Finding Success Out in the Community

What does it take to find success after incarceration?

For Mac, it was all about having a plan to change his life, sticking to it, and never coming back to prison.

It all started for Mac in 2005 when he began working with dogs as part of the Purebred Rescue Organization of Ohio. This program was taking place in the heart of Warren Correctional Institution and saw incarcerated men caring for, training, and grooming dogs.

Over the next five years, he dedicated his time to learning the in and outs of dog grooming and training.

“When I was working with dogs at Warren [Correctional] and London [Correctional], I knew this was something I enjoyed and would be good at,” Mac shared.

And he was right.

Today, he owns and operates Mac’s Pet Salon in Springfield, Ohio. His business offers grooming, training, styling, trims and more. Years after he made a vow to create his own business, Mac is finding that success just as he promised.

“Mac has done a fantastic job as a small business owner,” shared his Parole Officer, Michael Beatty. “I believe that some of the lessons he learned in prison made him determined to make it off parole and to become the successful small business owner that he is today.”

That desire to be successful didn’t happen the day Mac was released from prison, it was something he had been working on for years in preparation for his return to society.

“My release was actually kind of easy,” Mac reminisced. “For 10 or 15 years, I had worked so hard to prepare myself for that moment that I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how to do it.”

So, for Mac, it was about staying focused and achieving his goals one task at a time. And that plan, he says, still drives him today.

“Set your goals high,” Mac recommends. “Set your goals high and chase them.”