Locked In with Ian Bick - Surviving Prison Gangs In Maximum Security Prison | Claude Ouellette

Episode Date: May 30, 2024

Experience the adrenaline rush of prison escapes, jailhouse snitches, survival strategies behind bars, and more in this action-packed episode. To enter into the Locked In giveaway send screen shots to [e-mail] Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Claude Ouellette: http://Iwillriseandyouwilltoo.org Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:04:47 - Overcoming Nervousness in Public Speaking 00:09:31 - Growing Up in Florida 00:14:10 - Childhood Struggles 00:18:55 - Living with My Dad 00:23:40 - A Desperate Act in Desperation 00:28:29 - Love is not enough 00:33:28 - A Conversation About Going to Trial 00:38:25 - Life in Florida Prisons 00:43:07 - Surviving in Prison, Hustling, and Maintaining Neutrality 00:47:55 - Standing up for oneself in prison 00:52:43 - Survival Strategies in Prison 00:57:11 - Escape from Prison 01:01:47 - The Power of Asking Yourself Questions 01:06:37 - Creating a New Vision for My Life 01:11:06 - Rising Above Adversity 01:15:56 - Rise and Discover the Best Version of Yourself Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the moments that matter, choose Curad Naturals. Infused with aloe vera and vitamin E, Kyrad Natural's bandages protect your unexpected scrapes, cuts, and burns, while also moisturizing your skin. Find deeper relief with natural ingredients you can trust to start the healing. When life surprises call for the best, choose Kiraad, a deeper level of care. Shop the full collection on Amazon or visitkirad.com to learn more.

So it's super dangerous. Again, I'm white. I'm neutral. I got a phone. So when I would get word that it's starting it like the word, the whispers a lot, I would like strategically put my knife next to me over here, a big knife. And then they would come and they'd be like, hey, Olett, you got a lighter. Just randomly, do you got a lighter? But I already know what they're doing. They want to see. So they could go tell their friend like, oh, he's on the phone or something like that. So I'd be like, yeah, come in. I'd hide the phone. And I'd be like, oh, come back here. And I'd be like, it's in the corner in the back of my bed right here. So then they would come back and they would grab it from right here, but they would see the knife because I would act like I'm hiding the knife.

But really, I want them to see it. I'm scared out of my mind, but I had to do like this. So then they would go back to their homeboys. And because I got a little mold in their group, they'd be like, but what was so? Man, he said you had a big knife out. Welcome back to the Lockton with the InBIC podcast on today's episode. I have Claude O'Lett here today to share his experience on how he survived a Florida State maximum security prison. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Claude and hearing his fascinating story when I was at the National Association for Reentry Professionals' annual conference this past April last month. I got to interview him at the hotel. He has a huge social media following, especially on TikTok, which is how I first met Claude.

and I really think you guys are going to be into and excited about his story today. I also want to announce the first ever locked in official giveaway. We're going to be giving away some Gatsby chocolate bars, some Magic Mine Energy shots, some sign Chevy Chase merchandise, a Chevy Chase poster and a Chevy Chase jersey, officially signed by the man himself. We're also giving away brand new Apple AirPods and a one. $100 Amazon gift card. And to top it all off, I'm throwing in one of the original mic boxes.

These puppies right here from Locked in with Ian Bick, the first ever mic boxes we had on the show with my signature on it. To enter, follow the directions that are on screen, or if you're listening to this on Apple or Spotify, all you have to do is make sure you're following me on Instagram at Ian underscore Bick and leave us a review on. Apple or Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts, email the screenshot that you're following me on Instagram and the screenshot of your review to giveaway at Ian Bick.com. That's giveaway at Ian Bick.com. I'm so excited to announce the winner for the giveaway in a couple of weeks.

We will be picking someone at random from the email list. And because you guys support the show so much, and we want to thank you for all the support and love and the awareness you spread about the show. We're going to be doing giveaways like this much, much more often. Now without further ado, sit back, relax, and get right to lock in with Claude Olet. O'Lette. Welcome, man.

This is a year in the making, locked in. It's a pleasure having you. We met last year at the NARP conference in Pensacola, and now here we are at the NARP conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Yes, sir. I'm grateful to be here. You

are doing phenomenal. I'm grateful for the opportunity. And when you said, hey, I'll have you on the podcast. I actually booked another night just to be here. So salute you and I appreciate it. Thank you. And I heard you killed it during your presentation. You know, when Jimmy McGill says you did a great job, you must have blew it out of the park to get that man's attention.

Can we get that? Can you repeat that? Is there a loop? And anyone who doesn't know who Jimmy McGill is, I had them on my podcast back in September. So definitely check out that Jimmy McGill episode. but yeah, I pretty much had all you guys that were at that conference. I had Danny Collins. He was a good episode. I had Jimmy. I had you. Nice. Who else was there with us?

I don't know, but if I could just piggyback on what you said, Jimmy McGill is the best speaker. You know, he's a great storyteller as well as has so many accolades to back up everything. So he's so much more than a showman. He putting in the work. And for him to, you know, because he was in there and he stood up and gave me a stand in ovation. So I was super grateful for that. Well, you came prepared. I mean, we saw your booklet and you're on point. It looks like you put energy and passion into that.

And that goes a long way in these types of things. Yeah, but it's still scary, though. I mean, or maybe it's not. No, I still get nervous when I talk. You get those jitters. I've learned the trick for me is you just talk to people before. Like you work the room a little bit, meet people, talk, and that kind of settles the nerves. that's great advice. You were funny, by the way. You're a funny dude. I don't, you don't really see

it all the time. Like, I watch your stuff. But your personality is really out there. It's awesome. So to watch you speak as well. Well, you have the same thing too. I mean, you have a huge TikTok following of almost half a million followers. Are you on other platforms, too? No. Well, you got to get on that, my friend. I do. And really watching y'all, it's so inspirational. I've watched you catapult and it really shows like because you are vision oriented to my knowledge, right? You might stumble through things, but you seem driven and you seem focused. Even when you said you were in prison, you like took down a notebook and you wrote down what you wanted to accomplish. And it just shows the power of focus.

So yes, we are in the process of building as we have kind of narrowed the scope on what we want to accomplish. it's easier to then say, okay, well, here, this is what we want to accomplish. Let's branch out now. Definitely. Well, we'll plug your links to your social media pages in the description. Our listeners always like to connect with guests, especially the energetic ones that have big personalities.

Okay. And you got the glasses and whatnot. So, you know, you kind of fit that part. They're like orange and tinted a little bit, huh? Not a chomo. Not a, no. Yeah, you're not a chomo. I've actually been getting some hate,

some hate emails from people. that they find the word chomo offensive. And I tell it in an entertaining way because I was labeled as a chomo. And I know not all sex offenders are physically a chomo, a child molester, but in federal prison, they're all categorized as that. So this is, so if speaking frankly right here, you know, one of our fundamentals with our organization is social support and mutual aid one person helping another makes both people stronger. And at the end of the day, regardless, nobody should endorse hate in any capacity. Like, it's not a healthy road to go down regardless.

But I can imagine that people probably jump on anything to be like, oh, I don't like you now because you said the wrong thing. Yeah, because there are some content creators that do put out, like, that, that hate towards, you know, certain classes of individuals. But I just wanted people to know that I don't necessarily do it in a negative way. It's just I'm making light of my situation and my experience because I was labeled one in federal prison. But it's also a real thing. So the reality of it, right?

So when I was in prison, I've evolved as an individual. But when I was in prison, you wouldn't speak to a child molester. There would, in any capacity, there's no reason for us to have a dialogue. And so there are people who extort child molesters, which, you know, they might interact. But for me, as somebody who is neutral and definitely didn't want to be associated because, you know, birds have a feather flop together. So, I mean, it's real. So those prison TikTokers that kind of direct content towards that, there's a lot of reality in the fact that they are, you know, extorted, beat up, isolated, blah, blah, blah. Absolutely.

