Ever Onward Podcast

Why Businesses Should Believe in Second Chance Hiring | Ever Onward - Ep. 125

• Ahlquist. • Season 1 • Episode 125

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In Episode 125 of the Ever Onward Podcast, Tommy Ahlquist sits down with Duane Sessions, President of Dennis Dillon, and Joey Looney to discuss second chance hiring, prison reentry, workforce opportunity, and the impact of giving people another chance.

Duane shares how Dennis Dillon has supported second chance employees for more than 20 years and why it has become one of the most rewarding parts of their company culture. Joey shares his personal story of addiction, incarceration, recovery, and rebuilding his life through trust, mentorship, and employment.

The conversation explores:
• Second chance hiring
• Work release programs in Idaho
• Reentry challenges after prison
• Housing and employment barriers
• Loyalty, mentorship, and leadership
• The ripple effect on families and communities

This is an honest conversation about accountability, redemption, business leadership, and creating opportunities for people to rebuild their lives.

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Second Chance Hiring And The Stakes

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to the Ever Onward Podcast. We are really excited for these next two uh episodes. Um we're gonna focus on second chance hiring. Um, over the last several months, couple years, I have uh gotten involved with uh helping someone that has uh been out of prison and getting back into the workforce, and it's been very eye-opening for me. Uh it's led to us uh starting a uh second chance coalition. Um I'm gonna have my co-chair on with me today. Um there's just a lot to learn. There's a lot of people once they go in uh to prison and the challenges they face getting back out and the the ability for the community um to see this as an asset and help them get to the next level. I'm really, really excited uh to talk to our guest uh today, Dwayne Sessions. He is the president of uh Dennis Dillon here in the Treasure Valley, and he's been uh participating in second chance hiring for the last um 20 years. He'll be our first episode. In our second episode, we'll have Bree Derrick, who's the director of the Department of Corrections, and a ton to learn from her. A little bit of background: there are 70 million Americans uh with a criminal record. In Idaho alone, our current prison population is 10,000 incarcerated individuals. So if you think about the cost of them coming out and going back, the recidivism and the inability to get back into society, uh, it's estimated that there's a$78 to$87 billion projected economic change in that delta if we could help keep them out. And more important than that, giving the second chance to these families uh to be reunited and thrive, uh just something that we can obviously learn more about and do better about here in the in the Treasure Valley. Um there's a stigma with with rehiring uh some of these folks, but according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Second Chance Business Coalition, 85% of HR and 81% of business leaders say that individuals with criminal records perform the same or better than employees without criminal records. It's going to be great to hear from Joey, um one of uh Dwayne's uh employees. Very thankful for him coming and joining us today, and then hearing from Dwayne today, uh, and then we'll hear from Director of Breed Derrick. I'm really excited for these two episodes. Thank you for joining us. For anyone that's uh new to our podcast or hasn't liked, shared, or given us a review, please do so. We sure appreciate you listening. Thank you. Joey. Yeah, thanks for having us. Uh this is gonna be excited. Dwayne, how you been? I've been good. How are you? In your intro, I said um I said all the great things about you, and then I said he's the guy I know that gets bucked off his horse more than anyone.

SPEAKER_01

Uh yes, broken ribs, punctured lungs, broken arms. Oh, good times.

SPEAKER_02

So there hasn't been any of that this spring. I haven't been on a horse yet. Because I worry about you like this spring when they're still a little feisty from the winter, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, I take him out to a trainer that kind of rides that off of them. But I was riding uh motorcycles all day yesterday up in the hills, so he's trying.

SPEAKER_02

Oh it's been a problem the last few years. I won't go into it, but uh we need to keep you healthy and and rolling here for you got a lot going on.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I had fun riding yesterday, but I prayed the whole time that I'd make it back in one piece, which I did. Uh, it's great.

