A Founder's Story From the Inside

I went to prison on a mission. A mission to change myself and a mission to make a difference. I didn't know how I’d make a difference at the time, but I knew I would find something I cared about that would benefit from a purpose driven face-lift. I didn't go to prison angry, and I didn't go in thinking things weren't fair. I went in with the objective of getting and staying healthy while creating something greater than myself. Something that people would be proud of, and something that other people could benefit from.

Coming to prison as a first-time offender was unnerving, and I felt so much anxiety the first few weeks. Luckily, I had a friend "prep" me, (sort of like Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell in the movie “Get Hard” minus the mock fighting, if you’ve seen that movie) but it didn't make me immune to the stresses of adjusting to living in a volatile environment.

If you think its hard on the outside to eat a healthy diet, being in prison brings that challenge to the next level. Emotions often run high, and you are constantly combatting discomfort and loneliness. I think most people I shared my time with would attest to the fact that food is often a way to combat this. Or, maybe somewhat paradoxically, excessive amounts of exercise. Or not eating at all. Medication that some inmates take also makes this harder since many encourage weight gain. Maintaining a healthy balance is difficult, and when this poses a challenge to your body image it just makes things worse in an already depressing situation, like adding insult to injury.  

Obviously, the point of prison is so that inmates pay their debt to society, but it should not create crippling depression or make them feel worthless to the point they believe they are undeserving to return to the community or not capable of doing anything good in the future. Most of my fellow inmates were still very good people and we all possessed our own unique qualities, talents, and skills, and were incredibly smart.

When I arrived, I admit I too was stressed and needed to see the food counsellor so she could help me with managing my food budget, and I tried to be proactive in addressing the situation early. I have also had an eating disorder in the past but received treatment and therefore was able to prevent prison stress from reawakening it. It's not that I didn't know what to eat - my mom raised us all super healthy - but I found I was running out of food before the week was up because I was eating out of boredom and anxiety. I had to learn how to balance things better, and I am glad I got the help early on.

It was only a month or so in when I noticed that some of the women were making their own popcorn recipes with the ingredients possible within the food budget. I was instantly struck by how really smart and creative it was. Popcorn was like this simple blank canvas for women of all backgrounds to express themselves through different mixes of spices and other flavours.

A lot of people love popcorn, and it is cheap to buy and goes a long way. It's also so much healthier than baked goods and most of the junk food that was available in the canteen. It is one

of those snacks you can eat a lot of when you feel restless and bored and not feel super guilty about it (unless you use a pound of butter haha). It’s also a social snack. You usually make a giant bowl of it for you and your friends to share over some conversation, games or watching something on TV. You can also just eat one kernel at a time, the bowl can last for hours, and you do not have to worry about gaining weight.

Completely inspired by this, I began to really think about what other popcorn brands there were out there, and companies that supported social causes. I even had friends help me with some market research and food trends. What I discovered was that while there are a number of popcorn brands, very few have the types of flavours I wanted to make, have a story like mine, and support a really great cause like mine would. So it all sort of all came together at once: I would start a popcorn company that uses high quality health-conscious ingredients and makes unique flavours inspired by the ones we made inside prison. Most of all, it would give offenders the opportunity and confidence to gain and maintain pro-social employment, keeping the community safer by helping ex-cons refrain from returning to their old ways. It just seemed like all the stars had aligned and overnight it became my mission to build this company.

So this is how I hope to make a difference. After 10 months of working on this concept while in prison, I am already hard at work making Cons & Kernels a success. The response I have received already has been amazing, it’s only up from here.