Mark This! is a podcast in which we peel back the corporate curtain to reveal the cool and innovative people, programs, and projects that are happening all over Aramark’s varied lines of business. These remarkable initiatives happen because we have remarkable people behind them--building opportunity, building innovation, and building community.
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Mark This! Podcast, Episode 19: I2W Graduates Speak
Host: Heather Dotchel, Corporate Communications
Guests: Jason, Michelle, Chris, Gene, Emil, Anntionetta
It is time to mark this, a podcast in which we peel back the corporate curtain to reveal the cool and innovative people, programs and projects that are happening all over Aramark's varied lines of business. I'm Heather Dotchel. As a member of Aramark's Communications team, I see and hear amazing things that are happening across our company every day. These remarkable initiatives happen because we have remarkable people behind them, building opportunity, building innovation, and building community. We are breaking with some of our traditional format in this episode to speak with graduates of Aramark's program IN2WORK, an educational pathway to post-incarceration success. If you have been a long time listener, you might remember that one of our first episodes was about our IN2WORK program, and featured Aramark Correctional Services President and CEO Tim Barttrum, and IN2WORK director Nicole McVaugh. Today, we are speaking to graduates of the IN2WORK program who are now working post-release with Aramark, and some who are still awaiting release.
We thought it was important that our graduates' voices are heard. Aramark is dedicated to and proud of our program, but it is the impact on its graduates that truly matters. We've recorded this episode in a few separate sessions, so it may sound different than our usual format. Some of my questions or transitions were re-recorded in post-production for clarity, and our guests' answers have been spliced together to give a cohesive feel to the conversation. Because of this, you may hear shifts in recording tone, and we wanted to be transparent about that. Let's begin with our guests introducing themselves.
Yes, my name is Jason. I'm at a facility in Indiana. I've been incarcerated since 1998. I've had an incredible life in prison. I grew up, basically, in prison. I spent 17 years in the gang life, and now eight years as a Christian. Food service has changed my life, given the opportunities through this program. It presents me with great opportunities for success out there, meeting new people, good, healthy people in my life, removing the ones that aren't so healthy. Just making good, sound decisions, and continuing to build upon the success of these past eight years.
Hi, my name's Michelle, and I'm an IN2WORK graduate from a facility located in Ohio. I've been out for about a year now, and I'm currently working at a prison in Ohio, and just started a management position. It involves assisting the food service director, monitoring the productions and the meals, and overseeing the line coordinators, that they're doing their job. I'm also doing many other things there. I'm doing the pools, the production pools for the seasonings, the 1181s, paperwork and orientations.
Hi, my name is Chris, and I am a former IN2WORK student. I was graduated from that in the state of West Virginia, at a corrections facility. I am currently now the instructor of an IN2WORK class in a facility in Ohio.
My name is Gene. I'm from Indiana. I'm incarcerated in Indiana. I'm an IN2WORK graduate. I'm an intern. I teach our IN2WORK program. I've been an instructor since 2016. Besides teaching our IN2WORK program, I assist the staff with their daily paperwork. I train some of the earmarked staff when they first get hired on how we do our paperwork, how the production goes, from the front of the house to the back of the house. The next morning, one of my responsibilities is, I double check all the paperwork to make sure it's all filled out, and then I turn it into Aramark staff.
My name is Emil. I graduated from one of the higher level facilities here in Indiana. I did participate as not only a graduate but an intern, later went on to become a fellow, and even did my fellowship through the work release program here in Indiana. I'm still currently working for Aramark, however, no longer in the corrections division. I work in the healthcare division as a production supervisor. My responsibilities are that I'm a production supervisor, of course. I oversee anywhere from 15 to 30 staff at any given time.
Yes, my name is Anntionetta, and I'm a graduate of the IN2WORK program. Last year, in February, I graduated. I became a worker, a supervisor inside the kitchen while still incarcerated, but recently being released, I've come back as a manager, and I'm in charge of the daily operations of the kitchen. I'm so grateful, I am so proud. My supervisor and my instructor of the IN2WORK program pushed me forward. She saw my potential, and here I am.