The Dennis Dillon Culture

SPEAKER_02

And Joey, thanks for being here. This is great. Um, so just a little bit of background, and then uh would like to hear a little bit about you guys. But um uh Dwayne, I met you several years ago and became friends, and then didn't have any idea of what you had been doing to try to help with this second chance effort just organically on your own, and then kind of had a kind of a connection, and we're like, oh my gosh. And so now we're co-chairing this little effort, and Joey's been in part of it. So it's been really cool to see how much difference in the lives you can make with this topic we're on today, which is kind of the second chance still. So um, we're gonna have Breed Derek as one of the two episodes on these podcasts. I thought it'd be great to get to some real-time, real life stuff for our listeners and how you can make a difference in people's lives. So thanks for coming on today. I'm glad to be here. Uh tell us a little bit about you guys and then we'll we'll get rolling. Dwayne, start with you.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I'm uh pretty much a local boy, lived here most of my life. Um, I love Idaho, I love Boise, I love everything about it. Um, I'm a uh second generation uh car guy. My mom was uh an office manager back in the 50s at car dealerships. Uh at one point she worked for the manufacturer and went around to set it up new points, set up the accounting books and records. Um when she did it, it was uh all paper. And I always tell the story. I was working at uh back then it was Dan Webold Ford as a lot boy. I didn't have a fancy title like Porter or Valet, I was a lot boy. And uh in summertime, and I was ready to go home. It was after five, and then I'm up in my mom's office, and she her 10 key was one of the old ones that you punch the numbers in and you had to pull the lever. And she is just, I mean, this thing's smoking. She's going so fast. Oh my gosh. And I go, Mom, what's wrong? She goes, I'm out of balance. I gotta figure it out. And I said, Well, how far off are you? She said, a nickel. Wow. So anyway, um, pretty excited to I've always loved the car business and uh really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02

That must have been incredible, uh, watching her like be a leader and and work. And what else you learned from her?

SPEAKER_01

She when she was she was divorced with two boys in the 50s, and um it was definitely a man's world back then and some of the things she had to deal with. But one of the things I'm proudest of, my mom had a demonstrator, a car. She had a boat, and she told me that back then a woman could not be on a contract for uh a boat or a car. So she said I had to go find a man that would put it in his name so that I could have my boat and I made all the payments and everything. So she was uh uh definitely a woman ahead of her time. That's great, that's great. Joey, tell us a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_00

Uh like Dwayne, been in born and raised here in Boise, Idaho, right? Uh been here my whole life, 41, 41 years. Seen it uh seen it grow from I guess right here where it was all farmland to what it is now, right? Uh also second generation car in the car business. My dad did it for 41 years total, right? Right here in the valley. Uh majority of that was with uh with Ford, right? But uh yeah, definitely um love this city, love love what I do for a living, love being able to help people in different ways and uh help the company in the same aspect. We uh we have a really good thing over there at Dennis Dillon. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Talk a little bit about Dennis Dillon, because I think it's uh one of those, you know, companies that's been around forever here, kind of pillar of the community companies, do a lot to give back, but talk a little bit about that before we get rolling.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it's uh one of the last family-owned, locally operated uh dealerships here in in the Boise Valley. Uh it uh started out in 1975 uh with uh Dennis uh buying into a dealership in downtown uh Boise. It was actually right across the street from what used to be Larry Barnes Chevrolet and Bob Riceford. And uh he bought it out after a couple years. And I started in 2002, and Brad was just coming in, taking over the business. And uh, you know, Brad's uh married three girls, good family man. Uh he's been an absolute dream to work for for these uh 24 years. Well it's hard to believe I've been here that long, but uh it's been it's been really a great experience and a lot of opportunity for me to uh work and implement some of the things that I believed needed to be implemented or should be implemented to run a successful business.

SPEAKER_02

And you have Tis Talk, it's a it's big business. You have uh tell tell us how many total brands, and I know you do RV and you do you do a lot.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it would take an hour to list all the RV brands we carry. But uh, you know, the the car stores we have uh GMC, Mazda, Kia, Nissan, Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, and we just uh purchased the Mitsubishi franchise. Funny story about that, I've got to tell. Um I worked for uh Larry Miller, and uh when we bought the facility over where the Mitsubishi store is at, I first thing I did is I walked Brad back to the bedroom that or sorry, the office that I got fired in. And I said, yeah, this so we're gonna call it the Dwayne Sessions Memorial Office. Is there a good story behind that? Uh it's a long story.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, we'll move on, Joey, from that one. Oh, that's funny. That's great. That's great. 24 years with with Brad, that's great. Yeah, well, and then your RV uh business is going crazy right off the freeway. Do a great job. I I'm a I'm a frequenter over there, great people, great culture.

SPEAKER_01

Um that's a really fun dealership. Yeah, you walk into the facility and it it's uh it's um it's um unbelievable how uh how neat it is. I know uh a year or so ago my son-in-law brought my two grandsons in, and uh his name is Finn, and he walked in and his his I mean he just his eyes just got huge. He's looking at the motorcycles and the boats and the RVs and the four-wheelers, and it was uh and we always have to remind ourselves because we get used to it every day, that when customers walk in, it is really an exciting place.

