Luis Rivera, lead assistant manager at East Norriton’s ShopRite, has managed to turn his life around after serving a four year sentence for selling drugs by applying his knowledge from the streets to retail, writes Jane M. Von Bergen for Philly.com.

The change was not easy task for Rivera, who was used to having a high income from dealing drugs. In fact his first paycheck of $120 nearly pushed him back to his old ways. But in the end Rivera decided to persevere, and soon progressed by using the same basic principles.

“To me it’s the exact same thing as I’m doing here,” he explained. “You are buying a product. You have overhead. You have bills. You have associates you have to pay.”

This view of retail has helped him succeed in his new career over the last nine years. Now he earns $65,000 a year, with an additional $10,000 in bonuses.

Brown’s Super Stores chief executive, Jeffrey Brown, firmly believes in giving former inmates a second chance. Around a tenth of Brown’s 3,000 supermarket employees are ex-offenders hired through programs with various community organizations.

Read more about Rivera’s success story at Philly.com by clicking here.

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