Best Kyle J Benson Smith Podcasts (2024)

1
Patterns of Successful Entrepreneurs with Leslie Walton 55:03

10M ago55:03

55:03

Leslie Walton is the Entrepreneur Success Manager at Determination, Incorporated & the Founder of A Cents of Change where she empowers women to build a better relationship with their money. Leslie is a lifelong entrepreneur who loves helping other people reach their own definition of success. From her wide ranging life experiences, including gettin…

1
Building Resilience Through Adversity with Ricky Kidd 53:24

10M ago53:24

53:24

Ricky Kidd spent 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He lost his appeal 11 times before finally winning and regaining his freedom. During that time, he focused on getting “better, not bitter,” and learned how to not just survive, but to thrive in terrible circumstances. Today on the show, Ricky shares how he turned his resilient spiri…

1
Creating a vision and a plan for your life with Diamond Fuse 38:57

10M ago38:57

38:57

When Diamond Fuse got a felony at age 19, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to make anything of her life. That is, until she learned how to take charge of her own destiny through the power of vision boards, positive affirmations, and manifestation. When she made her first vision board in 2012, she didn’t have enough money to fill up her gas tank. …

1
Starting a Business After Prison with Sarah Muntean 52:15

10M ago52:15

52:15

When Sarah Muntean started her first business All American Construction Contractors in 2013, she had recently been released from prison, she was homeless, and not many people in her life believed she could succeed. Through pure grit, and by staying humble and learning on her feet, Sarah grew her business year over year to hundreds of thousands in r…

1
Drafts: Latahra Smith, Trinity First Aide & CPR Services 28:14

3y ago28:14

28:14

"I've turned my pain into purpose." That's Latahra Smith, owner of Trinity First Aide & CPR Services and Executive Director of the KC Freedom Project. After being released from prison, Latahra had to overcome a lot of obstacles to heal relationships with her family, to reset her life with a renewed mindset, and to start her nonprofit and business. …

1
Drafts: Aaron Smith, Escaping the Odds podcast 31:52

4+ y ago31:52

31:52

1
Drafts: Ricky Kidd, I Am Resiliency 31:12

5y ago31:12

31:12

Ricky Kidd is the founder of I am Resiliency, a speaker, an entrepreneur, and a recent exoneree in the state of Missouri. Ricky served 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Today he shares his story, and how he used that time to grow as a man, a leader, and an entrepreneur. Learn more about Ricky's case and the Midwest Innocence Project…

1
Drafts: Lamont Carey, Contact Visits and Lacarey Enterprises 27:33

5y ago27:33

27:33

Lamont Carey is an author and entrepreneur from D.C. who has been featured on HBO's Def Jam Poetry and the tv show The Wire. His journey to successful business owner started after prison when he realized that in order to dream big, he needed to do right by others and make his hustle legit. Keep up with Lamont: https://www.lacareyenterprises.com/…

1
Drafts: Jabari Muhammad, FOI ETC 58:42

5y ago58:42

58:42

Jabari Muhammad and his wife own FOI ETC. They sell fragrances, oils, and incense at stores and online, and are the creators of the Bari Butter. Jabari honed his entrepreneurial skills on the streets in KCMO, and became the upstanding business man he is today in prison. Visit FOI ETC: http://www.foietc.com/…

1
Update: Second Chance Entrepreneurs "Drafts" 4:10

5y ago4:10

4:10

Welcome to Own It: Starting a Business After Prison, a podcast where we interview second chance entrepreneurs about what it really takes to start a business after prison. For the next season of the show, we will share the firsthand experiences of formerly incarcerated people who have started successful businesses. These episodes are called "Drafts,…

1
Paige Johnson, Gilded Sparrows Network 31:33

5y ago31:33

31:33

Paige Johnson is a successful entrepreneur in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the founder of the Gilded Sparrows Network. The team at Gilded Sparrows works with women with justice-involvement to help them create product-based businesses that are beautiful and profitable. https://gildedsparrows.org/

1
Marcus Bullock: Flikshop 26:57

5y ago26:57

26:57

Marcus Bullock started a construction company when he got home from prison, and now he is the founder and CEO of Flikshop: www.flikshop.com Marcus is the keynote speaker at the Rise Up, Get Started Entrepreneurship Celebration in Kansas City, MO, on Thursday, May 30, Kansas City’s first entrepreneurship competition for formerly incarcerated people,…

