Inspiration from Solitary and Building an Impact Business
In this interview we speak with Coss Marte, who was once leading one of the largest illegal drug delivery businesses in New York City. Today he runs a fitness business that employs over 60 formerly incarcerated individuals and has helped over 70,000 people improve their health. This was not a fast journey and one that included childhood adversity, arrest, prison time, remorse, redemption, and self-realization. I was moved by Coss’s heart and motivation to that allowed him to navigate a system and society riddled with bias and inequity, ultimately giving him the leverage to begin reshaping the system itself.
Show Links:
https://conbody.com/
Imperfect Show Notes
While these notes are not perfect (computer transcription is still a work in progress), they give you the gist of the conversation. Enjoy!
My conversation with Coss Marte:
Morgan Bailey 0:02
Hello, and welcome to the profit meets impact Podcast where we explore the intersection of doing well and doing good in the world. I'm your host, Morgan Bailey. And I'm excited to bring you the wisdom of entrepreneurs and thought leaders that are using business to create sustainable and meaningful change across the globe. Hello, listeners, I hope this podcast finds you well today. I know there's a lot going on in the world right now from Warren and Ukraine and Eastern Europe to financial uncertainty, potential recession or wildfires to the ever looming threat of climate change. And I hope everyone is taken care of to find moments of joy and light. And that's what at least feels like to me some very uncertain times. Now, I hope this story that I'm bringing you today, this interview with cost Marty is one of those points of light. Cost. Marty is a business owner and generally just a really solid, inspirational human being and has a huge heart and just a massive drive for change. Now, a decade ago, you would have found cars in prison, and perhaps never imagined this man's capacity to make such a positive difference in this world. And maybe that would make sense. He was running the largest illegal drug delivery business in New York City at the time, a really sophisticated, ultimately doomed endeavor that led him to prison. But that was not the end of the story for cost. It's not what to find him has he used his own health challenges while in prison to create a fitness movement that spread within the prison. Ultimately, he was able to take this model outside after his release. And despite the hurdles of being an ex con, he built a fitness business on the same corner he used to sell drugs from and really turned his life around and lives of countless others EEO. His business con body has worked with over 70,000 people and employs over 50 formerly incarcerated individuals. His work is now recognized across the nation, he's been interviewed by countless people, including Ellen NPR, and his business is now running fitness programs, in prisons in multiple states making such a massive impact. I really appreciate this conversation with costs, his humility, his drive to make a difference. And I think you'll find some inspiration there as well. So let's dive in. Well, I'm really excited to have you with us here today, cos Welcome to the show.
Coss Marte 2:29
Thank you for having me, Morgan, I appreciate it.
Morgan Bailey 2:32
Now, because you have a really phenomenal story, from from your time, selling drugs, to your time, building a business and to working with other formerly incarcerated. And I'd love to hear just a little bit about, you know, maybe some of those younger years, you know, and which kind of were really formative to you and how they kind of led you into the direction and, and landed you came in, in the state penitentiary or actually is probably a federal prison. Yeah, no,
Coss Marte 3:05
I was in state state penitentiary, multiple times. But ya know, it's been a crazy journey. I mean, as a kid growing up in the Lower East Side, in the 80s, and 90s, it was a different atmosphere, you know, right, right. Now you have, you know, art galleries and poodle walking, you know, it still has that gritty filling a little bit, you know, in the city over here, but it's not the same as it was before. I think today, the community looks more safe, but less of a community and back then it was more, more of a community but more dangerous. But, you know, drugs were all around me, you know, back then to everybody on a block everybody on a corner. You know, so drugs and how the neighborhood was built up, it was built up in different sections. And every corner you you went to there was a dealer there. And so that's what I grew up seeing and seeing, you know, people lining up to buy drugs and, and it was like this hard feeling, you know, like, old school, New York, it's tough, you know, you're born tough, and as a kid growing up in that, that in that area and never senati I just felt I had to learn quick, you know, and I did learn quick, you know, I was on the streets roaming around, you know, going downstairs by myself, maybe three, four years old, you know, just running down the block, you know, hanging out with the drug that's standing on the corner, you know, and that's how I grew up, you know, people used to grill in front of the building, you know, and and that was that's what we did. And and I'm I learned I learned how to get involved with drugs at a very early age, because I was always hungry for money. My mom came from the Dominican Republic when she was pregnant with me with not much, you know, we ended up living on a couch and, and my aunt's couch in the same building I grew up in and, and growing up in that situation, I felt, I felt like I wanted more. And money was everything to me, you know, growing up in a tie, you know, premises and then looking at other people living in better situations on TV. Yeah, like, you know, that's real success. I remember, like looking at, like, full house when I was a kid. And looking at these TV shows, like, they're, they made it, this is the rich lifestyle, but you didn't see like any people that look like me, you know, on TV that had that situation and had that living situation. So I didn't I didn't really see that reality. I just saw it on TV, but I knew I wanted it, you know, and I felt like the streets was the first avenue for it. You know, I I've done little odd jobs here and there, like collected bottles when I was a kid and exchanging for nickels in the bodega or, you know, wash cars, by opening up the fire hydrant and stuff like that. But drugs was, you know, drugs was money for me. That was that was my mentality. And money equals success.
