Episode 3 - The Way Out - Eli and Ruben are awesome!

For so long there has been a major issue with how we as a society help or handle those reentering society after time spent incarcerated, many people are given limited resources and very limited time to accomplish what they need to do to become what is deemed productive members of society. Meet Eli and Ruben, they are on a mission to change this! 

Eli Rivera, CEO & Co-Founder, The Way Out 

Ruben Gaona, COO & Co-Founder, The Way Out 

 

Leighann Lovely  0:15  
Let's Talk HR is a place for HR professionals, business owners and employees to come together and share experiences, to talk about what's working and what's not. How we can improve best practices so that companies can better attract, train and retain all generations of workers. We all know that there has been a huge shift in what people want. generations are coming together, more than ever, on what's important. Mental health has been brought to the forefront of everyone's mind. Let's humanize these conversations. Let's talk about how the economy has been impacted, and what needs to happen to find a balance. I'm your host Leighann Lovely. So let's get this conversation started. And remember, if you enjoyed this episode, follow us like us and share us. 

Leighann Lovely  1:04  
Welcome to another episode of Let's Talk HR - Humanizing the Conversation. Today, I am excited to have a conversation with two very amazing men that I've had the opportunity to meet on a couple of occasions, invited them to come on and talk with me today. Eli Rivera and Ruben Gaona. Eli was first the first person in Puerto his Puerto Rican family born and raised in the United States Midland. He grew up on 32nd and brown on Milwaukee's west side and he experienced firsthand extreme gang violence and the onset of the crack cocaine and AIDS epidemic in his neighborhood. These experiences heavily influenced Eli's life and his subsequent decisions, eventually landed him in prison in his late 20s. As an ex-felon, Eli experienced firsthand the changes associated with seeking employment with a felony conviction. Upon his release in 2000. Ali utilized various leadership positions to employ mentor and coach formerly incarcerated individuals within the hospitality industry. In 2018, Eli created shift fly a pre shyft and training app for hospitality industries and in 2019, co-founded the way out a comprehensive anti biased employment platform and mobile support app. Ruben was born in El Paso, Texas, and moved to Milwaukee Southside at the age of 15. In 2017, Reuben completed seven years of his 10 year sentence, and in 2019, he founded Second Chance Wisconsin and began providing guidance through motivational speaking to formerly incarcerated people and others facing barriers. Ruben is a US Navy veteran, a former employee of the Department of Defense, navy, and an ex-felon. Ruben is currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare Reubens experience working in the reentry with the state of Wisconsin inspired him to co-found the way out where he currently is the COO Ruben has had the privilege of speaking at several reentry engagements throughout Wisconsin to discuss the merits of Second Chance employment, these two men have had amazing lives. And I'm very excited to welcome them and talk with them about what they are now doing to give back to society and help others with their second chance. So welcome, Eli and Ruben, I am so glad that you agreed to talk with me today.

Eli Rivera  3:38  
Thanks for having us.

Ruben Gaona  3:39  
Thank you. Thank you for inviting us.

Leighann Lovely  3:41  
Yes, it is so great to have you both here. So I would love to jump right in and talk to you a little bit about how you came to create or come up with the idea for The Way Out.

Ruben Gaona  3:54  
Oh, in the fall of 2019 Am fam and generator G beta was hosting an event as chairman feedings. And it was pretty much they were asking a question of with a group of panel panelists that were there of how can we reduce recidivism. So I attended that event le attended as well. Even though we didn't get to meet each other at that event. We both I believe present their ideas to each group that we were at we were in different groups. So once I presented my idea to my group, but what I wanted to do, I kind of didn't get the idea didn't resonate pretty well with the group. So it was a couple of days later about a week later or two that at their party have a mutual friend actually reached out for my information to the generator and they asked if he could contact me it's like giving my phone number. He jumped on the phone call me and kind of told me you know, this idea that's why me and Eli right are thinking of doing I wouldn't we would like to hear your idea and I share my ideas of You know how we like to connect employers and justice-involved individuals, but not only connected by hopefully provide continuous support services to make the employer understand that they're not alone. There are a people that is there's a group of people that's vested in them to be successful. And he's like, you know, he, like, you know what, I think we got something here, how about, all three of us just meet up and have coffee. So we ended up meeting up with a couple of days later to sit down and have coffee. And that's where I ended up meeting, Eli Rivera. And, you know, we both shares stories. And I think that's where we're the way I pretty much started.

