Podcast #19 – Shelley Winner on Equity, Opportunity & Changing the System
Doug Dvorak (00:01.331)
Good day Mission Podcast community. I’m your host, Doug Dvorak, and I’m extremely excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests. These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities that not only enhance their lives, but also make a lasting impact on the communities around them. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations.
My guest today is Shelly Winner. Hi, Shelly. How are you today?
Shelley (00:33.696)
Hello. I’m doing excellent. Excited to be here.
Doug Dvorak (00:39.155)
Thank you for the privilege and honor of your time. Welcome to the Mission Possible podcast, Shelley Winner is a former top Microsoft sales professional who left the corporate world to dedicate herself full-time to Winner Circle, a company she founded to create pathways of opportunity for justice-involved individuals. As a passionate restorative justice advocate, Shelley is committed to reducing recidivism,
Shelley (00:45.614)
Thank you.
Doug Dvorak (01:07.443)
breaking down barriers to employment and advocating for the rights and dignity of those impacted by the criminal legal system. Shelley draws from her own experience lived and understands the challenges formerly incarcerated individuals face when reentering the workforce. Her work is deeply personal and powerfully informed by overcoming systemic biases, which fuels her drive to educate companies with the hopes to transform their hiring practices
and promote inclusive employment. She founded Winner Circle, an in-prison rehabilitative and vocational training program that equips incarcerated individuals with real-world business skills.
Doug Dvorak (02:05.694)
Shelley’s advocacy has reached national audiences through her TED Talk and a featured role in a PBS documentary series where she shares her story of resilience and reintegration. She is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on topics such as fair chance hiring, restorative justice, and creating equity in the workplace.
At the intersection of lived experience and leadership, Shelley’s mission is clear, to build a future where every person has the opportunity to thrive regardless of their past. I’m so excited, Shelley. Today’s topic for the Mission Possible podcast is redemption, reform, and restorative justice. So let’s ask you a couple questions here. Shelley, your…
Shelley (02:50.509)
you
Shelley (03:00.878)
Okay.
Doug Dvorak (03:01.896)
personal transformation is both inspiring and eye-opening. For those who may not know your story, can you share what led you down the path that ultimately landed you in the criminal justice system and how that experience reshaped your life’s purpose?
Shelley (03:16.428)
Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up with a father that was in and out of prison most of my life. And so he laid down, or he got me drunk for the first time when I was 11. I lived with him for a short period when high school and he laid down one rule. He said that if you ever want to do hard drugs, you have to do them with me. And my mom is often absent.
Shelley (04:36.63)
And so living in that environment, I eventually followed in my father’s footsteps by becoming an addict, a drug dealer, and eventually incarcerated. And right after my arrest, I found out I was pregnant. And so that was a huge turning point for me where I knew, okay, this is not just about me anymore. I need to change my life for my son.
I don’t want to be the same type of parent to him that my father was to me. And so I knew I needed to learn a different way of life because all I had been taught before was drugs, drinking, partying. And so for me, it was like, okay, now is the time. And so what I did was while I was still fighting my case, I was out on what’s called pre-trial.
and I got myself into a drug treatment center. And that’s where my journey of healing began. Yeah.
Doug Dvorak (05:38.59)
Excellent. Shelley, you’ve said before that being incarcerated didn’t break you, it woke you up. Can you tell us about the moment that shift happened and how it changed your direction?
Shelley (05:55.31)
Yeah, so well, there’s two moments that really shifted or woke me up. It was one, finding out I was pregnant and then two, it was
having access, realizing that I had access to a ton of rehabilitative programs that were going to teach me a different way of life and a different way to think and basically rewire my brain. And I was really excited and hungry for that. And so I spent my entire time in prison programming and I did, I don’t even know how many courses, I mean,
probably 50, 60 courses, all rehabilitative courses, teaching mindset, emotional intelligence.
I did classes on public speaking. did resume writing, interviewing skills. I mean, it was just program after program. And I was very fortunate because I was in a local prison that was easily accessible by volunteers. And so it was just flooded with programs. And that’s really what I attribute. All that personal development is what I attribute to the success
that I’ve been able to achieve.