Morgan Bailey 6:42
Yeah, so I mean, it, you know, was there ever was there, you know, did you ever see another way? Or was it simply like, you know, if this is what I want, this is where I want to go, this is, this is what I need to do?
Coss Marte 6:54
Well, I saw school as a way, you know, also, you know, so I didn't really have an example of somebody that graduated from college and made it until, like, my, my, I have two older sisters that graduated. But when they graduated, I was already in, you know, juvenile or I was in prison, you know, so like, I don't really see a great example, even though my mom was like, Yeah, you have to go to school, you, you know, this is how you do it. This and that, you know, I didn't, I was very impatient. You know, and I didn't see any, like, instant gratification as a kid, you know, going to school, it was like, just a waste of time, even though I was really good at it. Especially in math, like my mom taught me my times tables before I even go on to elementary school, you know, because she was a school teacher in the Dominican Republic. But when she came here, she worked in a factory as somebody sewing like small little baby dresses. And that's what I saw. But she she taught me school, but I didn't really see any results from it, or I didn't see any examples of somebody succeeding from it. You know, she was just telling me this.
Morgan Bailey 8:19
Yeah. And meanwhile, it sounds like you were seeing a lot of examples of people who are making it through drugs. That was
Coss Marte 8:27
absolutely, absolutely. You just see. It was there. It was the reality. scars, you know, the woman's that was it. You know, like, that's, that's what I wanted.
Morgan Bailey 8:41
And so you dove into that from from a young age.
Coss Marte 8:45
Yeah, I love and I started smoking weed at 13. I started dealing it and just kept doing it. Non stop.
Morgan Bailey 8:54
Now, you you eventually created a fairly large and sophisticated dealing organization.
Coss Marte 9:03
Yeah. I started like one of the largest drug delivery services in New York City for cocaine and marijuana. We had a 24 hour delivery service. I mean, it I don't know, I don't I don't think it you know, people were like, all you had to be extremely smart to start this for me, it was just like, it just came naturally in a way you know, it was like a supply and demand. So like the, the neighborhood started changing after like, 911 and I stopped doing pretty much crack, you know, not too long after that. And I got involved with with cocaine and a lot of people in the neighborhood, you know, that were moving in at that time. were white and wealthy hipsters, and you know, and then The profit margins were even higher, you know, we were selling grams in the neighborhood at 50 bucks, but you know, these people are willing to pay over 100 bucks, maybe even more sometimes. So for us, it was a no brainer to like, you know, sell them, you know, co got a higher profit margin and and then we started the delivery service. And that just basically came about because I was like, giving up my phone number writing it out and pieces of paper and ripping it off. You know how, like, back in the day he wrote, you know, people wrote the numbers they didn't like, take a number of contact or text me, you know, that was not a real thing. It was just Yeah, we had phones, we had some sort of text messaging device, but it was very difficult. You know, you had to press like, the number two button like 10 times just spell one word, you know. So yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you know, it was easier to write it down. And so we created business cards behind it. And then we, we started wearing in business, business suits and ties and, you know, started dressing up like, our clients, and it became more professional.
