**And on today's show, we have Harley Blakeman, who is the CEO of Honest Jobs. He is sharing with us one of the most authentic and powerful stories of inspiration you will hear anywhere. Harley founded Honest Jobs, to help people impacted by the criminal justice system. find meaningful employment. He is going to tell us his story, what circumstances landed him in jail, and where his passion came from to start Honest Jobs.

Here’s a closer look at the episode:**

• Harley’s early life in Texas, Arkansas, and Florida
• Tragedy that lead to drug use and drug dealing
• Incarceration and turning the corner
• The struggle with finding a job
• Understanding the pain point and finding first customers
• Mistakes made building the platform
• Educating companies about statistics around employment people with a criminal record
• Harley’s own hiring practices
• Company culture and camaraderie
• Raising capital - first Angel investment
• TechStars
• Finding a engineer turned CTO
• Advice to other founders in the early stages of their company
• The importance of legal advice early on
• Protecting your equity
• Changes in 2022
• Startup Island

Resources:

Honest Jobs: https://www.honestjobs.co/ Harley's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harley-blakeman/ Honest Jobs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/honestjobsco/ Honest Jobs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honestjobsHQ Harley's Twitter: https://twitter.com/harley_blakeman Honest Jobs Twitter: https://twitter.com/honestjobsco Honest Jobs YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0oJUUcgmb42A5ORs-RlKQ