Business is good now, but the life lessons for Lucky Barker started in 1999 when he tried to break up a domestic dispute and took it too far.
"I got an assault charge out of it and the State of Arizona said, 'We're going to make an example out of you,'" Barker said.
He went to prison for eight years. When he got out, he had nothing.
"When I got locked up I was early twenties," Barker said. "When I got out I was a man; I was a grown man.”
Barker also had no home and no job.
"Every interview went great until the last part of the application where it says, 'Have you been convicted of a felony?'"
On his 23rd interview, Border Construction gave him a job working in a warehouse.
It was there he saw an opportunity to grow the company’s business. Barker, a lover of art, started printing company logos on safety vests the company was already selling.
His idea was so successful, Barker started Fierce Printing, his own company. Today, some of his employees are people who also need a little help.
"There's people out here in our community that need our help," Barker said. "They need that olive branch." His business has now expanded to a line of T-shirts called Lockdown Clothing.
Barker frequently passes out his "Never Give Up" shirts to the homeless in downtown Phoenix and to students on the ASU Tempe Campus.
He also commits some of his profits from sales to help Veterans through America's Mighty Warriors.
"I want people to know, no matter what, you can’t give up. N-G-U. You can’t give up," Barker said. "You gotta just dig deep and pull yourself together."
For more information on Barker's apparel click here.
