But when he was launched, Nowack learned that, despite his MBA and former expert experience as a CFO and accountant, no corporation wanted to lease him after they determined out approximately his record.
Eventually, he decided his excellent direction became to start a business—but now not any company. Instead, he would discover a clothing corporation—especially one printing custom and pre-made t-shirts—that would lease previously incarcerated human beings.
To that end, in early 2020, Nowack based Breaking Free Industries in Santa Ana, Cal., which now employs three as soon as incarcerated individuals. “Officially, we’re inside the clothing area,” he says. “We’re in the second probabilities area.” Nowack is also one in all 60 previously incarcerated humans with entrepreneurial aspirations who recently attended a two-month, as soon as-a-week class known as Inmates to Entrepreneurs.
So they can construct their lives again—and keep away from going returned to prison again. More than 300 people have graduated from Inmates to Entrepreneurs because of the beginning of 2020.
A Viable Alternative
Inmates to Entrepreneurs changed into based on entrepreneur Brian Hamilton and Reverend Robert J. Harris in 1992 after a go to a prison close to Oxford, NC. The experience made Hamilton, who had co-founded fintech corporation Sageworks in 1998, questioning.
While it’d be difficult for the incarcerated individuals to find work once they had been launched, maybe entrepreneurship should offer them a feasible alternative. So with that, the two began coaching publications in and out of prisons about a way to start frequently low-capital carrier companies.
During the pandemic, classes had been taught definitely. But below everyday situations, they’re carried out in man or woman at places throughout us both inside and out of prisons. The latter is delivered via pills, though no longer all correctional institutions allow them, with live practice brought remotely. Two years ago, the program additionally provided online video training.
More than 10,000 humans have taken an Inmates to Entrepreneurs route, consistent with the enterprise. But counting online and in-jail publications, plus training offered before the nonprofit changed into officially fashioned, Hamilton figures the quantity is a lot better. The awareness is on provider companies that don’t require lots of capital to start, like landscaping or residence cleaning. However, marketers like Nowack with different commercial enterprise models also join up.