Leighann Lovely  5:36  
That's awesome. So let's, let's back up here and talk a little bit, let's dive a little bit into, you know, what the way out is, and why you were passionate, or why you were where you were at that moment in time, to even be able to pitch the ideas that you originally had. And to be at that, you know, I guess kind of pivotal moment where you had the opportunity to come together and create now, what you have today,

Ruben Gaona  6:07  
I was passionate for the fact that I have been released out of prison, and I came home on March 1 of 2017. of essential 10 years in federal prison. Out of the 10 years, I ended up doing seven years. And coming into the home, into the halfway house. Within a week, I went that that I had to find employment, and any kind of performance, it didn't matter what type of employment, but I had to get a job. If I didn't get a job within 30 days, I was able to go back to prison. So I knew what I wanted to be a case manager already. So I struggled the first half the first week trying to find a job, you know, and a lot of people don't know that I am a Navy veteran. So often, it would mean being a navy, Navy veteran and skill that I will be able to provide will get overlooked by the fact that I checked the box I was formerly incarcerated. So they're like, You know what, no, get your background, we can give you a job. And I was successful in 45 Finding a job. So but working out the case manager year later, I got a job with the state of Wisconsin, working with the Wisconsin reentry pipeline program. And I saw the pamphlet constantly of that we would help people place them in a job. But then within 60 or 90 days after we were done providing support services, it would be back to square one. And we will lose you know, they will be looking for another job again, because is there a transcript you can shall carry issues, housing issues. So that resonated with me. And I thought You know what, there's got to be more that we could do. That has to be more. So that became real personal to me and trying to find a way to if I was struggling with someone that was a Navy veteran honorably served to find a job, then I could only imagine those who didn't have the same skills that I have, how much more they're struggling. So I mean, Eli with yours.

Eli Rivera  7:56  
Yeah, you know, my, reason for being at that event on, you know, in 2019 was, although I had been in hospitality my entire life, even prior to incarceration. I had just gotten busy. Once I came out of prison, I was fortunate enough to be one of the few who had something lined up for me, even prior to my release. But while I was in the halfway house, I saw so many people that weren't as fortunate as I was, I saw grown men crying, because Rubin said, If you don't find a job, I believe at that time, it was within four weeks, you would be revoked my time having been served over 20 years ago, I had, as I mentioned, just gotten back into hospitality, you know, working, owning, operating, doing doing many, many things in hospitality, but it also included being sensitive to the needs of folks coming out of incarceration. So I often hired myself, Justice impacted individuals, both personally as well as when I was given an opportunity to work with a great restaurant group here in the city. And and it always showed and retention, it always showed in, you know, the the outcomes in regards to customer satisfaction and increasing revenue and all of that stuff. So I knew, you know, that that that it was a great core people to to work with. But again, you know, I hadn't started thinking about my impact in this space and being in this space, until I met my second wife, who was a professor at UW Milwaukee, who had ironically mentioned to me that she had this great student that I had to meet one day, and lo and behold, it ended up being Reuben. And so through that third party, I was introduced to Rubin who was, you know, someone my wife hadn't handed me to meet him. So I knew immediately being at that event in 2019, was where I needed to be to make that shift away from hospitality and into this space of, you know, really this social impact space. And it was validated when my ideas were in harmony with Rubin at the time, we had a friend Craig, who was part of this, but he got pulled away for something else that he was very passionate about. So Rubin and I stayed together. And really, you know, with the guidance and support of generator and American families, corporate Institute for corporate responsibility and social impact, we've managed to come along way in a very short period of time supporting folks, but that was really how I ended up at that event. I knew when I saw that, advertise on LinkedIn, that was going to be the turning point. And once Ruben and I met, and we committed I, I, you know, sold hospitality app that I had previously created, and have been all in since really since the winter of 2019. And through our launch at the end of 2020. And to where we are today,

