Class 14 Shines at Selling Night and Business Plan Workshop

Over 40 volunteer executives visited the Cleveland Correctional Center on October 15th-16th for the Class 14 Selling Night and Business Plan Workshop events. Friday night’s Selling Night gave the participants a chance to practice their hustling skills as they pitched their business idea to executives from all over the country! The end of the evening was highlighted with a "sell off" between two class participants in front of the entire crowd. Saturday’s event focused more on the actual business plan‚ and using the executive expertise to help write a more concise plan or garner new ideas as they prepare for the Business Plan Competition (BPC) in December.

The next prison events will be Employment Night on Friday‚ November 5th from 2pm-7pm‚ and Pitch Day on Saturday‚ November 6th from 10am-6pm. Employment is an important event because it focuses on mock job interviews, resume writing tips, and it’s an opportunity for executives to meet potential employees! Many participants in PEP have never interviewed for a real job‚ and this event gets them talking about their work history and gives them examples of questions they may face from a potential employer when they are released. Pitch Day is the practice-run in front of our executive judges‚ and will be the last chance to tweak the presentation or plan before they battle it out at BPC!
You can register for either of these events by contacting David Joekel at 281.881.5794 or by email for more information.

To see photos of Selling Night and the Business Plan Workshop event‚ visit our photo gallery here.

Thinking you’d like to invest in our participants by attending a prison event? We’d love for you to join us! If you are interested in attending‚ please visit our RSVP website.

Have You Received TDCJ Volunteer Training?

As you know‚ PEP operates under the auspices of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). As such‚ we must comply with TDCJ Volunteer rules and regulations and‚ in order to fully enjoy the PEP experience (or if you wish to visit prison more than four times in your lifetime)‚ individuals must go through TDCJ Volunteer Training. On Saturday‚ November 13th at 10am PEP is holding a special training session for our volunteers who have not yet received training. The training will be conducted by Captain Hunt at the Carol Vance Unit in Richmond‚ TX. This is a special training session not on the regular training calendar. If you wish to obtain training for the first time please email David Joekel at djoekel@pep.org or‚ for more information‚ call the PEP office at 832.767.0928.

Are You Due to Renew Your Training Certification?

TDCJ Trained volunteers are required to be retrained every two years; if you need retraining TDCJ recently introduced an online retraining program that takes about 20-30 minutes and can be done in the comfort of your own home at almost any computer. At the end of the retraining session you will be asked to take a test (Post-Test) covering all the materials reviewed (11 Modules). Once you have passed the test you will have the option to print off your "Acknowledgement of Training/Orientation Form". Please print this form and scan/email to David Joekel at djoekel@pep.org‚ fax a copy to PEP's Houston office at 832.201.7730‚ or mail it to us at PEP‚ PO BOX 926724‚ Houston‚ TX 77292. This will help us remain in compliance with TDCJ volunteer rules and regulations.
You can access the online training by clicking here.

Class 8 Graduate Honored with Inspiration Grant

PEP congratulates Jeffrey Offutt, owner of Jita Printing, as the sixth Inspiration Grant winner. The award is presented by The Million Dollar Road Trip‚ a national ad campaign that celebrates the American entrepreneurial spirit by rewarding ambitious and creative people throughout the country. "It's an honor to receive this grant‚ and a blessing to inspire and to be inspired‚" says Offutt. "I made the decision to allow the Lord to direct my path and He continues to amaze me with His many blessings. I'm truly humbled and honored." To learn more about this program‚ visit www.milliondollarroadtrip.com online.

Class 14 Prepares for Graduation

Class 14 Business Plan Competition (BPC) & Graduation will take place on December 2nd-3rd at the Cleveland Correctional Center. BPC is the culmination of five months of intense class work, business concepts, character building, and transformation. For many of the men in PEP‚ this event will be the first time they have ever donned the cap and gown‚ walked across a stage‚ and accomplished something positive. We encourage you to attend the graduation ceremony. Come support our graduates as they prepare to start a new life and truly leave prison as a new man!
To register for BPC & Graduation please visit PEP.org/rsvp.

PEP Celebration of Success

Executives and Participants, we are please to invite you to celebrate with some of our released graduates! Come congratulate them as they are recognized by Carnival Cruise Lines for their superior sales skills. The festivities will take place on Sunday, December 5th on the Carnival Conquest docked in Galveston, TX. Follow this link for details and to RSVP or email Ryan here for more information.

As always, we are thankful to our many partners and volunteers. If you have an executive group you think would enjoy hearing about PEP in the Houston‚ Dallas or Austin areas please email info@pep.org.

Straight from the Inside

Class 14 draws closer to completion‚ and we’re lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at what their lives have been like as they make their way through the most intense section of the curriculum. Read this excerpt from a recent journal entry‚ and then read the entries for every week!

"After lunch‚ we took the test over Chapter 5 (Selling and Service). We were given an assignment called "Consequence Trails." Consequence Trails uses the Franklin Reality Model to assess behavior choices and determine whether or not our behavior will "meet our needs over time" or essentially if it will help or harm us later on down the road. We were told to write three mock scenarios that are possible following release. These scenarios will each detail possible steps of our theoretical journeys back down the wrong path."

Read More Journals Here