All My Friends Are Felons Mark Hugentobler

Jessica Sias has never even had a brush with the law. She is a daughter of immigrant parents who was the first in her family to graduate from high school and from University. Her natural sense of service and kindness has led her to a space, Academy of Hope, where she works with formerly incarcerated individuals to transition successfully back into society. She a perfect example of how anyone with the right mindset and desire to help can provide true and valuable service to people who are desperate for change. Enjoy my conversation with Jessica.


Sponsors & Partners
The Other Side Academy - theothersideacademy.com
My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org
The Peaceful Prisons Project - peacefulprisonsproject.com 


00:00:00 Jessica Sias
00:01:10 Sponsors
00:02:00 Finding Purpose through Service
00:05:30 Connecting People to Resources 
00:08:00 Academy of Hope
00:10:00 Meeting Amy Chandler at My Story Matters
00:15:00 Success with Former Inmates
00:22:00 The Home
00:29:45 Finding Courage for Herself

LeRon Barton grew up on the south side of Kansas City. His life in the inner-city was typical. He considers it luck that he escaped that world as many of his friends did not. Spending his time advocating for people still trapped in that world as well as the incarcerated and post incarcerated, LeRon is a well-spoken author who has done multiple TED talks as well. Listen in as he describes his concerns with the criminal justice system in America.

https://leronbarton.com


Sponsors & Partners
The Other Side Academy - theothersideacademy.com
My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org
The Peaceful Prisons Project - peacefulprisonsproject.com 


00:00:00 LeRon Barton
00:01:08 Sponsors
00:02:25 Growing Up in Kansas
00:05:40 The Race Factor
00:12:00 Getting Out of the City
00:20:40 “Little Fires Everywhere”
00:27:00 The Substance Abuse Factor
00:34:30 The Road to Reform
00:40:40 “Thank God you fed me.”

Growing up in North Philadelphia, normal life for Mark Chappell was anything but normal. Dominated by the inner-city street life, he started smoking dope during recess and spent most of his school days high. In and out of boarding schools that did little more than prepare him for prison, by the time he was 21 his was headed to prison for homicide. Listen in how he describes that experience including a long time in 23 hour lockdown and how that experience brought him to himself and with the help of a prison guard helped him realize that he wanted something drastically different. It is nothing short of a miracle that today he lives a good life free of drugs and crime working to help others from his neighborhood and everywhere choose better.


Sponsors & Partners
The Other Side Academy - theothersideacademy.com
My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org
The Peaceful Prisons Project - peacefulprisonsproject.com 


00:00:00 Mark Chappell
00:01:23 Sponsors
00:02:09 His Upbringing & Juvenile Boarding Schools
00:08:00 Communal Standards & Norms
00:15:30 Rewind to Juvie “This place is preparing you for adult prison”
00:19:00 Admitting Addiction
00:22:30 Learning the Hard Way
00:23:19 Back to Prison
00:28:00 Navigating Inmate Politics
00:30:10 Point of Self Reflection — “Belly of the Beast”
00:31:30 The prison guard that took Mark under his wing.
00:38:00 Changing on the Inside Despite A Hellish Environment
00:44:10 Finding Purpose & Resilience

Brett Booker’s story is one of purpose and power. Unfortunately, as a teen, his focus was in the wrong direction. Living a mostly unsupervised life in the suburbs, his choices led him into a life of dealing and destruction. Finding himself headed to Leavenworth Federal Prison at the age of 20 he soon realized that he was not the big dog he thought. Listen in as he describes his experience there. And how a fateful period during a lockdown led him to realize he was not the person he wanted to be. In tears he started to focus his attention in the right direction; serving and blessing others lives. He describes that transformation for himself and how he shared it with so many others in and out of prison. You will be enthralled by his story.


Sponsors & Partners
The Other Side Academy - theothersideacademy.com
My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org
The Peaceful Prisons Project - peacefulprisonsproject.com 


00:00:00 Brett Booker
00:01:19 Sponsors
00:02:50 Early Exposure to Addiction
00:12:40 Selling Drugs & Graduating Early
00:18:00 Caught by the Feds
00:27:30 Waking Up
00:38:40 Responsibility = Power
00:45:55 Getting Released from Prison & Where He’s At Now
00:53:10 Advice for Younger Self

Imagine spending 26 years in solitary confinement. Out of your cell 1 hour per day. No windows in your cell. Never being able to look in the a mirror. No physical human contact. The thought is mind numbing. Yet, Thomas Martinez had that experience. One of the first to be incarcerated in Pelican Bay Penitentiary in Northern California, that was his life for 26 long years in total isolation. Thanks to the resilience he acquired in his youth, not only did he survive, he was able to come to himself, developed himself and came out articulate, confident and purposeful. Thomas’ story is remarkable. 

Sponsors & Partners
The Other Side Academy - theothersideacademy.com
My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org
The Peaceful Prisons Project - peacefulprisonsproject.com 


00:00:00 Thomas Martinez
00:01:17 Sponsors
00:02:10 Young Life
00:06:28 Fighting His Father
00:09:55 His First Crimes
00:14:20 Personalized Adolescent Trauma
00:19:00 Prison and Solitary Confinement
00:32:00 Transformation of the Prison System
00:41:05 Released from Solitary
00:45:00 A Major Shift in Paradigm
00:51:15 The Mechanics of Denial
00:57:30 Released After 42 Years
01:06:40 Trauma is Real
01:09:50 Advice for Younger Self

“The greatest tool I have in my toolbox is the ability to ask for help”Thomas Martinez

JP Granillo never stops. In his youth, he was driven in a direction that led him to being arrested for robbing a bank. Being imprisoned in the federal prison system kept him moving in that same direction. Then an 18 month stint in segregation brought him to realize he wanted something completely different with his life and since his release from federal prison in 2013, he has proven that. The founder of a non-profit, Youth Works based in Santa Fe, he uses his leadership talents to help the youth of his own neighborhood better navigate their lives. His endless energy and desire to serve are truly an inspiration. Listen in as we do a deep dive into the great work he is doing.


Sponsors & Partners
The Other Side Academy - theothersideacademy.com
My Story Matters / Captain Your Story - mystorymatters.org
The Peaceful Prisons Project - peacefulprisonsproject.com 


00:00:00 JP Granillo
00:02:05 Young Life
00:08:20 Summoning the Feds
00:15:30 Getting Creative
00:18:20 Held Back by Others
00:25:45 CEO for YouthWorks (santafeyouthworks.org)
00:39:13 What can you do right now?
00:40:10 A Society of Skewed Values
00:41:45 Workings of YouthWorks
00:54:00 Final Piece of Advice