So is O let's not your actual name, right? Claude Olette. Claude Olet's your last. Yes, sir. Interesting. Where does that come from? French Canadian. French Canadian. So my grandfather came to the United States at 12 years old, couldn't speak English. Okay. Yes, sir. I interviewed him recently because it's really fascinating. They're from Quebec. And so when they came here, he was 12 years old, couldn't speak English, and he stayed in the fourth grade. or he stayed in the seventh grade for four years before he quit school

and he ended up becoming Uber successful but yeah Now were you born in the United States? I was. So my father was the first one born in the United States. I was born in Florida. Okay, where in Florida? Sanford. Sanford.

Sanford. Yes, sir. What was that like? So I really, the day that I was born, I remember coming into the world. I looked up and I was like, all you calm and beautiful. No, I have no idea what it was like being born there. However, I know the story of being born and living in Florida through my parents and they love Florida and they actually still live in

Florida. They're divorced and there was a huge story between then and where they're at right now. But Florida is an amazing place. Have you been there? You're from up in no man. I'm from Connecticut. Yeah, we visited, you know, growing up and, you know, Miami and then I was in Pensacola where I met you. I've been to Key West. I like Florida. It's a good state. I can see myself living there. For sure. How is your childhood, though? Did you have siblings? Do you guys grow up poor, rich, middle class? Okay. So, but this is pretty wild. And in my presentation, I spoke about this. So I have a big sister who is the director over her department in Dubai, been there eight years, traveled the world. She has a master's in social work and a minor in education. She's dedicated her life to helping people, which is pretty incredible. She was raised by my mom and dad.

So she was artificially inseminated, but she was raised by my father, too. And she was raised by them before they did drugs. And then about when she was nine, and she's six years older than me. So I was young. I was three, four, five years old. They started to get on crack cocaine. And my dad had a relation, like a sexual relationship with, A woman had a child, but he didn't.

You know, it was like a one-night stand thing. So that child wasn't in the house. Her name's Heather. I love her to death. I tracked her down when I was in prison. And the relevance to this is my sister moved out when they got on drugs. So my sister was like 13, 14 years old. She moved out of the house.

I was raised by two parents that were addicted to crack cocaine, couldn't pay bills, you know, running from the law. My sister went to college. I went to prison and my other sister, Heather, was neglected. My father stopped sending for her and super unfortunate. So that's kind of like a brief thing. If you want me to expound, I could probably expound. But my parents divorced when I was 10 years old.

I had to go live with my aunt. A lot of stuff like that. When you look back on it now, do you think that had an effect on the path you would travel down? Yeah, I think it's really relevant. So one of the things that we always say is people only do they know until they learned something new. And I believe that because, again,

I was raised by the same parents as my sister and my sister went to college. I went to prison. And we both dedicated our lives to helping people. So I think like that, the core of whom my parents were kind of hit me and my sister, but our environment put us in two different trajectories.

No, if we had one of your friends from those early days here, what would they say about you if we asked them? How would they describe you? So I feel like everybody always kind of describe me as funny and they like I was cool to hang out with. I just made really bad decisions. So I don't feel that I knew how to be productive in a positive way. So I only did what I, again, people only do what they know until they learn something new.

So I, my toolbox was filled with domestic violence, unstable temperaments, drugs, and what was going on around me, breaking and entering. and all that. So I was a good-hearted person that loved a laugh that only knew how to pull from things that were destructive. Do you recall, like, a specific moment where it kind of went, you were in a gray area and you went into a dark area? Maybe it was, like, a crime you committed or a drug you used. What was, like, the turning point?

I didn't like school, so my big turning point, I quit school at 12 years old. Really? Yeah, 12. That's before high school, like 8th grade? The 7th grade was the last grade I completed. So do we have water at all? No.

Assistant, we need some water. Man, so at 12 years old, I quit school. And nobody's, I never even thought of this. But I think the fact that my mom, nobody told me I couldn't quit school, that was a huge turning point. Isn't that incredible when you think about that and you say those words? Like it all, it's like a domino effect, like that one moment. Like, what if you stayed in school?

how different your life would be now? I think school was the last like tinge of structure that I had in my life and when I made the decision of like I'm not going to go to school and nobody said don't not go and then I just started

doing whatever I wanted and again I had no idea what productivity was in a positive way. So did you ever get your high school diploma or a degree or anything? I ended up getting a GED way later on in prison like I think I was like 20 years. years old and I got my GED.

Okay. So 12th grade, you quit. 12 years old. 12 years old, sorry, you quit. What do you do? Where are you living? What's life look like? So my mom was dating this guy and my mom was a bad drug addict at this time. So when I say bad drug addict, by the way, I love my mom and I would not want to paint her in

some horrible picture, but I'm going to give you this just kind of as a reference point of where my life was. I remember one of my best friends was like five years older than me. I'm 12 years old and my mom came in there and was like, I want some crack. And she looked at my friend and I knew my friend could get some. So he looked at me and I was like, when I'm growing, I don't want nobody telling me what to do. And he went and got my mom that came back. My mom was in her room and I was about to, so I was driving my mom's car at this time already.

So I went back to my mom's room and that was the first time that I seen her smoking. And I grabbed their keys and I left. And I ended up coming back home about 1 o'clock in the morning. And I pulled up in front of the trailer. All the lights are on. The front doors open. And I go in the house, blankets and stuff. Like everything's flipped over, ashtray.

And I started freaking out. And I didn't know what to do. And I called my dad who had already kicked me out at this time. And I was like, Mom, smoke crack. What do I do? And he's like, don't panic. Just, you know, relax. You know, he kind of calmed me down.

And then the next day, my dad threatened to call, like, DCF. He called my sister. My sister was at college at the time. My sister drove from out of town. He threatened to put my mom in jail. So, like, that, that, like, my life was cooked. Like, that kind of, like, set me, like, that's where my life. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance.

With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up. 10% tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle restrictions apply if was right there did you get into selling drugs too or you were just using not until i went to prison i wasn't using so when i say i was around drugs like i would come home and there would be drugs sitting around i remember i threw my mom's drug pipe in a you know in a ditch in the backyard when it was raining and she came home and freaked out and made me climb into the ditch while it was raining like i'm going to find it you know i i don't know i i'm going to find it you know i This kind of, honestly, it's not even good to talk about my mom like this because it's like painting her.

And it's not even editing it. It's just not a good picture. So that was a bad situation. And what was your mentality, though, to even know that that was bad? Like, where did you learn drugs were bad? This has a bad effect. And you wanted to throw it out and not use that at all. Because my mom was different.

So this is what's crazy. Again, my parents weren't always. drug addicts. So I probably unconsciously seen the transformation without really realizing it. So my sister was raised with parents without drugs. I was raised with them. So I probably seen it. And I did vividly remember hearing my mom cry all the time. Obviously, my parents went through a divorce too. So then that was something that was different. And my brain was probably connecting these two unconsciously. And I remember my mom always being sad, always crying, and I also remember my mom loving me being super

creative, taking me, going to my baseball games. So I watched a transformation, even though my brain couldn't register it, now that you're asking this question, it's pretty distinctive that like that's what happened. It's interesting, you know, reflecting back on our childhoods and how it impacts us at an early age. And a lot of the times in these stories, that we share on our platform, there was things in our childhood that clearly affected and defined the path that we would choose. Yeah, because after that, it was a free fall. My sister came from out of town, and she told me that I had to go live with my dad.