I'd like to start by asking how IN2WORK impacted your time while you were incarcerated, and why you chose this particular program?
Well, as far as the program impacting my time, it was very positive. Every day it gave me something to look forward to. Every day, because my background was originally in food service, and I had been working food service since I was 15, even though we're still locked up, you don't feel like that. You feel like you are back in a 9:00 to 5:00 job. You feel like you're contributing more. You're just not being there, you're actually doing something positive for not only yourself, but also, for those that are around you.
It allowed me to gain a lot of skills that were going to help me when I got out. I was able to save up a large amount of money, and also was able to have a job upon release. It allowed me to have a sense of well-being going home, because before the program, I didn't know where I was going to go. I didn't have any opportunities job-wise, so it gave me financial stability. It gave me confidence, and self-esteem. It gave me many skills that I'm actually using today. A lot of the things I was doing while incarcerated, I'm presently doing now. It helped a lot in that respect. During my incarceration, I was working in food service the entire time, so when they introduced the IN2WORK program, I thought it would benefit me. I've always liked to cook, and been interested with food.
I liked how it had a scholarship program, and that it offered the fellowship. I've had some of the incarcerated individuals I'm working with now tell me the same thing, which I could relate to, and that is that when you come down to the kitchen every day, and you're working side by side with Aramark, they're not treating you like an inmate. When you're working side by side with them, it's like they're your co-workers. You do feel normal, like you're actually going to a job, because you really were going to a job every day. It made you feel more human.
Well, actually, the IN2WORK program changed my life. I had been in so many programs while being incarcerated, but it was nothing to follow after that. The IN2WORK program gave me a meaning, something to do and some way to give back. I'm able to give back to the people that I serve. I try to set an example so that they know that just because we are incarcerated, there are people that care about us, that can help us go forward. All we have to do is to continue to keep pushing forward, doing positive things, and helping others. Food is my life anyway, so that just gave me something to do with something that I already love, and making sure that people's food is served safe, and that it's delicious.
I had just finished up the college program that they offered at the facility I was at, and I was looking for something to do that I could carry over post-release. One of the guys who was in the program with me had mentioned to me about the program, about the certifications that it offered, about the potentials that it offered, and things of that nature. Once I heard about it, I was all for it, because it just offered something more. Instead of just taking any random class that they offered, or any program that they offered, this one had something of substance, something of use that could be used much further on down the line, and the potentials while still incarcerated were there as well. Most of all, it offered something that, once I knew that I had been a part of it, that I contributed to it, and helped make it the best that it could, it offered chances for the guys who, sadly, were coming in behind me in the corrections facilities, opportunities for them as well. It was not just thinking about self, it's thinking about others, and thinking about the future.
How do you think the IN2WORK program helped to prepare you to return home?
Relationships. It's all about building relationships, to me, with the people who are a part of the IN2WORK program, the contacts, and the opportunities. For us to be able to leave here knowing that there's going to be somebody there that's going to help you along with that journey is invaluable for us. I've been here long enough to see that so many men reenter into society with nothing, with no tools, no finances, no one there. This program allows us to have that support group, and it's continuing to grow, so there's so much more that this program is going to have to offer in the future. I'm excited about IN2WORK's future more than anything. I'm really excited about what is just beyond the horizon, because just what I've been able to see within this year, there are so many doors that are opening, and opportunities available for the men and women, if they're willing to take a hold of that.
Well, first of all, it gave me responsibility. It gave me a clear thinking, because it made me mindful of the things that I had to face when I get out. It helped me build character by serving people. You get to know them, you get to learn them. I was able to meet all kinds of people so that I would know how to deal with the people on the outside. Your attitude is the most thing that you can have in your attire. It taught me my attitude, how to act, how to be around people, and how to be responsible. The IN2WORK program gave me so much. It's a saying, "You do the right thing when even nobody's looking." It helped me build my stamina. It helped me learn to want to do what's right, want to help people, want to be successful.
