22 | CATHERINE HOKE: Entrepreneurship in Prison, Second Chances, and Forgiveness




OFF RCRD with Cory Levy show

Summary: Catherine Hoke (@Catherine_Hoke) believes in second chances. This belief has helped her spread entrepreneurship to thousands of prisoners, and forgive herself during her darkest moments. As the Founder and CEO of Defy Ventures, Catherine and her team “transforms the lives of business leaders and people with criminal histories through their collaboration along the entrepreneurial journey.” Like the Entrepreneurs in Training (EIT) she works with, Catherine has also made mistakes. In a very public and embarrassing confession, Catherine was forced to resign from the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. It took time and the overwhelming support from her network to work through this very difficult situation. She also had to forgive herself. “We talk about how forgiveness is for me. Sure, it can be good for the other person too but forgiveness frees me, and when I choose not to forgive me or the other person I live in the past,” said Catherine. “The people I serve, they make big mistakes, but many of them were born into this future and this future can change,” said Catherine. “Many of them are natural born entrepreneurs who are incredibly scrappy and have better sales skills than I developed from my Cutco sales days.” Asked by Cory what she would say to someone going through their darkest moment in life, Catherine said, “You are not your past. You are not equal to the worst thing that you have done.” She continued, “If you want to keep being shackled to a past that you hate, don't forgive. You want to have a better future, reconcile your past, understand it so you can do your best not to repeat it.” Catherine is still continuing her mission to give the incarcerated second chances through her work with Defy Ventures, and has just released a book detailing her story, from the best days of her life to the worst. The book, A Second Chance: For You, For Me, And For The Rest of Us, is now available on Amazon. To hear more about Catherine’s fascinating story, her advice for you, and how she works with the incarcerated to turn them into entrepreneurs, listen to her interview with Cory Levy right here on OFF RCRD. Stay up to date and listen to every episode on OFFRCRD.com. New episodes are published each Tuesday. Connect with us on Twitter @OFFRCRD.