Exec Coach Pushes for Richer Life Behind Bars

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Executive coach Farrah Marisa Myers could do what many executives who live in Venice do over a weekend: chill out at the beach or stroll along the boardwalk. Instead, she spends eight weekends a year visiting prisons in Central California.

Myers, 38, volunteers her time holding workshops for prisoners at both the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the nearby Valley State Prison for Men, teaching communication, relationship, and other life skills.

How did she get into such an unusual line of volunteer work?

She was introduced to prison life at 14 when her father was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to five years in federal prison.

“I only went to visit him once,” she said. “I had such a strong sense of shame that I just couldn’t go back.”

But that visit drove Myers to find out more about prison life and when she graduated from college with a master’s degree in spiritual psychology, she was determined to do some volunteer work in prison. She eventually joined the Freedom to Choose Foundation, which provides educational programs to prisoners, addicts, and other vulnerable populations.

Myers’ first prison visit as a volunteer seven years ago was a bit nerve-wracking. “The prison was a very sullen place, dehumanizing, and intense,” she said. “The way that people are treated and how they interact with each other: It’s all very cold and tough.”

But after years of teaching workshops for up to 200 prisoners at a time, Myers’ view of prison life and prisoners has changed. She said she has never felt threatened.

“These inmates have an immense amount of inner wisdom,” she said. “It’s like going to church: They are so wise and resourceful. We really underestimate this population.”

Mouse Club

The “Happiest Place on Earth” might also be a potent incubator for Silicon Beach founders.

Sophia Parsa, 25, co-founder and chief executive of mobile app Toot, which connects students to tutors in their area, said that going to Disneyland as a child helped inspire her to be an entrepreneur. When it’s been a tough day at her Santa Monica office, she’ll still go to Disneyland for a few hours in the evening for “a quick escape, since work doesn’t allow me to travel far,” she said.

She was particularly inspired by an exhibit narrated by actor-musician Steve Martin, who himself was influenced by Disney during his first job at the Main Street Magic Shop at the theme park.

“Walt Disney got a lot of flak from people were trying to steal his ideas, and he had trouble getting funding,” Parsa said.

Now, it’s a place to celebrate how far she’s come. After closing a recent round of funding for her app, her first inclination was to take the team at Toot with her to the place where it all began.

“There’s this quote on the plaque when you enter Disneyland,” she said. “It says, ‘Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.’ It relaxes me and reminds me that I’m still young.”

Staff reporters Howard Fine and Kristin Marguerite Doidge contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Jonathan Diamond. He can be reached at [email protected].

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