78 – Ex-Con Goes From Prison to Creating a Successful Business & Life. What Turned His Life Around?

Sean Dustin has led a tumultuous life. After a troubled childhood, he found himself in and out of state and federal prisons as an adult, serving time for drug trafficking, and fraud. After his 2006 release, he suffered with a meth amphetamine addiction before finally kicking the habit and committing himself to a life on the straight and narrow.

These days he is the creator of the successful podcast, Nowhere To Go But Up, in which he chronicles the journeys of others who also come from difficult backgrounds. Hoping to help others who may be going down similar, dark paths. He is also starting a non-profit that emphasizes a holistic approach to re-entry for men going through the criminal process, from pre-trial, to halfway houses. How was he able to defeat the odds and turn his life around? Tune in to episode 78 of Open Mike Podcast to find out.

Show Notes

[00:10] Sean’s background and bio [­01:26] Welcome to Sean Dustin! [01:55] You implied that you hit rock bottom at one point — can you tell us about that? [03:50] This all led to a prison sentence. How many years did you spend inside? [06:55] How does a decent human being such as yourself decide that committing crime is a better way to go than getting a real job? [07:30] Sean explains how his periods of good behavior would culminate in self-indulgence, which would further escalate into selling drugs to afford to live. [08:42] Besides drug dealing, one of your preferred crimes was identity theft, is that correct? [10:33] How do people protect themselves from identity theft? [12:00] Tell us about your podcast, Nowhere To Go But Up Now. You have a lot of great reviews, what is it about? [13:45] Topics on the podcast range from personal accounts of people’s rock bottom moments, interview with politicians, Sean’s personal interests, etc. [13:51] What do you do when you’re not podcasting? [14:33] Sean is starting a non-profit that emphasizes a holistic approach to re-entry for men going through the criminal process, from pre-trial, to halfway houses. [15:38] How long have you been sober and on the straight and narrow? [17:14] What happened in December 10 that caused you to change your ways? [18:49] There are “politics” in federal prisons, whereas in county and city jails, there’s not as much of an established hierarchy [19:28] Adult slow-pitch softball helped Sean get on the straight and narrow because it gave him something to focus on as well as a different group of people to be surrounded by [21:00] You can find everything on Sean and Nowhere To Go But Up Now, here! [21:23] Sean is one of the founders of Indie Pods United, a live, virtual podcast summit. There will be over 100 different events throughout the summit which runs for twelve hours each day between November 29^th and December 3^rd. There will be game shows, comedians, breakout sessions, keynote speakers — if you’re a podcaster, check it out! [22:40] You find Sean on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter [23:41] Thank you for supporting Open Mike Podcast!