Legal Grounds | Jonathan York

This week’s episode is just a little to the left of what we normally do here on Legal Grounds. 

As a podcast that puts a lot of emphasis on Leadership, we spend a fair amount of time talking to our guests about those leaders who helped guide them in the early stages of life. 

Now, to be sure, we’ve had plenty of guests who have endured trauma from their childhood that has shaped who they would become. 

And plenty for who found themselves in the ditch later in life.

But imagine, if you can, living a life in which the first time you remember the feeling of being treated like a human being was while you were working at a wastewater treatment plant on prison-detail.

I don’t pose this question to throw a pity-party on behalf of my guest, but to highlight one of the major themes of this week: empathy vs. compassion. 

And that’s because, believe it or not, it’s ok not to be able to empathize with people. 

What’s more, when we understand where our ability to empathy ends, we can actually better serve those around us because we recognized the need for compassion, not comparison. 

My guest this week is Jonathan York.

At 30 years old he found himself on the inside of a prison cell, divorced, and having lost his business and home. 

Jonathan would serve 3 years, but as he puts it, prison was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Today he and his wife are the co-founders of Resionus Industrial Coating, a majority female and veteran owned company with decades of combined experience in industrial flooring needs. 

And most recently, Johnather has begun The Relisent Man Project in an effort to share stories like his own, and show how faith and vulnerability is the key to continually moving forward. 

I would encourage leaders of ANY role to listen to Jonathan’s story, if only to learn how leader’s that give second-chances can change lives. 

Enjoy the show