Leighann Lovely  11:20  
Wow, you would set something said 20 years ago, you had what, four weeks to find a job and then keep that job. I mean, is that still is that still the rule of thumb nowadays with individuals who are coming back into society is that they have four weeks to find a job or is that changed, because it seems I understand the principle behind it of you know, you come out of you're transitioning back into to society, they obviously want, you know, individuals to be active members of society contributing in some way, but four weeks is not a lot of time to, especially if you've spent years inside, that's not a lot of time to get your life in order, and to be working at a job. And so I'm guessing that this app is a huge, you know, help to those individuals being able to, I guess help in many different ways want tell me about how this helps those individuals?

Eli Rivera  12:18  
So you know, to your point, and I think Ruben is it still four weeks, I know you came out more recent than I was that still an expectation at four weeks?

Ruben Gaona  12:28  
Well, with COVID. I don't know what changes that they've made, right. But part of COVID, like I said, I knew I had 30 days to to find any Anika and that causes an individual a lot of times to just go apply for a staffing agency. And you know, and start earning 7.50, 8.50, $10 an hour. But a lot of times not taking into consideration that out of whatever we're earning. 25% is going to the highway house, so we got to pay so so that $10 to our family. And if you'd have to pay fees or child support, you're left with breadcrumbs to try to try to make it still. So but yeah, 30 days is what the policy was.

Eli Rivera  13:12  
Yeah, yeah. And so you know, so to that point, what what our app does, you know, it, I mean, so many different things to kind of change that model that the first part of it is, you know, we do bring onboard employers who are going to be paying a minimum of $15 an hour. So we consider that a living wage job, we don't want. We don't feel that our services, these additional holistic wraparound services that we provide through the platform are of any value to somebody if at the end of the day, they're still not earning enough money to sustain themselves. So so that's, you know, really kind of part one of what we offer is we offer a pool of employers that aren't just saying they will hire a second chance because it's it's the the right PR move to make these days because everyone's talking about, you know, hiring second chance. And it's, it's such a wonderful social impact thing we say, okay, not only are you willing to hire justice impacted, tell us how many jobs you you have available for them, because we're going to fill those roles. It's not if the perfect candidate if the moon and the stars aligned, it's, it literally shows us that, that you're committed to this and we will bring you the right person, right. And so so that's really what it comes down to is how can we really crass craft a holistic reentry plan for somebody that then allows them to bring their best self to work and really produce for the employer at a level, maybe even beyond those of the folks who aren't just as impacted that are working there.

Leighann Lovely  14:52  
Right, and it makes, you know, offering these other services and I want to talk a little bit about some of these other services. allowing these individuals to be able to go to work and be productive while at work, not worrying about what's happening at home. And I've, you know, I've talked about this, you know, with other individuals I talk about this a lot, is that, you know, we can't always walk in and leave our baggage at the door, we can't, it's we're humans. But this allows you to set set up these individuals to be successful, as successful as possible to be able to walk in the door, and be ready to do the job without having to worry about whatever life is happening around them. And that's, that's so important. Not to mention that if somebody is working through this app, you would think that an employer that has come talk to you, you would think that an employer would go wow, this is this is amazing, because not only are they coming to work for me, I know that they really are in it for the long haul. Because, one, they're taking the effort to go through and work with somebody like you, and then they're utilizing whatever services you're also offering. So now tell me what some of those other services that you offer are.

