# Second Chance Studios

By [The Slow Hunch by Nick Grossman](https://paragraph.com/@nickgrossman) · 2020-07-02

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Several years ago, I started volunteering at [Defy Ventures](http://defyventures.org), a program that helps formerly incarcerated individuals start their own businesses.

Through Defy, I met an entrepreneur named [Coss Marte](https://twitter.com/CossMarte), who beginning to build a personal fitness business called Coss Athletics. At first, it consisted of 1:1 and group sessions with Coss in parks, and has grown steadily since then. Now called [ConBody](https://conbody.com/), it features both a studio on the Lower East Side and a [growing online business](https://training.conbodylive.com/). Importantly, ConBody exclusively employs other formerly incarcerated individuals as trainers, and in addition to being a successful and growing business, the team members have a 0% recidivism rate.

(As an aside, I can personally testify that the ConBody workout is legit. I literally threw up halfway through my first class. Though it's debatable whether that says something about the workout or my baseline fitness going in.)

Today, Coss is launching a new initiative called [Second Chance Studios](https://www.secondchancestudios.org/). Second Chance Studios is a nonprofit video and audio production company that exclusively employs formerly incarcerated individuals in New York City. It will also serve as a job training and placement program focused on digital skills in audio and video production.

Second Chance is currently fundraising for its launch on Kickstarter and as of now is about $36k towards its $50k goal. You can [back it on Kickstarter here](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/secondchancestudios/second-chance-studios?ref=card) and learn more from the video below. I'm proud to be a backer and am excited to see the project launch.

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*Originally published on [The Slow Hunch by Nick Grossman](https://paragraph.com/@nickgrossman/second-chance-studios)*