Doug Dvorak (07:16.84)
So that set up that occurred with your dad and being introduced to drugs and to partying and drinking really set the stage for that challenge being arrested. But then once you were in prison, you recognized that I can be a victim or I could be a victor and really take advantage of those.
Shelley (07:31.96)
Yeah.
Shelley (07:37.953)
Exactly.
Doug Dvorak (07:40.156)
those opportunities for positive change. So you went from system involved to system challenger. You now stand on stages all over the world advocating for change. What was your first step into the world of restorative justice and public advocacy?
Shelley (07:46.688)
Right.
Shelley (07:52.289)
Yeah.
Shelley (07:58.574)
That’s a great question. This wasn’t the path that I ever saw my life going down. It just kind of happened. It kind of landed in my lap. And so I would say my first step into the world of restorative justice happened when I got a job at Microsoft.
And when they ran the background check, they rescinded my job offer, even though I had completely turned my life around. I leveraged a law in San Francisco called the Fair Chance Ordinance that protects people with criminal records from discrimination. And I won. And so for me, breaking past that barrier,
there were people that reached out that wanted to hear the story, that wanted to know more. And I was asked to do a keynote presentation at this hiring success event, which has a ton of recruiters, HR people, CEOs, like all the people that you would want to talk to and share the story with to change their hiring policies. I was asked to be the keynote speaker.
And that was the first time I’d ever gotten up on a stage and spoke publicly about it. I was so nervous, but it was, that was my first step into this restorative justice space. And the feedback and the response that I got from the audience and the people afterwards and the opportunities that it opened up after that moment was just incredible. And so I just continued down this path and I really realized how important my story is.
to people and to especially the formerly incarcerated, even the incarcerated community that they need to hear this. Even companies need to hear this because I’ve had incredible success at Microsoft too. Even though they didn’t want to hire me, I rose to the top. Yes.
Doug Dvorak (10:05.042)
or you’re being humble, you had an eight year incredible career and the number one Microsoft Surface rep worldwide. And I got to meet you, I think you were in year five when we did some sales coaching, but you’re very humble and as anyone knows, it’s a high performance culture at Microsoft and it’s a lot of stress and you have to produce and you did. And your story is just so inspiring, it hearkens me back to draw.
Shelley (10:18.306)
We did.
Shelley (10:26.862)
Yeah.
Doug Dvorak (10:33.31)
some loose parallels to Detroit Red and people say Detroit Red, Malcolm X, who was a pimp, a drug pusher and a criminal. similar to your impetus for change, he went into prison without wearing eyeglasses and then lights out at 9 p.m. and there was a 75 watt bulb about 10 yards from his cell and he creeped up to the cell and just
Shelley (10:39.126)
Okay.
Doug Dvorak (11:00.862)
but he had to squint his eyes and thus he became Malcolm X in that transformation and he was an impetus or a catalyst for social justice. So it’s really inspiring. Let’s talk about, you know, restorative justice and systematic change. For those new to the concept, how do you define restorative justice and why do you believe it’s a more efficient and humane approach or way to justice?
Shelley (11:03.342)
you
Shelley (11:28.226)
Well, I would describe restorative justice as the, I’d say the act of restoring people and helping them become a part of society and to make second chances the norm, or make second chances the standard, I should say, and the norm, so that everybody has a fair chance to become.
step into their true potential and become successful. And it really is a justice, right? We’re fighting for this opportunity to be at the same level as everybody else and have the same opportunities as everybody else and restoring the dignity back to people because whether somebody has a criminal record or not, at the end of the day, they’re still a human.
Shelley (12:54.7)
So if we limit people from opportunities like education or work or even housing, then we are creating a disservice to our communities, to our society because what…
What are we going to do with somebody who grew up with crime, who grew up breaking the law, and now they’re ready to change their life, get back on their feet, move in a different direction, but guess what? We won’t allow them to. So that’s what restorative justice is all about. Just helping people who are underserved communities get back into the world and be contributing successful members of society.
Doug Dvorak (13:38.266)
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Shelley, you often speak about accountability and healing being at the heart of restorative justice. How do these two concepts work together to rebuild communities and lives?
Shelley (15:24.225)
Okay.
