YORKTON - Emily O’Brien made a mistake.
She got in with the wrong person who had her trying to smuggle cocaine into Canada. She was caught at the airport in Toronto, pleaded guilty to trafficking, and was sentenced to four years in jail.
O’Brien said she remembers going into the jail in shackles, wrist-to-wrist, ankle to ankle, and the sound of the iron bars clanging shut behind her.
It was a difficult experience but one O’Brien said ended up changing her life in a very positive fashion.
“Prison in many ways saved my life,” she told those attending the FCC Young Farmer Summit in Yorkton Wednesday.
It was while in prison O’Brien started Cons & Kernels (now Comeback Snacks), a popcorn snack line now in 700 locations.
While noting in business the financial bottom line is crucial in order to keep operation, there is more to Comeback Snacks for O’Brien than money.
O’Brien said she believes as an entrepreneur emotional profit is just as important in business.
“I think all of us want to generate emotional profit,” she said.
The popcorn business provided O’Brien with that opportunity.
In jail “it was a comfort food,” that allowed inmates to work together. “Popcorn brought us together,” said O’Brien.
While still in prison O’Brien began building a business, one that she was able to pursue fully upon her release.
“Another chance at life was possible,” she said. “No matter what, you can always change how you will react to anything.”
Part of that process is knowing the person in the mirror.
“First you need to understand yourself before you can understand your business,” said O’Brien.
That understanding often requires being ready to forgive, others and yourself for past issues so you can move forward, she added.
“What forgiveness does, it returns balance,” said O’Brien, adding the old transgressions “. . . no longer haunt us. They’re gone.”
Certainly time in jail gave O’Brien a level of resiliency, which she added has to be earned, that it cannot be bought or borrowed.
“Don’t let one problem stop you,” she said. “Resiliency is what will sustain you when things get tougher . . . If you can adapt and learn you can survive.”
Starting in her mother’s kitchen O’Brien built her brand, her bottom line and her emotional profit.
The emotional profit comes from helping others, which often means hiring others who have served time in jail. O’Brien said it’s not easy for those with a record to find employment but having gone through it herself she understands most just want another chance.
“Emotional profit comes from changing the world in ways I believe in,” she said, adding that means helping others where she can and making a product she loves.