I had low self-esteem before the IN2WORK program, and I had been to several programs in here, but it gave me something to look forward to, and it helped me help people. When you serve someone who's having a bad day, and you give them a good meal, oh my God, it changes their whole thought. It changes their day altogether. I have had people say, "Girl, thank you. Thank you so much. I was having a bad day." It just built me up to the point where I just want to love on everybody. I just want everybody's belly to be full, and healthy, and safe. There is much I could say that the IN2WORK program did for me. It really changed my life. It really did.
Can you please tell me how the IN2WORK program benefits the food service operation and justice impacted individuals at your facility?
Well, I think from my perspective, it impacted so much of not only the process of the food being made, it also carried into the service part of it with our guys that were on the service line, getting them to understand, "Hey, here's how much we have, here's how much each person gets." Also, it got us to explain to some of the guys who may not have been in the program, who were also working with us in the kitchen, the importance of safe food handling, the allergies, the potential allergy problems that you may have with certain diets. Why you don't use utensils that have been used in something that has dairy in it with somebody who has a dairy allergy, and how there's a lot of responsibility and accountability held to every person who works in that kitchen.
We are there, first and foremost, to feed people, but we are also there to make sure that they stay as healthy and well as possible, because it's not just the general population being fed. You also have specific diets, everything from medically prescribed to religious preference diets, and the importance of holding integrity to those. Making sure that if a person has a religious preference diet, you are not causing them to go outside of their religious belief's dietary guidelines.
It also showed the effectiveness of teamwork, because once other guys that were in facilities saw how we in the program worked as a team, how we worked for a purpose, they started to catch on. It was infectious to them. They initially couldn't understand, "Why are you guys doing this? Yeah, you get all these certificates and things like that, but why do you really care?" It's then giving the chance to have those outside of work conversations with these guys, explain to them, "This is why I do this. This is why it's not just going to benefit me, but it's going to benefit you as well by me making sure that these standards are met, and these expectations are met."
A lot of guys that I knew, once they saw what the potentials were, what the expectations were, we had a lot of guys signing up for the program because they saw that there was potential for not only the program certifications, things like that, but also the potential for employment after incarceration, that there is life after incarceration. For a lot of guys in the program, and I'm sure others can attest to this, some of them, they get in the system and they feel like that is the end, and it's not. The program offers a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
Oh, enormously. The hygiene. From the beginning, you learn all about hygiene. You learn about safe food practices. The men coming in who have no knowledge of food at all, they learn about how to properly handle food, how to properly cool down food, how to be more respectful of the food, and that we have a population that we need to care about. Overall, the sanitation of the kitchen through a program, with the information, can really turn... I've been through many, many facilities, so I've seen the change through the program. It's not just me saying what it possibly can do. I've actually seen the results of the program as it moves through these men, and then the next class, and then the next class, because everyone is buying in to what's going on here with this program. They're starting to develop these skills in real time, and they're applying them. Not only that, but they get to take them back to their dorms, and now they start to see things differently as well. It's impacting lives greatly.
The more graduates our kitchen has and retains, the better our kitchen gets. From the cleanliness, the quality of our food, it doesn't just teach you how to cook, you learn everything. One job isn't more important than the other. It doesn't matter if you're the dishwasher, you clean the dining room or you mop the kitchen floor, every job is important in our kitchen, and every lead position and every position that works with the lead people in that position are all graduates. I believe we currently have 43 graduates working in our kitchen.
People think it's easy, all you've got to do is slap food on a tray and shove it down the line. There's more to it than that. I say this a lot. I don't know what our count is this morning, I think it was 1,487. 1,487 people depend on us to do our job right, and as a graduate, you should know how to do your job right because you were taught how to do your job right. You were taught how to mop the floor the right way. We're not learning how to do Aramark's job. We're learning how to do our job in our kitchen. When we make it into the world, into the society of unincarceration, when you go to work at a restaurant, your boss, your manager should be able to see you were well-trained wherever you came from, and that's what the IN2WORK program teaches.