A Personal Wake Up Call

SPEAKER_02

My my eyes get big, but for a different reason. I got a defender problem. I've got I think I've got two or three of them, but I've had them for like seven or eight years. Oh, you need a new one. Well, I went on down and I'm like ready for an upgrade. Holy smokes, like the price is like doubled. Anyway, they're awesome. The new ones are fantastic. Yeah, I never have to take my truck off-road anymore. Amazing. Pull the trailer off the side of the road and let's go. That's cool. Well, um, so um a little bit of a story, and then how we've so uh a couple years ago, a few years ago now, I was able to help a good friend who was gone through some stuff, got out of prison, um, was figuring out life, and uh it's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life because I I was doing it because genuinely I love him and he needed some help and a second chance. And it's been amazing. Uh uh I've learned a lot though, Dwayne, because when I went into it, I thought, oh, you know, it's I don't know what I thought. I just thought there's gonna be when when when he gets out, there's gonna be a lot of support and it's gonna be, you know, of course you wouldn't have just let people back out into society and not have a lot of support. But as I've watched him kind of go through that and understood housing, job, parole, um, how much you have to pay uh to cover I didn't I didn't I mean I don't think most people on the street know you pay for your own counseling, you pay for your own parole, you pay your restitution, and that number for him was like 700 bucks a month coming out with no job, no place to live, no place to live, four kids, been gone for a long time trying to figure this out, and and for me it was just like oh my gosh, like it was like I'm I don't know. I mean, I've been clipping through life, thought I knew the community, and I'm like, this is this is hard. Anyway, with with him, uh, it's been it's been great because as far as someone that wanted to come back out and really get right to it and figure it out. He had a lot to work for, had these kids that he had to try to figure life back out for. And now it's been a few years, and and I'm just so proud of him. He's absolutely um killed it in every way uh across the board. Um uh, you know, you look at what he's done, what he's created in our company. I watched what he's done with his kids and his family, has his own house now. He's just really done a great job. But um how this all came about and why we're here today is I need a new work truck. So I call my friend Dwayne. I'm like, hey, I need a work truck. And and in true Dwayne fashion, you're like, hey, go over, I'll have someone meet you and take care of you. So we went over and and I had him with me, and we pull into your lot, and he hops out and immediately recognized someone, runs up, gives him a big hug, and and I'm like, What's this? He's like, Yeah, I knew him when I was in prison. And so that made me call you and say, Hey, this is really cool. I said, I didn't know you helped people out there getting at it. So it's very an organic story, right? I mean, I call you and I'm like, hey, Dwayne, this was a really cool experience I had because Jeff knew someone that was on your lot that helped us, the salesman that ended up selling us the truck that day. Then you proceeded to tell me, I've been doing this for a long time. This is a great, this is a great thing we do, and it's good for the company. Uh, there's these programs out there, and you introduced me to a whole new world of second chance hiring and why you do it and why authentically it's been such a great thing. That we'll get into this because I'm gonna then I'm gonna shut up and let you kind of tell us what how and why. And I really want our listeners to understand what's out there already, because there's programs out there where you can really get involved and it's a resource. But then you introduced us to Joey, which was kind of you're like, hey, well, let me tell you one of our big stories and was able to meet you, and it's been incredible. So, with that introduction, uh uh it's been something you've done for a long time. Talk about why you do it, how you do it, some of the challenges, and some of the programs out there, and and Joey, chime in as you go, and and I'm sure we'll get to kind of your story as we go through this.

SPEAKER_01

Well, first, fortunately, I work for somebody who allows us to do this. And I'd love to say it's all uh it that's not self-serving at all, but it is because we all struggle with finding good employees. Don't you think that's key?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, we're we're we will think about whatever business you're out there listening to this today, your number one thing is talent. Where am I gonna get them? How many recruiting and retaining talent in the world we live in is probably priority number one for almost any business. Yeah. Whether you're selling cars or building buildings or doing lands, whatever you're doing, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of people uh and businesses, as soon as they find out somebody is uh you know getting out of prison or on work release or whatever, they're they're done. They don't even consider talking to them, they don't uh interview them to see is this uh is this a viable candidate? Is this somebody that can benefit the company? And uh uh fortunately we we do that. And uh we've uh we've had a lot of successes, we've had some failures. I mean, uh I'm not gonna tell you that's always perfect. Um there's times when customers have uh said some negative things about us because of the employees we've got. But uh, you know, all in all, it's it's been really, really successful. And then the second side of it is it's very satisfying to see people um who have made mistakes in their lives and uh come out and get serious and make a career out in the car business with us and uh succeed. Um I've told you the story that there was a there's a woman working for us, and it was a couple months ago, I was walking across the parking lot, and she came running and gave me a big hug, and she said, Dwayne, I just bought my first house. And she'd been out two two two or three years. And that feels good. And she's she's one of our prime managers. I mean, she is she's excellent, she is a definite asset to our company. And the other thing, Tommy, and I've told you this too, I think a lot of times the difference between me and this person getting out of prison is I didn't get caught. I mean, all of us, almost all of us, at one point we were young, well younger and dumber than we are now.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And uh, you know, I uh I just think it's kind of hypocritical to uh judge these people. They're they're uh out of prison, they've paid their debt to society, and uh I think it's important that we give them an opportunity to to come back and and have a positive, uh fruitful life.