1
Johnny Waller: Choose Your Passion KC 31:29

5+ y ago31:29

31:29

Johnny Waller is exactly what this podcast is all about. After years of gang banging and time in prison, Johnny left the street life to pursue his education and stumbled into running a successful business. Today, he helps with violence reduction campaigns in Kansas City, Missouri and shares his story to inspire others to lead their best lives.…

1
Sonja Skvarla, A Social Ignition 33:35

5+ y ago33:35

33:35

Sonja Skvarla is the founder of A Social Ignition, a prison entrepreneurship program in Portland, Oregon. www.asocialignition.com A Social Ignition workshops focus on business feasibility and values-based decision making, while using entrepreneurship to bridge social networks. Business professionals come into the prisons to mentor, and often leave …

1
Josh Munoz, Prison Entrepreneurship Program 31:08

6y ago31:08

31:08

Josh Munoz is the reentry manager with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program in Austin, Texas. Prison Entrepreneurship program, or PEP, is widely considered the gold standard in entrepreneurship programs for currently and formerly incarcerated people. https://www.pep.org/ Since 2004, PEP graduates have started 361 businesses and have a recidivism rat…

1
Carl Brown: The Fountain Fund 32:13

6y ago32:13

32:13

Carl Brown is the program manager with The Fountain Fund in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Fountain Fund helps formerly incarcerated people by providing them with low interest loans that they can use to repay fees incurred during their involvement with the criminal justice system. https://www.fountainfund.org/ By helping them out with their immedia…

1
Bobby Clark: Sustainable Business Ventures 32:54

6y ago32:54

32:54

Bobby Clark is the founder and president of Sustainable Business Ventures in Lexington, Kentucky. Bobby helps people who are having a hard time getting a job find their way through entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on folks in rural communities and the formerly incarcerated. http://www.sbventures.org/…

1
Amy Barch: Turning Leaf Project 31:54

6y ago31:54

31:54

Amy Barch is the founder of Turning Leaf Project, a nonprofit in South Carolina that helps formerly incarcerated people change their attitudes, thinking and behavior using a cognitive behavioral intervention, a research-backed, evidence-based solution to helping people stay out of prison. https://www.turningleafproject.com/…

1
Christine McDonald: Seeing the marginalized and exploited through the eyes of grace 34:24

6y ago34:24

34:24

Christine McDonald is the author of “Cry Purple”, her memoir, and “The Same Kind of Human” a book about “seeing the marginalized and exploited through the eyes of grace.” http://www.christinesvision.org/ The wisdom and insight Christine shares in “The Same Kind of Human” is hard-earned; she spent 17 years homeless and on the streets, where she was …

1
Emily Hunt Turner: All Square Restaurant and Institute 51:25

6y ago51:25

51:25

Emily Hunt Turner is the founder of All Square Restaurant and Institute, a social enterprise in Minneapolis, Minnesota that sells grilled cheese and empowers formerly incarcerated people by teaching them how to take charge of their own destinies through entrepreneurship and the study of law. https://www.allsquarempls.com/ Emily worked for the feder…

1
A.J. Ware: Inmates to Entrepreneurs 30:32

6y ago30:32

30:32

A.J. Ware is the co-chairman of Inmates to Entrepreneurs, a North Carolina-based program whose mission is perfectly encapsulated in its name. Inmates to entrepreneurs introduces currently and formerly incarcerated people to the opportunities and obstacles of starting your own business, and helps people make and execute a business plan both pre- and…

1
Joyce Klein: Entrepreneurship as a re-entry strategy primer 33:46

6y ago33:46

33:46

Joyce Klein is the director of FIELD at the Aspen Institute, which advances microenterprise business ownership as an economic opportunity strategy. In 2016 she published a paper called Prison to Proprietor: Entrepreneurship as a Re-Entry Strategy: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/prison-proprietor-entrepreneurship-re-entry-strategy/ The …

1
Tamra Thetford: Credit building on the path to entrepreneurship 28:52

6y ago28:52

28:52

Tamra Thetford is the Chief Program Officer at Justine Petersen, a St Louis-based nonprofit that helps people build their credit so they can reach their goals. The organization started by helping folks work toward home ownership, and eventually expanded its services to include a path to entrepreneurship. Tamra is here to tell us about Justine Peter…