I teach our IN2WORK class, and the biggest thing I tell people is, you've got to pay attention to small details. The one thing you cannot take from an individual that's a graduate is that they're always a graduate. As long as the people running our kitchen, we've got great supervisors, are willing to give that person, just one more opportunity, that might be the opportunity that changes the rest of their incarceration, and gets them on the right foot for when they do go home. I believe in this program, you learn basically all about food service, but you can use what we learn in our program in no matter what job you go to. Following the recipes, you're following directions wherever you go. Showing up on time, being honest, doing your job.
If you could tell a new class of IN2WORK students just one thing, what would that be?
Don't give up. You're going to have your good days, and you're going to have your bad days. Some days are going to be easier than others, and if you can fight through the bad days, I'm telling you, it's all worth it. Take the class seriously. Don't take it because you can get a degree, or a certificate out of it. Don't do it for that. Take the class seriously. If you want to take it, take it. Take it for the right reasons. If you're in it for the wrong reasons and the pastime, not only are you not going to use it for whenever you need it... you're not going to use it for when you get out, but you're also going to make the people that are in that class that's trying to do it right also miserable, because they just know your heart's not in it like theirs is. If you're going to take the class, be serious about it, and don't mess around. Just take it seriously.
I'd tell them that this is a very good opportunity, and to not mess it up. If they're serious about changing their life, Aramark is there to help you while you're incarcerated, and when you get out, you can move up the ladder and Aramark pretty fast if you're a hard worker. It's just a really good opportunity, and I honestly don't know where I would be if it wasn't for the program. I'd like to get involved in helping promote the program even more, on a higher level, eventually. I'd just advise a lot of them to take it. Right now, I have probably 40 people or more trying to get into my next class. It's exciting.
I definitely have to agree that, first off, take the program serious. You only get out of it what you put into it. If you take the program serious, you're going to get serious results. Don't just think going into it, "Well, I know all about this. I know about that." I promise you, you will find something you didn't know before. There are days that, even now, actually in the industry with healthcare, there are things that I'm learning every day. To me, the person who says that they know everything, you've got a lot more in life to learn. Take the program seriously, because there's a lot that you will get out of it. It's not just the food aspect, but it's also about the teamwork aspect of it as well. It's really something that has the potential to change a person's life if they want to.
Don't waste anyone's time, because this is a gift. If you don't want this gift, and you don't want this blessing, move out of the way, and let somebody that wants it have it, because it can change your life. It changed mine.
That's a great question. Take this seriously, take this program seriously. Being Serve Safe, and leaving here, because most men are under that five-year gap, so if you leave here with a Serve Safe certification, it automatically puts you in a position of advantage. Take this seriously. Don't play with it. Learn about this flow of food, and just enjoy the process.
It can keep you out of trouble. It can change the way you spend your day. If you spend your day doing the right thing, tomorrow will be easier. The next day will be easier, and your time will go fast, and you have something to look forward to. It's not just the end of the day, you got something to look forward to when you graduate. There's all kinds of opportunities for us, whether it's an internship period... if you don't get your internship period because you level down, and you go to another facility, there's a good chance you can get an internship there. I believe we've had five people leave our facility, and they've gotten an internship at another facility. You have scholarships available to you while you're incarcerated. There are scholarships available to your family. I don't believe there's another program within the Department of Corrections that offers that to anybody. You've got opportunities while you're incarcerated. You've got opportunities after you're released. You've got opportunities to help your family while you're incarcerated through Aramark.
What is something that you want our listeners to know that I haven't asked about?
The IN2WORK program has people behind you, pushing you forward, that care about you. I would recommend that anyone that wants a life change get in the IN2WORK program. It is a career and life changing experience. You have hope. The IN2WORK program has a group of people behind you that's going to make sure that you get what you need to survive in life.
There's so much stuff here, Heather, that this program affords. It's super, and in the competitions, yes ma'am. Our Hell's Kitchen, we have a great competition. We have two groups, two classes. We split them into two groups, and they compete against one another. They're given five ingredients from our director, of her choice, and then there's a special one that gets dropped a little bit later. They battle one another, and they have to work with one another. There's nothing like seeing a group of men that have nothing in common, they really don't even talk to one another, they're in different places in their lives, and they have to come together, and they have to work with these ingredients. They have to feed our panel, and at the end, they either get the win or they don't get the win.