SPEAKER_02

I think you've just hit on like you think about selfishly the employment, you're gonna get and I'm gonna talk about some of the services that wrap around and help people when you hire them, because that's important for people. That's selfish too. You get a great worker out of it, you get loyal employees when it works out. But I think the first thing you just said should be the reason. Like, why who are we to not give someone a chance? I I think that's been and and for for us, I mean, we've taken some heat and um it's been unfortunate. I don't want to go into I've been disappointed, man. I've I've had I've had what I thought were really good friends and people in the community call me and say, How on earth? Why? And I'm like, it I I honestly hung up the phone and I thought, why not? It's been so it it in instead of me feeling like even an iota of, oh, did I make the right decision? It was exactly opposite. Me too. I hung up that phone, I'm like, screw you. No, I why not? And in fact, I I thought, shame on like I didn't say it, but I wanted to say, shame on you. Because here's someone that's pretty self-righteous all the time about all the other social injustices in the world, and first to first to point all that out and then come at me because I'm giving someone a second chance. Shame on you. I think that that motivates me more. I think that one conversation, this all the second chance stuff we're doing, Dwayne. I'm like, screw it, I'm doubling down because this is the right thing to do.

SPEAKER_01

So anyway, I take it head on when someone and I I'm proud.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Joey’s Story And Earning Trust

SPEAKER_01

I am proud of what we were able to do and the people were able to help. Awesome. Let's talk about Joey a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

Sorry that you're like the poster child here, man. I don't I don't want you to I don't want you to feel that way, but but tell tell tell us your story, and and it's it's it's an incredible story. I mean, this is this is authentic and as real as it gets. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So I uh before we get started, I want to say something about Joey. Here we go. So I don't know how many years ago it was, but Joey's mother called me. I don't know her. She called me and said, My son Joey's getting out of prison. Will you hire him? Roughly how long ago is this? Roughly, roughly.

SPEAKER_02

2012. Yeah. So we're like 14 years ago. Yeah. Okay. Yep. You don't know her. Don't know her. No, she called me. How did she how did how did she know to call Dwayne?

SPEAKER_00

Me talking to her on the phone, right? And I had worked for Dennis Dillon for three years or two and a half years prior to you know, my mistakes, right? But and I'd always talked about Dwayne. I mean, you hear you hear the way he speaks, you hear how he talks. He's a humble man, right? I mean, who's gonna walk into their old workplace and tell you that's the office I got fired? Right. So uh yeah, I mean, she reached out to Dwayne because I I told her to and asked her to, and she said, Hey, what do you want me to say? I said, I just want to know if I can get that second chance. Right. And um What were you feeling?

SPEAKER_02

What were you feeling at the time? Well talk talk talk a little you don't have to go deep because I don't I don't want to. Yeah, no, no, no. But talk a little bit about um Dwayne kind of said it. I mean, you you get in there, you get caught, you're paying your debt, but what were you thinking at the time? You're what what's it what is it like to be there thinking about the life you have to shape when you get out?

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's a that's why it's hard to judge, right? Because you don't know we don't know how somebody has changed their life the time they've been incarcerated.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I, you know, I spent three and a half years and matured a lot while I was in there. You're forced to, right? I mean, think about where you are and all the different types of personalities you got to spend day to day around, right? It it uh if it shapes you, uh whether you like it or not, right? And it uh it definitely made it to where I had nothing but time to think about what I did wrong, how I could fix it, and what I could do moving forward to make a better impact on society and my own life and and three and a half years is a long time, Julie.

SPEAKER_02

It is, yeah. Like that's I mean, you think about we're sitting here in 2026, you know, that gets you out three and a half years, a lot happens in three and a half years.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

What's that how does time pass when you're in there?

SPEAKER_00

And how do you very slowly? Yeah. Uh you know, luckily, you know, you stay if you stay occupied, stay busy. Um, you know, whether that be programming, I mean, they have so many different resources in there. I can't even begin to tell you, like, you know, whether it's uh you want to get out and you want to be a master technician, yeah. Right. Uh you want to learn more about financial stuff.

