Tony Smith

One of Tony Smith’s favorite things about his work at Sweet Beginnings is the occasional opportunity to share his life experiences with others.  “I hope my story can help other people – especially teenagers.  I want to tell my story.”  Like when NLEN Executive Director Brenda Palms Barber invited him to join her for a talk with students at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Tony recalls, “Those students want to help people. They really listened to me.”

He also visited the Inspiration Café on Chicago’s North Side, which, like Sweet Beginnings, LLC, employs formerly incarcerated individuals.  Tony discovered he liked to help others while in prison, where he worked as a peer counselor and health educator. Tony hopes to eventually make a career of helping people through motivational speaking and counseling.

As a Sweet Beginnings, LLC beekeeper and production assistant, Tony says, “My favorite part is the honey extraction because it’s hands-on and gets you actively involved. After that I like mixing the ingredients to make the products, because it’s knowledge based and you learn things that you can take with you.  You can use it as a stepping-stone.”

The father of a teenage daughter, Tony stays in touch with his family. He lives with his physically disabled mother and helps to care for her.

Tony entered NLEN’s U-Turn Permitted program just a few weeks after serving more than 14 years in prison. His aunt had heard that NLEN helped ex-offenders to get jobs, so he called looking for a job. He decided to enroll in the four-week program. After excelling int the program, Sweet Beginnings, LLC invited him to interview for his current position.

During his time with NLEN and Sweet Beginnings, LLC, Tony has grown an outgoing personality and is as comfortable talking about his past as he is talking about his future. At the same time, he doesn't like people to pre-judge him. So his advice is "don’t assume…just ask me!”