Shelley (15:39.094)
I believe because accountability is one of the most important things a person needs to do. If they, especially if they’ve committed a crime and they want to move forward from it. Because not taking accountability, you’re basically dodging the, the impact that you made. you’re, you’re not taking it seriously and you’re still in some way, or form being a victim.
to the situation, but accountability is when you take back that power and you can become a victor. You can own what you did and you could recognize the harm it caused and then make a decision to never do that again. So that’s why accountability is so important.
Doug Dvorak (16:26.782)
I love it. And you know, the current administration with DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency and looking numbers and cutting. I don’t know what the exact number is, but I know that to, to house a, a, a inmate for a year is what? 38, 50,000, something like that.
Shelley (16:45.55)
It’s over 100,000. Yeah.
Doug Dvorak (16:48.402)
So I didn’t, a hundred thousand. So do you want to spend a hundred thousand or do you want to 10 or 20,000 to give those programs that you embraced that transformed you from a criminal to a contributing member of society, but really someone who.
understood and walked the walk but now talks the talk. But Shelley in your opinion what’s the biggest blind spots or failures in the current criminal justice system that restorative practices aim to repair?
Shelley (17:20.302)
So I’d say the biggest blind spot would be that statistically there’s only 44 % of prisons that offer rehabilitative programming. And a lot of 44%. So we need to invest in, all prisons should become rehabilitative prisons.
Doug Dvorak (17:37.278)
44 %
Shelley (17:48.41)
and they should focus and invest and spend money on these rehabilitations or rehabilitation programs, but they don’t. And a lot of the programs that are brought into the prison that are rehabilitative are from volunteers. Why isn’t our government doing more to support these individuals? Because 95 % of inmates will eventually be released, returning to our communities. And what do we want them released at?
The drug dealer, the gang banger, or someone who’s gone through rigorous rehabilitation, done a ton of rehabilitation programs, and will enter our community or society ready to contribute.
Doug Dvorak (18:36.094)
Excellent, excellent. $100,000, I had no idea that it was that expensive and I had no idea that 95 % of those incarcerated would be released back into their own communities and you don’t want that.
Shelley (18:41.088)
Yeah.
Shelley (18:48.142)
It’s actually cheaper to send them to Harvard or Yale. Yep. Yeah. Yep.
Doug Dvorak (18:57.486)
Wow, blows me away.
Shelly, you’ve worked with organizations and businesses that support second chance hiring. What does true support for returning citizens look like in the workplace?
Shelley (20:28.942)
True support for returning citizens looks like removing the barriers that keep people from getting a job at their company, whether that be a background check result. It’s important that people who are returning to society get jobs. And if companies are going to…
create barriers to employment.
Shelley (21:04.13)
They need to think about the consequences that’s gonna have on our community. And at the end of the day, we’re all humans. We all make mistakes. And I’m pretty sure, I’d say that most people probably have done something that could have landed them in jail or prison at some point in their life, but they just didn’t get caught.
But what is it going to help constantly judging somebody from the mistake that they made? Because they did, they paid their debt to society. They’re out now and they want to move on. And by limiting them, are, we are not allowing them to become their true potential. And I just don’t see the value in that. I don’t see the value in that for companies and I don’t see the value in that for the person who reentering our societies. And I don’t see the value in it for our, for, for our
community. you know, maybe I’m not asking companies to lower the bar, but I’m just asking them to lower the barrier because, you know, there are 70, well, now 80, 80 million people with a criminal record just in the United States. Yes, that’s like the entire
Doug Dvorak (22:03.998)
Love that.
Doug Dvorak (22:13.202)
Really? Now, are you talking parking tickets, speeding tickets when you say 80 million cri-
Shelley (22:19.83)
Whole range of people that have, so parking tickets and speeding tickets would not be considered criminal. That would be like an infraction. But yeah, so one in three individuals have a criminal record. So we’re talking, and to put that into perspective, that’s like the entire population of California and the entire population of Texas combined. And so we’re talking to like such a large group of people that
know, limiting them from opportunity is really going to devastate, you know, and not rehabilitating them also in prisons, right, is really going to devastate our communities because people don’t know what they don’t know until they learn a different way of life. But people can change and that’s a fact. And then if we have companies who are continually judging people for their past, for, you know, they get out, they’ve turned their life around. Like in my case, I did a lot of rehabilitative work,
But then when the background came back from Microsoft, they wanted to judge me on that person who I wasn’t even that person anymore. I was completely removed from that person, completely new mindset. My brain was rewired and I was ready to be a contributing member. And Microsoft said, no, you can’t because you made this mistake this many years ago and we don’t believe that you’re a good person. Yeah.
