Trigger warning. This interview discusses the specific person's experience with abuse, trauma, suicide, and violence. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse of any kind, please reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Their phone number is 1 (800) 799-7233. Or you can visit their safe, secure website, thehotline.org. 

If you  or anyone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide you can reach out to 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline by dialing 988 (us) or by visiting 988lifeline.org.

In this inspiring and in-depth episode, Jaclyn speaks with Ernesto Rodriguez about how he went from a prison sentence in solitary confinement to the program developer for Kindful Restoration. They discuss how unkindness led him on a path to destruction and how shifting his life toward kindness set him free. 

Ernesto Rodriguez was born into a life where poverty, violence, and addiction created a deep yearning to find acceptance, which eventually led to him to gangs. At age 18, Ernesto was arrested for attempted murder, carjacking, and assault with a firearm, and at age  27 found himself in solitary confinement for 8 years. It was there he began a transformation sparked by kindness. He  enrolled in college, self-help, AA, and NA and spent his years paying the kindness he received forward. While in prison he became a certified counselor and earned a bachelor’s in science in Psychology. He was released from prison in 2023 and began working as the program developer for Kindful Restoration - a subdivision of the Choose Kindness Foundation. 

This podcast is one of the many ways we live out our organization's mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness. Visit our site kindness.org and sign up to become a part of our global community which spans more than 100 countries. It's free to join and when you do you'll be the first to get access to our latest research, tools, and even episodes of this podcast. Let's build a kinder world, together. Contact us at podcast@kindness.org or on social at @kindnessorg. 

Sponsored by Verizon

Important links from this week's episode:

• kindness.org
• restorationproject.kindful.com

Credits 

• Host: Jaclyn Lindsey
• Guest: Ernesto Rodriguez
• Producer: Melissa Malone
• Associate Producer: Becca Reed
• Music Composition: Chris Christiana
• Design: Ben Gibson, Christine Do, Smithfield Studio

Transcript available at this link.

This podcast is one of the many ways we live out our organization's mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness. Visit our site kindness.org and sign up to become a part of our global Kindmaker community which spans more than 100 countries. It's free to join and when you do you'll be the first to get access to our latest research, tools, and even episodes of this podcast. Let's build a kinder world, together.

How kind are you? Visit kindness.org/KQ to get your KQ today!

Contact us at podcast@kindness.org or on social at @kindnessorg.