Hey PH crew. My name is Andrew Medal, and I wrote this COMEDY book for a number of reasons, which I'll get into below 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽(scroll to the bottom if you want the primary reason).
But first, a quick note about the book: With eight sections of engaging visuals, real life stories, recipes, workouts, slang, and life hacks, Don’t Drop The Soap is a crazy, entertaining and dangerous ride that teaches you all of the wild $#*! about prison you can’t learn on Netflix! 🍿
So, if you've ever wanted to know how to use Ketchup to make a quality box of prison Franzia 🍷, dazzle co-founders with hardened convict slang 🤬, or light a cigarette using a AA-battery 🔋🔋 and gum wrapper; well then this book is for you amigos!
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK:
I did the first-ever gourmet prison food popup in Venice, to bring awareness to prison reform, foster change and promote the book which generated a bunch of buzz:
✔️CBS feature: Venice Popup Invites Attendees to Eat Like an Inmate
✔️iHeart Radio feature: Ex-Con Opens Prison Food Popup
✔️Purposely Awakened: LA's First Prison Popup
✔️FoodBeat feature: The Sugary Prison Pie That Inmates Make Behind Bars
✔️MSN feature: Ever Wondered What It's Like to Be In Prison? Visitors to a Venice Street Fair Got a Taste, and a bunch of others!
There are some things you should know about me before you check out the book:
I'm an ex-convict entrepreneur and angel investor. My work has been featured in Forbes, The Next Web, FastCo, The WSJ, Fox, Fox News, TIME, Entrepreneur, Inc., and others. I cofounded my first multi-million dollar company at age 24 (that hit eight figures in < 5 years), after raising $2.3 million-- but lost it all when I was sentenced to prison at age 28, for a fight I got into at age 22. 😭😭😭
During my two years in maximum and eventually minimum security prison, I taught myself how to code without using the internet and only my #2 golf pencil and textbooks 📚. Upon my release, I rebuilt tech companies using the skills I learned in prison. 🚀
Here's a feature that Forbes just did on my life as an ex-convict entrepreneur: 'Andrew Medal is the Ex-Convict Entrepreneur Breaking All of the Rules & Disrupting Tech,' https://www.forbes.com/sites/jor... (it's also included in the media section above👆🏽if you care to read).
While in prison, I used to handwrite articles to Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur and many other outlets I enjoyed reading, in hopes that they'd publish my articles. Unfortunately, nobody did while I was in prison. But, my effort and story got my foot in the door at every outlet once I was released.
I doubled down with Entrepreneur and became the host of my interview style video show on Entrepreneur.com’s network called “Action & Ambition” (more than ten million viewers have tuned in across 3 seasons) with celebrity guests like DJ Khaled, Damon Dash, Theo Von, and Tito Ortiz. The show is hosted on Entrepreneur's 15m monthly viewership network. I also have a podcast on the network with the same name.
I'm also the host of a radio show on SiriusXM's 35m listener network called TLM Radio, with guests like Freeway Ricky Ross, Government officials and men and women that have been through the system.
I've contributed hundreds of articles to Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur over the past 6 years, that have generated million of unique traffic views. And, my writing hits a cultural nerve by highlighting the intersection of business and prison culture, including articles like:
👉🏽5 Leadership Lessons CEOs Can Learn From Prison Shot Callers
👉🏽How My Life As An Entrepreneur Shaped My Time In Prison
👉🏽13 Prison Slang Terms You Should Use With Co-Workers
👉🏽Ex-Convicts Make The Best Entrepreneurs. Here Are 3 Reasons Why.
👉🏽Here's How Prison Taught Me How To Lead From The Front
For the past 6 years, I've been giving back to the prison population through a nonprofit that teaches inmates how to code called, The Last Mile.
✔️Even more exciting, my in-prison Shark Tank-style pitch competition was approved through CDCR (The California Department of Corrections). I created a 10-week program that teaches inmates how to become entrepreneurs-- while at the end of the program pitch their businesses to a panel of judges. We launch later this year (2019).
💯THE PRIMARY REASON I WROTE THIS COMEDY BOOK WAS TO BRING AWARENESS TO PRISON REFORM IN A UNIQUE AND FUNNY WAY, AND HIGHLIGHT MY NEW PROGRAM.💯
@baze_blackwood "Don't drop the soap," is by far the longest standing prison joke created in prison joke history. The book is far from trivializing rape and I actually speak about it in the book. I also believe that bringing comedy to a serious topic helps people to easily speak about serious issues more openly. Check out my comment above and you'll hopefully understand better why I wrote the book. And, if you have any other questions I'm happy to answer. Thanks
@andrewmedal While I appreciate the additional context, it's hardly obvious from the title and branding of the book that it approaches the subject seriously.
That being said, I share your sentiments that prison reform is an important topic. What organizations do you support/recommend supporting to that end?
@baze_blackwood It doesn't approach the subject seriously. The goal of the book is to use comedy as an approach to bring awareness to the cause. And, I appreciate the additional comment, but don't want to confuse anything either. The book itself is a complete comedy that makes fun of the prison system, talks about wild $#*! I learned while I was there (like how to make a tattoo gun using a walkman motor and battery pack), and completely makes light of the system itself.
In addition to that, I am using the exposure and press to promote prison reform. I do highlight my program in the book, and ways to change the system for the good. But, it's a short piece in the introduction.
As for programs, I highly recommend The Last Mile. I've been with the nonprofit for 6 years now and they're doing some amazing work. I also have my own program that is launching later this year that teaches inmates how to become entrepreneurs during a ten week course, and recommend my program as well.
This book is hilarious and light-hearted while still providing a lot of insight into the world & economy of prison. It's a positive perspective extracted from shitty circumstances. Worth the read IMO
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