125: When You Need Inspiration To Make Light of a Challenging Situation - Emily O’Brien

Emily O’Brien is the champ at making lemonade from lemons--or a successful popcorn company from prison. After being sentenced to prison for smuggling drugs back into the country, Emily went to prison with the mindset to build something amazing while she was in there--and left it better than she found it.

Tune in to hear all about how Emily started her successful popcorn company, Comeback Snacks (then Cons + Kernels) in prison, why stigma against prison and ex-cons is something we need to work to overcome, and how Emily is helping to break that stigma and support those who have been incarcerated become reintegrated into society.

Tune into episode #125:

In this episode, Emily and I chat about:

Why she was sent to prison in the first place
Her relationship with drugs and alcohol, and how it stemmed from disordered eating
Her relationship to food before, during, and after prison--and how it changed
How she started her business while incarcerated
Why ex-cons make amazing entrepreneurs
The stigma that people who go to prison face once they re-enter society--and how we can help to break that stigma
Why it’s important to know a person’s full story before making a judgement
The vision of Comeback Snacks and how it’s become successful
How going to prison changed Emily’s entire perspective on life + challenges