Morgan Bailey 11:13
It's wild. Yeah. Because hearing about this, and, you know, and thinking about where we are in modern day, right, with the cannabis vendors and everything like that, and know what we'll talk about that in a little bit. But in essence, you you kind of you, you were kind of creating a very similar system that, at least in California, we have now here in terms of the cannabis industry, so it's really fascinating. Now, so eventually, this came to a halt. And you're you were you were organization, your your business was, was was taken down by the was it federal or state,
Coss Marte 11:51
while the Feds caught me, but it turned it into a state case.
Morgan Bailey 11:55
And so that and so that, that that's what ultimately led you into the state penitentiary. Now, it's in there. I mean, I mean, I think that's where are, you know, you started having some other things going on, there were some health issues that ultimately kind of led to this commitment to physical health. So tell us a little bit of what what was that like, as you were, as you were in, in that state penitentiary, dealing with those issues, and really starting to figure out a way to, to change course.
Coss Marte 12:29
Yeah, I mean, in the streets, you know, I was, I was making millions of dollars in the street. So like, all I did was just sit in a car and eat, you know, and so I didn't, I was not mobile, I was not doing anything. And I was pretty good. Health wise, as a kid, I was pretty active playing sports, you know, did a whole bunch of stuff and moved around. But once I started making a lot of money, I was like, I started getting big, and I didn't even realize I was getting big, I just kept eating. But when I went into prison, that's when the doctors in there told me my cholesterol levels went through the roof. And if I didn't start eating correctly, or dieting, that I could probably die of a heart attack. Within five years. That's, that's what they said, you know, and so I was like, I was I was in disbelief when they when they said that I'm like, now I'm only 24 years old. I'm not gonna die in here. And so but I started reflecting. As I went back to my cell after they told me that and I remember like, going to myself sitting on my bed, and just thinking like, I can't die in here, you know, they told me this, you know, they basically called me down to the medical unit not to lie to me, you know, so I got off my bed actually started doing like Deb's push up. So they're jumping jacks. And and I think I'd worked out for like, five minutes, maybe at the most, you know, and I said, this is way too hard. You know, fuck this shit. I'm laying down bad, bad and, and went back to sleep. And then and I remember waking up the next day, and you know, and just saying, I'm gonna go outside and start running. And so that was like, the thing I did, I went out to the prison yard and I started writing and as for my diet, you don't get the best food in there. But I basically eliminated you know, carbs. I stopped eating rice, bread pasta, just basically like a paleo. Yeah.
Morgan Bailey 14:47
And how quickly like how quickly did you did you notice your body like you start to see the impact of that?
Coss Marte 14:53
So after three months, they called me down to the medical unit. I lost 40 pounds in three months over 70 pounds in six months. But after that, that three month period, they call me down. And I remember they said, your cholesterol levels back to normal, you know, I lost all the weight and and then after six months, I just kept going, I just kept doing it. And it became some sort of meditation for me at the time. It was just an escape out of prison for me.
Morgan Bailey 15:26
And you start inspiring other people within the system as well.
Coss Marte 15:31
Yeah, so other inmates getting started getting involved until it was it was just like one guy bus. This guy was about 300. And something pounds, he's, he came up to me. And I remember him asking for a cigarette. Cuz I used to run like, of like, hour and a half, almost two, I used to run like a half a marathon every day. And I just kept doing it. And then going back to my cell and going past addicts. It was I mean, there was time to burn and time to work out. And, and so I remember bus coming up to me and was like, Hey, can I get a cigarette, and I was smoking one. And so I gave him half my cigarette. I don't I don't smoke anymore. But that was that was what we did in the prison yard. And so I we started talking and he was like, Y'all want to start running with you? And I was like, I let's do it. You know, and he started the same way I did. You know, they basically had these light posts in in the prison yard, it around the prison yard. And you run around the gate. And so we would like jog to one pole and then start walking, jog to one poll and then started walking. And then shortly, you know, we kept we kept pushing it, you know, and, and I remember two of his other friends came out. And then my boy came out. And we just started forming a group. And we just kept doing it. That was it.
Morgan Bailey 17:05
So eventually, you would turn this into a business. Yeah. Business where I know you're it was it was it day I understand correctly. It's actually in the same neighborhood or a similar neighborhood that you were working in before.
Coss Marte 17:20
Yeah. So yeah. Which is which is Yeah. Started that's why. Same block same corner. So drugs.
