January 15, 2015
Do Your Homework
Over lunch in New York city last November a mentor told me I should not bash my competitors. It shows weakness and detracts from the business, he said. With those thoughts in mind, and in the interest of time, I will be more polite than I might have been had I not been given that advice. To put it simply there is a lot of scum–hold on, someone could read that and think I am bashing. I am going to take a few minute break from this blog to find the correct word.
Okay, I have returned and deduced, much to my mentors chagrin, the only word to describe some in my business is scum. I cannot resist. In fact, I would comfortably say most in this game are bold faced liars. Other than serving time they have not really walked the walk, as the cliche holds. They have neither documented how they are qualified to offer prison advice nor do they have the testimonials (I mean real testimonials with a first and last name that they did not write) to back it up.
What most of these people have learned to do, however, is play on fear and offer assurances and guarantees that simply do not exist. One former guard turned consultant tells his clients that he can guarantee a designation and that because he worked as a guard he has influence inside the prison. And the price for that guarantee? Seven-thousand five hundred! When it does not happen he goes dark, does not accept the email invite from the prison, and hopes the issue will resolve itself over time–in sum the prisoner eventually grows tired of fighting from the wrong side of prison boundaries.
I do not want to use the word scum again so I am pulling out the dictionary app on my iPhone to find some synonyms for this character. Some options for us to consider: A) Dreg of society; B) Lowest of the low (simple but profound); C) Lowlife; D) All of the above.
Most others of course play on fear: How to survive prison? Really? Our country, I think, releases more than 700,000 people a year. They all survived prison. The whole approach they take is adolescent, and lacks any shred of ethics, reason or data to support their claims. For clarity, other than two people in this field, I do not consider any of them my colleagues.
Why the sudden rage? This rage I feel stems from a call I received from a worried mother. She was trying to help her son with an issue he is facing and some charlatan made a promise, and in so doing squeezed some funds out of her. Of course, he did not deliver and it took a call from me to get the issue resolved.
I highly encourage people to conduct their due diligence, to check references (I frequently put prospects on the phone with my clients), and to access the consultants history through prison. Certainly, I am proud of the ethical business I have built since my release from prison. If I did not have such a passion for consulting and helping others through the system I would have continued pursing a full time speaking career. (Note, I will be giving a keynote speech to more than 1,000 money managers in New York City on Feb 10). I consult and create these programs because I love it. Yes, I have to earn a living. Still, repeatedly my clients tell me the investment they made in me was one of the best decisions they have made.
To close, before considering myself an author or speaker, I proudly consider myself a prison and ethics consultant who has committed his working live to helping others emerge stronger from this experience with their reputation and dignity in tact. I wish others in this industry would follow my lead.
Justin Paperny
P.S. – I received two inquiries today and one last week about the residential drug abuse program at Lompoc. I can confirm RDAP is closed at the camp, and those prisoners waiting to enter RDAP will have to be transferred–most likely to Sheridan, Oregon. JP