Doug Dvorak (23:44.822)
So Shelly, know systemic change takes time, but what progress have you seen that gives you hope? And are there specific programs or policies making a real difference today?
Shelley (23:57.068)
Yeah, so there are companies now
that will help companies become fair chance employers. So that means they’ll help companies learn how to hire these individuals, train their staff, and make their workforce more inclusive. And a lot of companies talk about DEI, right? Diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s a very hot topic, right? All companies are trying to have these massive DEI initiatives. But when you ask them, okay,
well how many firmly incarcerated do you hire? And they said, well we don’t. Well, I don’t think a company can truly be inclusive until they address their bias at every level. And that includes hiring of these individuals because they’re humans and they need to work too.
Doug Dvorak (24:51.678)
Excellent. So what is the proper nomenclature or how would how how do I refer to a formerly incarcerated individual? it?
Shelley (25:03.832)
formerly incarcerated, justice impacted, system impacted.
Doug Dvorak (25:09.03)
interesting. I never knew that. I want to be respectful when I do. I did volunteer in Chicago and ran some AA meetings about 10 years ago and it was it was really really interesting but gratifying to give back but more importantly see these individuals embrace sobriety, the 12 steps of AA and change their lives. So I know what those rehabilitative programs can offer. Let’s sort of
Shelley (25:11.683)
Yeah.
Shelley (25:30.583)
It is.
Doug Dvorak (25:35.378)
bend this to personal impact and public advocacy. Shelley, what does it feel like now to be a mentor or speak to those who are still incarcerated knowing your proof that change is possible?
Shelley (25:49.046)
I would say it’s one of the most fulfilling things in my life.
to be able to give back in that capacity to show people what’s possible if you can change the way that you think. Because everything is energy, even your thoughts. So if you can change your thoughts, you will change your energy and you will change your life. And to be able to teach that to others, I feel like I’ve cracked the code. That’s what I really feel like. And so now that I have this knowledge, I can go and share it with others.
It’s not like they teach us this stuff in school, but this is something that I want to teach and make sure that I can help this underserved community really break out of these mind barriers or these jails that they’re in inside in their mind. Because really, when I was incarcerated, I was more free.
because of the transformation that I had in my mind. I broke free from that prison in my mind. And so for me, it’s about, okay, educating others on how to do the same. I’m the case study, so I can show them, look, if I can do it, you can do it. So therefore, I feel like it’s my obligation to mentor, to share my story, and to help offer a path to get to where I’m at or to learn the tools that I’ve learned so that they can, whatever.
their idea of success is that they will no longer be held back by their own minds, that they can break free and then achieve whatever success is to them and that could be getting their children back, that could be getting married, that could be buying a house, that could be getting a certain job, you know, whatever that is. I want people to be able to have access to do that and the number one people don’t achieve success or step into their true potential is mainly because of fear.
Doug Dvorak (27:53.535)
That’s true, but I love what you said. The simple act of taking accountability, not being a victim, being a victor, but starting at the base, the foundation of habits, thinking, positive thoughts.
not having a victim moniker but being a victor and the power of those thoughts, the positive energy it creates. Now you’ve taken that positive energy and you’ve been a voice in rooms where real decisions are made. What’s it like to sit across from CEOs or lawmakers and tell your story? Do they always get it?
Shelley (28:11.214)
Yeah.
Shelley (28:27.158)
I think they, I yes, I don’t think I’ve been in a conversation to date where somebody didn’t get it because it’s common sense. What we’re talking about is common sense by.
you know, listening to my story and hearing that, you know, Microsoft didn’t want to give me a chance, but then I broke past those barriers. I was able to land the job. I was able to, you know, become their number one sales rep for computers in the world. You know, this shows that, okay, there is value. I mean, can’t tell me out of 80 million people, there’s nobody that can be, you know, an asset to a company. Cause you’ve got a lot of natural born hustlers.
of people that have drive that want the second chance, they’re hungry. And so it just makes sense when I share my story and they see the success I’ve achieved, it really makes them think, okay, maybe I’m thinking about this from the wrong perspective. Maybe there is some talent in this underserved community that maybe we should think about going after.
