People come out of prison and they've been told they're no good, they're not going to amount to anything. They have no self-esteem or self confidence. I came out of prison and walked New York City, not knowing the city, until my feet swelled up. I learned New York because I was told that I had to do my parole here. It was hard, and I'm not going to sit here and tell you that a couple of times I didn't think about taking a pay check and turning it over, flipping it. In fact when I first got out all my paychecks went into a work bank and they gave me an allowance, which when I first got out was only $18.23 per week. After that when I got a job I was only given enough money to go to and from my job, and that was now only $25.26. And I was given a bag with a sandwich, and some fruit, and a drink, and that was my meal for the day. You're talking about a person that before, on a bad week, was making $40-50,000. And they're giving me $25.26 to keep going to a job! [laughs] But I knew that I had to do it. Because if I didn't do it I would be sent back upstate to the correctional center, and I wasn't going to go back up state!

It's hard to stay focused, but I do a lot. I sell pure aromatherapy oils. I have my own catering business. I want to go back to school and become a chef. I want to get that little piece of paper because today you need a little piece of paper with little letters behind your name, which to me is not a whole lot, but it seems to be important to others.

My future dream is to develop a company or organization where when inmates come out, they are taught skills and how to dress and speak and work in the world. I'm looking at that no more than five years down the road. I also want to further develop my catering business.

Success for me is peace of mind. I don't have to look over my shoulder any more. I don't have to worry about the cops coming to get me. I don't have to worry about rival gangs coming to get me. I can sleep at night. I don't have to worry about going from town to town, or hotel room to hotel room. It's peace of mind. Now I'm happy. I'm tranquil. I know what I'm doing today is worthwhile for atleast somebody. And it's okay if I just reach one person out of 100, I know I can't reach everybody.

To get somewhere you have to reach out. You know what stupidity is? It's sitting in your mess not knowing what to do and knowing you can ask somebody and you might get the answer and still sitting there not doing it. There is no stupid question, that's my theory. I don't care how stupid it may sound, it's not stupid. Obviously you don't have the answer and you're seeking the knowledge for it. Reach out. A lot of people if they messed up, even professionals, they don't reach out and say " I made a mistake." We are human beings we are allowed to make mistakes! Now if you keep on making the same mistake three or four times you have a problem. But sitting there and wallowing in your problem and not reaching out and having that personal pity party, I don't have time for that. But if you reach out and say "Dreadie I need help," no matter what it is I will find somebody to help.

I don't like people telling me what to do and when to do it and basically that's what's prison is all about. I'm told when I can get up, when I can take a shower, when I can go to class. I can't wear certain things. I couldn't have worn shells in my hair like I do today. I have a really bad habit. I love silver. I couldn't wear it in prison. I could wear a watch. Food? Before going into prison I was a vegetarian, but half the time the vegetables were not kosher and I learned to eat meat. My whole lifestyle changed in order to survive. Basically that's why my motto is "Freedom is a must."

Freedom is little things, like getting up in the middle of the night and taking a shower and eat a snack. You can't do that in prison. Being able to watch TV all by yourself, you can't do that in prison. Most of the dorms had anywhere between 30 to 50 women, and some now have 101. It's hard to watch TV with all those women screaming at the top of their lungs. I can get up in the middle of the night, .. I have cable! I can watch cable television. If I chose to get up nude and walk into the kitchen I can do that without being sanctioned for it [laughs]! I can die my hair. I can put on as many rings as my fingers will hold. Little things like that. I can chew gum, even though I really don't chew it.

Stuff like that. It's important. What's important to you? Is it the type of food that you eat? In prison you can't get fresh meat, everything must be smoked. You can get smoked turkey, meatballs, wings, thinks like that. The meat I like to eat is all fresh. It's basic stuff. What's important to you? What is important about freedom to you? Get down to the real core of what's important and then work toward that.