And at this time, I was fighting with my father because he had already kicked me out. So I ran away, and my mom and my sister stayed in making Georgia and looked for me for a week. Now, my sister is in college and Winthrop University. and when they found me like a week later, my sister's like, you got to go somewhere. My mom was crying and saying, I can't afford you to live for you to live here.

And I ended up going and living with my sister in an all-girls college dorm at Winthrop University. I think I was probably about, I don't know, 14 at this time. All-girls college. Yeah. In the dorm. Don't you stick out like it. She had to sneak me in, bro.

I remember going to the colleges and me, the dances and the girls would be like, how old are you? It'd be dark. I'd be like, 21. You know what I'm saying? But we went to, my sister's a Delta too, honestly. So it's kind of, like, that's kind of unique. It's like a, I don't know if it's all black, but it's all black.

So, you know, that was the environment that I was in. It was kind of just, but my sister's respectful and stuff like that. She didn't put me in a weird situation, but it's still wild for me as a 14-year. year old, all the, her sister, sorority sisters and college students and I'm 14 years old. How did you support yourself? Then do you have a job at all? No. So at four, I went, so this is what ended up happening. I was probably about 14 years old. I think I was exactly if I'm, if I'm to have to narrow it down. We ended up going back to my dad's. So I lived with my sister there for like three months. And then it was it was closer towards Christmas. And we went and visited my father. And he

gave her enough money to get an apartment, to get an apartment. And my grandfather, so my grandfather's successful now. My grandfather offered to pay my rent as long as my portion of the rent, as long as I went to school. So that happened for about three months, but I was too far gone. And this is unfortunate. I was too far gone. And within three months, I was already, because I went to an alternative school, because I was like three, four years behind at this time. And they were trying to put me in an alternative school, not for behavior, but to kind of skip grades. And it didn't work.

I ended up, like, quitting that school, like running away from the school. And then my sister said, I can't have you live here anymore. And I ended up going to my mom's house. And she was living in Alabama. Now my mom was bad on drugs. And she ended up getting a trailer. And when we went to Alabama, my sister drove me down, there. The very first night, this again, I hate painting my mom like this, the very first night,

my mom got drunk and there was some change, and she said she had to pay her electricity bill, and it ended up being a chaotic night, like a bad night. And I told my sister, and this is kind of like the first, I was like, I don't want to live here. I can't live here. Take me to dads. Even though I was like so mad at my dad, but going back to my mom's for that one night, it was just like, I can't go back to that. Like, I had. I had forgot how that life was for that like nine months that I was away from my mom's. And I ended up going to my dad's where I ended up getting in trouble and finding myself in prison. So what happens when you were with your dad that led to getting into trouble with the law?

Too far gone. Too far gone and nobody was able to reach me. So part of my whole thing is like, why couldn't people reach me? Like fast forwarding, I was in prison. I was like, why couldn't nobody reach me? And I really, my dad would always say, I can't do nothing with him. Like he kicked me out. He tried to send me, told the judge to keep me in juvenile. Even though I don't feel like I was that bad, I just, I don't know.

It's hard for me to say I'm an adult now and I'm sure that I was a defiant kid. But when I went to Florida, I fought with my dad's wife and he ended up putting me in a camper outside and it just kind of compounded. Like my criminal life was horrible. It's disgusting even talk about. So it's not like robbing old people or anything sexual. It's just I was super bad terrorizing the neighborhood. And I was, I feel like rap music.

I was living what I was listening to. And I was carrying a gun. And I ended up, you know, breaking into people's stuff. And I caught an aggravated assault with a firearm. I got into this altercation. And I got jumped by three dudes and I was pulled. I went and got a gun and came back and shot up the house and they were on the front porch. And I ended up, I ended up getting booked.

How do you get caught for that? They, they knew who you were. Yeah, so they jumped me. Three people jumped me. I was walking down the road. This is, this is what I went. I went to jail many times as a juvenile, but this caught me a minimum mandatory of 15 years. I was walking down the road.

I got jumped by three dudes. whenever I got jumped by three dudes, there was a guy standing there. He was about to call the cops. And when he was about to call the cops, I knocked the phone out his hand and said, don't call the cops. And I ended up going to my house, grabbing a gun. And I started, my dad, because I was in the camper, my dad was like, go fight him like a man.

Go fight them. And I was like, they ain't fighting fair. I ain't fighting fair. And I started walking down the driveway with the gun. And my girlfriend at the time, she pulled up next to me and told me to get in. and it was actually her sister's baby's daddy, and she took me, and I came up with this idiotic plan to drop me off here,

and I'm going to cut through the woods. It sounds so stupid. I'm going to cut through the woods, and I'm going to go into their house, and I'm going to murder everybody, and they were sitting on the front porch, so when I came out, I panicked. They panicked, and I just started shooting,

and I didn't stop until the clip was empty. Wow. And how old were you when this happened? 17 years old. Did anyone get hurt in the shooting? No, one of them wrote a statement and said the bullet grazed their head. Okay. How did that make you feel when you saw the statement?

They jumped me. So, I mean, I don't know what I'm supposed to say politically, but I was like, they jumped me and I retaliated. So I couldn't believe that they wrote the statement, you know, but it didn't matter. I was, when I seen myself on the news in the county jail, that's it just I thought my life was over. Were they in like a gang or something?

Or were they getting into trouble themselves? Yeah, so just a bunch of white poverty. Now, I had already been in trouble prior to this. You know, I got arrested and went to an adult prison at 16 years old. So I was already a troublemaker. And then I was out. I had got released out of adult prison at 17 and was booked right back in with less than 90 days. Do you think you were doing this because you were lashing out because you wanted someone to help you?

So not to repeat. So what I truly believe is that I had no idea of a better life. So prior to this, you know, when I was growing up, there wasn't social media. You might have seen like, you know, MTV Cribs. But other than that, I'm growing up in poverty. Nobody around me has any money. Nobody knows anything. Like I quit school already.

I had no idea what was I what was the life like what was like supposed to look like to repeat people only do what they know until they learn something new I was doing what was normal and I one of my biggest things right now is to let people know what their true potential is because I don't feel like when I went to prison I'm like man what is around me like I'm a I'm decent you know like you believe you belong here you know but they're probably doing the same thing too. They probably don't know any better. They probably weren't given many options, but from an outside perspective, but throw it common sense, you know right from wrong, you know, and because there's like this vague, you know, right from wrong, like, you're like, well, maybe I did know right from wrong. And, but, but the reality is, is, man, that's kind of hard to say that you know, you know, you just know there's a constant. there, but is it really right from wrong? So you just needed someone to show you the light,

like show you a different side to the life you were living, and you might have been able to avoid everything you would go through. I think I had a lot of potential. I mean, you still have a lot of potential. I mean, but I lost a lot of years, bro. I went through a lot of pain. You're talking to somebody that's been through it. Like I'm not, so I'm smiling.

Boy, I'm filled with pain. Like, I'm fucked up. That's real. There's no question. No theatrical. I'm passionate about it. I don't even like talking about that past because that isn't what I would want to even be on a podcast.

My future, my life, my change is what's important. I don't glorify nor, you know, I hate that I spoke negatively about my mom. But if the truth is like that's what it is and probably part of it, then that's important. For the beginning part of this podcast, the takeaway should be,

people only do what they know until they learn something new. So your kids thinking that they know something and you haven't showed it to them, you need to tell them what their full potential could bring them, show it to them. Sometimes they say, oh, well, I told them one time. What, like, we don't even, as adults, we need to have things embedded in us. So just because you told a child that they need to know it, They need to see it.

They need to believe it. You know, as you think so, you are. So those kids need to know that. Yeah. And I think it's so important for people to share where they came from. So parents listening or when individuals that don't have kids yet do have kids, they can look out for these signs and they can know how their child may be feeling because that's how you create change.