Doug Dvorak (29:38.175)
I’ve been in sales leadership roles and run global sales teams. I want all Shelleys because the one thing I can’t teach is hunger, desire, strong work ethic. And you had that in spades. Shelley, you often challenge stereotypes about formerly incarcerated individuals. What’s one assumption you’d love to see permanently erased from public perception?
Shelley (29:43.734)
you
Shelley (29:51.47)
Yeah.
Shelley (30:03.394)
that people who have been incarcerated are…
not as great of employees as those who haven’t been. That they are not going to bring value to their company. I mean, there’s a lot of them, but I’d say that’s the biggest.
Doug Dvorak (30:18.078)
Excellent.
Doug Dvorak (30:29.392)
And for those individuals that are considering hiring new employees or team members, it’s an underserved, unserved pocket of talent that, and you’re proof of that. Let’s talk about forgiveness. What does forgiveness mean for you, specifically both self-forgiveness and seeking it from others?
Shelley (30:51.89)
gosh, forgiveness is one of the most important tools in order to break free from your past and from the bondage of your past, whether that’s trauma, addiction, your family, you know, growing up in that toxic environment, right? You have to be able to forgive.
forgive other people, but you also need to forgive yourself. And if you can’t forgive others or forgive yourself, you are going to stay stuck. And some people might ask, well, how do I forgive this person? Because they did X, Y, Z to me, and to me, that’s unforgivable, right? And it’s like, okay, yeah, you have a right to not forgive them. And what they did was wrong, but…
With the unforgiveness, you are carrying that energy around. You are, and I use this, I don’t know if you’ve heard this term, but it’s like you drinking poison, hoping the other person dies. Yeah, so.
Doug Dvorak (31:55.334)
that wow
Shelley (31:57.452)
It’s like, okay, well, what is unforgiveness going to give you? All it’s going to give you is that justification for you to be right, to be angry. That’s all it’s going to do for you. And it’s going to continue to hold you back in life
Shelly, what role has community played in your healing and in your journey forward?
Shelley (33:01.549)
Okay.
Shelley (33:10.552)
So I would say the role the community played was opening up opportunities for me to share my story.
Like I said, after my situation with Microsoft and I was able to regain my employment, I had members of the community reach out to me asking me to come and speak. And so what that did was kind of scale my story and this message to really start changing the hearts and minds of other folks. And that in turn has made people rethink.
Okay, maybe judging these people, maybe not hiring these individuals is not in the best interest for…
our community. And so I’ve, I feel like I’ve really been embraced by my community and they really start to see and get the importance of this work. And to me, that’s so fulfilling. Like, yes.
Doug Dvorak (34:17.61)
Will you give up some great energy in your testament to forgiving and communities and all those incredible rehabilitative programs that you work so hard at? Shelley, if someone listening right now is justice involved or feels stuck in their past, what message would you give them?
Shelley (34:34.624)
I would say that nobody is stuck. You are only stuck if you think you’re stuck. And if you don’t know how to get out of it, the best way to get out of this, that type of thinking is to do personal development, is to develop the mind, to start rewiring the mind, doing different programs. There’s a great program that I did called Landmark Worldwide.
And I know some people might think, that’s a cult, this and that, right? But I’m going to tell you this right now. That program changed my life.
Doug Dvorak (35:10.696)
What is Landmark? I’ve not heard of it.
Shelley (35:12.48)
It’s a three day personal development workshop where it helps you break free from the stories of your past. And so what I mean by that is when things happen to us as a child, we create stories about that situation. So let’s say one time my mom got mad at me and she called me a name. Well, it affected me so bad when she called me that name that I created this story that my mom doesn’t love me anymore.
And so what happens is I grow up with this feeling of not being lovable because how can anyone love me if my own mom doesn’t love me?
