Meet Karl Bartrell ‘Tre’ Gilliard

We recently connected with Karl Bartrell ‘Tre’ Gilliard and have shared our conversation below.

Karl Bartrell ‘Tre’, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I got in trouble at the age of 16 in Louisiana, I went to prison where I overcame rape, abuse, depression and extreme loneliness. I made a conscious decision to change my outcome. Before I was to go back into society I wanted to make my parents proud of me, I am my mother‘s only child and my fathers only son. While I was in prison, I help create different programs became a high ranking member of the board of the jaycees organization, that taught me leadership skills. Upon being released I Found hardships trying to cope with social anxiety, murder for hire(someone was hired to kill me) finding employment, heck I couldn’t even work a card reader at the checkout line at Walmart. But some people believed in me and gave me a chance and I decided if They could take a chance on me. I could give that same opportunity to others, and I created a nonprofit organization Knewstart Inc. that helps anyone with a criminal history or background get reacclimated back into society, helping them find employment, housing, a community to help build, and support them. I also created Knewstart LLC, The business that works hand in hand with Knewstart Inc. we help those same ex-offenders become entrepreneurs!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

As stated before about Knewstart Inc. & Knewstart LLC, my focus is to help as many people with a criminal history get a Knewstart at life, I spell new start wrong purposely because the K stands for knowledge because every journey begins with knowing how. I want to help families, through education, learn how to help their loved ones whom may be incarcerated or recently released from prison. Most people don’t understand and we try to educate them so that they may help when they don’t know how to help, as well as educate, employers on recidivism, and how giving someone another chance and contributing to nonprofits can help their organization as well as the community,
We have classes via zoom for offenders and their families, As well as a book coming out, that helps businesses understand the importance of giving back, how it helps and how it also works for their business as well.

Forgot to mention that we’ve Recently gotten someone released early on parole, as well as helped someone get a parole hearing he did not make it, but his voice was heard and has the possibility to go up again sooner with our efforts I’m sure he will make it in the future. Currently working on getting someone a pardon.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three skills would be 1, cognitive thinking skills, taking a backseat to your own thoughts, a Saying that we use, “think about what you’re thinking about”. 2 problem-solving skills. Many of times we don’t have skills to solve problems and that’s why we keep finding ourselves in problems. Lastly would be social skills, When I didn’t know what to say or how to say it I acted out in an improper way, Resorting back to what felt most comfortable. When I didn’t understand, I went to derogatory terms. But when I learned how to talk/speak, becoming more tactful, my life started to change. The programs that our nonprofit organization has, teachers all of these things.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

We are looking for any and everyone with a beating heart, who has a desire to make a positive impact in someone’s life. For the ones that don’t have monetary donations, we asked for 15 minutes of your time to help get someone back on the right path to success. Not everyone has the opportunities or the environment(people/family) to help them succeed. A police officer could prevent someone from going into jail if they give tips on how to stay out of prison. A CEO/Business owner could give someone tips on how to prepare for the real world after being released. A counselor or psychologist could give a few tips on how to change your mindset and set someone up to start a new journey in life. We will also like to work with more housing units. It’s one of the hardest things to get accomplished, finding housing for sex offenders or someone that doesn’t have strong family support. Calling all businesses, If you’re looking to make a change in your community, build a Reputation as a supporter of that same community, with a big perk of a tax write off please contact us!

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