Morgan Bailey 17:29
Yeah. So but before that, I mean, there was there was a moment you were mentioning where the kind of inception of this idea to create a business happened. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that.
Coss Marte 17:40
Yeah, I, you know, I was in the yard, I was helping these inmates to work out. I had no idea. I had no idea I was going to start a business around this, it was just like something that we did to build camaraderie with each other and workout with each other and hold each other accountable. So it was not towards the end of my incarceration. I was about to be released in early release program. Where I was, I was I was called down I remember being called down to the medical unit, I had about two months left. I'm thinking I'm gonna go see a dentist. And I remember heading down to the medical unit, you know, excited to see a dentist because the dental line is like, very long. I mean, I waited three years to see a dentist and, and I had about two months, two months left. And this officer places me on the wall. And I remember him putting me on a wall. And as he was searching me, he said this is a random drug test. You're not here for you know, any anything else. And I was like, okay, whatever, you know, I haven't used drugs, I'm clean. And so he started searching very aggressively. As he was searching me very aggressively went between my legs. I touch my body. And as I twist my body, he punched me behind my head. And he he said, today is not my day. Don't fuck with me. And I remember like, I had glasses at that time. And I remember my glasses fell down to the ground. And and I dropped down to the ground, and I got my glasses. I picked it up and that turned around on him. And he thought I was gonna head up. And so he presses this button has walkie talkie which we in prison in New York state they call it the pin. And as soon as that pin is pressed, the whole alarm for the whole prison goes off. And about a half a dozen officers come to the scene. They break me down they throw me down on the ground. They cuffed me up and they they drag me into solitary confinement. So I ended up in solitary. And I, I was in his space where I was in a 24 hour lockdown space where I had no way to communicate with anyone. All I had was like myself and my thoughts and, and I start pacing back and forth. And I'm just stressed out in my mind because I, you know, my, my son just finished visiting me a few months back and I told him, I was coming home and my family's thinking I'm coming home in two months, but I can't communicate with them that this situation happened. And so I remember they're also coming to my door, and passes me a paper pen and a pencil and a pen, and he passes it through the food slot, you know, the opacity of food. And I quickly grabbed that, and I started writing a letter to my family and letting them know, like, you know, this was the situation that went down, I'm gonna need a lawyer, I need help, I need to get out of the situation. And, and I remember in closing that letter in an envelope and and then realizing that I can't send this letter because I had no stamp to send this letter with. So I'm like, stressed that in my mind. I had no way of communicating or asking for help. And I remember a couple of days went by and there and the cell was like over 100 degrees. Get only two showers a week. Just stressed. And so I remember just sitting there wasting time. And then I got the call the mail, the mail in a tear, you know, they call mail time, and it was like the fourth or fifth day there. And they call my name and I'm like, oh shit, I got mail. And so I got up, they put it in the food slot, I take it out, read it. It's my letter from my sister. And my sister is like super religious, extra. I don't know, Mother Teresa's child is the way I describe her. And Hallelujah, Amen. Everything to her. And she. And I remember, like, just reading this letter, and she telling me to read Psalm 91, from the Bible. And I'll say that, like, I don't believe in God, I don't want to read the Bible, like whatever. And I took the letter and just threw it in the corner myself laid back on my bed. And a couple of days went by all I had in my cell was this Bible that she gave me on earlier in my incarceration. And I never picked it up, all I did was write my boys like phone numbers and stuff like that, that will be released. And so I could keep in touch with them potentially sell drugs with them. And that was my mentality. And I remember
at a board on a couple of days went by and I said let me just go read what Psalm 91 is about. And so I picked it up I read it, which states He who dwells in the shelter, the multiverse in the shadow almighty. I was saying, Lord, he's my shelter and my fortress, my God and who I trust. And as soon as I read those words stamp felt, like from in between the psalm pages, and I just felt like there was chills. You know, my body felt there was something bigger than myself at that moment. I was like, I was weirded out to you know, it was like, I mean, the cell this happened. And I felt other freaky stuff. You know, it was just weird. But remember, like, seeing hope, because I got this stamp. And now I can, like, communicate with my family and let them know I you know, to help me in this situation. And and I remember sending a letter out, you know,
Morgan Bailey 24:10
and it was in solitary as well, is that when you decided to turn this into a business?