Ruben Gaona  16:11  
So one of the big questions when we onboard, someone is asking them, how do they envision their way out to be like, what is their actual my way out? You know, I believe that gives them that feeling of taking ownership back of their life, once again, instead of always being told what to do now you're able to take ownership and say, Well, this is what I want to do. So we'll ask what supportive services do you need, whether it be transportation, assistance to obtain your driver's license, AODA counseling, entrepreneurship, how seen shall care pretty much anything that someone could have struggled to reenter society that we might think we might take for granted because we already have it, but they don't have it. So we try to provide connect them with reentry service providers that provide those supportive services, so we could help them and assist them to further on longer their career and their pathway to reentry into society. The second thing we offer is personal goals. So we asked them, you know, what, what personal goals do you want to shift within 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. So we'll drop down tracks of their own choices of what they have chosen, that they want to do, whether they want to start going to the gym, we had individuals that wanted to connect back to their family members, then after 17 years, I believe or they've connected back to them. We had individuals that wanted to open their own barber shop, and they opened own barber shops. So and with the employer, we actually worked with the employer le as a competition with employers and on asking the employer, you know, what do you want to see the individual accomplish in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days while they're working with you? What tracks do you have for them? Is there training they have to do and you want them completing them. So once all those tracks are taken into consideration and drop into the app, as they're completing each single one of their tracks, we we provide incentives for them. We've been able to give out bugs she gives Brewer chiggers, entrepreneurship scholarships to so that someone could learn how to run their businesses. So you know, at that set of back satisfaction that they get like, oh, wow,

Leighann Lovely  18:19  
Right, we all love the carrot that's, you know, hanging at the end of the stick, we everybody, at least I do. You know, my boss says, Hey, if you do this, you get this. And I'm like, Okay, I want to get that. And it's a cup of coffee. And I'm like, Oh, I got a cup of coffee. I, everybody loves you know, that tiny little reward, or at least the feeling of being rewarded for something, my I always joke, I get all these gifts from my parents. But then after we've opened our gifts, we play games for prizes, and these prizes are all like $1 A little prizes. And I say, you know, it's really funny, I get more excited about getting a prize worth like two bucks, then the $40 pair of shoes or, or scarf that you bought me and we laugh about it, because it's a sense of, ooh, I won something. It really is just another, you know, gift or another little that is the human in us. We want to feel like we have accomplished or won or done something great or amazing. And that's, that's, that's awesome. Now, do these, these things that you give away? Are these donated? How do you get these these little incentives?

Eli Rivera  19:29  
Yeah, Well, you know, as Ruben mentioned, sometimes they're little incentives. Sometimes they're big incentives. But, you know, part of our model to that point is, you know, we're really supporting this person's unique journey that that they themselves have crafted. And so basically, what we're saying to them is, look, we value your opinion, you're the expert in your life, you're going to tell us what you want to do and how you want to do it and we're just going to hold you accountable to that. But But I say that because they really understand that this is a team effort, right. And because of that, we treat this as an investment in all of us. And so, you know, the client success then becomes our success then becomes the ability to bring more employers into the loop. And so we see this is an opportunity for us personally to invest in this individual. And so we take the the part of the revenues that are driven by this direct hire model, to pay for these things. So so we're investing our own money back into this cycle with this individual, to make sure that they see, hey, guess what, we all have skin in the game here, we're all vested in you together. And that creates what we believe this, it brings to the surface what we believe already exists, you know, Ruben and I come from from the streets, right? And there's this high level of loyalty and and, you know, dedication to folks who who have helped us, right, who have been part of our crew. And and so, you know, we kind of continue to foster that, like, hey, no, this is, you know, this is about you and us together doing this. And we believe that really contributes to a level of commitment, that that perhaps typical, you know, staffing models or otherwise, don't have that opportunity. And again, you know, Rubin can speak to, you know, how many folks will have said to him, I want to talk to you, you're the guy with the lived experience, you know, what the prior to the way out in creating this platform, in those spaces, and we really value our lived experience, and so does the community that we're serving?

Leighann Lovely  21:41  
Excellent. So it's 100% you, You're, you fund all of this? Oh, well,

Eli Rivera  21:47  
I do want to clarify, you know, a AmFan has been our greatest sponsor to get things off the ground, to give us runway to do what we're doing. But yes, we take we take revenue from the direct hire model, and wrap that into incentivizing our clients.

