Disclosure For Employers.

In my past there are things that are your right to know and my obligation to disclose. The knowledge of that as a fact does little if anything to assuage the trepidation one feels as they approach a topic of such close proximity to one’s own failures and darkness. The fact that mine own, had been precipitated with much help from the Covid-19 Pandemic that we all faced as a race brings a wholeness of soul and oneness of humanity to my mind that does, do much to help soften the anxiety that I believe, we would all encounter in this position. And, that makes this easier to face. Truth be told, I speak of these failures often in the confines and safety of the Recovery Community and find that my story is very similar to countless others. Those countless others however are not on your desk as a potential employee. I am. My sincerest hope for myself and all the people I work with in the recovery community is that the art of communication can break through all barriers. I have been known to say in meetings and to addicts in early recovery that the most powerful tool we have as human beings is the words we choose to speak.

In this instance, I am choosing to speak the truth to you, unchanged by time, or ego, or shame. Not only so that you may know me to be more than just a résumé, but also out of respect for you as a person deserving to make informed decisions about the things that will affect their life, their families and their companies. It is in that light that I offer to you the knowledge that in my background, if you were to pull a report, you will see a period of time coinciding with the Pandemic that is fraught with legal trouble. There is a stretch of 3 years where these charges are spread out. That is because when Covid hit, my company, Kinetic Wraps and Custom Signs did not make it through. After 8 years of saving and fighting Alliance Franchise Brands to be allowed to open, I finally had gotten it done. I opened a beautiful, large, full service sign company in Petersburg, Virginia. Two weeks after my Grand Opening the first wave of Covid hit Virginia. I had no payroll records yet to be eligible for the PPP loans offered by the Federal Government; so, I was on my own and all of my money was now invested in printers, laminators, plotters, vinyl and people.

I fell into a deep depression and fell further into a dark and powerful addiction. Having never been in trouble before that period of time I was terrified of the prospects of jail and had not even yet considered the initial terror of getting my life back together after it had so abruptly fallen from triumph to ruin. So, with my addiction in tow, I ran from the police, I ran from the world and I ran from myself. When I was sufficiently exhausted and ready to give in and take my life back, God saw fit to have me apprehended, and the remaining charges were applied to my record. That is why there is time in between charges. It may seem to be multiple episodes but it is in fact one long, sad story. You will find two instances of drug charges and you will see possession of stolen property over $25,000. Maybe it is me, maybe it isn’t, however, I am more ashamed of the possession of stolen property than anything else and I would like to take a few lines of text to explain that.

My character is everything to me and the thought that someone may misconstrue this into thinking I was acting as a thief makes me deeply ashamed. The truth is that I was dying of exposure in the mountains of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee in the dead of winter. To save myself from the elements I rented a U-Haul to try and stay warm and stay alive. When I was apprehended finally, I had had the U-Haul for just days over the contracted timeline for the rental. The U-Haul was returned unharmed to the owners of that franchise and I was charged with possession of stolen property. Now, to many, this may seem like a distinction without a difference; and to each their own, I suppose. I can respect that summation. However, it is important to me to be clear that I have never stolen from anyone and I am certainly not a liar. Above all things in my life, I pride myself in direct communication and being able to be counted on like a clock. I have the power of Prayer, the power of my love for my mother, the power of the recovery community and the power of thorough and thoughtful soul searching to thank for my ability to reclaim those attributes today.

Since my addiction and incarceration I have found that my story resonates with many people in very dark places. I choose to again use my words as a tool to help those people in making the decision to value their own lives as I have found I have come to again value my own. I am very active in the recovery community and am in school to become a Certified Peer Recovery Counselor registered with the Board Of Counselors in North Carolina and Virginia.

I know that if I were told these things in one breath and then asked to hand the keys to my company to that same person in the next I would certainly be cautious. I expect the same caution from you; I do however offer you the promise to be honest and open about my past, present and desired future. Please, do not hesitate to ask questions. I answer hard questions for addicts in recovery all the time and expect the same level of scrutiny from you. I look forward to the prospect of discussing this with you further in the near future.

Jackson J. Crane