SPEAKER_02

So let's talk so b rederrick will be the episode that's that's that's adjacent to this. A lot of programs in there, right? So there is a lot of retraining um helpful things while you're there to try to prepare you. How and do most people take to those? Is it what's it like when you're within the prison population and you have these opportunities?

SPEAKER_00

Speak to that a little bit. I mean, I think that there's you know, there's people that absolutely do take advantage of them because they're there and uh and they're paid for. It's not like you're having to have somebody put the money on your books in order to attend the class, right? They're paid for. And uh, you know, no different than in society, like you can you can choose your own path, right? And and pick. And if you decide, hey, I want to do illegal things, you could still do those illegal things in in prison, right? But uh a lot of people get in there and their time away from their family and their kids and their all their loved ones and and society and having all that time away to have to restart. I mean, that's where I've met some of the most talented individuals I've ever met in my life have have been behind those doors, right? And uh, you know, myself, I got addicted to opiates, so you know, I've been clean and sober for 17 years now, right? I uh I that's that's how that's how the path led me to prison, right? And uh, you know, three and a half years, most people I would have never imagined it was gonna be that long when I was going in. Um, I was thinking, well, I'll be out in another year, but I wouldn't also take it away because it's what made me who I am. Right. And and made me understand these people that are trying to sit in front of me and fill out on an application to every employer that they go look talk to is check that box that yes, they've had a felony in the last you know, seven years. Or and uh a lot of people feel like they need to lie, uh you know, when they fill out that application, and we always find out. I mean, every employer will. Uh so I just my advice to that is be honest.

Reentry Reality Housing Money Work

SPEAKER_02

It there's no can I I'm gonna slow you down and only because I don't I I think it's as you get into this space, and I've I started, I I started a few years ago, someone asked me to be on a uh a committee or board to try to help with this, and that's and this has kind of progressed for me, but I've never had anyone I could ask these questions to. So I want to ask you because if you look at recidivism rates in Idaho, no one wants recidivism, right? Oh no. Taxpayers don't want recidivism, the prison system doesn't want recidivism, the people coming out don't want to go back. I mean, but it's a problem, right? So so you have you have uh the department, and Bree speaks to this, all the things they're doing, and they're trying, and I think times are changing, they're getting better at at uh helping people, and then you have this point when you go, right? So talk to us about in your mind, from your perspective, how hard it is when you because I don't think they intend it to be hard, but it is. It's brutally hard for most people to come out facing the financial realities, the housing realities. Got to get a job, gotta figure it, and you gotta go back into whatever your social situation and network was before. Talk about those challenges for our listeners to understand what it's like being in those positions.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I'd say first thing, it's like, you know, you're not, you're probably not gonna be able to rent a place uh unless you have a job. Um, and when you first get out, I'd say that's the biggest challenge is in employers that are open and willing to hire people with a record. And uh it's very, very tough, right? Because yeah, like you said, you got to get out, you have classes you got to attend and pay for. You got cost of supervision, you got to feed yourself, feed your family if you've got family. Uh and a lot of people get out and they don't have that support, they don't have a support network of family and friends that they can lean on, right? And I'd say that's probably the most crucial time period is that first month because I think that uh guys get out and they say they don't find a job right away, right? They go and they look for jobs. Normally, you know, people fall back into the things that they're comfortable with or what they know, you know, and that that life might have been not a good one prior to that, right? So that's where I feel like the more companies that are willing to do this and help people, that's why it's a you know, it's for the greater good. Uh I I do believe that. I think that there's a lot of not I mean, not just what we can do for these individuals coming out, but for the companies too. I mean, it uh like Dwayne said, so we've had some, I mean myself too, but you know, we've had a lot of success and and people that have pretty severe records that if if I wrote down on paper, you'd be like, what are you thinking? Right?

SPEAKER_02

It's not just it's not just the employee either, the family, right? Dwayne, if you sat and you've been doing this for a long time now, helping people, if you start multiplying that and you you're able to help someone get out, get stable, and watch those kids then get into a situation where they're able to thrive and do well. I mean, this thing has ripple effects that just keep going, right?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah. The network um of other people, like, you know, obviously the people that I would have surrounded myself with while I was in prison are people that I feel like were like-minded and ready to change their lives. So some of those, you know, and and we've hired some, and some of them have been very, very successful. Some haven't, right? It uh there's definitely, I mean, no different than a normal employee. I mean, we we we we hire people all the time that we make mistakes on.