And this, I'm going to tell you this. And we could move past this. but my parents will justify, and this kind of makes me hold a little anger, my parents will justify because my parents love me. So because they love me so much, I know my mom loves me. My mom has broke the law countless times. I won't even talk about it on this podcast anywhere. I know my mom loves me.

So because she loved me so, she will be like, I loved you. That's love's not enough. Yeah. I mean, we see that in abusive relationships. People stay because the person told them they love them. Does that make it right? Does that make it acceptable? No.

We use the word love very loosely in society and we make it think that it's okay to do bad things or to harm another because the word loves involved and it's not. And when you see someone like you who has been through something traumatic and has the hurt, love isn't enough to get you to the other side of that. love didn't get you through prison. You got yourself through prison on your own, figuring it out your own way in some of your pivotal years. I mean, so you get sentenced to 15 years at 17. What does that look like?

How much do you have to serve on 15 years? So I was sentenced to 15 years minimum mandatory in the state of Florida. No chance for early release. And I remember walking back into the quad and they're like, damn, boy, I couldn't have did that. So I just, now, my grandfather stepped up and got a lawyer. So, and I think an important part of that is I got a downward departure in order to receive the 15 years minimum mandatory. So they wanted to give me 180 years.

Then they came to a plea bargain for 20 years minimum mandatory. And then they trial was six days away. My cellmate, matter of fact, my cellmate told him where the gun was. You did that tell you. You told your son, mate. Not happy about that. Bro, this is a jailhouse stitch story. You got to tell us the story.

We've never had one of these on here before. No way. So true story. I can pull the paperwork. I'll email you the paperwork. Well, tell us from like start to finish with your first conversation. So I don't even, okay. Yeah, and what exactly happened?

So I don't really even remember where it started. So we were roommates. I'm going to trial. My grandfather steps up out of the blue. He hires in a lawyer. I feel like a boss. you know, going out there. I got a lawyer, you know, like, I'm like, oh, I'm going to beat this, you know. And so I was trying to think of my lawyer's name. It was James Baxley and in some,

it's a team lawyer too. Anyways, that's irrelevant. You can take that out. So I'm visiting with my lawyer and I'm telling my roommate. So whenever this crime was committed, so my, my victims, who were also kind of assailants, they shot back at me and they chased me too. They went in the house, grabbed a gun and like it was all going down. Now mind you, I got blood on me because I was just jumped by these three dudes. So I'm running through the woods. And when I'm running through the woods, there's people on a porch. I jump down in this like meadow area. I bury the gun. When I bury the gun, I jump up. And I'm like, they're shooting at me. They're shooting at me. They're shooting at me. I have blood all over me. My girlfriend, my genius plan, her to drop me off and then

come back. I jump in the car. And so anyways, I buried the gun right there. I'm in the county jail. I'm telling my roommate, just nonchalantly, we've been in there for a couple months. I'm young, bro. I'm young and adult jail, you know, so I'm like, I'm going to beat this case. You know, I got these big boy lawyers. And six days before trial, they have an emergency. hearing. My roommate, so how he knew, my roommate was getting out on probation. I said, hey, bro, go get the gun. This is where the gun is because they were putting metal detectors down. They were searching for the gun. There was no gun in the crime. My lawyers went and took pictures to make it look like the angle that the shots were that they were shooting at me. So that I was running from them and they were shooting and they kind of shot into their own house because they've already, you know, I was.

was, I was beat up. I was, you know, all that. So we had this grand plan, honestly, and, and we have big boy attorneys. So I tell my roommate, get the gun and then just, you know, throw it away, whatever, you know, and I'll have somebody give you some money. So my roommate gets out. I think he gets pulled over is what the story is. I don't really know the exact story, but he went to violate his probation two days after he got out. Instead, he told him where the gun was. I know this because six days before trial, I have an emergency hearing. I go to sit down. His name's Kyle Holcomb.

I'm the founder and CEO of the organization, but Kyle Hocom, I'll never forget you. So my lawyer sits down and he says, what do you know about a Kyle Hocom? I said, I don't know anything about a Kyle Hulcombe. And the state stands up and says, Your Honor, I would like to produce the firearm. that was allegedly used in the crime and six new witnesses. We're almost halfway through the year, and a lot of people are running on empty without fully realizing it. Grow therapy helps you find care that's covered by insurance

before burnout becomes the baseline. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. They connect you with thousands of independent licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions nights and weekends. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability, and get started in as little as two days. And if something comes up, you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21. with insurance and some pay as little as $0

$0 depending on their plan. Visit growtherapy.com slash book now to get started. That's growtherapy.com slash book now. Grotherapy.com slash book now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. We're almost halfway through the year and a lot of people are running on empty

without fully realizing it. Grow therapy helps you find care that's covered by insurance before burnout becomes the baseline. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. They connect you with thousands of independent licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends.

You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability, and get started in as little as two days. And if something comes up, you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. there are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments, you just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan.

Visit growth therapy.com slash book now to get started. That's growth therapy.com slash book now. Growtherapy.com slash book now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. And they had the gun. Holy cap. Facts.

Would you have gotten the 15 if you didn't, if they didn't find the gun? So I was going to trial. I wouldn't have signed anything. Oh, you're going to trial. I'm going to trial. Okay. One million percent.

I was not taking a plea. When this happened, when this happened, my dad came. When my dad came to visit me, I've never seen my dad cry and my dad was like, you know, you need to take it. I'm like, I can't take it. I can't do the time. Mentally, I can't do it. So I told him that. And my dad was like, just take the deal. And I was like, if I take the deal, I need you to visit. I need you to come see me. I need help.

And he said, if I got it, you got it. That's what he told me. Now, mind you, the first time I got in trouble, he said, if you ever get in trouble again, I'll never be there. So I told him, just let me go to trial. and I'll just life will be what it is. I was ready to take it. You know, I wasn't ready, but that was my stance. Man, I'm sick for you right now. Holy cow. Facts.

Just that one conversation got you jammed up. Yeah. So my lawyer came in and he presented, so they were offering 20. We were taking at the trial. They had new evidence. My lawyer came in, said they're offering you 15 years minimum mandatory. You should take it. I denied it.

He came back with a three-page letter, and I can send you that letter. I don't know if you can put things in your links. A three-page letter saying, as his attorney, I am doing deliberately what he doesn't say, do, that he doesn't feel like he could beat it in trial with the new evidence that the judge can easily sentence me to 180 years consecutive in that the judge is not given to fits of temper or some nonsense. It's like, bro, scared the crap out of me. And he called my dad and was like, he needs to sign it.

So then that conversation ensued. And I ended up signing it. Now, out of the 15, do you do the entire 15? 15 years minimum mandatory in the state of Florida. So you went in at 17 and got out at 32 about? I went in at 18 because I told you they didn't start the time until I was sentenced. Oh, really? They don't count you for holding?

They can. caught new charges in that time, like old charges. So they started it from the second, the second booking. And how old are you now to put it in perspective? I am 38 years old. So you've been out about six years? I've been out five years. Five years, okay.

And are you still on probation? No, I'm not. Okay, good. So 18 to 33. On that 15 years, is there parole or supervised release afterwards or just a clean 15 you're done? So that's it. 15 years, minimum mandatory.

and then what ended up happening is I walked back into the cell to your original question. When I got sentenced, I walked back into the cell. And the dude was like, man, there ain't no way I could sign that. So I said, well, I don't know if I can do 15 years, but I know I can't do life. And that's, and my ass went to prison. Where did they send you first? There were like a reception. Florida sent you to a reception center.

