Chris Wilson: Escaping Life in Prison With The Master Plan

Chris Wilson is a visual artist, author, film producer, and social justice advocate. Chris was sentenced to life in prison for a circumstance where he was defending himself, and there was a loss of life. Through his work, he investigates societal injustices, human relationships, and public policies. His book, The Master Plan, continues to inspire people from all walks of life. His artwork is collected and displayed internationally and his production company, Cuttlefish, has produced several successful films, including The Box, which was featured in the Tribeca Film Festival. He is also the founder of the Chris Wilson Foundation, which supports social entrepreneurs and prison education, including re-entry and financial literacy for returning citizens, as well as art-related programs. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: Chris lost many family members and friends to violence in his youth. He received a life sentence in prison in the process of defending himself but was released after over 16 years after his fifth appeal. When Chris was released from prison, he started his first business with $50 in his pocket and a $500 loan from a friend. He used the money to buy a $10 phone, lawnmower, and a can of gas and quickly got to work cutting lawns for $35 a piece. He then joined the business school and was tasked with starting a business. He pitched a luxury hotel to redesign and renovate its upper lobby and got $30,000 to do the job. He returned to his class with the full amount in cash, dropped it on the table, and got his professor to literally shed tears. Chris continued building multiple businesses and in the last year has become an artist. He works in painting, drawing, sculpture, and more. Chris is about 98% done with the master plan he wrote for his life while in jail. Today, he’s friends with the judge that decided to give him a second chance at life, contingent upon him accomplishing everything he wrote in the plan. Check out more on Chris Wilson:https://chriswilson.biz/ https://www.chriswilsonfoundation.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review:   https://ratethispodcast.com/thepozcast #thePOZcast is brought to you by our friends at Interseller – the prospecting + outreach platform of recruiters and sellers. Whether you’re doubling down on business development or recruiting talent, Interseller does all the heavy lifting of finding contact data, automating the email and follow-up process, and syncs all that rich data into 20+ CRMs and ATSs. Reach out and get going in a 2-week *free* trial today and let them know you heard about them from Adam on #thePOZcast. Check out a free demo today! https://bit.ly/2Fbm/BZThanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and Twitter @AdamJPosner.eth  For more, please visit www.thePOZcast.com Thanks for listening!