1
Jason Cleveland: Unlocking Futures 43:20

6y ago43:20

43:20

Jason Cleveland is a returning citizen and the founder and CEO of Obodo, a software for small human services organizations. He was recently selected as a member of the first cohort of Unlocking Futures, an accelerator run by New Profit and John Legend’s organization, Free America. Jason is a dynamic guy and also runs an entrepreneurial workshop in …

1
Adam Martin: F5 Project 36:01

6y ago36:01

36:01

Adam Martin was in and out of prison for years and had a hard time staying sober until he realized the power of transparency, hope and community. Now he helps others achieve all three through housing and employment with F5 Project in Fargo, North Dakota: https://www.f5project.org/

1
Bob Pelshaw “Illegal to Legal: Business Success for the Formerly Incarcerated” 30:40

6+ y ago30:40

30:40

Bob Pelshaw was a very successful real estate developer in the midwest before spending 10 months in prison on a felony charge for misspending federal loans. While in prison, he was struck by the untapped entrepreneurial potential amongst the community of incarcerated people he served time with. Through working with people one on one in prison, he c…

1
Tracey Syphax: From the Block to the Boardroom 32:17

6+ y ago32:17

32:17

Tracey Syphax is the author of “From the Block to the Boardroom.” It is a memoir detailing his youth in Trenton, New Jersey, his time on the streets as a drug dealer, his stint in prison, and his twenty plus years experience since as a successful entrepreneur. Today, Tracey is a strong advocate for reentry reform and helps returning citizens like h…

1
Cerise Hall: Business Speaks 30:32

6+ y ago30:32

30:32

Cerise Hall is a business consultant specializing in startups and young businesses. She has a particular passion for working with returning citizens in black communities, helping them create wealth and build businesses that they can pass onto their children. Cerise’s consultancy is called Business Speaks and her style is dynamic and engaging. Many …

1
Kate Mereand- Aspire to Entrepreneurship 32:08

6+ y ago32:08

32:08

The Aspire to Entrepreneurship program started in Washington DC in 2016. The 6 month program teaches folks coming home from incarceration business skills and helps them launch their ventures. 35 returning citizens have completed Aspire. Out of those 35 graduates: 10 are holding down jobs, 10 are working while pursuing their businesses, and 15 are r…

1
Zach Sloan: InnerCity Weightlifting 33:46

6+ y ago33:46

33:46

Zach Sloan is the COO of InnerCity Weightlifting, which reduces youth violence by connecting proven-risk young people with new networks and opportunities, including meaningful career tracks in and beyond personal training. They use the gym to replace segregation and isolation with economic mobility and social inclusion, disrupting the system that l…

1
Natasha Kirsch- The Grooming Project 35:00

6+ y ago35:00

35:00

Many reentry programs feature job readiness training. It is standard in the practice, while teaching entrepreneurship is not. My guest today runs a successful job readiness training program in Kansas City, Missouri . Natasha Kirsch is the founder and executive director of the Grooming Project, a nonprofit that teaches women in need how to groom dog…

1
Jeremy Bouman: Defy Ventures Nebraska 31:57

6+ y ago31:57

31:57

Defy Ventures is a character development, job readiness and entrepreneurial training program. I dont know of any program that believes more wholeheartedly than Defy that entrepreneurship is a useful tool to reduce recidivism. That’s why I am so excited to bring to you today my conversation with Jeremy Bouman, the executive director of Defy Ventures…

1
August C. Ghilarducci: Values-Aligned Goal Setting 27:25

6+ y ago27:25

27:25

August C Ghilarducci, or Augie for short, lives in Chicago with his wife. Being together to start 2018 is very sweet, because Augie just recently wrapped up 12 years in federal prison for a white collar crime. He used his time behind bars to better himself and his community in many ways, including through business and goal-setting classes.…

1
Andy Davey: Living above reproach 31:57

6+ y ago31:57

31:57

Andy Davey works with incarcerated and recently released people and their families to promote distraction free living and long term success with Gracious Promise Ministries. Andrew served 10 months in federal prison in Pekin, IL, for wire fraud and founded AR15 Ministries to teach about living Above Reproach in business and personal lives. Before i…

1
Welcome to Prison or ESHIP 2:02

6+ y ago2:02

2:02

Can entrepreneurship help to reduce recidivism? AKA, can starting a business stop someone from going back to prison?

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Kyle J Benson Smith Podcasts

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