Okay. What does it call? Oh, you were older so that you didn't go to like a judge. Jit camp. I've heard guys talk about that. No, I didn't go to a Jit camp. I went to a Jit camp the first time I went to prison. Okay. So they send you to what level security? So I went to, it's called a reception center. And from the reception center, I went to a prison called Hamilton C.I, which is a adult prison that has a juvenile dorm in the adult prison.

So I went to Hamilton. I went to the youth offender dorm. because I was under 21. I think you can stay there until you're 24. And within six months, I caught an inciting a riot charge. For what? We barricaded the doors on the police, and it's unfortunate,

but assaulted the cop, and we all got emergency shipped. So I went in, I went in, like, kind of, like, distraught, you know, obviously. And just life wasn't, like, I remember when I first got there, They handed me a shovel and told me to dig a trench. And I threw the shovel.

And I said, I ain't digging a trench. Real life holes. Yeah, like dig a trench. Yeah, we had to, bro, in Florida, you got to sweep the sun off the sidewalk. Those are facts. Did you see the movie holes? No, I did. Oh, you got to watch that.

It's a good Disney Channel movie. Okay. So in Florida, they'll be like, here, grab that broom, sweep the sun off the sidewalk. Or stand right here. Look over there. And if you see a tornado, you holler, tornado. And you were probably paid zero for that. Oh, you're paid nothing in the state of Florida.

Texas is like that, too. You don't get anything. It's an impressive state. Wow. Super oppressive. Okay, so you do that, and then they send you to a different security prison. Well, we barricaded the doors, caught in citing a riot charge. We all got beat up.

Eight of us went to, eight of us got emergency transferred, and we went to a lockdown prison called Charlotte CI. And you're not even 21 years old at this way. No, hell no. How are they treating you in these prisons? Like me and you went to prison almost at the same age, and my experience, as you know, is very different than a lot of other people's experience because of the way I handled myself and moved around.

But how did you move around and handle yourself? So, I mean, I was white in the Florida Department of Corrections. So the way that white people are a minority in Florida, and I hate to speak in general terms, but a lot of white people are racist, you know, and it's probably because they're minority and they're targeted and stuff like that. So it's rough if you choose,

if you choose to be neutral. So what people would do is say in the Jit dorm, one dude would tell his homeboy, hey, bro, I'm going to put all my stuff in your locker. They lock the locker. They go to child. When they come back, the dude's going to say, oh, all my stuff's missing.

They plan this. And then they're going to say, we're going to go locker to locker. And if you don't like it, open up that locker. And if you don't like it, get in the corner, right? Grid, you got to go to like a little place where the police can't see you fight. And really, they just want to see who's the weakest. Who's going to not open up their box or who's going to open up their box? Because if you open up your box to let them search your box for his stuff that he knows where it's at,

then they got potential to put down. And did you ever find yourself in those positions? Hell yeah. And how does that go down for you? You fight. And what if you don't? I never not fought. So you were just like you went in there with this mentality that you had to fight?

I was always more scared to lose like my dignity than I was to lose a fight. So that's what I was more, I was more fearful of becoming like a chump, like a bitch, like where I was going to be extorted, and that made me just strong enough to stand up for myself. So, Olet, you're a, you know, a young kid sentenced to a very lengthy prison term. Are there counselors, case managers, that are trying to walk you through it, help you? Any assistance? No. I don't recollect one time ever anybody being Karen in any capacity.

And I'm sure you saw people with your age with that amount of time. that, you know, had struggled with mental health going into that. I couldn't imagine getting 15 years at that age. Well, I caught an incite in a riot charge. So mind you, I'm probably like, I might be 19 years old. And I'm in 24-hour lockdown right now in Charlotte CI. And, you know, it's horrible. You're losing your mind in there.

I'm in 24-hour lockdown. Just gone. And Wreck is in the cell, like what they have an attachment? cell or anything? So wreck in the Florida Department of Correction when you're in 24-hour lockdown, it's like small cages and you'll go three times a week for an hour. So it'll put two people in a cage. So it's like a tiny little, it's a cell cage. So it's the same size as your cell almost. And there's a pull-up bar and a dip bar and you talk to people through the fence. And showers were in the cell? No, showers would. You just, they handcuff you, take you to the shower, uncuff you, and then two minutes later,

or a minute later, come knock on it, cuff up again, walk back to the cell and you're in your room every, and you only shower three times a week. And there's no AC in the Florida Department of Corrections. It's 100 degrees in the cell. So I'm a teenager, 100 degrees in the cell, losing my mind, just, again, I have nothing to think with. It's compounding the problem. I get out of lockdown. My parents are still on drugs. My sister's going through a divorce, and you just revert back to your instincts. How can I make a dollar? So you try to hustle.

Hustling put you in compromising positions, you know, where you got to, again, you know, people try to put down on you and whatever you're going to do or try to get over on you. It might not even try to put down on you. They might owe you $5. And I'd be like, I ain't got it.

I ain't got it. And eventually you just have to, you have to either step up or you're going to write it off. But if you write it off, then that's going to be known. Is there anything you did in prison that you had to do to survive, that you, looking back on it now, wish you were never put in that

position? Not to survive. I mean, I don't really know what you mean. I hustled, which caused me a tremendous amount of problems, but I don't necessarily, like, I did it willfully. I probably shouldn't have, so if I regret that, then maybe. But nothing that compromises my morals. Okay.

So you weren't, you didn't get like recruited to a gang or have to run with any individuals. No, they tried. I ended up, I ended up being a big hustler in prison. And I was neutral. What do you mean by a hustler? So, um, I kind of got, like, um, like bringing in, like, just trafficking dope, swallowing, dope. Like, I don't even know what's legal and what's not legal.

Like, I don't really. I just was a big hustler. I ended up, you know, breaking the law. Hustling. I ran a store, not a store, but I ran a ticket, which led me to being able to put people in positions to run a store because I knew. So you also got to know where your strengths and your weaknesses are. So I brought value when I walked into a dorm because they know I had a cell phone. So I would also try to manipulate the situation to be like, you know, like I remember one time there was this white dude and he had a lot of money.

and the dorm was able to benefit off of him. So I also had a phone, and I wanted to sell the white dude of phone. Now, everybody don't know that I could get phones or whatever. So I would strategically, so I had to hustle around gangs. So if I was selling X, Y, or Z, and the gangs found out, and the gangs are selling something different, it's fine. But if they found out that I was selling this and I'm making money, then they're going to switch into that lane.

And I would have to adjust and switch to a different lane where they don't really know the money's at. And this was a cat and mouse game that I would have to play being neutral. So for example, this white dude, I made a bunch of money off of them and I wanted him to have access to a phone because then I know that he could get even more money.

So what I would strategically do is I would go to the head of the head of the gangs or the dorm, even though it's not, it's not like, this is the head. Like, you know, you know who's in power. And sometimes there might be like an arms guy, like the muscle, but you bypass him and you go to who you do know, who has the power. And I would just be like, hey, can I come permission to speak freely? And he would be like, yeah.

And I would be like, listen, man, like this dude's got money. If you let these dudes come in and rob this dude, you're going to run money. off out of the dorm. So you should make your dorm like where where it can flourish. Like we can, this could be a powerhouse dorm, but it can't be a powerhouse dorm if outsiders are able to come in here and try to mini extort or intimidate people with money. But strategically, I'm doing this because like I'm, even though like I'm exterior like tough or, you know, because, you know, I would handle business if I had to, right? But I'm still scared. So I would tell him this and use that guy as a reference point because I'd be like, you know, we could get him a phone. He could have got access to his

money. And the head would be like, yeah, that's a good idea, you know. So then he would put out like a like word that nobody can come into the dorm and rob. So then now we got this guy with a phone, which alleviates pressure off of me because even though I was tough, people would still, I would have to play politics. So they'd be like, hey, O'Litt, could I borrow your phone? Like other gang affiliates. So the thing is this, they, I never, I never, it's a thin line. And I don't know how I made it. But you got to be tough and you also can't be stupid. You got to understand the power that they have. So it's, it's straddling that fence. And whenever somebody does try to toughen up on you and try to put down, so to speak, even if it's like a like softly, like, I remember there was this dude

that was like, hey, bro, like, I can help you, you know, like, I got you. And this dude just got here, but he was pretty powerful. But I was like, I don't need no help. I didn't ask. I said respectfully, I didn't ask for any help. And he just kind of tried to press on me. And I was like, bro, I won't do anything. Like, it don't matter.

