Press

After Emily O'Brien was released from an Ontario prison in 2018, where she spent four years for a conviction related to drug trade, she decided to start a company to help people with criminal records find regular work.

The idea came while O'Brien, 35, was serving the prison term and inmates told her about the struggles of finding a job due to the stigma attached to prison, as a majority of employers avoid former prisoners.

In St. Lucia, I got into a car—we were on our way to a house that stores narcotics. I was with “Noah,” I’ll call him, and some of his friends. We were there so we could take cocaine back to Canada.

I got my measurements taken by a woman in the house, and we then all headed to the mall. We were there to get a dress for me that would conceal the drugs. “I’m going to shop, but I’m shopping for you.”

During her time in prison, Emily O'Brien came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to find a job after her release, so she developed an idea for starting her own business. 

Now as chief executive of her company, Comeback Snacks, O'Brien makes a point of hiring people with criminal records.

I grew up in Westdale, a middle-class neighbourhood in Hamilton, as the second of three daughters. My father worked for the Catholic church, and my mom was a homemaker. We were frugal, wearing second-hand clothes and hosting DIY birthday parties with homemade cakes and games. I never had cool snacks or flashy outfits at school—I was a tomboy who played sports.