We were lucky to catch up with Daphine Jack recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daphine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

How did you actually start – what was the process of going from idea to execution – walk us through some of the main steps that allowed you to launch your business?

The idea came from life experiences and situations I went through which caused me to execute it.

Tell it to us as a story – you had the idea, then what happened?

I got started while being a parole officer! The idea came as I was visiting with one of my clients and we talked about how he was wrongfully convicted by accepting a plea deal. I begin my research on how I could help individuals who are being convicted for something they didn’t do? Unforeseen circumstances later would give me first-hand experience with a loved one who would be faced with a similar situation. This really gave me a big push to put my idea into action.

The second idea came with my son, his friends and their parents would begin meeting and talking to our youth about the criminal justice system and how to prevent them from the juvenile justice system. We created Young Men Gathering (YGM) and later changed the name to Young People Gathering (YPG)

What was the next day, hour, month, or year like?

In 2015, I became an author of a book titled “The Other Side of the Story”, which allowed me to boldly share my story about going through the criminal justice system with a loved one as a parole officer.

Retiring as a parole officer in 2017, allowed me to move forward with organizing a nonprofit, speaking, and becoming a podcast host and an advocate for criminal justice reform.

What did you have to figure out, look into, set up, etc in order to move beyond the idea phase and actually launch?

I begin research on how to put together a nonprofit and almost decided not to do it because it was a lot to do! I hired an expert to assist me. In 2019, Prevention Zone Inc was launched.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am the owner of Brown Jack Books. Under this business, I provide the author and parole consultation, the creator of The Author’s Series (this is an event that is held twice a year for local authors, writers, and book club), private investigation, and notary service.

I am a grad of Texas Southern University with a B.S. in Public Affairs/Admin. of Justice, master’s in Public Administration, and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Texas A & M College Station, currently seeking certification in Criminal Justice in Leadership and Management from Sam Houston State University.

I am an author, speaker, parole and author consultant, criminal justice expert, podcast host, and founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization.

As a parole consultant, I advocate for the success of the person on parole, and their family, and answer questions about parole and their policy.

As an author consultant, I help navigate your journey to becoming a self-publishing author and support and referral for publishing companies.

As a criminal justice expert, I can articulate and answer questions regarding social justice and the criminal justice system.

I am a podcast host for “If Emmett Was Alive Today Podcast”. A discussion about wrongful conviction with individuals who have been wrongfully convicted, lawyers, judges, and other topics about the criminal justice system.

I am most proud of the creation of Prevention Zone Inc where our mission is to be a catalyst for prosperity through providing leadership training, professional development, and life strategies for recently released exonerees and youth bubbling with potential.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My journey has been a nostalgic journey! It begin 33 years ago when my mother passed away! Growing up I would say “I don’t want to be like my mother!” With time that changed. She was a leader, in the community, she was stern but fair. She and my dad raised me to have integrity, and moral values, be honest, be kind to people, respect myself and I can respect others.

Although she had a high school diploma, she encouraged me to get a college degree. Unfortunately, she was not physically here to witness me walking across the stage, in 1995 obtaining a BS in Public Affairs/Administration of Justice, I am sure she was smiling from above. I went overloaded with education! 2018 Masters in Public Administration, 2019 Certification in Nonprofit Management, and currently working on a Certification in Leadership and Management in Criminal Justice. Also, I have obtained numerous other certifications.

After my mom passed away and In between all of the education I wanted to be a police officer and didn’t get to do that. I started a family, worked at the bank, and taught 6th-grade social studies, and ESL/GED in the community college, later on, I became a parole officer for 12 years and retired.

Although this was enough illustration of my resilience more was yet to come! During the time in my parole officer career, I treated my client the same way I would want to be treated but with zero tolerance for violation, and they knew this! I could not foresee that I would experience personally the criminal justice system with a loved one and it couldn’t have come at a better time! What was meant to do harm turned out to be for my good!

This personal experience allows me to become an author of “The Other Side of the Story” and a best seller contributing author of Boss Your Lane, a speaker, criminal justice expert, a parole and author consultant, a podcast host of “If Emmett Was Alive Today”, a business owner of Brown Jack Books, and the founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization Prevention Zone Inc.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn was that it was okay to not attend church every Sunday. Being a preacher and pastors’ kid, we were taught to attend church and we had no other choice! Well, the first time I did not attend church was when I got married. The second time I had my first baby, I took advantage of the full six weeks of not attending church. The third time, I was an online radio DJ for a gospel music show.

The backstory is that I realized that God still loves me rather I went to church or not! From there I begin to attend Bishop Blanket’s service (my cover on my bed), another Sunday I was a visitor at Missionary Pillar’s service (my pillar I laid my head on) and last Pastor Sheets had the best service (my sheets I laid on).

At this point, I would enjoy life and physically attend church or catch it online! But just in case I miss church online or didn’t physically attend, God still loves me either way!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daphinebjack.com / https://www.preventionzoneinc.org / www.cjspodcast.com
• Instagram: daphinejack
• Facebook: Brown Jack Book
• Linkedin: Daphine Jack
• Twitter: @ifemmett
• Youtube: Prevention Zone Inc

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