SPEAKER_02

Hey, listen, I I'm I'm I the older I get, the less I know about hiring. I think I'm wrong 50% of the time. I just don't know which 50% hey, Miller had to fire me, so Miller was obviously wrong.

SPEAKER_00

They were. They're lost, right? Um and Dwayne always used to say, hey, that self-gratifying feeling of when you you know make the right decision and you give somebody a second chance and they and they capitalize and they and they you know now they have you know families, kids that well that's Joey.

SPEAKER_01

He gets out, sells for several years, make him a manager. He's got an awesome wife, met his wife. She's half his height, he's really tall, and uh got married, then he bought a house, and they have two beautiful daughters. And I mean, that's that's that's the deal.

SPEAKER_02

Build a life.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I totally interrupted the story. So your mom calls you Dwayne. Now now we'll tell the story. But I think it was good to understand like where where you were and what you were thinking.

SPEAKER_01

Well, there isn't much more to the story. We hired him as a salesman. We So, what'd you say to her? You can't jump forward that quick. No, I said yes. I was scared.

SPEAKER_00

I've heard about her. Yeah. I'll never forget when I first got out. Um Dwayne had said yes to my mom, and that was several months before I actually got out, but I'll never forget. I before I uh made the mistakes I did and and spent the time in prison that I did, I I worked at our Nissan store. And I wasn't in a I I was not in a good place, right? I mean, it's just well, I I when I first got out, I should have probably just called Dwayne directly, but instead I called my old boss at the Nissan store, and he uh he told me, Yeah, we'll we'll never hire you again. Uh so uh and I ended up heading up to the GMC store and got an opportunity there, and uh some of the best, I mean, that was one of the greatest feelings in the world is six months later I've got him, the guy that told me he'd would never hire you again, uh, saying, Man, I made a mistake, right? That's cool.

SPEAKER_02

You know, uh did you have a fire burning in you to kind of just what was it? Would you like want to I mean you you're probably a little unsure of yourself, right? Sure, yeah. Just because you're you're like, hey, how's this gonna go? But you want to prove people wrong. And yeah, broken. How motivated were you?

Momentum Loyalty And Mentorship

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, extremely, because I can tell you that you know, there had been lots of time in the past that I told people I was gonna do something that I didn't, right? And I didn't follow through with my commitments. So this time I just wanted to show them that you can trust me and I can follow through with those commitments, and I will I will do the things I say I'm going to do, right? And and it being able to prove that and have people say, hey, I was wrong. I mean, even from counselors in the program back when I was out there, I I've seen in public that that Fred Meyer and you know, they're they're like, Joey, I would have never thought that you, you know, and I said, Well, that's one of the things that motivated me, yeah, right, was to be able to have you say this.

SPEAKER_02

Speak a little bit to the word momentum, because I think uh you talk to some people that that go down the slippery slope into where it got you in trouble, and that's momentum, right? You start Yeah, definitely a downward momentum. Bad, bad choices kind of lead to more, and you kind of start telling some lies and start getting yourself, and then all of a sudden you find yourself in a bad spot. But talk about the positive sides of momentum when you come out and how stringing a couple of those, you know, you get a job, you start making some good decisions, you start getting some confidence in yourself. Talk talk about that, because I think for those listening today, that's what that's what the employer can help build, right? You need that first kind of you need that ball to start rolling, right?

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, and it helped keep me sober. Uh I mean, you know, having people like Dwayne and and Brad and my family, and those people tell me, hey, we're proud of you, we you know, we see the impact, we see what you're doing, right? Just keep doing it. Those are the reminders and things that I always told myself when I was in those situations that I, you know, it's like you can pick a path and and like I said, most people go to the path that they're used to, and that's that's uh that's a tough one. But man, the just being able to get out and find employment with with Dennis Dillon and hit the ground running. I knew I was motivated, I knew I could sell cars, I just didn't know how well I could sell cars, right? And I didn't know that I could be such a good employee, right? Because I had never never done that before, right? So I didn't I didn't know what that even looked like. I didn't know what true work ethic looked like, right? But uh had a pretty good idea, right? Just follow through with what I say I'm gonna do and show up to work and and and be a leader, right? And it uh yeah, I I wouldn't I wouldn't take it back for anything.

SPEAKER_02

I mean talking about two words, what they mean to you at this point. One is loyalty, and two is the import of mentorship from a guy like Dwayne.

