we do so we're not the exception.

So to let them know that it is a lighthouse and there is a light out there that you can guide and go towards the individuals.

Because trust me, they're out there.

That's great.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

You guys are awesome.

Entrepreneurs are a rare breed ready and willing to take risk and turn their dreams into reality against tough odds.

Returning citizens too often face an uphill battle and reclaiming the dream of a decent life after the pain of incarceration.

For those who take on the challenge and responsibility of making their own way, salvation comes in the form of hard work, persistence and the belief in anyone's ability to make good things happen if they have faith and never give up.

For many, the riskier role is the role best chosen and the reward, the possibility of a new world on their own terms.

Returning citizens is made possible by The United Way, fostering the success of those who as they return to our neighborhoods, remain a largely untapped resource.

The formerly incarcerated.

Waterman II Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation at the recommendation of David Haas, the Independence Foundation.