Leighann Lovely  22:04  
Excellent, wonderful. I mean, and that's, that's amazing, you are the incentive for your own employees to do well. And that's, you know, that's the best business model for companies to to incentivize their own employees, it makes them feel special, and makes them feel important. That's awesome. So what are some of the company sizes that you typically are going after? What are some of the types of positions that you typically are, are looking to work with or fill?

Eli Rivera  22:37  
Yeah, our sweet spot tends to be, you know, smaller and midsize businesses that don't have an entire, you know, HR and legal gauntlet to get through, in order to create a relationship with them. So, you know, typically, our best results have been, you know, local businesses that maybe have, you know, four to 10, you know, facilities within their organization. In hospitality in retail, we have a major manufacturing partnership we're working with, with other organizations, with their they're our biggest employer, and they've been really the kindest and most open and, you know, organization as it relates to CNC and robotics training and positions within their organization. But but, you know, we have, we've learned through trial and error that this is our sweet spot, some of these mid size or smaller, local organizations, because, you know, we try to keep this simple, we have a, you know, three page four page with signature page contract that we work with organizations, and we've had major employers come back at us with a 30 page document, you know, in response to what we've proposed, and we're like, No, thank you, we can't afford to jump through all of these hoops to get you in. And at the end of the day, that speaks to us, these people aren't really in it for the person, they're in it just to fill the roles and, you know, they got to have every eye you know, dotted and T crossed and it at the end of the day isn't worth it. Now, as we're getting more and more success stories, as we're getting more and more people to see the the validated program that we have, you know, we are looking at 2022 a pilot program here in Wisconsin, potentially, with Koch Industries, and you know, a few of their facilities and different a few of their different facilities and businesses in Wisconsin and looking to see how that that goes. But really, you know, we find that the relationships, you know, speaking directly with an owner or a partner, you know, within an organization really allows us to really have a really strong connection with that organization. And that's been working best. But but we'll see, we'll see what some of these larger organizations will bring to the table in 2022. Yeah.

Leighann Lovely  25:13  
Now, if an organization wanted to reach out to you, they wanted to work with you, how would they go about doing that?

Eli Rivera  25:19  
Yeah, well, they can go to our website, which is TWOUT.org. So twout.org, and they can drop us an email there. And, you know, we'll respond directly to them, they can certainly, you know, email Ruben and I directly through our LinkedIn profiles. Otherwise, you know, the best way is definitely that twout.org TWOUT.org. And, and then we can kind of take it from there, believe me, you know, we do our own vetting, we want to make sure that the employers are truly committed to Second Chance hiring and all of the, you know, all of the considerations that that in knowledge, one should have this, they're going to go down that road. And so, yeah, that's, that's really the first step for us.

Leighann Lovely  26:10  
Right? No, that's important. Yeah, you don't want an employer to just be using you as a government tax write off. So now, if individuals wanted to find you, they were interested in utilizing this app? How are they going to find you? Is it the same way? How are you reaching these individuals to let them know that you're here that you're here to help them?

Ruben Gaona  26:30  
Yes, the same way, you know, an individual report allows often we reach individuals by word of mouth, you know, no, I've already told them that, that we tell someone that they will have one of their friends, often we are reaching out to reach nachos, because of reentry service providers, you know, that they're working with, and they connect them with us, they'll might see us on Facebook, on LinkedIn. So opt in is just, you know, it's as simple as going to our website, like Ellie said, and shooting an email, or often getting a Facebook message and a you know, so it's real simple to connect with her.

Leighann Lovely  27:05  
Yeah. And I encourage any listeners to check out your website, some great success stories on there. Definitely worth checking out. If you're interested in learning more about The Way Out. It's, you guys are great. You're amazing. Okay, I have one final question of the season that I'm asking everybody this season, if you could pinpoint a time period in your career, or life that made a huge difference in your life or career path? When would that be and why? Eli, why don't you go first?