Culture That Trains Leaders

SPEAKER_00

Loyalty, um, I mean, it goes a long way, right? It uh it with that I feel like it has so many different branches to it, right? From respect and and all those things, but I feel like staying loyal to the same place and being able to show somebody like Dwayne and Brad and Dennis Dillon and the company that the chance you took on me was worth it, right? Uh and and being able to show that through action and not through words, right? And that's how I've always operated in the past is I I'll just tell them, you know, well what about showing them, you know, and and uh yeah, it I mean it means a lot to me because they were loyal to me, they you know, and they still show me that that same love and appreciation like it was yesterday, right? And it's been a long time now, 14 years. So it uh time flies, right? Yeah. Mentorship. Mentorship, uh man, I can tell you that having a positive leader and somebody that you can look up to and see that, hey, they understand where you're coming from or what you've been through is priceless. Uh I can tell you just being able to be a leader in my store and see guys and understand where they're coming from has been of extreme value to me, right? If you don't have the experience and never been through something, like like Dwayne was saying, maybe you didn't get caught, maybe maybe you just weren't involved in that type of lifestyle, but it brought me that much more awareness of what somebody might be going through and a little bit more empathy, right? And uh it help helped me be a better leader and mentor to other people. But uh, because I know this if you know, if I didn't have support and the people that told me, hey Joey, great job, we see what you're doing, keep it up, right? Those things are like more valuable than anybody could even imagine, right? I love it.

SPEAKER_01

So I am a small cog in the whole program we have at Dennis Dolan. Um, the we talk about mentorship and loyalty. It's really comes down to culture, and we have worked really hard to hire mostly from within and train managers that have the same view uh with culture and the mentorship and trying to help and elevate those that are around us. We always talk about who you need to be trained in your replacement. Who is your replacement? And uh we've been fortunate to to hire some people that just are incredible that helped get that culture throughout the store. And you come to one of our meetings at the end of the month, and we have a big meeting, there's probably what, 50 people in it, all the managers and finance managers, and and it it's almost like a uh, oh, I don't know, it's uh I don't say rah-rah, but it it's like uh a motivational seminar. Love that. And how everybody is is pulling the same direction.

Work Release Programs Employers Can Use

SPEAKER_02

Love it. Dwayne, let's shift gears a little bit. Um, talk about because you know this well, for those listening, there are programs out there. Um, and there are ways, so if anyone's listening thinking, hey, I want to look into this, what what can I do? And and Bree will talk a little bit about this, but um, talk a little bit about your interaction with the department and what resources they have when they come out for different people.

SPEAKER_01

Well, my favorite program is a work release program. And I what I can't remember what the technical name is, it I can't either. Community work center. Community work center. And um so these are people that are still incarcerated. They're usually uh less than two years before they're gonna be released, and they are allowed to go out and get jobs in the community. And uh they're the best employees. Uh they get dropped off at nine in the morning, they get picked up at six o'clock. If they step that far out of line, they're they're back. And um the the thing that's neat is they they they get paid well, and yeah, a lot of their check does go to pay for the program, but they start a savings account. So when they get out, it's huge, they've got a job, they've got some money in the bank, they can go get an apartment, and um it's uh it's a really uh really good program. I uh I will tell you though that you you got to make sure you understand the parameters of the program because at one point we did not, and we actually had um a person that we facilitated in getting themselves thrown back in. It was it was on us because we just didn't understand the program. And I called, and I can't remember the lady's name, and she was tough. Um I called and and helped her understand that this was just fully on us that that we'd made the mistake, and so we we got trained and we understand, and uh uh but they're they're model employees.

SPEAKER_02

And the that program, they're very willing to help orient a business, talk them through, train them, you know, provide resources for them.

SPEAKER_00

Very, very much so. They, I mean, they'll come to the facility, walk you through all that personally. Um obviously I've had a lot of experience hiring people from the work center, but uh they bring them to you to get the you know, fill out an application and have an interview. Uh and if you ever need them picked up early or they're early, they're they're there. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01

And they work six days a week and they don't complain.

SPEAKER_02

I I mean that's if you think about again the the precious commodity of employees right now. I mean, uh, how do you recruit and retain people? That's uh that's a resource that I don't think a lot of people know about. So um, hey Matty, why don't we put a link uh in for people? Because that's the community.

SPEAKER_00

Uh community CRC, so community resource work center or CR CRWC, right?

Halfway Houses And The Housing Crunch

SPEAKER_02

But and um we'll we'll we'll provide that so people can look that up. We've we've talked a little bit about it, we'll talk with Brie about that too. Um let's talk a little bit about housing. I I just I don't know that we need to get too deep into it, but that's the other thing that we need to figure out more of and how to help folks because that's you get a job, job helps you with that momentum, it helps you with self-esteem, it helps you with the dollars that you need, but you gotta also find a place to live, right? How hard is that for folks?