Coss Marte 24:17
And yes, at that moment, I remember, like, just thinking like, regret, you know, I read the, the Bible from front to back and regret for all the things I've done in my life, like, all the people that are affected by selling drugs to them and their families and all that stuff. And so I said, like, how can I give back in a more positive way? How can I give back and do the right thing and I thought about fitness and fitness was the thing that just popped in my mind. And I was already helping these guys in yard work out and so I started constructing my business plan and that prison cell, rolled it out.
Morgan Bailey 25:00
And so you, you got out of prison? And then did you immediately go to go to start building this business?
Coss Marte 25:09
Yeah, I literally did, right, I grow. And I started working out in a park day one. I remember like, going back to my mom's place, I lost all my money, like, I lost everything. And I went out to the park and I started going after people and telling them I'm doing this whole workout, you know, in this boot camp. But when I got home that day, stood home, woke up the next morning, and I already knew what I had in mind. And I remember telling my family and telling people that I saw around the neighborhood and they were like, you're you're crazy. I was like, Yo, I'm starting this prison style boot camp, you're gonna see it's gonna pop, you know, it's gonna work. And yeah, people thought I was not, but I did it. But it caught on, clearly. Yeah.
Morgan Bailey 25:59
So how long ago was that now, as long as your business been up and running?
Coss Marte 26:03
Well, legally, like eight years, nine years, I've been doing it the first year, I was just operating in the park, I had no bank account, no business, I was just doing hand to hand transaction like I was a drug dealer selling,
Morgan Bailey 26:22
selling, selling, selling and fitness.
Coss Marte 26:24
But it's like a fitness. Yeah.
Morgan Bailey 26:27
so and so. Alright, so you now have this, this business con body? And how talk to talk a little about this, this the scope and the size of what you're doing there?
Coss Marte 26:39
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's been crazy. Now, you know, we've been, we've trained over 70,000 people today versus 70,000 80,000. Wow. Virtually in person around the world. I've gone to so many prisons, inside the prison system training inmates. And then our whole mission is to hire people coming out of the prison system. So we've been able to hire over 50 people coming out of the system to become trainers or just work in our facilities or do admin work or just do stuff? You know, so. And I think, I mean, the proudest thing I've done is that I have no one that's worked with us has gone back into the prison system. So we have observers,
Morgan Bailey 27:28
which is amazing, because what, you know, rates vary between 60 and 80%. In some in some areas. Now, I mean, what do you attribute that to?
Coss Marte 27:40
I think it's like, I get I get respect for what I built. And I think I get major respect for what, where I came from, you know, with my employees, and one thing is that we got each other's back, like, if anybody needs anything, in terms of like food, shelter, money, whatever it is, you know, we're gonna figure it out. And that's one thing I tell people, like, once you end it seem like you're in any type of trouble, all you got to do is just hit us up, and we're gonna figure it out, you know, whether you got to sleep in the gym, or whether you got to get food, you know, we're gonna get you food, you know. And I think, like, we've been a lifeline, and just the easiest step for people to transition from the prison system, you know, back to society, because it's definitely a very difficult process. If you don't have anybody that's gonna help you. You know, if it's almost setting you up for failure, you know? Yeah.
Morgan Bailey 28:43
No, no, I mean, I imagined for many of the people who you train, this is their first experience with formerly incarcerated. So I mean, and I imagine I mean, there's a lot of stigma, right? I think if so much of our political system is to punish, punish, punish, as opposed to like, forgive, heal, you know, and reintegrate. So talk to me a bit about that experience about how is that working with individuals who've had no former experience interacting with anyone who's been in prison?
