Breaking Free Industries is a social enterprise apparel printing company based in southern California. More than an apparel printing company though, we are exclusively a second chance employer. This means that all of our team members have been judicially involved.We live in the incarceration nation. We systematically entrap, cage, and then discard those who have gone through the criminal justice system. two thirds of those released from incarceration will be re-arrested within three years. 77% of those released will be re-arrested within five years. The unemployment rate of a returning citizen is upwards of 10x the general population. At a minimum, we’d like to think that after a person pays their debt to society, they can resume a normal life. But with resources such as Google, and the inexpensive, yet effective background check, we are one click away from finding out anything we can possibly want to know about a prospective job candidate. Breaking Free will not follow the prevailing corporate dogma. We all have committed offenses that could have landed us in jail. We have all committed offenses that even if not illegal, may have fallen short of our own moral standards. Rather than judge what may have happened in our worst moments, we seek to find a way forward. Our interview consists of three primary questions:What can you do?What do you want to do?What can we do to help you get there?Implicit in these questions, is an ear for ambition and drive. We are hoping that the energy, the patterns, or the behaviors that got someone in trouble are in the past and that a second chance is needed to turn the page. The financial services sector cutely mentions in their advertisements that past performance is no guarantee of future results...we, at Breaking Free, are planning on that. Additionally, we partner with re-entry programs who help us identify talent that are ready to positively impact our workplace. Yes, the likelihood of re-arrest (recidivism) is present. But why? The prevailing answer is that these are criminals, and they need to be monitored - so we wait for the misstep and have them re-incarcerated. We expect failure and get it. But if we step back, lacking a job, access to credit, and lacking access to housing - what do we think is going to happen? Returning citizens can return to the life they may have always known. We seek to stop that cycle. Every willing and courageous person deserves a second chance and Breaking Free Industries will do that!