Earning Freedom with Michael Santos

Carlos Fletes, a teacher at Aspire Public Schools asked that I send a message to his 10th grade students. The students read a story that a newspaper published about my 26-year journey through prison and they found inspiration in the message. Work responsibilities precluded me from taking time off to visit the students, but I happily recorded an episode especially for them through the Earning Freedom podcast. It shares a message of how they can use strategies that empowered me to empower thmselves.

Justin Paperny served a year in prison for violating securities laws. While inside, he learned lessons that would allow him to reboot his life. In this episode of the Earning Freedom podcast, Justin talks about deliberate steps he takes to improve outcomes of our nation’s criminal justice system. Through a nonprofit organization that he leads, he has opened employment opportunities for more than 50 people who’ve emerged from the prison system. Justin talks about steps he is taking now to expand his project with the Michael G. Santos Foundation.

In this episode, Carole, my wife, describes how she made a commitment to return to school and pursue a career in nursing while we climbed through our final ten years of my prison term. The disciplined approach set her on a path to experience every level of the nursing profession. First, she became a Certified Nurse's Aid (CNA). While working in that entry level position of nursing, Carole studied to earn her prerequisites. Then she embarked upon a course that would lead to her Licensed Vocational Nursing degree (LVN). After practicing for a year, Carole returned to school to complete studies that would lead to her becoming a Registerd Nurse (RN). Then, as I was about to return to society, Carole enrolled in the University of San Francisco to work toward her Master's in Nursing Science. She will graduate with her MSN during the spring of 2015.

My wife, Carole, has been on this journey with me since 2002. For the first time I'm introducing Carole through a podcast. She also will share exciting news about the new domain we registered for the NurseCarole podcast. We will begin producing this show as soon as she graduates from the Unviersity of San Francsico with her master's degree in nursing. I'm incredibly proud of Carole and so grateful to share every day of my life with her.

When you're facing struggle or challenge, what strategies empower you to overcome?

If you're looking for a new strategy, you may consider the Staight-A Guide. This strategy can lead you to achieve your highest potential, just as the Straight-A Guide empowered me to sustain a high level of energy and discipline through each of the 9,500 days that I lived as a prisoner.

In this second edition of the Earning Freedom podcast, I provide an introduction to the Straight-A Guide. Listeners who want to achieve better levels of fitness, to develop their career, to live as better citizens, or who want to restore confidence, relevance, and meaning may find value in this strategy that empowered me.

Please review the Earning Freedom Podcast With Michael Santos on the iTunes network. I will publish daily episodes that inspire you to achieve your highest potential. Join my tribe by visiting MichaelSantos.com and learn strategoes to live your best life now.

"Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage" is the line I remember from the immortal poem. I found that line to be as true today as when written by Richard Lovelace, nearly 400 years ago. With the Earning Freedom podcast, you'll learn lessons to empower you through challenging times or struggle.

Despite Judge Jack Tanner sentencing me to serve a 45-year term in federal prison, lessons that Socrates taught empowered me. They can empower anyone who chooses to apply them.

As human beings, we all face struggle in our life at one time or another. Through the Earning Freedom podcast, I'll describe strategies that empowered me as the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, the months turned into years, and the years turned into decades. This initial episode of the Earning Freedom podcast describes how I felt to embark upon a 45-year sentence, back in 1987, when I was 23 years old.

Please review the Earning Freedom Podcast With Michael Santos on the iTunes network. I will publish daily episodes that inspire you to achieve your highest potential. Join my tribe by visiting MichaelSantos.com and learn strategoes to live your best life now.

"Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage" is the line I remember from the immortal poem. I found that line to be as true today as when written by Richard Lovelace, nearly 400 years ago. With the Earning Freedom podcast, you'll learn lessons to empower you through challenging times or struggle.

If you're a prison administrator interested in an innovative program to inspire the inmates in your institutution, then visit MichaelSantos.com. Sign up for our newsletter to learn how your institution can receive free daily podcasts that inspire and motivate people in custody to prepare for law-abiding, contributing lives. Our free daily podcasts will feature interviews with people who've succeeded after a term in prison. We also will interview successful business leaders and entrepreneurs. Through our daily podcasts, interview guests will provide actional advice for people in prison who want to prepare for success. Are you interested in cultivating an environment that inspires people to succeed? Then let's change the world. Visit us at MichaelSantos.com today. Or conctact me at [email protected].