Coss Marte 29:12
I think now, it's a bit easier. You know, because I, everybody's getting into criminal justice reform, I think people are more empathetic on the fact that we've been you know, people like myself grew up in areas that it was it was highly likely that I was going to end up in a system especially for like a black or brown kid, you know, growing up in these certain neighborhoods, like especially a men you were probably going to end up in the system and I think the empathy comes from like individuals that are moving into the city, you know, that never came in contact with the law are really understanding like, wow, this this is a really unfair chance, you know, like these people didn't really get a you know, First chance, you know, like, we talked about second chances, but, you know, when when do we ever get that first one? You know, so? Yeah, I think now's a bit easier. But when I, when I was growing up when I was starting and growing calm body criminal justice was not sexy, it was not a sexy topic. You know, like when we, we spoke about like hiring people coming out of the system, people were like, what, you know, why would you do that, you know, like, people, you know, people thought they didn't, they shouldn't get a second chance, you know. And so I remember like marketing in the beginning as costs athletics, and then we had like a small little tagline, prison style boot boot camp and our cards and, and so people would come and they just thought it was like a boot camp. And so when I would tell them, like, hey, you know, this is, you know, this is the right for my personal story, I was incarcerated, blah, blah, blah, they were like, what you were locked up. And so I remember seeing people walk out of my class before, you know, like, people just saying, like, I don't want to be involved with this, you know, it was it hurt my feelings. But you know, it may be I think a little bit stronger, just to be open about it and restart that conversation with somebody that's never met anybody that's been in the system. And we tried to change that perception. We got to open up a facility and Saks Fifth Avenue, the Bougie a store in America and midtown in New York, and we're like, above the Louis Vuitton store. And so people would walk in there with, you know, the beautiful purses and, and in our, we had calm body, and we built like a whole jail in store. And so people would walk in, and they were like, what the hell it says, but I was, I became more upfront about it. And people, you know, some people were like, you know, skeptical about it. But in our in that store, we had a sign. And so we hire formerly incarcerated people to teach fitness classes. And I remember them, like looking at us, like you were locked up. And, and so they always thought this wrong perception, but when they met us, and we spoke a bit more articulate to them or, you know, got to, like, really know them, you know, that their perception started changing, you know, and, and we started creating friendships, you know, and now today, like, you know, we've trained all these people, but they love it, you know, they want to be in there. You know, sometimes I gotta kick out clients out of the studio, because they don't, they don't they don't want to leave this place. Yeah, so
Morgan Bailey 32:49
Well, I mean, it sounds like you've done both, you've just created an amazing community here, both in terms of your clients, but also in terms of your staff in something that that people are really drawn to. And I'm curious, as you were, as you were building your business, right. I mean, I think, as you mentioned, as you started building your business, this, you know, social justice wasn't, it wasn't a sexy topic, necessarily. And, you know, how was it trying to get support? I mean, were you able to get loans? Like, were there people who believed in your vision? Like, how did you surpass any hurdles in that realm?
Coss Marte 33:29
Yeah, I, I wasn't able to go to the bank and get a loan. I was, you know, I basically got my first startup capital by taking my Jordan sneakers and selling them, I you know, those the only thing that I had probably left from my drug days is bought a few 100 pairs of Jordans sneakers that I just said the streets and started selling them and, and I didn't really care about the those materialistic things anymore. I just like, use that as a tool to you know, get back on my feet and start start to process the right way. So that's how I did it. I mean, I I also got assistance from like mentors and, and people that I met through different nonprofit organizations like fortunate society, which is a huge organization working in the criminal justice Space in New York City or, and then also the five ventures. They believe that illegal entrepreneurs have the same transferable skills to become legal entrepreneurs. You know, they really taught me how to build a proper business glad like I you know, I had this written down and sheets of paper, you know, they they really taught me how to put it on a computer, open up a spreadsheet, build a financial model, you know, file for taxes, you know, just basic Set up an entity, just basic business skills. And it was a 14 month program. But during that program, I was hustling and doing my stuff in the street, you know, selling and selling and fitness. And so I just kept doing it on the side and, and eventually I went full throttle after I graduated,
Morgan Bailey 35:23
wow. And you know, how quickly in those initial years did it grow?
Coss Marte 35:30
I think I went from like, one person to like, six, seven people. And I thought I made it, you know, after like, maybe six months. You know, it was it was it was hard, you know, I just for two years, I was out in the street, you know, I was in the park operating outside. And it was not until almost that third year where I actually found a space and it was like a roll my back of a preschool. And, and I told the principal who was subleasing the space to me that I was teaching Pilates classes, so as you want.