Like, I didn't ask for no help. I don't need no help. And my best friend who was kind of close, he worked out with the head. So that kind of saved me. I had a friend that was really close to the, to the head and um and he called me he's like hey bro what did you say to this dude and i'm like i didn't say shit he tried to pull up on me on some dumb shit and he's like well he told this dude that you got slick with him and i was like man fuck him you know like i didn't do anything

but stand up for myself but he tried to get me put on the plate and i'm not saying any names because i'm just kind of like i don't really understand all this i don't even know what the legality is with stuff like that. But I'll tell you what, people don't know that that shit is real. Like, I've seen a phone call and the prison get shut down in 15 minutes. Like, it's real. Like, I don't know what, you know, one thing I do notice is that a lot of people, and I know other people are been through hell.

But I did all my time in maximum security prison. So I didn't transition to medium, minimum. And in the hustle world, it's a different animal. to prison and being like, well, I'm neutral too. I didn't gang bang. Well, you were neutral, but you read books, went to wreck and went to school. You can be neutral in the state of Florida, but being neutral and making money and being neutral and moving, that's a different animal. You can get put on the plate super easy because as a neutron, you, there is no room for error, zero. There is none, you know, because they're waiting for it. They want it. The underlings are always going to the heads and being like, hey, what's up? Why can't we green light O'Let? Like, and I would get word like, hey, like, I didn't green light to let them come in on you, but, you know, I did green light. They could come in on you one at a time or one person could do something if he wanted to. And that's where you got to be tough.

enough to stand up and I had to be strategic. So say I'll put the, the, the blanket over the door. So I already know that they're talking about robbing me all the time, all the time. For one, they don't know, they don't know what I'm doing. So they don't know that I'm serving their top dog. So they're always trying to, it just looks like I'm going and copping and doing a little hustling because I had to hustle a little bit because if I played too stupid, they're not, people aren't stupid. Like I'm shaking and moving too much. I have too much. But I would, I would just play like I'm doing little stuff to keep busy, like I'm just moving around. They have no idea what I'm really doing, though. So they would always talk about like,

you know, like I'm going to rob you. Because I would tell their, I would tell their boss, I would be like, listen, do not tell anybody. If anybody finds out done, like I'm done. So I would just, I was like, you have to keep people looking at you. You have to. It's better that way. You don't want to, because then you lose that power of being miraculously able to produce. You know, if you tell them, oh, I got O-Let serving me and we're getting a deal because you better believe I'm giving them a deal. So he's going to lose that power of the mysteriousness of being able to kind of miraculously produce stuff.

So the underlings would just see me moving around. So anyways, I would always get word back that they was trying to rob me. Always, they'd be like, oh, they're talking about you, O'Let. So what I would have to do is say I got my curtain up and I'm on my phone. And a lot of people don't have phones. We're talking back in a day when phones weren't flooded. So it's super dangerous. Again, I'm white.

I'm neutral. I got a phone. I got illegal shit. So when I would get word that it's starting it, like the whispers along. I would like strategically put my knife next to me over here, a big ass knife. And then they would come and they'd be like, hey, Olett, you got a lighter? Just randomly, do you got a lighter? Like, bitch, I got my curtain up, you know.

What do you? So, but I already know what they're doing. They want to see. So they could go tell their friend like, oh, he's on the phone or something like that. So I'd be like, yeah, come in. I'd hide the phone. And I'd be like, oh, come back here. And I'd be like, it's in the corner and the back of my bed right here.

So then they would come back and they would grab it from right here. they would see the knife because I would act like I'm hiding the knife. But really, I want them to see it. I'm scared out of my mind, but I had to do shit like this. So then they would go back to their homeboys. And because I got a little mold in their group, they'd be like, damn, bro, what was so? Man? He said you had a big-ass knife out.

But all that shit strategic. I'm trying to fucking survive, too. Because I'm not tough. I got to be smart. I got to maneuver a certain way. Doesn't being neutral, though, cause some danger because it's a numbers game in prison. You have all these gangs and groups of individuals and neutral. There's less neutral people, right, than there are people running with other groups.

Bro, I don't know how I'm sitting in front. I do not know how I survived. The fact that I'm here is a miracle. The fact that I'm here, but there's a lot that goes into it. I invested in people. I made myself so valuable, not that I was untouchable, but I was respected and I brought value. I made people's lives better. So it was a benefit to keep me around.

It's a relationship game. That's all it is. Yeah, it's politics 101 is prison politics. That's all it is. And again, I hate that. My podcast is about this nonsense. No, this is your life, man. This is your story, you know?

This is what you are, you live through this for 15 years. You know, it's a big part of who you are. Facts. I mean, I did it every day. I woke up and worked 10-hour days. I had to strategically, how are we going to get it from here? So, like, we would get, we started with small stuff. Like, and the thing is, you got to be creative.

So we would start with, like, put stuff in the, so I would get somebody on the street to put something in the spine of the book. And, you know, but you can't send the book in, so you'd have to send it through Barnes & Noble. So I'd be like, go buy it from Barnes & Noble, bring it home, bring it back into Barnes & Noble, rebuy it. It's the same exact book. And then bring it up there and say, I would like to send this to the prison. I heard about guys doing this with Amazon. They do it all with, there's so many things. That's crazy.

You know, but it's like you just have to, so you have to orchestrate all day long and you lose 10 times, you win one time. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment.

Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate for three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. It's like being an entrepreneur. So what was a day-to-day look like for you? It depends on different points.

You know, I did most of my life in prison. So I'll say this. So I was just naturally trying to survive, hustling, getting in trouble, you know, but not too much trouble, but just day to day. I ended up catching an outside escape charge. I don't know. Outside escape charge? Yeah.

How? So November 17, 2007, I was at South Bay Correctional Facility. I got caught with a cell phone. And I was in a riot, so the riot charge, and then I went to this prison, and I was kind of hustling. I had a cell phone. We were dibbling and dabbling. and so the cell phone was charging,

the police came in, I grabbed it, and I was like, you ain't getting it, you know, and smashed it, made the cops run it. I go to lockdown.

So I'm in lockdown for a possession of a cell phone. It's in November 2007. Again, cell phones were hard back then to have. There wasn't even smartphones out back then. How much were they going for back then? Like 350. No,

we're talking 2007. Cheap. Well, they were, before I got out of prison, and they were the 1,200 and all that nonsense. Smart phone. We're talking flip phones.

People were able to suitcase a flip phone. Yeah, but I saw the little baby ones they got too. So it's easier whenever, and you know, back then they didn't have polls and visitation. So people were suitcase and phones all the time. And suitcases means to show it up your ass. Yeah. Okay. For those that don't know what a suitcase is.

Right. Okay. So they get you with this phone, what happens? So they give me with the phone. I'm in lockdown. I come up with this genius plan. that I'm going to kill myself. I'm just tired of life.

Life's fucked up. I'm constantly going to lock down. It's horrible. You know, I'm young. I still don't know any better. When I'm telling you about hustlings way later on in my prison term, Matt, this time, I'm just small hustling making $5 being able to survive because my parents are on drugs still and they don't have any contact with me.