Eli Rivera  27:35  
Oh, wow. Um, as it relates to, you know, why we're here today, speaking in regards to the way out, I would say it was really there two moments, but the first moment being that first opportunity that I was given by this local restaurant group upon, you know, after having been convicted and done my time and decided to kind of go another route and just go work for an organization, I literally applied for a dishwashing position, it was at the, you know, after I had first come out, I jumped into another venture with my then wife, it ended up in divorce. I was like in this like terrible headspace, and just wanted to work in a restaurant and do dishes. That's all I wanted to do. And I went and I applied at this local restaurant group, and the director of operations at the time, had looked at my resume, and said, Are you crazy, like, there's no way I'm going to put you in the kitchen, washing dishes, like, I need you, I understand, you know, your past experience and all of that, that you know, the history of incarceration, but you're a leader, you're going to, you know, I need you to go into management with this organization. And then lo and behold, spent over a decade with this organization to travel all over the world. I mean, it was just just a mind blowing experience to have someone validate me at my lowest point. And so, you know, that was really a big turning point, to be accepted into that space and be given the opportunity to bring other people on board with this organization. And then the other piece that really tied all this together, as I mentioned was, you know, when my wife started asking me to speak about my upbringing, and my subsequent incarceration, and all of that at her for her classes, that's really tied in like, this is how I want to give back in this space. And so those are really the turning points that have put me hear before you and with Ruben, as it relates to my turning points.

Leighann Lovely  29:54  
You know, it's funny, even sometimes when we don't know that we need help or We don't know, you know that we want help sometimes when we want to hide as a dishwasher and just want to go to work, it's usually that and that's the the shining star or the mentor or the whomever comes out of the woodwork and kind of just lifts us up at that moment when you most need it and, and tells you exactly what you need to hear or does exactly what you need them to do to either set you straight or to put you, you know, point you in the right direction. You know, that's, that's an awesome story. Thank you for sharing that. It's I'm always, you know, so excited to hear these, these stories, because they're, they're always filled with such interesting turns and twists of positive energy that that comes out of sometimes tragedy, divorce or, but thank you, Ruben, why don't you? 

Ruben Gaona  30:56  
You know, I've often say, you know, my turning a big turning point in life was in 2015, I'd already been five years into my incarceration. And one day I was walking, you know, out in the yard, or in, we call it the rec outside the yard. And I had a friend of mine just put me to the side and he called me like, everybody, let me talk to you. And I say, yeah, so we went, we started talking and, and he asked me one simple question. It was like, What do you have to show for? Like, you were just big drug dealer. But what do you have to show for? Like, how many businesses do you own? How many properties houses? And my response was, I have nothing to show for. I've never ran a business. I never own my business. I never even know my own house. Of like, like, yeah, like, they don't have nothing. And on top of that, they took everything that I had, the cards that I had, that you get, they got confiscated, like I was left with nothing. And, and he he looked at me like I just don't understand it. Like you're so smart. Like you're a veteran, you have a college, college behind you. He's like, I have a ninth grade education level, I dropped out of high school when I was going to 10th grade, like, but I run a million dollar manufacturing company. I was like, like, I don't understand how a guy's tools work. And you're smarter than me, doesn't have nothing to show for it. Your friends. A lot of a lot of them are here because they entry legally into this country. They're getting deported. But they have houses, they have restaurants, but you don't have anything to show for. And that right there. I think later on that night was the first time I actually cry while I was in prison. I went and I was laying in my bunk and tears just start rolling on my eyes. Because it was like, why am I here? Like, I didn't get raised like this. And I asked myself, like, why don't why? Why? You know, and that. And I just came to the conclusion that, you know, all my life, I was told I couldn't do stuff. Because I grew up, I grew up with a single mom had we had, she had five kids, my older brother was mentally handicapped, grew up in the ghetto, and the worst neighborhood and no Pelto, Texas, we barely often had food to eat, but there was always love. But so but I was I was told I couldn't do something. So I told myself that I will never again, allow anyone to tell me that I couldn't do something. And that's when I wrote like my first chord that to remind me that I can decide is this, it is an excuse, we challenged ourselves to not reach our true potential. There's nothing you know, it might take me longer to get somewhere because maybe I might not learn as quick. But I'll eventually get there. If doing the right things I will get there. And and that was the first major turning point in my life when I said, you know, I wrote down that code. And I said, You know what, I want to be a case manager. When I get out. I want to show people that our mistakes do not define who we are. But what we do after them, I want to show them that, you know, this is not us, there's more choice. And we still give more. And the second than me to get involved more was in 2008, by law, had been working with the state for about 11 months, as an Employment Training Specialist as the dean in the Wisconsin reentry pipeline program. And I remember, I had a friend that was having a panel discussion board of the entry into the workforce. So she was like, You know what, Rubin I would love for you to come and speak, you know, to justice involved. Individuals are what it is, how do we enter back into the workforce? You've been told assessable you've been on for three years, you have a job already. And I remember asking my supervisor if I could, if I could do the panel discussion. Like, hey, I want to know, you know, they asked me what I would be able to do right for me to go because I was an employee, I had to request permission. And he was like, Ruben, like, I don't think Madison my approve of this, you know, because of the organization that's doing the panel discussion board is not a like organization. So I was like, What have politics got to do with us helping people and he was like Ruben, but you know, at the state employee, really that's what it is. And it's like So there's certain things that you can and can't do. And I was like, You know what? I looked at him. And I said, well, then if that's the case, like, if I was like, if I can help people, and that's what I want to do, like, and when I feel that my values are being compromised, here's my 45 day notice. And he looked at me like, are you joking? I was like, no, like, I'm giving you a 45 day notice, like, and he was like, what are you gonna do, I just had a baby, he's like, group and you just had a baby in insurance, like, I was like, You know what, I'll figure it out, I was like, I'll open my own company, like, I'm gonna take a leap of faith and get involved. And, like, I don't want no restrictions, I don't want anyone to telling me that I cannot help justice evolve individuals, and I'm not able to provide them the tools so they can be successful. So he's like, Well, if you want to make it official, send me an email, like authentic to you right away when to my death, and send him a 45 day notice. So