And then she found out and they were like, we can't have this here. You know, so it was a it was discriminatory, you know, time after time where I was, I was trying to even though I had money in the bank, I was ready to lease a space. People didn't want to rent to me. Because of the concept, you know, I was like, I'm starting this prisons now boot camp, and I'm hiring, you know, ex constant, do it, you know, until they're like, what, like, you know, this, this is dangerous, you know, I'm like, No, it's working. I've been doing this for the, you know, two years in the park, you know, so like, people don't really understand the concept. And I was showing them like, Hey, we're actually generating revenue off of this, we're making money and people didn't want to give me a chance, you know, and I found this, like, I got very lucky by just randomly searching a Craigslist ad. And there was a basement under Buddhist temple on the same exact corner where I sold drugs at and, and went back to that block and saw the posting and, and I told him, I'll take the space. And so we built out our first location on the exact same corner where I sold drugs that got locked out that.
Morgan Bailey 37:31
Wow, I mean, talking about coming full circle. Yeah, that is. Yeah, that's just truly phenomenal. And so you've been doing this now for, you know, I think you said eight or nine years isn't, and I'm curious, like, what, through the hardships, and I'm guessing the pandemic also wasn't an easy transition, What's kept you going?
Coss Marte 37:57
I think, I don't like to lose. I think it's just like, competitive DNA, in me that it's just like, I'm not gonna give up and I'm gonna just keep, you know, taking on punches, and just show up and deliver, you know, not only that, but I also get the motivation from like, my employees, my clients, you know, there's people that come in and say, like, you know, thank you so much for building this, you transform my body or, you know, one of my trainers and like, you know, now I can provide for my family, you know, like, I have a place to stay, you know, like, it's been over 50 lives, you know, that have been employed there, you know, and, and working there. And it's been a crazy journey, but it's worked, you know, and it's more motivating when when I hear that and then I get like jail mail all the time with training inmates and Rikers Island with training and mates and Wisconsin and working on Nebraska now. Pushing to move forward in Mexico. So like, now it's grown doing stuff in London. It's crazy.
Morgan Bailey 39:15
It's wild, you know, I mean, me it sounds like it's so much a big part of that is because you had a very strong mission and purpose and what you're doing for free, you know, the perception I get, you know, this is just not just a job for you. This is, you know, kind of going back to that moment you're talking about in solitary, like there's, like the purpose and meaning into what you're doing. That really is something that helps, you know, is really helping this catch momentum. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, you're starting to venture beyond just just Khan body. And something we talked about before we hit the record button was some of you know that New York is now you know, has cannabis is legal now. And so that You know, and one of the things that New York is doing is it's reserving a certain amount of time for, for people to enter that business who are coming from, you know, more disadvantaged, you know, societies, more disadvantaged populations. So talk talk to us a little bit about where that work is going right now.
Coss Marte 40:20
Yeah, so I'm gonna be selling weed again, which is
Morgan Bailey 40:25
talking about full circle, right? Yeah. Well,
Coss Marte 40:29
ya know, I've been, like, advocate for, you know, the plant for a while, you know, ever since, like, I have a friend, white guy, you know, who I know, for a very long time. That grew up in Rhode Island. And he was living in Massachusetts, and was applying what's one of the first licenses to get granted in Massachusetts. And, and he, I remember at that time, he hits me up when he was starting, this was about five years ago, or more now, six, seven years ago. And he hits me up, and he's like, Yo, I want you to be the CEO for my cannabis company. And now like, die, you know, that's, that sounds crazy. And I was thinking about him, like them, I want, I want the job off, you know, how much you paid. So and then you and then I started doing more research on it. And they were like, Hey, you can't work in a cannabis if you have been convicted for cannabis. And I'm like, what the like, that shit doesn't make sense. You know, and so back then, I felt like, we need to start talking about this. So I started doing, you know, talking on forums and panels about, you know, how unfair the industry was. But when the opportunity in New York came out, you know, it was like, wow, this is this law, this this policy, this regulation is written now for people like myself, you know, so do you are basically took social equity and really made it a thing, you know, they not any, there has been no states that have given the first licenses, some people that have been justice impacted in marijuana, like myself, you know, as the people that could be running the retail. And so, New York is giving the first 150 licenses to people that have been convicted for marijuana, but also has a profitable business in at the same time, so I, when I read that I was like, Oh, shit, like, I meet this qualification of, you know, being the first 150 license holders in Ohio State of New York. So I'm looking to apply in August, still doing advocacy work, instead of calm body. We're calling a con bud. So I launched a brand about six months ago now and just kept, you know, advocating and pushing for it right now. So that's, that's where I'm at. Yeah,
Morgan Bailey 43:02
I mean, I think that's, it's really unique, what New York is doing, because I think what we've seen here in California is, you know, predominantly, either those who are making money from from cannabis or middle aged white guys. And so and people who were who were incarcerated, or you know, a lot of them are still incarcerated. Now, it's become legal, there's an entire other, you know, the white population that is really benefiting from that. And, and that, that just seems like a massive injustice. And so that to see the people who have been affected by it, in New York, actually are to be the first I think is a pretty bold step on their part. Yeah, one that really makes a lot of sense.