And I ended up going to lockdown and I wanted to die. So I tried to hang my hands. myself, like the chump that I was, and I couldn't do it. So then I tried to tie sheet around my neck like eight times, hoping that I would black out before I untied the eight knots, couldn't do it. So then I said, well, I'm going to make the cops kill me. And I remember they were serving chow and I told the guy at the door, I was like, hey, bro, don't lock that door. And he's like, man, what's you talking about? I'm like, bro, don't lock the doors. So whenever the trays leave. And I berated the police until the point that they threatened to come in my cell and jump me or whoop me or whatever

they were going to do. And it was shower time. And when they came to my cell, they didn't cuff me up. They knew what they were going to do. But I had a different plan already. So as soon as they popped the cell, I shot past them. I made it out the front door. I'm in 24-hour lockdown at this time. It's at pill call. I make it out of that door. I lock the door behind me. I go out. I make it down the breezeway, out the front door because they're at pill call, get onto the roof. And I'm in the education department, climb up on the roof, and I'm laying on the roof, and my heart's beaten. And they're calling emergency shutdown.

So they're like, code, whatever the hell the code was. And they're shutting down the prison. And I'm laying there, and I'm like, oh, my God, what do I do? And then I started crawling on this tin roof. And when I started crawling on the tin roof, I heard the cop below me. Roof, roof. He's on the roof. he's on the roof and I just get up doof do do do do and I just take off and it's like a U shape

South Bay was a U shape white shirt's like get off the roof and I'm like fuck you tonight's the night tonight's the night you're going to have to shoot me off the fence tonight and um I ended up going around to the other side I jumped off that onto the rec yard I jumped the first fence got cut up in the razor wire I'm bleeding everywhere I get over that fence and I start to climbed the next one. Razor wire hits me. I'm stuck right there. Can't do anything.

They got the guns on me. They're like, if you jump the fence, we will shoot. And I was like, shoot me, motherfucker. Facts, bro. Believe in everywhere, bro. And how many years into your sentence were you? November 7, November 17, 2007. So I'm like three years into it.

So out of all the shit you pulled in prison, you never got extra time? I got it outside escape charge. But did they add that additional to the 15 or it just got... I beat it. I beat it in outside court. So they end up, I end up getting down bloody. They put stitches in me. They put me in a psych unit.

I'm butt naked. They got an officer directly in front of the door because I escaped out of 24-hour lockdown. They have no clue. The cops lied how I got out the cell. So they put an officer right there. I just, I'm in the turtle suit just looking at them all night. The next morning they said, cuff up, you're going to medical. They put two shackles on me.

And when I went up there, Palm Beach County sheriffs was right there, three deputies, three, three cop cars. Sirens on all the way to Palm Beach County Jail. They booked me. Did you stay in the county jail there while you were fighting the case? Yeah, they kept me in. I was a two deputy escort. I stayed there for like three months. They brought me back to the prison.

They put me in 20, they put me, sent me to Santa Rosa, which is a C.M. close management prison. I go up there and then my lawyer calls and said they're offering five years. And I was like, I'm going to trial. So they brought me back down to Palm Beach County Jail. And I took it all the way to the door. Because there's a technicality where you can be an escape charge if you're running for your life. You can't beat escape, but you're running in fear of your life. And because they opened up my cell door without me being in cuffs and their intentions were to hurt me. So I was running from my life. And that was our defense.

Two officers got fired. They lied on how I got out the cell. A sergeant got demoted, not trying to make any enemies. It was all a bad situation, man. I can't imagine all the shit you got into, O-Let. Yeah, I mean, it's too much. I mean, we could talk about good things. Did you have a podcast now?

No. You should start one. You got the energy, you know? Right. Or at least a YouTube channel. Right. I'm surprised you don't have one. Well,

I mean, I need to. Yeah, I think you should get on that for sure, man. It's a part of the story. Yeah, and share all these things. Now, you spread a lot of positivity on your platform now. Did you develop that in prison? When did that mentality change? Did this come after prison?

No, so I was in prison. And one of the things that we talk about is create a habit of asking yourself questions. So one of the great things that could come from me talking about that nonsense, right, is the fact that I was gone. So I didn't know how to be productive. I was unstable, manic, so to speak. And I was a bad kid. I was in lockdown. And with nobody around me, I had been in lockdown like two years.

And I was tired of crying. I was tired of being sad. I was tired of being unhappy. And I started asking myself questions. Like, you know, why are you like this? Why don't you change, you know? And I answered them truthfully. In answering the questions truthfully by myself,

I inadvertently created a vision. And by creating a vision that I didn't even never knew existed, it gave me a direction to walk towards. So that is why I focus so much right now with our platform, with our organization to create a vision. I created, I became the best version of myself during the darkest days of my life. I discovered that person.

I know that was the beginning. of I will rise and you will too, the mindset. So yeah, that's your slogan now. That's what you go by. Yeah, I will rise and you will too. Where does that come from? Like, how did you put those words together to develop this? So when I was going through these super tough times and I wanted to change and I would find

myself scared, I would read about people that endured way more slaves, people that were born into war. And they were just so courageous whether they wanted to be or not. and I would read about how people would go to like a monastery and stay there willingly. And it kind of just put me in an empowering position. And I Will Rise was my initial phrase. Like that's what I said, I will rise. I will rise evolved into I will rise and you will too because I learned that your best life is not lived until you're helping other people.

What I see a lot from the people I interview is that they have like one defining moment when they're serving a lengthy prison sentence because some people don't learn it till after one moment that defines them when they're like I don't want to do this anymore and I need to focus on creating a new life or it's like I want to put this behind me was there a moment for you or did it just come over time I stumbled into it with creating a vision so my moment was I was at the bottom and I started asking myself those questions and I inadvertently created that vision which gave me a new path that I never discovered. So as I started, I said, I don't want to get in trouble anymore. So I said, well, how do I do that? Well, I don't sell drugs or I don't do this. So then it put me on a different trajectory. And then I would take a few steps and I would see positive results. I would visit my family. I seen my grandfather. And then I reinforced that with new steps in that same direction.

So now I had a moral compass. I inadvertently created this new version. of myself without even knowing it. But what do you think triggered those questions? I was tired. I was sad. I didn't want to be that anymore. And so I just said, why am I like this? And I went through a pity party.

I went through pain. I went through years in 24-hour lockdown to get to this point of self-discovery that a new... Because again, I didn't hang with people that weren't getting in trouble. So I didn't know that there was a life outside of it. I stumbled up on to...

this and I just liked it. And when I liked it, I started to change. And when I started to change, it started to motivate me that I know that there's other people like me. I know there's people with potential, but they haven't tapped into it. They don't know that it exists. So I wanted them to be like, I want people to know you can become anything that you want to become. What was your plan when you got out of prison after 15 years? Man, I'm going to tell you, so I was pretty focused. I wrote a book in prison. titled Understanding is Everything, a practical guide to self-betterment. I used that same energy that was hustling, that was escaping, that was destructive,

and I put it towards being productive. I learned languages. I wrote a book. I felt like, you know, I wanted to become one of my mind. Like, what do you want to be able to that? I want to be the best person I could be. I want to be the best podcast host. I want to be the best son.

I want to be the best friend. And when you start to have that, it puts you in a different mind frame. and it puts you, it motivates you. So I remember my sister coming to visit me and she said, well, how much money do you think you need to make when you get out? And I said, well, I need to make like $75,000 a year. And she has a master's degree. She's like, I don't even make that.

How are you going to make that? And I was like, I don't know. Why wouldn't I be able to make it? So I get out of prison. I don't go live with my family. I found a girlfriend on a cell phone and I have this girlfriend. and I move into her house. I go from max.

