The road from incarceration to entrepreneurship is lined with popcorn
Emily O’Brien is the founder of Comeback Snacks popcorn company. It all started when she went to prison. Before, Emily was an entrepreneur and social media professional, having created her own firm at a young age and enjoyed great success. Regrettably, addiction caused her to make some poor choices that culminated in a four-year jail term.
As her sentence began, Emily made it her mission to transform herself, get clean, and make a positive difference during her term. “I didn’t know how I’d make a difference at the time,” says Emily, “but I knew I would find something I cared about that would benefit from a purpose-driven facelift.”
Thus, Comeback Snacks (formerly known as Cons and Kernels) was born.
Upon her release, Emily made a decision to start a popcorn company that used high quality, health-conscious ingredients to create unique flavours inspired by the ones she found in prison. A fun, self-deprecating brand that would also help remove the stigma around people who had prior convictions and provide newly-released offenders with the chance at a fresh start through training, empowerment, and education.
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