Local ex-convict used her time in prison to come up with a business plan to change her life around

In 2015 Emily O’Brien says she was spiraling out of control, using drugs and alcohol at the time she was 26, and running a social media business in Toronto.

She let her substance abuse get so out of control that she agreed to bring illegal drugs over the border. Two kilograms of cocaine, worth more than 130,000 dollars. She smuggled the drugs from St. Lucia to Canada serving as a mule for her then boyfriend and spent 10 months in prison.

After she vowed to use the darkest time in her life to do good. O’Brien begged her warden to go to a festival, while in custody, to let people try her popcorn. She finally launched her brand Cons and Kernels at the Dundas Hop Market.

Flavors ranging from sweet sriracha, beaver tail, and jailhouse cheese. The owner of the market, Jason Gloster couldn’t resist the ex-cons popcorn and didn’t care about her rocky past. She hopes to be a source of support for ex-cons who have no one else to turn too.