So we create these stories and that’s just one example, but we create these stories and we mix the story with our reality. What Landmark helps you do is take the two apart so that you can recognize the story for what it is, that it’s not the reality, it’s not the truth, it was just a moment, your mom said something stupid, she’s a human being too who made a mistake, you don’t have to walk around feeling like you’re unlovable anymore, you can break free from that. And so once you can,
uncollapse the two, you have the, then you can move forward with your life. Now you’ve just freed up that energy that you’ve been carrying around that you’re unlovable to now do something more positive and productive. And it’s like having a huge weight lifted off your chest that you didn’t even know was there. And in those three days, and I’ve done a lot of personal development, but in those three days, it was like I was blind and now I see.
Doug Dvorak (36:51.73)
Really that impactful.
Shelley (36:52.41)
Yeah, it was that impactful on my life. to this day, all of the tools that I’ve used from the various programs that I’ve done, because I did the first one, then I went on to the advanced, then I went on to the communication course, and I did the advanced course, and I did a leadership training program. So for me, personal development is something that I realize
or I understand that has helped me break past these barriers. Personal development, I attribute to all of my success because it’s given me the strength and the courage to stand up and stand up against my own brain, right? With my self-limiting thoughts, my self-limiting beliefs. And so we’re not taught at birth how to do this. We have to learn, we have to develop these skills, we have to be given the tools. But once we have them, it’s like, pfft.
Anything’s possible at that point. And so I continue on this path of personal development. I will never stop. That’s my new drug. So if you want to get unstuck, you’ve got to rewire your brain because your brain is stuck and it’s everything that we’re stuck. Like whatever’s, whatever it is we’re struggling with, right, is all stems from the past.
Doug Dvorak (37:53.822)
Good for you.
Shelley (38:09.772)
So sometimes you need to take a look at like, okay, what’s holding me back? What am I still holding onto? Is it unforgiveness? Is it fear? Is it anger? You know, because those are very low vibrational emotions that will keep you operating on a very low frequency. The lower frequency that you operate on, you’re not going to achieve the results of the success that you want in life.
Doug Dvorak (38:35.854)
Well said. As we pivot to looking ahead, what’s next for you in this movement? Are there any upcoming projects, collaborations, or policy initiatives you’re especially excited about?
Shelley (38:49.272)
So as you’d mentioned in my bio, I started Winner Circle.
And so I’m so excited. So it’s a digital platform that is being launched in prisons across the United States and eventually globally. That’s my goal, my mission. I want to be in like every prison within the next five years. So we got our first contract. We’re getting ready to launch in one of the world’s largest private prisons. And that’s just exciting for me.
having other conversations with other states that are interested in launching our program as well. So we’ll see what happens there. I’m pretty confident that things are going to go well. And for me, it’s just like, let’s scale this work. Let’s scale rehabilitation in a way that it’s never been scaled. Because right now, when you think about rehabilitation, a lot of the programs are being brought in by volunteers. And they teach the program in the prison in person.
But you can’t scale. You can only scale so fast if, I mean, and you can’t scale that far. But with a digital platform, which is what Winner Circle offers, we can scale to all the prisons that have…
a digital learning system, Whether that’s the tablets, the laptops, the computer centers, where anybody who’s incarcerated now has access to rehabilitation in a way that they never had before. So like even the most remote prisons where they’re not easily accessible, they barely get any rehabilitative programs. And now they will.
Doug Dvorak (40:34.152)
So unpack for our listeners what Winners Circle Digital Platform is, just at a high level.
Shelley (40:40.46)
Yes, so it’s like a LinkedIn Learning meets Master Class, right? Where we bring in subject matter experts and we teach various topics. And so they watch videos and then after the video they’ll do, they’ll have multiple choice questions, they’ll have journaling and things like that. And so let’s say for example, we do, you know, we have a module on fear.
And we talk about fear and self-limiting beliefs and self-limiting thoughts. And then after that module, once they complete the test and the journaling and everything required of them, then they’ll move on to the next module. And then we’ll have a subject matter expert teach about forgiveness and why that’s important. And then the next module will be mindset, right? Why having a positive mindset is so important.
and we’ll have another, we have another course on energy. We break it down scientifically, like why energy? Cause everything is energy. Whether it’s the chair you’re sitting on, the table you eat dinner at, we are energy. Everything, if you go down to the cellular level, it’s energy, right? And so that’s why you have to understand how to change your energy.
and we give them the scientific reason why and the steps to do that. And it really starts up here on your thoughts.
