At the client’s request, this story has been shared anonymously. A pseudonym and stock images have been used to protect their privacy.
The conveyor belt never stopped. Hour after hour, the peanut butter cookies kept rolling down the line, demanding one simple task: place the top wafer onto each one. Hundreds of thousands of cookies, the same motion, over and over again. The factory was hot, sticky peanut butter clung to his shoes, and Brandon decided, “If this is what work looks like, I’m good.” He never went back.
But with a criminal record, walking away didn’t mean easily walking into better opportunities.
“The worst job I ever had was standing there for ten hours putting the top wafer on a cookie. I was slipping and sliding on peanut butter. I never went back.”
Before that, Brandon’s work history had been a mix of promises and pitfalls. He grew up around food service, learning the trade after school at fancy banquet dinners hosted at his father’s hotel. After graduation, he started bagging groceries to put money in his pocket.
But when fast cash and street life became too tempting, he went down a different road—one that eventually landed him in prison and addicted to drugs. The prison sentence gave him time to reflect, but the outside world was waiting with its own challenges and heartbreak. Within a week of his release, he was back in the same cycle, using again. His rock bottom came fast, and he knew that if he didn’t make a serious change, he wouldn’t survive.
“I get out after two years and I’m completely clean, completely healthy. Within a week, I was back to the way I was the day I went into prison. I realized if I kept going, I was going to die.”
Brandon sought help at the Clare Foundation, where he committed to getting sober. He reflects, “I walked in completely defeated. But once I started to clear my mind, I realized the problem wasn’t the streets or anyone else—it was me.” Still, when it came to working, his last job experience left him unmotivated. It wasn’t just about finding a job; it was about finding himself again and removing what was blocking him from flowing forward into his full potential.
That’s when he was introduced to Chrysalis. He resisted at first, picturing another factory gig—another dead end. But what he found was something different.
At Chrysalis, Brandon met staff members who saw his potential, even when employers didn’t. His employment specialist (ES) encouraged him through every rejection, reminding him that every interview was building his skills. He shares, “I must have interviewed at a hundred places, but nothing was landing. My ES told me, ‘Just keep going. You’re building a skill—learning how to carry yourself, read the room, and navigate the process.’”
While completing countless applications and interviews, Brandon was connected to a transitional job with one of our first Santa Monica-based freeway maintenance crews. He was also referred to a role at Soup Plantation. He went above and beyond there—until the criminal background he was working so hard to move past kept him from advancing. But by then, Brandon had learned to pivot.
“Chrysalis never closed the door on me. It was always a place where I could go and ask, ‘What can I do?’ It took a village of people to help me get to where I am today.”
After Clare Foundation, Brandon found an opportunity through the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and joined the Laborers’ Union. Following a couple of years of steady work, he joined the Plumbers’ Union and never looked back. Last year, Brandon earned over six figures, building a successful career with a leading mechanical and plumbing company in Southern California.
Now, nearly a decade after walking through Chrysalis’ doors, Brandon has built more than just a career—he has built a life he is proud of. A life rooted in gratitude. He is a husband, a stepfather, and a proud son. His choices today honor those he has lost to his former lifestyle, and his success is proof that change is possible.
With his record expunged through Root & Rebound, Brandon no longer carries the weight of his past—not on paper, and not in his heart. And in his work, he is reminded every day of an important truth: a simple blockage can stop everything from moving forward. But when we accept help, when we commit to change, we can remove the obstacles keeping us from all that we are meant to be.
“Give yourself a chance. Accept the help. Success is possible. Let Chrysalis work its magic on you.”
