Pharoah Palmer is a “jack-of-all-trades.” During his 24 years in prison, Pharoah earned vocational certifications in welding, offset printing, and culinary arts. His natural intelligence, curiosity and eagerness to learn new things contributed to his success in the early months of our reentry program following his release and everyone at Parole Project was confident about his future. That confidence was well-placed. Within a couple of months after completing the first two phases of our program and moving to his new home in Texas with his wife, Pharoah has begun to established himself. Parole Project recently spoke with Pharoah after one of his check-ins with our case mangers and he graciously answered a few questions and shared a little about his life today for our Client Spotlight feature.
You sound very happy and relaxed. Tell me about your home life today.
Pharoah: I recently moved from Baton Rouge to to a little town near San Antonio. South Texas is a lot different from southeast Louisiana but I like it here. My wife and I live in a quiet neighborhood and everyone here has been really welcoming.
Tell me about your employment. I understand you have multiple endeavors at the moment.
Pharoah: I’m proud to say I’m self-employed and I have two LLCs. Pharoah Dickens Real Estate Investors, LLC, is my first company. One of my proudest moments was getting my website Pharoahdickensrealestateinvestors.com published and receiving approval for my LLC from the Secretary of State. My second company does third-party product importing and exporting for Amazon FBA. Both ventures have been profitable from the beginning so I plan on continuing to run both companies long-term. Of course I’ll need to hire some help soon because my wife said my schedule is going to kill me. It’s long hours but it’s still exciting for me and I love the challenge of negotiating and the satisfaction of making an honest profit.
Who are the people in your life who provide support and encouragement?
Pharoah: My mother, my wife, and in-laws are my special people that I’m around daily. They wish that I spent less time working but they know that I’m highly ambitious, focused and determined to build financial security and independence for myself and my family. My friend Dwayne and his wife Anitra and my cousin Jude are huge supporters too. They understand my vision and have high expectations of themselves and of me.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Pharoah: Everyday in business is challenging. There is always something to adjust to. There is always something that requires patience, planning or action.
What role has Parole Project played in your journey?
Pharoah: In addition to being key to helping me get out of prison, Parole Project was instrumental in helping me build my foundation for success. I’m just one more example that shows most of us (the formerly incarcerated serving long sentences) were just sitting in prison way too long and have been ready to get back to life and live it to the fullest.