SPEAKER_00

Man, it's it's very, very tough. There's uh they call them halfway houses. Yeah. Um and uh, you know, personally, I'm like, you know, you don't know you you could have 10 roommates in that halfway house, so you don't know if all 10 are on the right path, right? So it's very, very tough, right? You put you could have 10 people in that house, one person that doesn't care and it's okay going back to prison, and and ultimately, you know, they they bring down others, yeah. But I've also seen it in retrospect where but they're very organized. But the problem is there's just not enough of them. Yeah, there's the I'd say there's probably a total of less than 10 actual halfway houses here in the Boise Valley. And uh they are cheaper, like you know, everyone's paying uh 600 or whatever odd dollars per month for their room. Uh so it would be a little bit less expensive than it would be to go to like a you know, rent a place or or or an apartment. But I've I've always thought, man, what that could also be a huge impact because I feel like if uh if there was more opportunity and more of these halfway houses for people to be able to go out to, there would be less people going back. Yeah. And there would be less uh uh relapse per se.

SPEAKER_02

And yeah, you start you start. I remember um just going through like a budget when my friend came out. I was like, oh my gosh, so you're gonna take 700 bucks a month, what whatever it was to just kind of do that. You add housing on top of that, you add transportation on top of that, and then you say, Okay, you got you got now you can and think about after four years of trying to say, now my kids are waiting, they're ready, they're behind on things they need, and you you start, it's sobering, right? Yeah. But that housing chunk, especially with the run-up in the market we've had here, it's hard to find places to even rent market rate that's not$1,500,$1,600,$2,000 a month. You look at just almost anywhere for that. So those are things that I think those are bigger, harder problems to solve. Any community that's booming like we are has housing challenges for everyone. But sometimes you think about people that are coming out with the hardest challenges, it's exponentially even harder, right? To find things. So um, boy, this went by really fast.

SPEAKER_00

Is it? Is it already been an hour?

Final Lessons And What Comes Next

SPEAKER_02

It's been an hour already. Um any any parting thoughts? Uh go go first with you, Joey, and then you, Dwayne.

SPEAKER_00

I'm just uh extremely grateful uh that I had the opportunity. And you know, I mean, no one would ever say they're grateful to go to prison, but uh I am. Uh and grateful for companies like Dennis Dillon, right? That and Brad that give us that opportunity to be able to, you know, better our lives. Because sometimes is I feel like that second chance of just the job could be the piece that really amplifies everything for that person. So that's that's all I'd say is if you've been closed-minded to this, give it give it thought because it's worth it. I love that.

SPEAKER_01

We talked a lot about loyalty, and I will tell you a lot of these people that we've given a second chance, they are so fiercely loyal to us and to the company. And then on top of that, as we've built this program, they also watch out for the new guys that are coming on and police them and start seeing them maybe hanging out with some of the the crowd they shouldn't be hanging out with, and they they call them on the carpet, and uh it's um it's really uh been a rewarding experience for us. Uh a little bit of it's uh self centered because we get we got some really good employees, but watching these people come out, get you know, get their lives in order, get married, have kids, buy a house, Joey just Recently got his hunting privileges back. I took a milk hunting last year.

SPEAKER_00

Did you do one? I did.

unknown

I did.

SPEAKER_00

Awesome. Dwayne Dwayne basically walked me right into them and said, Here now, this is how. So you went with the right guy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That's awesome. Well, um, so a couple things in closing for those listening. Um, Dwayne and I are co-chairing an effort. We don't even it we're we're kind of building the plane while we're flying it. But our our our goal from our last meeting is even if we could get a website that was a resource where people could go and find all the existing programs, find some of the tools that are out there and ways to connect and and look into this, that's going to be that's kind of the low bar for us, Dwayne. But we want it we want to make a difference and try to get the Treasure Valley community, work with the chambers of commerce to getting people talking about this, understanding what resources are there so that they can um you you you just said it like selfishly go find some loyal folks that can come work, but but most importantly, by far make a difference in the lives of people. Give them a second chance at life and and watch the ripple effects of that as they as they thrive. Joey, I'm proud of you, man. Thank you. It's a cool deal. And I thanks for coming on. I know it's probably not the easiest thing to come and talk about this, but it's super inspiring. Uh it it's awesome to hear the story and just know that you're thriving. And and Dwayne, you're a good dude, man. You're one of the best guys I've ever known. So it's just fun to it's fun to do stuff like this with people that you respect and look up to and appreciate it. Just a regular guy. Yeah, it's what makes you so awesome, man. Thanks. Amen. Thanks, everybody. Thank you.