Claremore Business Owner Uses Her Fresh Start To Help Other Women After Prison

A Claremore woman who served time in prison has used her fresh start to start a business and hire others with criminal histories like hers.

She said her life has completely changed and she wanted to pass on as much grace and kindness as she can to others.

This is not a story about second chances. Sometimes life puts so much on your plate at such a young age, figuring things out can take years. For Shaunte Gordon, it took two prison sentences.

"By the time I was 15, I was going to prison for the most violent crimes you can get in the state," said Gordon.

Gordon said her childhood was filled with trauma and abuse. She said she had her first baby at 12 years old after she was raped by someone she knew. Gordon said she witnessed so much violence at home, she turned to violence as an adult. That is Gordon's past.

This story is about her life now, about how she found a way through the darkness in her life. She would tell you that she survived because someone made a way for her.

"I got saved in the backseat of a police car. Peace flooded me and I just knew everything was going to be okay," said Gordon.

Gordon was in prison for a total of 18 years. She got out at 36 years old, and had never really had a job in her life. Then Rhonda Bear at She Brews Coffee House gave her one, helped her find a home and put good people around her to help her grow.

"We just broke a curse right then because my mom had been to prison. I had been to prison," said Gordon.

About seven years ago, Gordon started her own cleaning business called She Does Odd Jobs With Integrity. She also became a home owner, helps mentor and encourage other women in prison and hires some of those same women after they get out.

"It gives me self-worth. It is not just to work towards a paycheck, I get the opportunity to bless other people," said employee Lisa Pohawpatchoko.

All of these women work several job and each one said they have found value in their lives again, in the little things they used to take for granted.