Leighann Lovely  35:56  
That's, that's amazing. You have to, you know, your those light bulb moments where you kind of you sit back and you go, Oh, my gosh, you know, and I've, I've had those in my life where I, you know, you sit back and you just you, it hits you like a ton of bricks, those realizations of, what am I doing, you know, I can do better, I can be better, I can help people. And, you know, in my, in my, in my life, I you know, I have an HR background, I got my degree in HR, because I wanted to help people corporate HR, not ripping on them. But they're governed by laws, you can't necessarily go and become friends with all the employees at the company, you may have to fire them one day, which is why I do what I do now. Because I want the ability to help people and ruin you, you definitely, you know, have those aha moments, and you did something that so many people are incapable or not capable of doing because of fear. And I applaud you for that. I am not going to say I encourage it, otherwise, you're going to have a whole bunch of people running around. But you, you you were the brave one, you know, I'm I'm a little bit risk, you know, adverse. I grew up with, you know, very risk adverse, you know, family, but that that's, that's awesome. It's absolutely amazing, you know, to be able to, on the drop of a hat, decide that I want to do better and do better. And you have, so I applaud you. Yeah, I applaud you. I applaud you both. And I thank you both for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come here and talk with me and tell me about about yourselves about the way out and I really appreciate it. So

Ruben Gaona  37:45  
Thank you. We appreciate it, too. 

Eli Rivera  37:47  
Yeah, Thank you for the opportunity. Really appreciate it.

Leighann Lovely  37:51  
Yes. And you. You both have a wonderful day. And yeah, take care.

Eli Rivera  37:58  
You too. Thank you, bye bye

Leighann Lovely  38:00  
Thank you again for listening to Let's Talk HR. I appreciate your time and support without you the audience this would not be possible. So don't forget that if you enjoyed this episode, to follow us, like us or share us. Have a wonderful day. 

Eli Rivera - linkedin.com/in/elirivera 

Ruben Gaona - linkedin.com/in/rubengaona

Website - https://www.twout.org/ 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Music by Cruen - Family Time

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