I don't transition because I got an escape. So that escape charge put me in maximum security all the way to the door. All the way to the door. Literally was in a riot two months before getting out of prison after doing all this time. Like, but what am I going to do? We refuse to go eat. So everybody's like, we ain't going to eat. I'm like, oh, shit.

I guess I'm not eating either, you know? Because what are you going to say? Well, no, I'm going to eat. No, you ain't. So I'm in maximum security. So I transitioned from maximum security to move into my girlfriend and be a stepdad like this and been in prison my whole life. It was a crazy thing, man. But I, so in prison, this is the power of having a vision.

In prison, I told my sister, I want to make this money. This is who I want to be. I have a picture of me two weeks out of prison. I'm in slacks, long sleeve shirt. I created this person in prison. So I was ready for the world, but I didn't know how I was going to do it. I wanted to, this is, you know, I wanted to create a movie when I, when I was in prison, I said, well, I'm going to document stuff with a cell phone.

And I'm going to send it home. I'm going to make a movie when I get out. I got a bunch of footage of me in prison right after a fight holding a knife. You know, I got pictures all over my TikToks of bagging up dope, you know. I got a bunch of footage fresh out of a shakedown. and ignorant stuff like, boy, I ain't get this phone. You need the YouTube, my friend. You need the YouTube.

So I wanted that because, so I wanted that so that I could show that I changed. So that was my goal and I'm going to push my book. I had this grand vision. Ironically enough, my life evolved into something like this because I wrote the book of self-help in prison. So I was like, well, I'm going to, the videos are going to capture their attention. And then I'm going to sell them the book of how you can change. And that was my whole strategy.

It didn't quite work out like that. Whenever I got out of prison, I ended up working at Applebee's for $2 and out. I couldn't get a job. I was pissed because I thought I was going to kill it. I was like, oh, I'm going to go in there. I know what you need from me as an employee. I hit them with all the good things. I was like, I know what you need.

I'm a good employee. I'm going to be responsible. They're like, you're hired. Go take this drug testing this background check. Boom, I go take it. I don't do drugs. So, boom, I get a rejection letter. Nothing.

From Applebee? Or just? No, from all over. So I ended up going to Applebee's and saying I'd never been in trouble before. And I started working at Applebee's. I have a post where it said, you know, I have bigger dreams, but Bill's call, hi, my name is Alan and welcome to Applebee's. That was my middle name.

Why do you think that that didn't set you back? Because you mentioned earlier that in your childhood, you felt like there was nothing better on the other side for you. There was no future in that sense. So in this moment, when you're out of a 15-year sentence and they're telling you, no, and you can't be anything more than this. How did you overcome that instance, not letting it derail you to going back to your old ways?

A vision. So a vision is vital. If anybody's listening, a vision, you're talking about somebody that can empower themselves, create a vision. If you know what's possible in that vision, and if you need to look at other people who have made it, that should be all the motivation you need.

So I created a vision. I ended up getting that job, and I ended up going and working like little side jobs. I posted on Facebook that I'll mow your grass. I'll pet your dog. I'll do whatever for money. And I ended up getting jobs immediately, $12, $13 an hour, $15 an hour. And my family was like, oh, you're doing amazing.

You're doing so great. And I was like, I rebuke you. I am not doing great. Do not limit me to this. And they were like, you're not being realistic. And you know what? If I would have let, if I would have not had a vision to make $75,000, a year. When I did make enough money to pay my bills, I would have stopped there, just like so many

other people stop, because that's the parameters that the one great thing that came out of not being in prison. I mean, being in prison is that I wasn't subjected to what the standard was out here. A lot of people are struggling, especially in the poverty area. So when a person's able to make $20 an hour, you know, they're like, oh, you're doing good. You're an ex-convict. You're doing $20 an hour. You're surviving. But I didn't have that input. So I was like, man, I'm trying to make $75. I ended up making $82,000 my first year plus my little side jobs that I did.

That's incredible. Yeah. Now, obviously, you don't work at Applebee's anymore. We're almost halfway through the year, and a lot of people are running on empty without fully realizing it. Grow therapy helps you find care that's covered by insurance before burnout becomes the baseline. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow, makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. They connect you with thousands of independent licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person

sessions nights and weekends. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability, and get started in as little as two days. And if something comes up, you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments, you just pay per session. Grow helps you for you for. Grow helps you for you for. find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0,000 depending on their plan. Visit growth therapy.com slash book now to get started. That's growth therapy.com slash book now.

Growtherapy.com slash book now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plans. tell people what you do now and why you're at the conference this week too so so that mindset that that that that I cultivated in prison I will rise and you will too I started telling people and when I started sharing it when I was I was working in sales and I was like you can do it too and they're like how are you doing it so I started sharing it with them and and what ended up happening was people I realize that so many people are hurting out here so many people are struggling people coming out of prison, people overcome an addiction, people going through a divorce, they lost their identity, they're trying to regain focus of life. And when I seen that, I said, I'm going to document my

journey about rising and helping others. So I cut on my phone and I said, I'm going to show you every single day in real time, pandemic, what it's like to navigate life and become everything you want to be. Because I had it in my mind. So I started doing this. And TikTok started doing pretty good. And, you know, back then, prison tucktokers weren't so, like, popular. So I started gaining followers. And after about a year, I traveled the country. I wanted to go explore freedom, like real freedom. So I lowered my cost of living. I bought a school bus. I traveled from Florida to California to New York. I got little sponsorships, five-star places. I had, it was amazing. I was living a dream, you know, but people still.

started to get like, you ain't doing nothing. You're just living off of TikTok. So the problem was they weren't, they weren't applying the information I was given them. So I said, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to structure it. I'm going to structure it. And then I'm going to present it to you that way that maybe you receive it better. So for the last year, last year, I wrote a workbook unlocking your greatest potential. I created four fundamentals that I, the mindset that was cultivated, that was forged in the fire.

I wrote four fundamentals. I went and got doctors, professors, therapists to put, you know, therapeutic, you know, clinical measures to it and back it up and say, hey, what do I need to change?

So then we wrote the workbook. We expounded on the fundamentals. And we published it. That's awesome. Yeah. So now we have, we have a workbook, we have a teacher's manual, and we are about to release it to the world. And people could buy that on like Amazon and-

Yeah, we're going to run a course. We just haven't, it's already published, it's already in print, but we haven't released it to the world because we don't want to release it, we don't want to compromise the integrity of what it can do. It can change anybody. I know it can because I'm sitting here. Those stories, those are, I don't like that the podcast is about that, because the power is in the change, but we highlighted that because that's who I was. And I'm no longer that person.

I've been out of prison five years, accomplished every dream, paid for my parents to go on their dream vacations, bought my mom a car. I traveled the country five times. I'm 800 credit score. You know what I'm saying? I'm doing good. Hallelujah. Amen.

That's a blessing. A lot of people don't make it. It was less than a 10% chance. So I know the power that it can. bring and we're about to release it. We're probably three months away, probably by the time this podcast hits, it'll be available. You can go check out our website at I WillRise and You Will2.org. We have a 13-person team. Absolutely amazing. I am not the leader. I am just an advocate of the mindset. Clotto led as a motivational speaker because I scream from the tops because I want people

to know what their true potential is. I say all the time that I will rise and you will too is dedicated to helping people discover the best version of themselves and build the bridges to get there. And I want them to know what the best version of themselves is because I only did what I knew. That's awesome. Well, Olet, thank you so much for coming on the show today. I'm glad we got the opportunity to do this. And I wish you the best, man. I'm so happy for your success and what you're building and your energy. You know, I knew from the day I met you had great energy. And that goes a long way in this business. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you.