Doug Dvorak (42:12.766)
incredibly exciting and I’m very enthused and convinced that it’s going to be widely successful. Shelley, if you had a national platform with millions watching, what would your one minute or less message be about restorative justice and redemption?
Shelley (42:20.43)
Thank you.
Shelley (42:30.198)
Restorative justice and redemption is so important for our communities and to allow people the chance to move on from their past, to be contributing members of society is the best thing that you can do to help our communities by allowing the hiring of these individuals, by forgiving these individuals, by not judging them based off of their past and really look at who they are today and focus on the person that they are today.
Like what work have they done to rehabilitate themselves? What is their character like? What strengths do they have? Because focusing on someone’s past, the past is the past. You can’t change that, right? So let’s stop focusing on that. Let’s stop making people wear these invisible handcuffs and let’s give them a chance to become their true potential and really just change the world.
You know, right now recidivism rates are 76%. So that means 76 % of people who get out of prison go right back within the first five years. And the number one reason is a lack of stable employment. So let’s send 76 % of people back to prison and spend our hard-earned tax dollars over $100,000 a year on these individuals, right? That doesn’t make sense. Yeah.
Doug Dvorak (43:49.119)
doesn’t make sense. Incredible data points. Now, my favorite part of the interview, the lighter side of Shelley, the rapid fire round, 10 questions. I’m going to ask you with a one word or short phrase description. Are you ready, Shelley? One word that describes your mission.
Shelley (44:04.973)
I’m ready.
Shelley (44:09.144)
transformation.
Doug Dvorak (44:10.716)
Most underrated book or documentary about justice reform.
Shelley (44:21.122)
the many lives of mama love.
Doug Dvorak (44:25.064)
Morning ritual you swear by.
Shelley (44:28.034)
meditation.
Doug Dvorak (44:29.416)
Favorite form of self care.
Shelley (44:39.522)
Meditation.
Doug Dvorak (44:42.45)
wrong answer. Most powerful speaker or activist you’ve met.
Shelley (44:48.334)
you
Shelley (44:54.05)
I’d have to say Ken Oliver.
Doug Dvorak (44:57.276)
your coffee order.
Shelley (44:59.158)
My coffee order. Coffee, just regular light, light roast coffee with two creams and two stevias.
Doug Dvorak (45:08.83)
Excellent. Your go-to motivational quote.
Shelley (45:13.954)
There isn’t a person you couldn’t learn to love once you hear their story.
Doug Dvorak (45:19.102)
Dream collaboration, any brand, person or non-profit.
Shelley (45:23.596)
Yes, jelly roll.
Doug Dvorak (45:25.938)
What’s your walk-on song or what song do you exercise to?
Shelley (45:33.314)
Work Bitch by Britney.
Doug Dvorak (45:37.64)
Mission possible means what to you in one sentence.
Shelley (45:49.048)
that anything is possible with the right mindset.
Doug Dvorak (45:51.55)
Excellent that anything is possible with the right mindset. guest has been Shelly winner former Microsoft sales executive world number one sales computer representative with Microsoft and now founder creator of winner circle launching her digital platform in prisons nationwide and eventually worldwide Shelly if somebody wants to get a hold of you, how can they get a hold of you if they want to engage you or hire you to speak?
Shelley (46:21.27)
Yes. So LinkedIn, if you just look up Shelley Winner, I pop right up, send me a message. Also my website. So the website is Winners Circle, Winners with an S. So WinnersCircleUS.com. You can send me a message on the website as well. You can also donate if you’re interested in supporting this cause and furthering this work. And the social media platform, you know, I’m on Facebook.
Instagram, so those are also platforms that give me a connect, send me a follow.
Doug Dvorak (46:57.926)
Awesome, awesome. I’ve truly enjoyed our podcast today on redemption, reform and restorative justice with Shelley Winner. Thank you Mission Podcast community. Check us out at missionpossible.biz. Subscribe, like and view. Carpe Diem.