And public speaking, of course. Our director loves to put us in front of opportunities like you. You saw Heather, to give me this opportunity to speak to you is so motivating. It's so encouraging, and it gives me some normalcy in my life. It's continuing to put me in front of people that I'm going to need to be in front of out there. My director makes it absolutely sure that she takes the entire class and puts them in front of our warden, all the way down to our captains, lieutenants, case managers, our guests. Everybody's going to get in front of them, and they're going to have something to say, and they're going to say something. You might catch one that's going to end up blossoming, and getting out of their shell, and I think that's what it's all about.
I've known Chris for some time now, so for my final question, I asked him to elaborate on how he is not only a current IN2WORK instructor, but how he continually reaches out throughout his post-release career path to those who are still incarcerated.
I was only ever in two facilities in the state, and when I left, I asked certain people, "Hey, give me your information. I'm going to contact you in case I hit the streets, so let me get your information. I'm going to put you on my GettingOut app, and I got you." They look at you crazy, they're like, "Man, everyone says that. Everybody forgets about us. Come on, bro. You just keep it funky with me. You ain't got to hit me up, just do good."
I'm like, "Bro, I'm going to do good and I'm going to hit you up. How about that?"
"Yeah, man, that sounds good, but a lot of people talk like that."
I'm like, "All right, bet." Little did they know that I downloaded the app. It was the first app I put on my phone when I got out. I downloaded it. I pulled out this ripped piece of paper that was crumbled and been through hell. I pulled it out and I typed their names in. I got their ID numbers, and I added them. I am just now getting with my family, and the first thing I do after I give everybody hugs and say, "Hey, what's up? Hi, hi, hi, hi," I say, "Hey, I've got to do something real quick," and I put a list of these guys' names in my phone.
I try my best to not miss a phone call, because I know what it's like sitting in there, wondering what the real world's like, but not having anybody to maybe contact at the time, because everyone's too busy.
Where I graduated it from, I call the facility once a month, and I speak to the kitchen. I speak to our adult parole lady, and I just want to see how many graduands we've had that month, how many people have enrolled into the class, how many people made parole, all that. I make sure to reach out, and tell them congratulations. Heather, I don't know if I told you this, my picture's on the wall at that facility that I was in, just mine, because I was the first person in the state to do it.
My picture is hanging up in that wall, and I have no idea how much motivation it brought the guys that work there until I call and tell them. I call and tell them how I'm doing, they go and tell the guys. I make sure always to be like, "Tell these guys it started in that kitchen for me." I didn't have anything to look forward to. I went almost six years, over six years. I went over six years with nothing to look forward to, nothing until I got into that program. Some of the guys that are still there, they'll be like, "Yeah, he did that. Chris did that. He's out there now, and he's doing real well. He came back for Aramark. He didn't give up on Aramark. He still looks out for us. He still calls us. He's put money on our books. He asks us if we're okay. He'll send us a random text, or a random picture."
It means more to them than what we would know. A simple, "Hey, what's up bro? I hope you're doing good. Just keep your head up, because it's all right. See the light at the end of the tunnel." It means different when it comes from a person like me than it would probably for a person like you, because I've been there. I've walked the same tracks, I've been in the same kitchen, I wore the same clothes. It's cool. They say you don't forget where you came from, and although I didn't come from there, this IN2WORK program gave me the opportunities that I've had that have led up to this point. I just hope that people can look at me and be like, "Dang, I can be like him if he was really here, and he really did all this. I can do that, too." That's really all I want. I want the program to be successful, and I think it should be everywhere.
Want to know more about Aramark's IN2WORK program, and perhaps listen to our initial IN2WORK podcast episode? Visit our newsroom on Aramark.com to access more information. We are truly thankful to our guests today for sharing their journey with all of us. As always, we are thankful for our listeners here at Mark This.
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