Coss Marte 43:48
Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I it's going to be it's going to be a very interesting process. Because they, you know, I there's not a lot of people that meet that qualification. So I don't, I haven't seen them. I've, I've probably met maybe a dozen in the last like, six months that I've been, like networking and trying to figure out, you know, who meets as qualification, but as a, you know, somebody that's been convicted and also licensed business owner as well, you know, so what, we'll see what happens, you know, and, and I, but I appreciate the opportunity that the state is putting forward and I'm going to be fully taken advantage of it, you know, so it's, it's pretty wild that, you know, I might be in a history books of having the first license in the whole state of New York for to sell marijuana, which is wild
Morgan Bailey 44:45
to me. I know, right? I mean, if you could imagine telling yourself 15 years ago that that would be the case.
Coss Marte 44:50
No, no, no, like, I would never think you know, even last year I wouldn't even think you know, this was gonna go down but you No, thank god.
Morgan Bailey 45:02
Wow, really amazing. I mean, your your journey is is truly inspirational. Amazing. And yeah, I mean, you faced a lot of adversity and, and now you're, you're helping level the playing field, both your advocacy work and to your businesses. So I mean, I'm just really grateful for the work that you're you're you're doing and putting it out there.
Coss Marte 45:24
Thank you. And I appreciate the opportunity to share.
Morgan Bailey 45:27
Yeah, absolutely. So what's, you know, as you look forward over the next couple years, what what's giving you hope right now?
Coss Marte 45:35
I guess my daughter, my son, my son is 14 and my daughter is six months, you know, and just to like, see her role has been, it's, I get a second chance, you know, because I based I taught my son his ABCs on a prison payphone, you know, like, now I have a chance to like, you know, see my my daughter grow. You know, that's on a personal family level, but on a, on a business level, I feel very excited on the con body Friday to hopefully franchise across the country, you know, I have tons of franchise requests. So that's the direction I'm taking with con body right now. And, and on a comboed front, you know, just pushing forward with that, let's see what happens you know, I hopefully I can have my stores open by the end of the year, we solidified a one location we're working on a second. So we're allowed to have three and so I'm gonna see where where that goes, you know, but I want to hire as many people coming out of the system as possible and make it an easier transition for them and not have them go through all the hoops and hurdles that I had to go through, you know, coming out of the system is it was not easy, you know, and I could have easily made that decision you know, to go back to the streets, but for me, I just had a mission like this I had an idea that I was going to just get done and not stop working on it.
Morgan Bailey 47:10
Yeah, and and you've impacted 1000s of lives as a result of it. That's that's powerful man. Crazy. Well, cause it's it's been a pleasure man. If people want to learn more about you your story con body what's the best way for them to get a hold of
Coss Marte 47:27
you? Yeah, you can hit me up on Instagram at con body c o n BL dy you know on on you know, I want to know more information on the marijuana front that's con bud and why CO and Bud and why you could just straight DM me on Instagram. If you don't have Instagram, Facebook or, you know, hit me up on my website.
Morgan Bailey 47:49
Right on costs. Such a great pleasure having this conversation with you, man. No, thank
Coss Marte 47:54
you, Morgan. I appreciate you.
Morgan Bailey 47:56
Thanks for listening to another episode of the Prophet meets impact podcast. If you'd enjoy this experience. Please subscribe wherever you find your podcasts and leave a positive review. You can also find out more about the podcast at www.profitmeetsimpact.com
Transcribed by https://otter.ai